At the Narre Warren & District Family History Group meeting on Saturday August 19, 2023 at 2.00pm, Patrick Ferry – The Melbourne Socialite and the Turkish Diplomat

London, September 1913. A young society lady from a stately country mansion falls in love with a handsome diplomat from the Turkish embassy. It sounds like a plot line from the hit British drama Downton Abbey … but it’s the real-life story of Victorian socialite Florence Winter-Irving. Patrick gives a very illustrative presentation, telling the story of the whirlwind romance of Florence (a member of a very prominent Victorian squatter family) and Chefik (the Turkish diplomat) while demonstrating the various types of records held at the National Archives of Australia (NAA) which are of interest to family historians. Patrick Ferry is the  National Archives of Australia (NAA), Assistant State Manager, Victoria. He is an archivist and author of various local history books including Blood, toil, tears and sweat: remembering the Pakenham District’s WW2 service personnel, 1939-1945 and St Patrick’s, Pakenham: from the wilds of the Australian bush to outer-suburban Melbourne, c1840 to 2016.

Venue: L’Arté Central Social Enterprise Café Training Room, Casey Complex, 65 Berwick-Cranbourne Road, Cranbourne East  & Zoom.

Contact the Secretary, Eileen, for more information and Zoom link – secretary@nwfhg.org.au

Social Lunches
You can join us for a delicious lunch and social gathering at 12 noon in the L’Arté Central Social Enterprise Café Training Room on any meeting day. Lunches do need to be pre-ordered (by Thursdays before each meeting) and paid for on the day.
Contact Eileen at secretary@nwfhg.org.au if you would like a menu forwarded to you for pre-orders.