A routine demolition at a Geelong home has led to a remarkable human connection spanning more than 50 years, after a message in a bottle from 1972 was discovered sealed inside the wall of an old shed — and a simple Facebook post did the rest.
St Albans Park resident Brent Taylor first came across the bottle three years ago during renovation works on his property, but set it aside without fully investigating it. It was only recently, while sorting through boxes, that he rediscovered the find and took a closer look at what was inside.
The Note Inside the Wall
The handwritten note is dated 18th June 1972 and carries the inscription "Pat Finn's birthday," accompanied by five signatures. Taylor decided to post a photograph of the bottle and the note to local community groups on Facebook in hopes of tracking down anyone connected to the names written inside.
The response exceeded all expectations. "I've actually found the son of the person 'Pat' whose birthday it was," Taylor said. "Pat's wife Laura has also signed it — sadly Pat has passed, but she is now in her 90s."
Four of the five signatures have since been identified, and Taylor is hopeful the families involved can come together to decide the bottle's fate. "I'm hoping they can come to an agreement as to what happens with the bottle, as I'm sure it would be something the families would like," he said.
Families Reconnected Across Generations
Pat and Laura Finn's son, Damian Finn, was not yet born when the note was written, but he recalled growing up next door to the Fox family — another name that appears among the signatures. Damian confirmed his father had passed away 16 years ago and had never mentioned the note.
"I'm calling in on mum who has also signed the paper. She's now 90 and not going great," Damian said. He also offered an insight into his father's character that made the discovery feel entirely in keeping: "My parents were always in for a bit of fun. Dad would sign his name and date on every house he ever worked on — in wall cavities and so on — so this may be the start of more finds."
Another signatory was identified through Barry Fox, whose father Maurice also put his name to the note. Maurice Fox believes the bottle was placed inside the wall cavity as "a sort of time capsule to remember the building of the garage."
A Personal Connection to Bottles Lost in Time
The discovery carries an especially personal resonance for Taylor himself. As it turns out, he has his own connection to a long-lost message in a bottle — one with an even more extraordinary backstory.
"Funnily enough, a message in a bottle from a relative of mine was found a year ago, which was dropped overboard on his way to World War One," Taylor said. That bottle was recovered at Wharton Beach, near Esperance in Western Australia, where experts believe it lay buried for more than a century. It is understood the bottle was cast into the ocean in 1916 by two Australian soldiers as they made their passage toward France.
For Taylor, the twin discoveries — one personal, one purely accidental — have underscored just how powerfully objects can carry memory across time. With four of the five names now accounted for and the families in contact, the only question remaining is what becomes of the bottle that waited more than half a century inside a Geelong shed wall to be found.
