Postscript to schooldays.

Though we didn't have school camps or major trips as schools organise today I do remember one great school outing while I was at Yeronga state primary school. It was probably pre-war so I would have been about 8. There was a steam ship named the SS Koopa which steamed from Brisbane to Redcliffe  and I think also to Moreton Island. The school may have had an annual picnic and on this occasion a family day was organised on the SS Koopa to Redcliffe. Mum made me a new outfit . I can still remember the floral material for the shorts and top. She also made a large sunbonnet to match...a sensible action as I have always burnt easily in the sun.  I grizzled all day about wearing that hat as I thought it was babyish! Ungrateful  young miss! I always had to wear a blouse under my bathing togs  and that also brought out the grizzles. I must have enjoyed the day on the whole as it is a fond memory!

Thanks to my son-in-law Brian for finding these photos for me.

I have mentioned earlier that my Grandfather Tarbit, Ida, and Auntie Agnes were very much part of our lives. Alan and I spent some wonderful school holidays staying with them at their home in Booval outside Ipswich.  In 1947 Lois and I spent some time with them..Alan would have been at work by then.

Here we are helping our Grandfather pick peaches for Ida to make jam.

At the time when I finished secondary school many girls were making their debut. These were very big occasions and were often organised by the school. Clayfield College did not sponsor these events and many girls from my year had a private "coming-out" party or supper dance. I went to several of these and finally persuaded my parents to allow me to have one. We held a supper-dance in a Hall at Clayfield and invited all my class. Some  of them brought a male friend along but there were still plenty of girls dancing together. I remember it as a very happy evening.

This was the dress I made for the occasion. The little bolero I had knitted in some sort of chenille which was very popular at the time.

When I see the photos in the newspaper these days of the "graduation" outfits the girls are wearing I think how young and unsophisticated my generation was...and  rationing on cloting is not in force in Australia today!

More schooltime memories

Although both the wars in Europe and in the Pacific ended in 1945 there were still shortages of many commodities. Rationing of sugar was lifted in 1947 and of meat and clothing in 1948 ( the year I finished high school) Tea and butter were still rationed until some time in 1950. Many other items were in short supply for many years.
At Clayfield College our school books were supplied as part of the school fees. This also  included  our exercise books. Our day pad ..for use in classes...didn't have nice crisp white paper as you would see today. It was a rather dingy beige colour and quite smooth not unlike a pale brown paper. As you will gather, paper was in short supply. Before one was issued with a new pad, the old one had to be handed in to the Principal for inspection. No waste space was allowed. We got around this by filling those spaces with bits of French vocabulary, Latin declensions etc.


It seems that most schools today take students for camps and some young people are lucky emogh to go on interstate or even overseas trips. During my time in High School we had no such opportunities. The only trip I had was to a National Fitness Camp and that was during school holidays not in term time. The camp was situated by Tallebudgera Creek near Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast. I think the huts were ex-army huts ...they certainly were not glamorous as this photo shows.

National Fitness Camp, 1947

I am the one on the right in the dark one-piece

This was no "holiday" camp! We had exercises , sports, hiking from dawn to dusk. I remember my legs being covered with bruises from playing hockey on the sand. We had inspection of huts each day and there was a roster for peeling potatoes etc. There were children from many schools so there was quite a lot of rivalry also. No mobile phones, ipods, TV etc for us...I think we had a movie one evening but we were all so exhausted by the end of each day that nobody minded the early lights-out call.



While we lived at Petrie we often went swimming in the Petrie River which was only a short walk from home. On two occasions I organised a picnic at the river for my Clayfield College school mates. They came out on the train so for some of them that was a little adventure.  This photo was taken in front of our Petrie home when the girls came up to the house afterwards for afternnon tea.

After the picnic at Petrie in 1945
I am in the back row, sixth from the left ( with straps over the shoulders) Lois is on the right seated in front

I can see in these photos that some of us had long hair. I cant remember when the school rule was brought in but at some time we were not allowed to have our hair touching our collar. The girls got by this rule by tying their hair in bunches. This looked rather silly on most of us and I think the rule must have been quietly phased out!

Because we were a small school most of us had the opportunity to be involved with the sporting teams. I played a lot of tennis but missed out on being in the school team as practice time was before and after school. While we lived at Clayfield this was no problem but after we moved  I could not combine that and my ballet classes. I did get into the athletic team for the various ball games. The inter-school competitions were held at the Brisbane Exhibition grounds.

