WEIDENHOFER, Joan Irene

1914 - 2012  (97 years)

• Name	WEIDENHOFER, Joan Irene
  Born	31 Jan 1914	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  Gender	Female
  Died	2012	Perth, Western Australia, Australia
  Person ID	I19912	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023

  
  

  Father	WEIDENHOFER, Walter Wallace,   b. 16 May 1875, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia ,   d. 9 Dec 1946, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 71 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	DYER, Jessie May,   b. 18 Aug 1879, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. 27 Sep 1957, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 78 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	1 Feb 1905	St George's Church, Battery Point, Tasmania, Australia
  	St George's, Anglican Church
  Family ID	F3192	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  A History of the Weidenhofer Families in Australia 1846 - 2004. Written by Wyn Allen (née Weidenhofer) 2004 ©. Reproduced with permission of Stewart Allen, Barry Malcolm and Carlien Melrose. Irene Joan Weidenhofer 1914 - Born 31 Dec 1914 Hobart, Tasmania Married 14 Jul 1941 Melbourne, Victoria Frederick William McConaghy Born 10 Apr 1919 Korumburra, Victoria Irene Joan was the third daughter born to May and Walter Weidenhofer and became known as Joan. As with all her sisters, Joan was a keen swimmer.When her two younger sisters Janet and Lin were chosen to be part of a life-saving team, which competed and won the T.W.White Trophy in 1937 and again in 1939, Joan was their coach. After completing her education at the Hobart High School, Joan was employed in a solicitor’s office. In 1941 she married Frederick William McConaghy, who was employed in the Commonwealth Public Service in Melbourne.Whilst living in Melbourne, Joan was able to make contact with her four cousins, daughters of Palmer Weidenhofer. Palmer had abandoned his daughters (as teenagers) when their mother died. Joan was very pleased to realise that the girls had managed very well on their own. Some years later when Joan and Fred lived in Canberra, Dorothy, one of these cousins, visited Joan. In 1955 Joan’s husband was transferred to New Guinea for two years. Joan and her two daughters, Lyn aged twelve and Christine, aged nine, enjoyed the experience of living in a country of such contrasts to Australia. She had two houseboys who relieved her of household duties. Joan’s brother, Reay was also working in New Guinea at this time. Joan, and her family, returned to live in Canberra. In 1969 Joan and her sister, Lin, who also enjoyed travelling, had a holiday in Japan and Hong Kong, and then some time later, enjoyed Lord Howe Island and Fiji. Fred and Joan visited their daughter Lyn who lived on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, and while there, Joan was glancing through an Australian magazine in which she noticed an article about Max Weidenhofer who managed the Argonaut Bookshop in Adelaide. Knowing that he would be a relative, Joan and Fred stopped off in Adelaide on their way home to Canberra and met Max, establishing that he and Joan were third cousins. Joan was very interested in her family history and, among her treasures, she has the original boarding pass, which allowed her great grandfather, Johann Weidenhofer, to travel on the sailing ship “Pauline” which reached South Australia in 1846. She also discovered that her grandfather, Johann Wilhelm had worked on the Overland Telegraph Line in the Northern Territory. Joan now lives in Cottesloe in Western Australia. Her sister, Lin visits her from Tasmania and they enjoy short holidays within Western Australia. Joan also spends time in a voluntary capacity maintaining the library in the large retirement complex in which she lives.