“There’s not a lot to tell about my family, I don’t think”,
says Peggy, modestly.
“Thanks very much!” replies Malcolm, her eldest surviving
son.
A sheepish smile emerges on Peggy’s face. “Well, there is a
little bit to tell.”
We are sitting in Margaret “Peggy” Young’s living room on a
chilly winter day in Clunes, the reverse-cycle air-conditioner blasting welcome
warm air over the three of us.
“My great grandfather’s name was Hely,” Peggy begins. “His
father, Frederick Augustus Hely, came out in 1823 to be principal
superintendent of convicts.”
The tale goes that Peggy’s great grandfather, Hovenden Hely,
just an infant on the boat trip, became an explorer who accompanied Ludwig
Leichhardt on his second expedition through Queensland.