Also held at these grounds were the Public Examinations...Junior and Senior. It was Summer time  so always hot, dusty and most uncomfortable. I sat for the Senior exam in November or December of 1948 . Fortunately I passed and matriculated for University...more of that later.

In my last year I was a prefect and Head of my House...do schools still have these?

I'm on the back, left end

I  had passed all the grades in the ballet exams and this year also passed the Elementary; which unlike its title is  actually the first of the  major exams and I was then admitted as a Member of the Royal Academy of Dancing (London.) I dont think this examination is still held but there is an Australian equivalent. Will try to check that out sometime just to satisfy my own curiosity.

Between the time school finished and the end of the year, I was not allowed to sit at home and rest on my laurels. I was sent out to work straight away!  Dad arranged for me to work as a temp at the Clayfield Post Office .I had to empty the mailbox in front of the P.O. The letters all had to be hand-stamped with the Clayfield Post Office date stamp. All very exciting...no, boring! In the afternoon I had to take the mail bags across to the Railway Station before I went home. I didn't really mind this and probably would have been bored stiff at home all day. No distractions as young people have today. I think we had by now moved again , this time to Bald Hills so I was again well away from my friends.

Class of 1947, I'm third from left in back row

Some of the 1948 class

I'm back- right

Some people cant wait for the day when they finish school but I must say that I was never unhappy at school and have only good memories of that part of my life.

On the move again

I'm not sure how long we lived at Petrie  but at some stage Mum must have decided to go back into business and we moved to a Guest House in South Brisbane. This building has since burnt down and the property now forms part of the Mater Hospital's Medical facilities.

Lois and I were still attending Clayfield College but instead of racing to catch a train we were now racing to catch the tram. Fortunately we could catch a tram which went through to Clayfield but we had to be sure to be there for the right one. They came at regular intervals.

Drumborisk Guest House

Kathy has commented in the last post on the length of my uniform. As I mentioned earlier the school was very strict about the uniform . As I remember, the regulation length was determined this way...you knelt on the floor keeping your back straight and torso erect. The hem of your uniform had to just touch the floor in front of your knees...no shorter or longer was acceptable. Remember too that fabric and clothing was still rationed .

I dont know when we moved again ...or why...but after a brief stay in New Farm we moved to Wavell Heights.

Wavell Heights house 1948

 Now Lois and I could ride our bikes to school. I had two routes I could take.  If I rode part of the way home with a friend I would  follow a tram-line at one point. It was always wise to be careful not to let one's bike wheel get stuck in the tram rails. One day I was carefully watching that when a dog ran out at me and I remember getting both me and the bike in quite a tangle. I was of course  in full uniform, including the hat, gloves and long black stockings. I ended up  a hole in one of the stockings where the dog had taken a bit out of me...nothing drastic fortunately but all rather frightening ; fortunately I hadn't fallen off the bike.

Those black stockings were the bane of our lives. They were in short supply so had to last as long as possible. As well as mending them we had to try to keep them regulation black. This was quite impossible as the dye was certainly not colourfast and the stockings quickly became a dingy gray , sometimes with a green tinge! We all regularly dyed them with  black tea. I dont remember when rationing of tea ceased but I do remember Mum keeping all the used cold tea from the pot so I could dye those wretched  stockings. These were of course not nylon but thick cotton lisle and very uncomfortable in hot weather. 

Starting Secondary(High) School

Local children are returning to school this week after the long summer holiday break. As I told you in an earlier post,   in 1944 we were living in Clayfield, Brisbane, and  I finished my primary schooling when I passed the State Scholarship public examination at the end of 1944 at Eagle Junction School.
At the beginning of 1945 I started at Clayfield College in the Sub-Junior Form.

However, before I tell you about my time there I will update the information I have about our time in Amiens . I now have copies of documents from the State archives...thanks to my brother Alan and his son Steven. These include one of the purchase of the Government lease by my mother in 1943 and confirmation that it is indeed the very property as I thought. I also have a copy showing  when she sold it  later in 1948 and to whom. As we left the property in April 1943 and Giulio Crema took up residence in 1946 according to his daughter, we do not know who, if anyone, lived in the house during that gap in time. We think she probably took over a share-farming arrangement which the previous owner had had with a neighbouring property .  I dont remember any mention of the farm after 1943 but one has to remember that  in those days financial matters etc were not discussed " in front of the children."
Perhaps we will one  day learn more  but at the moment I am happy that I have confirmed that it was "our" property I had visited and to have met and talked with the present owners.

