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!

Amiens revisited

As I mentioned in August 2011 I was hoping to take a trip up to Amiens for a look-around. In November I contacted the school and made an appointment to have a look over the school. At the same time I made a booking to stay at a B&B farmstay in Amiens and noted that its position seemed close to where I remembered our house and orchard being.

I had a lovely time at the school. the Principal gave us an hour of her time and showed us over the whole complex. It has certainly grown since my time though as you can see in the photos the oiginal building is still there though with some alteration.

Hilary goes back to school November,2011

After inspecting the campus we were taken into someof the classrooms, where we were introduced and the children had the opportunity to ask me questions about school in 1942. This was a great experience and one I enjoyed and appreciated.

When I asked the Principal if she could tell me where some of the buildings I remembered  might be  including the old railway station she rang a local man and arranged for us to call on him. He was a very pleasant and helpful young man and took us in his truck for a ride along the track where the railway lines used to be. The line was closed in 1974, and the rail lines removed as was the station building. He also pointed out where the bakery, saddlery and other buildings I remembered had once been. So sad to find no trace of most of them.

remains of railway bridge on Nuncio's property 

remains of railway sheds



old bakery

Teachers residence ( now the Principal's residence) This much the same as in 1942.

Bush nurses building, now a private residence 2011

Rural (Bush) nurses building in earlier times

After our tour of the area we headed off and had lunch at a winery before going  to the farmstay. When I saw the general position I felt it was all very familiar and became very hopeful that I had found the position of our orchard. After unpacking , I was browsing through a folder the owners had left in the cottage and found a written reference which stated that Mrs Tarbit and her children had stayed on the property in 1942-43. This was very encouraging and quite exciting. There was also mention of a family who came later and the name of someone who could perhaps give more information I have since contacted her and she confirmed that an earlier house had been in front of the present one. This house  was the one she had lived in and her brother has confirmed would have been the  one in which we lived . It was burnt down around 1970. My nephew has since found confirmation in the State Archives that my mother took over the lease in 1943 and relinquished it in 1948. This suggests that it was still Government land ( they were originally part of the post-WW1 soldier settlement) and not freehold.  Alan and Steven are still researching the area in the Archives.

Shadowbox farmstay 2011

Cottage b&b at Shadowbox farmstay

cottage ...and rocks on which I believe Lois and I used to play.

Behind those trees is a very large granite outcrop I wasn't about to walk through that long grass without boots but I am sure this was one of our play areas .

The owners of the property are a very friendly and pleasant couple . They provided us with dinner in their homestead and we found we had a number of things in common so it was an evening of interesting conversation. When I have more information concerning our time on the property I will again visit them.



Adapting to country life

The purple passionfruit hung on the vine just waiting to be picked. If I didn't grab it soon I could be sure someone else would but it was tantalisingly out of easy reach. There was no way I was going to step in closer because I just knew that there would be snakes lurking in all that growth. Our home at Annerley in Brisbane had been on the edge of bushland and as I often trailed after my brother and his mates as they headed down to the creek and thereabouts, I already knew to watch for snakes. However, this was the "real" bush and warnings had been delivered in a way which was not to be taken lightly! I had also heard all about death adders and they had me really worried. Needless to say it didn't take Alan long to find a way to harvest the passionfruit so I just kept close to him.

From the start it was my chore to gather kindling for the stove. Alan had to collect the heavier branches and cut them to length . We usually just headed out to the roadside as there was plenty of fallen branches there. Every skinny branch and twig was carefully looked at to make sure it didn't wriggle!

Close to the cottage was an outcrop of granite rocks. This was a favourite playing place where Lois and I could mark out pretend rooms and play "house". It was the ideal place for snakes to warm themselves. While we never became blase about the chance of snakes and  always kept a lookout we learnt not to let our fear  interfere with our activities.

When later I had a bike,someone told me that if you ran over a snake it could wind itself around the spokes in the bike wheel. Did a lot for my confidence!

The only time I can actually remember encountering a snake close-up was when I returned home from school one afternoon and there was  a snake lying just in front of the small house gate. I remember standing there for ages waiting for the thing to move so that I could get to the house. I suppose a local kid would have thrown a stick or something but I wasn't that game. I have seen a few snakes even here in my Toowoomba garden but have never lost that shudder on coming across one.

As far as I can recall we didn't ever have one come into the house at Amiens.

 I dont have a clear mental image of the layout of the cottage. This may seem surprising as I was there for about 18 months and from 10 1/2 to almost 12 years old. We moved so frequently in the following years that I think each move must have wiped out the previous one. There was no bathroom and we had our bath in a large round galvanised tub in front of the stove. Because the water had to be heated on the stove, there was a strict pecking order for a bath with a top-up of hot water in between each person. I expect Alan was unlucky last and had the job of emptying the big tub. I think there was a shelf by the kitchen wall and two basins underneath it. One was a white enamel to use for our daily wash and the other was the tin dish for washing the dishes. I think there was a tap over the shelf . I assume it was connected to a tank. There was a well in the backyard some distance from the house though I dont think we used that water for drinking or bathing. I have no memory of how Mum did laundry but expect there was a copper outside somewhere.

