This year marks 150 years since the Kanowski family arrived in Australia.
In honour of this anniversary the Kanowski descendents are having a family reunion on Monday, 7 October.
It was 1874 when the family first arrived on Australian shores.
On 16 July 1874, a small sailing shop named the Herschel landed in Moreton Bay, carrying 368 mainly German and Scandinavian emigrants.
The vessel had initially departed Hamburg on 1 April 1874 with its passengers hoping to escape religious and military persecution in Germany and travel halfway around the world to start a new life in Australia.
Among these passengers were seven members of the Kanowski family -Johann and Anna Kanowski with their three daughters Euphrosine, Wilhelmine and Caroline, and their two sons Carl and Friederich.
The Kanowski family emigrated from West Prussia, now part of Poland, and ultimately made their way to the Darling Downs region where they rented small farms in the Highfields area for about five years.
Johann and Anna welcomed a third son Gottfried during their third year in Australia.
Around that time, the Glencoe Scrub opened for settlement and Johann and Anna moved their family to their newly purchased block of 100 acres (just over 40 hectares).
Upon their deaths in 1909 and 1910 respectively, both Johann and Anna were buried at the Lutheran Cemetery not far from their home at Glencoe.
One of Johann’s sons Carl, married Maria Kajewski in 1885 and as was the custom, Johann subsequently divided the farm and gave each of his three sons about 30 acres.
It was on one of these blocks that Carl and Maria raised a family of 14 children, seven boys and seven girls, before moving to Kingsthorpe.
On Monday, 7 October 2024 the family of Carl and Maria are hosting a function at 9.30am to commemorate the Kanowski family 150th anniversary.
Three new plaques will be unveiled and wreaths laid at the Glencoe Lutheran Cemetery.
Following this short graveside service, family members are invited to proceed to Kingsthorpe Hall to enjoy further celebrations including a candle lighting ceremony, catered lunch, preparations of a time capsule for burial and fellowship.
All descendants of Johann and Anna are invited to attend this family function.
Family surnames, other than Kanowski include Stanke, Voll, Schoenemann, Erskine, Spann, Mengel, Wrembeck, Bartkowski, Anderson and Dunemann. If you are intending to attend please phone Cheryl Kanowski (0437 644594) or Jan Ranson (0427 571163) for catering purposes.
