A bit of a digression, then some more from Dutton Park time.

The other day I mentioned the Easter egg hunt at the Kindy/child minding centre. The day after I wrote that I headed off to the fitness centre for our weekly aqua class in the pool. The young trainer bounced in brightly and said "Today we are going to have an easter egg hunt" ...I nearly drowned on the spot!. Anyhow, all that happened was that she threw some squash balls into the water ( one less ball than the number of people in the pool) and we had to run to find them. Not as easy as it sounds and guess who missed out!

I've been trying to remember about Easter time when I was a young child. I am always surprised at how early Easter eggs and hot cross buns come into the supermarkets nowadays. I know we often went to the corner shop for Mum but I dont actually remember seeing Eggs or buns there. The bread was delivered to the house...in a basket covered with a cloth. Maybe Mum ordered the buns from him. I am sure we had only one egg each and that was the sugar type ( not chocolate) with a frilly edging over the join between the two halves. I always thought that bit tasted the best. On top of the egg was either a little fluffy chicken or a "sticker" of a pretty flower or somesuch. We did have fun colouring hardboiled eggs at home. Cant remember what we used or how we decorated them...just the fun of doing them together with Mum. This  would have been later when we were at Annerley  but before I move onto our next home here are a few more memories from the time at Dutton Park.

One morning travelling to school on the bus we were surprised when it made an unscheduled stop and the driver got out; Thinking we might be going to be left there we were all a bit anxious. The boys rushed to the windows when they noticed another bus stopping and that driver also getting out. Next minute the drivers were having a fight. The boys cheered tham on but I remember being rather upset. Then our driver returned, with a number of red marks, bruises etc, and we proceeded on our way. What was it all about? I still dont know!

Another memory tied in with waiting for the bus is from the time some boys started to tease me and were becoming a bit physical. Big brother stepped in and sorted them out. I was a very shy little girl and had no idea how to stand up for myself. We were also , as I've mentioned before, very lucky to be in a family who were ,while not wealthy, at least comfortably off and whose father was in good employment. There were many families at that time who were "on relief" due to the Depression and unemployment. This may also have caused some resentment...I have no way of knowing.  Children were asked in class if their father was on relief ( like the dole) so there was no privacy for those children.They were given some school supplies but I cant remember just what.
 A different sort of "school" experience comes to mind. It seemed that everyone I knew went to church and/or Sunday School while we didn't. This always made me curious. The girl next door used to put on her best dress every Sunday and go to Sunday School and then tell me what they did and all the songs they sang etc. I pestered Mum until she finally said I could go with the girl ( cant remember her name.) We had to take sixpence ( for the missions or something I suppose) We were late leaving home and by the time we caught the tram to the place, the class had started. I never got to Sunday School! We sat at the tram shelter until it was time to go home and neither of us ever owned up that we hadn't actually attended . Did we spend the sixpence? Sorry, cant remember.
I can remember going over to this girl's place to play. The family must have had an interest in horses because there were big bales of hay stored under the house which made a wonderful  playing place. There was an older girl living opposite ( I think) who used to read to us sometimes. She had a pet black raven bird.
 Although I was 7 when we left Dutton Park I cant remember any other playmates.
I clearly remember the day we moved to Annerley. I dont know exactly the date butwe had been there some time before WW2 was declared in September of 1939.

But wait...there's more to come! ...but not just now!

Early school days

I was lucky to have a big brother to take me to school on my first day. He had already been catching the bus so I was quite confident going with him. I dont recall being nervous in any way.

I had already had the experience of being apart from Mum and the family not only because of the dancing lessons but also because I had been to ...I don't know if it was a kindergarten or  a child-minding centre .
I dont know if this was a regular occurence or  only when Mum was going to town or somewhere. I have only 2 very distinct memories associated with the place. One was being in "trouble" for talking when the phone rang!!! I was already  apparently quite a chatterbox . From what I can remember ,if the phone rang we all had to go to the far end of the room. I must have been a bit slow to get going . I must have been talking to someone but cant remember what happened to them. My memory is of being grasped by the hair and "dragged" to the other end of the room. More likely the person had her hand behind my head and was leading me ...but that is not how I remember it!
The other memory is of an Easter egg hunt. I feel this was a family event on  the weekend . I was very upset when I saw other children, much more outgoing than myself, getting to the eggs before I could. I've hated any sort of competition ever since!

Now it was time to head off to Yeronga State School...
Records indicate that children started school when they turned 5. There was some flexibility but from records it seems at that time there would have been children starting every few days. Must have been a nightmare for the teachers. I turned 5 on June 12, 1936 and started school on June30th. ( Alan had turned 5 on Sept 27 and started school on Sept 28; Lois must have been really keen as she actually started school the day of her 5th birthday,Oct 2).  I  thank my brother-in-law Tom for providing me with that research.

