Book Description

As Long as I Remember part one and two is the autobiography of an Australian life of a first fleet descendent growing up at Shooters Hill in the Blue Mountains near Oberon during the depression and war years. After the war she marries Jack Duggan from Oberon . Her sister, Nora, married Jacks brother Dan and they lived on a farm in Oberon. Thecla and John set out to make their fortunes and establish one of the great Hotel dynasties of the Australian private sector. Part One Here We Are and Part Two My very Green Years are for publication in this volume. They cover her family background, her childhood and her years leading into young adulthood. There are many more volumes that she has written but they have not yet been edited for publication. We are currently working on her second volume. Some will not be released to me until after her death for personal reasons. Thecla Marie is a 5th Generation Australian descendent of a Catholic Irish Convict, the first Phillip Hogan, and a Protestant Irish immigrant. Hogan was transported in 1799 on HMS Friendship. His crime was his involvement in the events leading up to the uprising. He was the mounted messenger who carried orders and news between the cells. He is still remembered in Irish Folk law today in the saying going like galloping Hogan. The ongoing saga covers such detailed historical notations, but focuses mainly on Theclas own life and upbringing in the Australian bush in a hard but loving environment of small tight communities. At the age of 15 she leaves Shooters Hill and travels to teach in Sydney convents in the prewar years but her nonconformity resulted in her failing as a teacher. During this time she taught herself shorthand and typing which led to her working as a stenographer at the small arms factory in Lithgow during the war years. These years were filled with friends and lovers, and the acquisition of a stylish wardrobe, the latter often being her primary concern. Following the war she struggles to survive in Sydney working at various city offices with her girl friends and residing in lower level bed sitters in the outer suburbs of Petersham, Marickville and Redfern, commonly known as the slums. Every time she found a nice place to reside in the city she was called back to Shooters Hill for the pea harvest by an obligation she undertook with her brother, Bert, before leaving the Hill. She maintains her connection with home. In between pea harvests she was able to travel and finds work in many different and interesting environment. Her improved wardrobe and experience was leading her into a better and better lifestyle. and finally she marries at the age of 25 and begins her married life with John Patrick Duggan. Together they establish a large and famous family of publicans, graziers and transport carriers. Her stories are told in an amusing self deprecating voice as if she was writing to a friend. Her descriptions are voiced in such a way as to make the reader believe they were actually there themselves and that makes for easy reading.