Closer than I imagined

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020)

Week 7 | Favourite Discovery

Visiting the Colin Thiele monument in Eudunda
(South Australia) in 2013

My favourite author features in my post this week about my favourite discovery during my family history research.  And there have been many but Amy’s suggestion was to think about something you’ve found out that still makes you smile.

So, Colin Thiele. My all-time favourite author.  Introduced to me by my Dad.  I still treasure and re-read copies of his books that I was given as a child and continue to add to my collection of his works and read ones I have somehow missed.  I doubly treasure the one he autographed for me when I was 11 years old and my grandma took me to a signing.

Not only is he a great storyteller, but a master of the written word.  Colin was born in Eudunda, South Australia in 1920 to a family of German descent. He was educated at Kapunda High School; the same school my grandmother attended, although a few years after her.  He then taught in high schools and colleges in Adelaide and served in the RAAF in World War II.  As I read his biography Can I call you Colin? there were so many parallels to my paternal grandparents’ family history that I couldn’t help wondering if they had ever crossed paths or known each other. 

Some years ago, I was leafing through a copy of a family history that had been compiled about one of the branches of my paternal grandfather’s family.  In the interests of full disclosure, I’ll admit that my perusing was accompanied by some opinions on the merits of the work.  Then all of a sudden, a name caught my eye!  Wait!  Did I see Colin Thiele’s name in my family tree?  The Colin Thiele. Flipping back a few pages and reading carefully, sure enough, there it was. 

Okay. So not actually related to us by blood. But his wife Rhonda was a second cousin to my paternal grandfather.  Did they know each other?  Had they been at the same family gatherings in their youth?  They grew up in similar parts of Adelaide so it’s possible.  Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to ask any of the parties who may have had the answer, as my grandfather died in 1958 and I, busy with family life, work and study, I didn’t find the time to track down Rhonda before she passed away, although she lived only an hour from me.

Nonetheless, it is a discovery that never ceases to bring me a warm glow that not only did Colin’s life parallel that of my grandparents, he did actually marry into our family. Even in my wildest speculations about possible connections, I hadn't imagined that.