Born in February 1892, she was the third of the six children of John Traugott Pannach and Elisabeth Mickan. She married Henry Moring Sutherland (although I now believe that he was not who he said he was) in Toowoomba, Queensland in 1922, and their daughter, Elizabeth Rose Sutherland, was born in January 1923.

What do we know of Mary Lydia Pannach? Well I came to know her well but, as usual, when it was all too late. I wonder what I might have known had I asked her. She lived with my family on and off for some considerable periods when I was young, and I got to see that she was a determined person with a really good heart. She was extraordinarily skilful at things like sewing, knitting and crocheting. Many times I went to tennis in shorts that she had made, and classy shorts they were believe me. Despite all this, there is a sadness here that cannot be dealt with because the history of her life is very much unexplained.

I do have a photograph of her with my mother when my mother was very young (see below), but the sadness continues because her face is turned away from the camera. What did she look like as a young woman? I wish I knew.

Elizabeth Rose Sutherland and Mary Lydia Pannach
About 1927

Mary Lydia Pannach
20 Feb 1971
At Creswick