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womenfolk. But he must have known that his grandfather, John, who had died in October 1923,
had been born in Bristol and brought to Australia as a child. It seems, however, that the
Honeycombes' ancient origins in Cornwall were unknown to him, and would remain unknown
for another 34 years.
The inipetus for the voyage to Europe came from Mr and Mrs Ashworth; they had a teenage
son, Lennie whose further education would be enhanced, they felt, by a trip abroad. Mr Len
Ashworth, a hardware merchant, had taken an interest in Len Honeycombe, helping him with
advice on business matters, and he had said: 'Len, if you save your money, when we go to
England with Lennie, you can come with us." And Esther, who had never been out of
Queensland and was now over 50, was persuaded to travel with her youngest son. She made
use of her absence from Ayr to have her old home expanded and rebuilt.
They left Ayr on the night of Monday, 3 March and drove, via Mackay and Rockhampton, to
Brisbane, just after noon on the Wednesday. Len and Esther do not seem to have travelled
south with the Ashworths, who may have gone to Brisbane earlier, or by train. On 12 March
the party boarded the Hobson Bay, a modest cargo and passenger ship, and sailed for
Melbourne, via Sydney and Hobart. Most of them were sea-sick.
In Melbourne, on 25 March, a historic family meeting took place - and one wishes Esther had
written more about it and about what was said. She noted: 'Went to Regelsens, stayed lunch
and tea. Met son Dick and daughter Gussie. Also saw Jane Honeycombe, aged 81 yrs. Mrs R
79, both wonderful for age.'
Jane and Mrs Regelsen (Mary Ann) were the eldest daughters of Richard Honeycombe,
stonemason, who had emigrated to Geelong with his wife Elizabeth and three eldest children
(including Jane and Mary Ann) in 1853.
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Richard had died in 1925. His youngest brother, John, had died in Kaigoorlie two years before
that.
What questions did Len have for his elderly cousins? What did he ask about his grandfather,
John, about his greatgrandfather, William the carpenter, and about his ancestors and England?
And what were Jane and Mary Ann able to tell him? They in turn would have asked about the
Queensland Honeycombes and would have doubtless been pleased to hear that the family
business in Ayr was prospering. They must have felt a pang of envy about Len and Esther's
voyage to England, the land of their birth, which they would never see.
Bob Honeycombe of Charters Towers was also in Melbourne in 1930 (he was 23) and visited
Mary Ann Regelsen. He went on to meet Thomas Gordon Honeycombe, then 41, second son
of Mary Ann's younger brother Tom. Said Bob years later: Thomas Gordon Honeycombe was
a manager of the Dunlop Rubber Tyre company in 1930. I met him in his office and he invited
me to his home. My aunt, Mary Ann Regelsen, said he was too rich for us. I didn't go'.
On 26 March, the Honeycombes and Ashworths left Melbourne on the Hobson Bay, sailing via
Adelaide, Fremantle, Colombo, Suez and Malta to Southampton, where they docked at 4.0am
on 3 April 1930. From there they travelled by train to London, staying at a hotel in the Strand.
Esther kept a diary of the whole trip, jotting down her impressions and noting where she and
Len went and what they saw. This diary is reproduced in full in Part Four of this book.
She and Len drove with the three Ashworths around Britain from coast to coast, lodging at
inexpensive guesthouses and hotels, sometimes on farms, and visiting relations, or friends of
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