In early 1945 we were  living at Clayfield, I started at Clayfield College, Lois continued at Eagle Junction school and Alan was at the Brisbane Grammar School.



 We lived opposite the back entrance to the Clayfield college  ( now the main front entrance) so it was an easy matter to simply walk across the road. This school went right from Kindergarten to Matriculation so there was a mix of Scholarship girls and "Clayfield" girls in my class.  Fortunately we newcomers were quickly absorbed into the group. It was not a large school so there were only about 20 in my Form  which was the only Sub-Junior form.
Secondary schooling in Queensland at that time was for 4 years ...Sub-Junior, Junior, Sub-Senior and Senior. At some schools many students left after the Junior public examination but at my school I think only one student left, the rest of us continuing until the end of the Senior year. It was an "Academic" school with no commercial or domestic subjects taught and as I have indicated an all-girls school.
I was still attending ballet classes in the city and now started Speech & Drama at the school. I continued the Speech & Drama after I finished schooling and eventually gained my ATCL (Assoc of the Trinity College London) teachers Diploma and the Australian equivalent from the AMEB.  I enjoyed being in the school plays.

The war in Europe finished in April 1945 and in the Pacific in August 1945 but rationing was in full force for several more years. Many goods were  either restricted to certain priorities or simply unavailable. I remember being lined up with others on the school veranda to be measured by the Head Mistress. If you were over a certain height you qualified for extra clothing coupons. I was eligible but there wasn't much to use them on!

 I remember having to have a white dress for School Speech Night. I didn't have one and we couldn't find fabric anywhere in Brisbane to make one. Eventually my auntie Agnes (Tarbit) found some in a small shop in Ipswich and sent it to me. I remember making the dress. All  our clothes were homemade,including our uniforms. I knitted my own school jumper for winter though I did have a bought school blazer.; I dont remember having any bought clothing until I was a working girl and even then most of my clothing I made myself.

As well as the shortage of fabric there was difficulty in buying buttons etc. Elastic was a particular problem and many a schoolgirl had buttons on the side of her homemade "bloomers". The buttons were of whatever type and colour a mother could find in her treasured pre-war stash.Often the elastic was of poor quality and prone to snap so I think we all had a safety pin in our bags ...just in case it snapped at an inconvenient time!

In mid-1945 we moved from Clayfield to Petrie which is just north of Brisbane. I dont know why we moved though I think Mum had not been very well. I had on a number of occasions had to stay home from school and was eventually called to the Principal's office to discuss the absences. I had to explain that my mother ran a guest house and my help was need if she was unwell. I was asked if there were no family aunt or other member to help. There must have been some staff so I cant think now why I had to be home to help.
It was lovely at Petrie to have our home to ourselves again. The main drawback was that we were now a  long way from our school friends. Lois now started at Clayfield College and as she was there right through to matriculation she became one of the "Clayfield" girls.

We had to travel by train from Petrie to Eagle Junction station and then walk to school from there. Most week day mornings one could have seen  Dad , in full suit etc, and we three schoolkids in full uniform ( Hat etc) racing down the road and through a paddock with 2 barb-wire fences to negotiate to get to the station in time!
Rules regarding school uniform were very strict but on very hot summer days we were allowed to roll down our black stockings. As I had a rush in the afternoons to catch the train home I was often spending the last few minutes of class trying to pull up those stockings without being in trouble with the teacher.

I dont have any school photos from 1945 but these were taken in 1946...

This is the house at Petrie...from the front

from the back

front garden...

I dont have any memories of making any friends in Petrie. Lois and I started learning the piano from a local woman. For me these ceased when we later moved . Lois then continued with lessons at school. Clayfield College  had and still has an excellent record in Art, Music, and Speech.

My memories of the four years from the beginning of 1945 to the beginning of 1949 are very disjointed so I must ask you to forgive an octogenarian if from now on this record  seems to jump around a bit!