Working at the Gerringong museum the other day, I was having a joke with a lady saying that to be regarded as a local in the town you have to have lived there for more than 40 years.

The lady laughed and said that no, you have to have a street or park named after your family. All good fun to pass the time.

Like just about every person reading this, there comes a time when you have to clean out the possessions of a family member who has passed away.

Often there are many papers and documents to be sorted, some valuable and others less so.

When my father died, my family had to do this. I collected all the valuable, interesting stuff and put it into a couple of suitcases.

Now to digress for a moment. When the Kiama LGA was first established, Kiama was in charge of the whole area, as it is the case today.

The old Walker residence in Gerringong.

However, in 1871 the Gerringong residents were not happy with this and established the Gerringong Municipal Council which ran until 1954.

That is a story for another day.

Going through the suitcase at the GLaM the other day, one piece caught the attention of the assembled (small) crowd.

What I found was an Electoral Roll for Gerringong Municipality in 1914.

Some names are instantly recognisable and would have many members represented on a similar roll in 2025.

Other names have all but disappeared. Maybe the families moved away but another reason could be that there were a lot of girls in the family.

As the girls married, the family name disappeared. Speaking of females. Most are mentioned with the occupation of “domestic duties”. Compare that with today.

Anyway, I would like to mention just a few. Many of you out there must have lots of other stories to tell from the names. We would like to hear from you.

Thomas Bergin is one important one that comes up. He was a man who owned and ran what is now Cronin's pub and is a direct descendant.

The Blow family was one my father remembered fondly.

The Campbells are a big family in Gerringong, particularly in real estate.

I have read so much about the Deverys, especially in the Gerringong CC.

The Hindmarsh family, of course, with the famous Alnebank property.

Who can go past the Millers.

Other names come up: Gray, Johnston, Walker, Langton, Noble and so many others.

I could go on with numerous stories about prominent families, either still an important part of Gerringong life today or lost in the mists of time.

I suppose I could have offended somebody by not mentioning their family name.

Well, if that is the case, or even if it is not, as I said earlier, we here at the Bugle would love to hear some stories about these people who lived so long ago. They all deserve to have their story told.