Jermyn family reunites

A group of 165 descendants of Florence and William Jermyn and their partners gathered at Tom Knight Memorial Oval over the Easter weekend for a family reunion. The couple had 12 children (and one stillborn): Oliver born in 1908, Lillian 1909, Dick 1911, Bob 1913, Joffre 1915, Alma 1917, Joan 1920, Frederick 1922, Patrick 1923, Beulah 1924, Porky 1926 and the baby of the family, Tossy who is now 91 and the only surviving child. Tossy had the title of being the oldest person at the reunion while 13 week old Oscar Jermyn (a great-grandson of Porky) was the youngest Jermyn in attendance. Family members travelled from all over Australia to attend as well as one from Canada. Reunion organiser Karen Warren (who is a descendant of Alma) said they had five generations of the family attend who were descendants of nine of the 12 children. “Our last family reunion was about 25 years ago,” Karen said. “But we’re not waiting that long for the next one!” In addition to catching up on all the family news and taking lots of photos, there were a number of games and contests between the Jermyns and “The Rest of the World”. Photo contributed