Easter is a special time of year. In Australia, Easter falls during one of the most pleasant seasons of the year – autumn. Many families look forward to Easter. For some, it’s the perfect opportunity for a family visit or family reunion – to celebrate a birthday, wedding or significant anniversary. For others, the four-day Easter holiday provides the perfect opportunity to spend time at the seaside while the weather is still warm and sunny.
For Christians, Easter is the most important festival in the Church calendar. Easter Sunday is the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. It’s a time of wonder and great rejoicing.
The date of Easter (Easter Sunday) varies from year to year. It depends on the moon’s cycle. Easter Sunday can fall any time between 22 March and 25 April. That’s quite a range – 35 days!
The week leading up to Easter is known as “Holy Week”. Holy week begins on Palm Sunday and includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ triumphant entry to Jerusalem on the Sunday prior to his crucifixion. It is so named because the people waved palm branches as they welcomed Jesus to their city. Maundy Thursday memorializes Jesus’ final meal with his twelve disciples, and his washing of their feet.
The week that begins on Easter Sunday is called “Easter Week”. It ushers in a 50-day period known as Eastertide (or Eastertime).
Confused? I’m not surprised. Because in common parlance, Easter refers to the four days’ holiday from Good Friday to Easter Monday inclusive.
Easter, and the week leading up to it (Holy Week), is a special time of the year for me and my husband.
Our first child, a daughter, was born on a Good Friday. It was a very, very “good” Friday for me and my husband. She married 27 years later, three days after her birthday, on a Holy Saturday. This year, 2025, her birthday occurs once again during Holy Week, four days before Easter.
In 2011, my husband and I helped organise the wedding for two of our children “in the Lord”. Their marriage took place on Holy Saturday, April 23, 2011. Easter Sunday that year fell on 24 April, the latest date for Easter, bar one, and a rare occurrence. Prior to 2011, the last time Easter fell on 24 April was in 1859; the next time will be in 2095!
My husband’s father, Petar Salečić, died on a Good Friday, April 10, 2009. We held his funeral one week later, on April 17, the Friday of Easter Week.
My parents married at Rockhampton on Wednesday 26 March 1945, during Holy Week. They spent their honeymoon, and their first Easter together, at Emu Park and Pialba (Hervey Bay), Queensland.
One person I always remember at Eastertime is my maternal grandmother.
Flora Jane Balchin was born during Easter Week, two days after Easter Sunday, on 12 April 1887. Throughout her long life (94 years), Flora celebrated many birthdays during Holy Week or Easter Week. I remember celebrating a number of these “Easter” birthdays with her.
Flora’s parents were English immigrants, Levi Balchin and Julia Tryphena Balchin (nee Knight). Levi (29) and Julia (24) and their (then) three children (Alice 5, Julia 4 and Alfred 1 year) came to Australia from Surrey, England, in 1883. The family of five boarded the ship “Cardigan Castle” at Plymouth on 1 June 1883 and disembarked at Sydney, New South Wales, on 20 August 1883. I’ve written about this previously, in more detail, in Family history and the family Bible (August 1, 2017).
For the next six years, Levi and Julia made their home at Manly, New South Wales. Here Julia gave birth to three more children: Sidney William (22 March 1885), Flora Jane (12 April 1887) and Henry (30 April 1888).
In 1889, the family moved to Queensland. They settled at Mount Morgan, 39 kilometres (24 miles) southwest of Rockhampton, central Queensland. Mount Morgan was a boom town, following the establishment of open-cut gold mining there in 1882.
At Mount Morgan, between 1890 and 1899, Julia gave birth to four more children. Of the four, only Charles Edward (born 21 September 1895) survived the first year of life. Kate lived for one month, from 4 June 1890 to 10 July 1890. Arthur, born 1 March 1892, survived for 8 months. He died on 6 November 1892. Eli, Julia’s 10th child, lived for 7 months (7 July 1899 to 2 February 1900).
The death of Julia Tryphena Balchin, Flora’s mother
Flora’s long-suffering mother, Julia Tryphena, died on 24 March 1900, six weeks after the death of her 10th child. She was 41. Her death was a harsh blow for the family, especially Flora, who was 12 at the time.