We started in Prep.1 and depending on when you had started you completed one and a half years or 2 years before you entered Grade 1. For some there was a Prep 4 which was mainly a revision time.This made for smaller Prep classes but large Grade 1 classes. I have a report from Grade 1 which shows there were 49 children in my class.( By the way I got a Special Merit!) There was a certain amount of work that had to be completed before going up to Grade 1 and as I was in the Prep3 class I can still remember my anxiety that I wouldn't remember it all. Such important things as the sounds of the alphabet...a is an apple- a says ...etc etc.

It surprises me that I cannot remember the layout of our home at this time but can remember where I sat that first day and have a clear memory of all the classrooms of the next few years and where they were situated.
That first day ( and probably for some time after) my "room" was an enclosed part of the veranda and we sat at long desks with long forms. I was seated beside someone I knew ( maybe a neighbour?) and she was being a bit bossy because she had started earlier and knew more than I did! Funny what the memory bank retains isn't it?!
I can still see the little Primers we had which were our reading books in those early years. I think they were about 10x8 cm.We used slates and slate pencils. Not sure which year we started using copy books but I think it would have been quite a few years later.

I was lucky that Mum was always sewing and I had already learnt to sew on a button,  as an early activity involved a fat blunt needle, yarn and a punched card. I dont know if my girls used anything similar but the next time I remember seeing anything similar was when Fiona was at Special ED. school. Sewing followed me right through primary school and I have a feeling the boys also did it. Must ask Alan about that. We progressed to stitching on cloth and I distinctly remember being handed a piece of plain fabric with the outline of a sailing boat drawn on it. After learning running stitch we progressed to other simple embroidery stitiches such as stem stitch and lazy daisy .
At some stage we learnt run-and-fell seams, french seams  and other useful stitching...all by hand .

Drawing was not my favourite subject. We were not taught how to draw. I cant ever remember being given any sort of guidance and it was only when as an adult here in Toowoomba that I came across a book on drawing and  learnt how to "see" something and draw what I "saw" rather than what my brain told me about an object. Before then I was totally convinced I could not draw at all. At school we drew such  exciting things as a string of beads!! No attempt at shading  etc; everything of mine was very one-dimensional.

It was at Yeronga State School that I had my first taste of acting. I was already in love with performing through the dancing. One day I was called out to the veranda; I must have been about 9 I think. There were several teachers there and I was told to stand at one end of the veranda and repeat something. I was being "auditioned" for a part in a play that was to be performed outdoors and they were looking for people whose voices would carry. I think this was for the official opening of the new Yeronga Infants school. I was very excited but remember nothing whatsoever about the actual play or whether I had to wear any costume etc.
In secondary school I was always in the school plays and years later was a member of the Brisbane Repertory theatre. It was in the doldrums at the time so I didn't do much with them but did act in some one-act plays. I remember Dad saying afterwards "I didn't know you could act like that"  Made me very proud and happy. While at University I earned a little money cataloguing some of their library.

The only time I can recall being in trouble at primary school was for talking ( surprise surprise) I was sent to stand out on the veranda and was there when I saw the Headmaster doing his rounds on the other wing. By the time he got to me I was so nervous that I had picked to shreds the end of my lovely black patent  leather belt  which was a gift from Auntie Agnes. Oh the indignity of being asked by the Head why I outside the classroom.

The first immunisation I can recall having was at this school when I would have 8 or 9. It was for diphtheria and only about 6 children in my class were allowed by their parents to have it. I did not have any reaction but as we were allowed to have a lie-down under the building if feeling off-colour ,naturally we all lay down. I remember the other children coming out at little lunch and we all  played possum and pretended to be asleep.

I started at Yeronga in 1936, was there until the end of 1941, then at Amiens State School for 1942 and part of 1943, back to Yeronga for the rest of 1943 then at Eagle Junction State Shool for 1944 before starting at Clayfield College in 1945.

Some children have unhappy memories of their school days but I can honestly say I enjoyed mine.

Update on houses I've lived in

I mentioned a brief stay at Hamilton Heights. I am now sure that stay was at New Farm,( not Hamilton) and  not far from the Story Bridge. I remember walking there after school , passing  near All Hallows school . Had come by tram from Clayfield College and walked up from the Valley.

Dutton Park

We moved from Yeerongpilly  to Dutton Park before my first birthday. I have only some very vague "feelings" and no clear memory of the actual house. One of those vague memories is sitting at a table watching my father and Alan with a shiny brass model steam engine. Perhaps it was Alan's birthday. Another memory comes to mind of being excited because I had just grasped how to spell. It was the word MAXAM which was the name of the cheese we ate. Such an easy word to recognise and fascinating that it didn't matter from which end I started!
I cannot visualise the front exterior but these photos give a small indication of the style it may have been.

