The Funeral Director from humble origins
How many of us who attend funerals ever really think about how the role of the Funeral Director came to be? Not many I'd say. Today's post is about one such man who saw an opportunity and pursued it. JOSEPH TAYLOR COFFILL Joseph Taylor Coffill - from Ancestry.com public images Joseph was born in Kensington, London in May 1841 to Joseph and Margaret Coffill, his father was a farmer of French Huguenot descent and his mother was from Edinburgh. As a young lad, Joseph tried his hand at various occupations such as a porter and mortar mixer but by the age of 21 he decided that Australia was the land of opportunity and worked his passage as a seaman cook arriving in Brisbane in 1865. Joseph set up business as a carter and carried between Gympie, Rockhampton and Cloncurry. Although this was his main occupation he also found time to run a blacksmith's forge as well as trying his hand at copper mining in Cloncurry. Joseph had a life long love of horses and became a successful deal...