Flora’s older siblings had already left the family home. Julia (named after her mother) and Alice married in 1897, on 17 March and 24 March respectively. Both couples made their home at Mount Morgan. By the time of their mother’s death, Julia and Alice each had two children of their own and Alice’s third child was due within a month.
Following her mother’s death, Flora was left to care for her two younger siblings, Henry (11) and Charles (4). I’m not sure how long Flora fulfilled this guardian role. Years later, whenever my grandmother spoke about her father (which was rare), she described him as a hard, cruel man. She told me she was terrified of him, especially when he was drunk (which was often). Clearly, her father was neither a good man nor a good father.
At 13, Flora, fearing for her life, ran away from home. She never spoke about what happened to her, but I’m convinced her father abused her in one way or another. This dear child (for that’s what she was) had no mother and a father who cared less for her. To whom did she turn? A kindly woman, wife of the publican of a Mount Morgan hotel (I don’t know which one), took her in and cared for her. Flora never returned to her father or the family home.
Other significant events in Flora’s life
Flora celebrated her 16th birthday on Easter Sunday, 12 April 1903. She was still living independently (and I assume working) at Mount Morgan.
Five months later, on 20 September 1903, Flora made a public profession of her Christian faith at a confirmation ceremony at St Mary’s Anglican Church, Mount Morgan.
The Bible and the little “Helps to Worship” book Reverend Alfred Hockey gave her to mark the occasion are likely to have been the first books Flora owned. She treasured them, and (I hope) referred to them frequently throughout her life. I possess these precious items now.
The years passed.
In 1907 (or thereabouts) Flora moved to Westwood, some 24 kilometres (15 miles) west of Mount Morgan. Here Flora found work as a live-in housemaid. At Westwood, she met Donald William Beaumont, the man she was destined to marry. Donald’s story is the subject of a previous post on my blog: Donald William Beaumont: A grandparent I thought I knew (January 19, 2021).
On 12 April 1911, Flora celebrated her 24th birthday. It fell on the Wednesday of Holy Week that year.
Two weeks later, on 26 April 1911, Donald and Flora were married. The Reverend Joseph Addison White, of the Church of England, conducted the ceremony, which was held at the Beaumont Family home, Westwood. Donald (26) chose his brother Thomas (28) as best man; Donald’s sisters Elizabeth Ellen (“Bessie”) (24), Hannah Jane (16) and Beatrice Maude Caroline (“Beattie”) (10) completed the wedding party. Donald and Flora chose Thomas and Bessie as their witnesses.
The marriage proved to be a long and happy one.
Between 1913 and 1924, Flora gave birth to five children, three sons and two daughters. My mother was the couple’s second-born. Sadly, Flora’s third-born, another daughter, died unexpectedly at 20 months. Her death, and its impact on Donald and Flora, is the subject of A lock of hair: A treasured keepsake (January 20, 2018).
Fast forward to the year 1977.
By this time, Flora had been widowed for nearly 20 years, had four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
On 12 April 1977, Flora turned 90. Her birthday fell on Holy Saturday that year. The extended family gathered at my parents’ home in Rockhampton, to mark the occasion and thank God for Flora’s long life. It was a special “Easter” family get-together.
Flora outlived all of her siblings, bar the youngest, Charles (“Charlie” as he was known). Flora died on 21 December 1981. She was 94. Charlie died on 14 November 1989. He was also 94 years old when he died.
What happened to the other Balchin siblings?
Alice, the first-born, died on 12 March 1925. She was 47, a mother of four and a widow. Her husband John Charles Vickers predeceased her by approximately 18 years.
Alfred, 43, died tragically in a pea-gun accident at his Baralaba home on 14 November 1925. He left behind a wife and five children. [1]
Julia, 48 and widowed, died on 24 March 1927. During her 22-year marriage to John Thomas Kitchen, she bore nine children, eight of whom survived infancy. At the time of her death, her youngest, a son, was 13 years old.
Julia’s turbulent marriage ended tragically in January 1920 when, fearing for her life, she fatally shot her drunken husband. The police charged Julia with unlawful killing. When her case went to trial in the Supreme Court, Rockhampton, several weeks later, it took the jury just five minutes to reach a verdict of “not guilty”. [2, 3]
Sidney William never married. He died at the Rockhampton General Hospital on 14 January 1933 of respiratory and cardiac failure following a bout of acute pneumonia. He was 47 years old.