Grandmother Tarbit, Auntie Agnes, Alan and Hilary
(Note: Grandmother brought the tamo'shanter Alan is wearing and I believe this was the only time it was ever worn!)



Not a clear photo but shows Alan and Hilary in the same spot several years later.

Another of my vague memories is of the room just inside the door at the top of the steps.  Alan must have been doing his chores and chopping kindling -for the woodstove I guess- and I passed him a piece of wood just as the axe, or more likely a tomahawk came down. It hit the back of my hand and my memory is of sitting in that room with a bandage and Alan bring me a crust of bread with jam on it. Now you have to understand that the crust was the favourite part of the loaf ( we had a very canny mother!) and jam was only for treats. No wonder I remember that rather than the actual accident.  I do still have the scar to prove it though. Every little girl should have a big brother and mine has always filled that role very well. Not many brothers would have looked as happy as this at their little sister's "tea party with the doll."


Here are some other photos of us playing.



I do remember those cannas growing at the back fence. I know I wouldn't go into them but do not know if that was actually disallowed. 

Most of the time I must have enjoyed having my photo taken but compare these next two!



I vaguely remember being near the front gate one day when a motorbike pulled up and a man asked if this was where Mrs Tarbit lived. I said yes, and he asked if I would tell her that he was there. It turned out that he was my Uncle Roy, one of Mum's younger brothers. I dont remember much about contact with her family so this was very exciting. I know, but dont remember, that a couple of Mum's nieces stayed with us while studying . I think this is Estelle Harper my cousin in this photo:

The doll's pram reminds me of Mum telling me when I was older that Auntie Agnes brought me a doll when we were at Dutton Park and within minutes I had stripped it, given it a bath and washed all its clothes. I'm guessing that this would have happened about the time my baby sister entered the family

Grandfather Tarbit, Dad,Alan. Mary, Hilary, Lois Mary

Hilary, Lois, Alan

The three big events in my life at Dutton Park were 1.starting dancing lessons, 2.starting school and 3. the arrival of baby Lois.
I'll talk about school next time.

correction re Homes

Awake in the early hours of this morning I suddenly remembered that we had lived in 3 houses,not 2, during our first time in Cloncurry so that total should be adjusted to 20 houses ...so far!

Houses I've lived in

It is coming closer to the time when we will have to decide when to move out of our present home. I've lived in quite a number of houses so here's today's trip down memory lane.
My first home was in Yeerongpilly, Brisbane ( the following to *are in Brisbane unless noted otherwise)
Sometime late in 1931 or early 1932  the family moved to Dutton Park
Then when I was either 7 or 8 we moved to Annerley
when I was 10 we went to Amiens ( which is 17k NW of Stanthorpe in SW Qld.)
A couple of years later back to Annerely ( same house as before)
 Next move was to Clayfield
I'm not sure of the order of the next few moves  but I think it went like this:
Petrie ( just outside the Brisbane boundary)
South Brisbane
Wavell Heights
Bald Hills
somewhere in that time was a brief stay at Hamilton Heights
I started my secondary ( high) schooling while at Clayfield and ended it at Wavell Height so in the space of 4 years I had lived in 6 places.
In  1953 my parents moved to Melbourne and Alan and I stayed in Brisbane and lived in  a flat at Chelmer*
Bill and I were married in 1955 and went to Cloncurry; in NW Queensland; we lived in 2 different houses in our 3 years there
Next home was in Mackay where again we had 2 homes
From there it was back to Cloncurry where we lived in another 2 different houses
Finally we arrived in Toowoomba  a nd have lived in 2 houses here ( so far!)
If you add that up you will find that covers 19 houses ( counting Annerley as one)

If my calculations are correct I lived longer in the house in Dutton Park than in any other house until I came to Toowoomba in 1966. Unfortunately I have no real memories of that house just a few vague impressions. I will share some memories of life there next time.

car

I mentioned earlier that we did not have a car when I was very young and attending dancing  classes. It appears I was mistaken as big brother Alan has informed me that Dad did have a car in those early years. I had seen photos but assumed that the car belonged to my Grandfather Tarbit as I know he had a car.

 

 I have no memory of ever being in this car but that is me sitting on my father's lap at the steering wheel and Alan being the "back seat driver"

I have not been able to discover how long Dad had this car. Mum did not drive then so anywhere we went with her was certainly by tram.

 The family did not have another car until 1949 when we were living at Bald Hills. Mum obtained her licence then. Alan learnt to drive but I dont remember any suggestion either from myself or a parent  that I learn! Looking at the size of the Morris I dont think I would have been keen. This photo shows Dad, Lois in the car and my friend Gill Davey sitting on the runningboard. It was taken on my birthday in 1950 during an outing to Somerset Dam.
Note...I finally obtained my drivers licence in Mackay about 1959.