There were no other houses for miles. Mum used to cycle over to visit  other women in the district or to Uncle Ernie and Auntie Mary. If she wasn't home by a certain time it was my task to start the fire in the stove and peel the vegetables. One afternoon I had trouble getting the fire to"catch", so , as I had seen Mum do on occasions, I poured in some kerosene. Unfortunately I didn't have her experience and the whole thing flared up strongly. I singed the front of my fringe and all my eyebrows and burnt the backs of my hands as I put them over my face. Mum must have bandaged them later because the next morning I had to go to the Rural Nurse and was very scared wondering if the bandages would have stuck. I had to go each morning for a while to have them inspected and the dressings changed. It didn't get me out of school!

The house must have been rather crowded in the early months while Edna and her 2 girls were with us. I dont think they stayed very long as they dont figure in many memories. I do know that Edna milked the cow. How did we acquire a cow! Probably Uncle Ernie arranged that. He used to come over each week in the early stages to do the heavy things like disposing of rubbish and emptying and burying  the contents of the  outside toilet...a job which Alan eventually  had to take over.

There was no electricity so light was from lamps;  no TV of course and papers only came in once a week on the train. I expect Mum had a portable "wireless"  and kept track of news of the "real" world. It is only as an adult that I can imagine how her life had changed and how she must have missed her home and life in Brisbane. Still we were safe and Dad was not overseas as so many men were. For us life was a bit of an adventure and there was a new school with new friends to meet.

Annerley house

I dont know when the alterations to the exterior of the Annerley house were made. I cant even remember the actual work being done.
I do have memories regarding the interior . The long boards of the veranda were sanded ;  these had to be waxed and polished by hand. Alan soon discovered that it was more fun to tie the bundles of  polishing cloths under our feet and "skate" along the veranda rather than having to get down on hands and knees. Lois always wanted to join in anything that looked like fun so one day Alan put her on a cushion and while he pulled her by the legs I pushed from her back. This was great fun for a while but unfortunately the boards must not have been as well sanded as they should have been and Lois collected a large splinter in her bottom. Mum could not get it all out so Alan and I had to take her up to Lady Cilento's surgery which was at the front of their home on Ipswich Road.

One afternoon I rushed home from school very excited ...because a new sink was installed that day!!! I wonder if that would excite a young child today?! It was the very latest in sinks...stainless steel! It replaced the old enamel one. Many homes did not even have a sink and washing up was done in a bowl on the kitchen table. We had to do this at Amiens but that is for later in this story.

I am fairly certain that the original stove was a wood(burning) one in a recess. This may have been replaced later by an electric one but I cant be sure about that. In the corner of the kitchen and near the stove recess was a single gas ring. I remember Mum warming oil in a spoon over the flame ; she then put the warm oil in my ear to try to float out an insect, probably a moth. On the rare occasions that we were given castor oil it also was warmed in this way and then added to orange juice the latter doing nothing to disguise the taste unfortunately.

In another corner of the room was the ice chest. The iceman used to deliver a slab of ice each morning to the bottom front step. Dad wrapped it in newspaper and it was then placed in a compartment at the top of the ice-chest. As the ice melted during the day, the water dripped down through a metal tubing into a bowl which was placed under the chest. This had to be emptied regularly, usually each morning I think. This was my job for a long time until a frog decided to make the bowl his home . I was a bit of a scaredy-cat and wasn't going near the bowl if the frog was there so Alan got the job.  Lois treated the frog as her pet ...pity she wasn't old enough to take over the chore for me!
She was always the "gamer" of us ; another of her delights at this time was catching  the bees around Mum's garden  poppies; she had  botttle and used to creep up on a bee, and quickly put the lid on the bottle.  Mum was always expecting she would get stung and lose interest but I dont recall that ever happening.

Alan and I used to take her for "walks" when she was little. This may have been in the pram ...I dont remember anyone having a "stroller" in those days...or it may have been in Alan's billy cart. This was the forerunner to a go-cart. It was home-made and basically a wooden box on a simple frame with wheels. There was also a front wheel ...often old pram wheels were used...and the driver used rope to steer. As our footpath had a gentle slope we used to take our hands off the "vehicle - whichever" and run along beside it as Lois screamed ; she wasn't scared just loved every minute of it. Mum told us many years later that a neighbour had said when Lois started school that she " never thought that child would live to start school." I'd be fairly sure Mum knew what ever we did  ( dont Mum's usually!)and would not have stopped anything she assumed to be safe fun. She grew up with boys older and younger than herself and only one sister close in age so knew very well what youngsters would try.
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The bathroom was at the back end of the veranda section and at some stage the floor was covered with terrazzo...again the latest thing for bathrooms. There was no hot water system ( in fact I dont think we ever had onein our home) ; there was some sort of a heater at one end; it may have been a chip heater or even gas. I know I found it a bit scarey.

The toilet as I have mentioned was down the back yard.

There was no laundry as we know it today but under the house were concrete tubs and a copper for boiling the water. I think Mum may have bought her first washing machine while at Annerley, the old wringer type but I cant be certain about that. Clothes were pegged on long line strung across the back yard ;the lines were lifted up with clothes props. These were tree saplings which had been smoothed down. They had been cut where there was a fork  thus making the V which held up the lines. Men used to come to the door selling clothes props. This was one of the ways many men had to earn some money to support their families at that time.

We had the occasional "swaggie"  call at the back asking for work or a feed and I remember taking sandwiches down to one sitting on the bottom step. We were always told to speak respectfully to and about anyone who came looking for food or a "job."
"

All children had their chores and I'll tell you more about that another day.

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.