Henry, Flora’s closest sibling, never married. He died at Rockhampton on 9 July 1966. He was 78. His story, and his relationship with Flora, is the subject of Henry’s World War I postcards to Flora (September 11, 2015).
More about Flora, my grandmother
Although I remember the date of my grandmother Flora’s death, it’s her birthdate – and Easter – that I always associate with her.
Flora turned 89 just four days before our daughter was born, during Holy Week that year. At the time, Flora was still living on the family property at Rannes, with her son Allan and their much-loved cattle dog Toby. She was in good health, sound in mind and body.
My husband and I lived at Bundaberg. I kept in touch with Flora (and Allan) through letters, photos and little gifts I posted to them. On several occasions, Flora (“Nan” to me) wrote a reply. I kept two of these precious handwritten letters. They reveal a lot about Flora, including what mattered to her, and the nature of our relationship.
The person I knew as Nan was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and relative. Her family was important to her. She was a kind and generous soul, selfless, yet always appreciative of others’ acts of kindness towards herself.
Flora was a humble, unpretentious person. Whenever she wrote to me, she apologized for her poor writing skills. “I am a Bad writer,” she wrote in one of her letters. It’s true – she didn’t always get her grammar, punctuation or spelling correct – but at least she tried. That’s what I really appreciated about her. I loved receiving her simple but heartfelt letters.
Sadly (and erroneously), Flora didn’t regard herself as particularly intelligent. In one letter she wrote: “I wish I had Brains lik [sic.] you & Toney [sic.].” When I first read these words, I cried. “How could she think this?”
Despite limited schooling as a child, throughout her adult life Flora showed herself to be an extremely capable, resourceful and courageous woman.
Fast forward 25 years or so.
Flora’s two great-granddaughters, the two little ones pictured with her on the occasion of her 90th birthday, married four years apart, on a Holy Saturday. Both events were very special “Easter” gatherings for the families of the two brides and their respective grooms.
The first of the two weddings, that of my niece, was the last family get-together my father attended before his death. He died three months after the wedding.
Flora did not live to witness the marriages of her two great-granddaughters. But I’m sure, if she had, she would have been so happy for them, and immensely proud of the young women they had become.
REFLECTION: Birth, death & new life
Flora’s story is a reminder of the nature and brevity of life. Each of us comes into this world as a helpless babe and, if we have the strength, we live for 70, 80, even 90 years. Then we die. (Psalm 90:10)
It matters not who we are, to which family we belong, what we achieve in life. We all face the same fate: Death.
Why? Wasn’t it God’s plan that the human beings He created live forever?
Well, according to the Bible, human beings “messed up” (my words), which changed everything.
And because human beings couldn’t mend their relationship with God themselves, God took the initiative.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Just like us, Jesus, God’s own Son, came into the world as a helpless babe. He was given the name “Jesus” (which means “the Lord saves”) because he would “save His people from their sins”. (Matt 1:20-21)
Just like us, Jesus had to die. Not that he deserved to die. He did nothing wrong.
Amazing as it seems, Jesus’ death on the cross was God’s way of making things right between us and God. How? If Jesus died, what hope is there for us?
Death is still the last enemy. Or is it?
After raising his friend Lazarus from the dead, Jesus made the following bold claim: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
What proof do we have for this claim of Jesus?
It’s the miracle we commemorate at Easter: Jesus’s own resurrection from the dead! Jesus died, was buried and on the third day he rose from the dead. Jesus is not dead. He is alive!
Moses, Muhammad, Buddha and every other religious leader is dead.
Death is a certainty. But what happens to us after we die depends on whether or not we put our trust in Jesus.
We can have eternal life, as God intended.
This is my Easter hope. It can be yours too.
REFERENCES
MAIN SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Queensland Government. Family history research service.
New South Wales Government. Family history search.
National Library of Australia. Trove.
BIBLE REFERENCES
New International Bible (NIV)
SPECIFIC REFERENCES
- PEA RIFLE ACCIDENT. (1925, November 24). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 – 1933), p. 8. Retrieved March 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20979986
- DOMESTIC TRAGEDY. (1920, January 28). Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved March 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53887750
- SUPREME COURT. (1920, March 3). Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 – 1954), p. 10. Retrieved April 13, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53886116
