Sawmills
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THE TIMBER INDUSTRY UPDATED May 2010
THE TIMBER INDUSTRY UPDATED May 2010 The Timber Industry was one of the first industries to be established in Western Australia. The south west of the state was once dotted with timber mill towns but many of these are now extinct and their history fast disappearing. It is believed that the first timber to be exported to England left the state in 1831, exported by J.H. Morby. In 1833 a wood yard was established at Mt. Eliza by J.L. Moanger at Quindalup. The first steam driven mill was established at Guildford in 1844. The large scale cutting of timber in the south west was begun by Henry Yelverton in 1853 and in 1858 he set up a mill. On May 1st 1864 a carpenter named Benjamin Mason acquired a license to cut timber over an area of 260 hectares near the head of the Bickley Brook in the locality of what is now known as Carmel. Mason joined Francis Bird to form the Mason Bird Company. Mason and Bird built two sites, one on the canning River, set up in 1860, and one near Carmel, set up in 1864 known as Mason’s Mill (along the existing Mason Rd and in the vicinity of the Heritage Rose Gardens). Later during 1874, Mason built another steam_operated mill at Gooseberry Hill. All the men at this mill were convicts except for three free men who acted as overseers. All these men were brought out from England to work in the mill. An interesting sidelight on these men is that one of them by the name of Stevens, had a very close friend who was to have come out to Australia with him. However he changed his mind at the last minute and decided to go to America instead. This man's name was Henry Disston, and after his arrival in America he founded the saw manufacturing firm of that name, a firm which today is famous throughout the world for the quality of its saws. In 1889 Lionel White and Edward Keane built a sawmill at Karragullen known as Canning Mill and established a large settlement. (At the turn off of Canning Mills Rd).
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BENJAMIN MASON AND HIS WIFE ELIZA, |
FRANCIS BIRD, PARTNER IN MASON, BIRD & CO, BUILDERS OF THE WOODEN TRAMWAY FROM CARMEL TO MASON'S LANDING ON THE CANNING RIVER #2 |
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By 1871, Mason’s timber concession had expanded to 40,000 hectares, subject to the construction of a 15km tramway from the Darling Range to Cannington on the Canning River. It was this partnership that built a wooden tramway to the Canning River, nine miles away, completing it in January 1872. Mason Mill was then connected to a station on the Canning River known as “Mason’s Landing” from which timber was sent by barge to Fremantle. Horses were used to pull the huge log trains down the escarpment of the Darling Range.
By 1866 there were one hundred men and their families living on the timber mill. Mason had installed a steam engine driving a circular saw to replace the old saw pit sawing method. Despite his initiative, transport difficulties and competition brought Mason’s venture to a close in 1882. However, Mason and Bird made a significant contribution to the development of the early timber industry and the growth of the Kalamunda district. |
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TYPICAL TIMBER CUTTER'S TENT 1910 #4
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CROSSCUT TWO-MAN SAW AT WORK #5
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SLEEPER CUTTERS IN THE BUSH. THE MAN IN THE FOREGROUND IS PREPARING A SLEEPER AND WORKING ON A CARPET OF BARK TO PREVENT HIS BROAD AXE FROM BEING DAMAGED #6 |
MOVING A LOG TO A WHIM WITH A BULLOCK TEAM #7 |
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HUGE LOG ATTACHED TO WHIM READY FOR DRAGGING TO MILL #8
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AN EIGHT HORSE TEAM PULLING A LOG ATTACHED TO A WHIM #9
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TIMBER TRAMWAY, EMU BAY, TASMANIA. MASON & BIRD'S TRAMWAY WOULD HAVE LOOKED VERY MUCH LIKE THIS #10 |
TIMBER BRIDGE AND TRAMWAY FOR TRANSPORTING LOGS HAULED BY HORSES #11 |
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In1889 Edward Keane took up the timber license that had been granted to Mason and Bird, with the sole right to cut timber on the leased area. Keane and White built the Upper Darling Railway in 1891 to serve the new mill run by the recently incorporated Canning Jarrah Timber Company.
Within two years the population of Canning Mills was four hundred and Canning Mills grew into large settlement complete with inn, resident doctor and school. The Company employed 150 men, and 40 children attended the school. In 1893 three smaller mills had been established further into the forest – the Yankee Mill, the No 3 and the No 1 Sleeper Mill. The Canning Jarrah Timber Company was taken over by Millar’s Karri and Jarrah Company in 1901. Lionel White was manager at Canning Mills from 1889 after having started the Mount Helena Mill in 1883. After leaving Canning Mills, White took charge of the Ferguson River Mill until 1896 when he undertook the managership of Wellington Mills.
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EDWARD V. KEANE #12 |
STEAM TRAIN WORKING THE THE TIMBER YARD AT CANNING MILLS #13 |
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UPDATED 2010VERY EARLY PHOTO OF CANNING MILL. Note: CANNING ROAD RUNS LEFT TO RIGHT BETWEEN THE MILL AND THE FOUR HOUSES UPHILL FROM THE MILL #41
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CANNING MILLS FROM RAILWAY STATION. SAW MILL IS TO THE RIGHT. LOCO SHED LEFT OF CENTRE #42
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VERY EARLY SKETCH OF CANNING POST OFFICE (Presume this to be Canning Mills)
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PLAN SHOWING LAYOUT OF CANNING MILLS 1889 - 1925 MAP NOT TO SCALE |
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Map drawn by GORDON FREEGARD Copyright : Pickering Brook Heritage Group 2008 |
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UPDATED 2010 ENTRANCE GATE AND DRIVE TO MANAGER'S HOUSE AT CANNING MILLS. PHOTO TAKEN MARCH 2010 #46
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UPDATED 2010 PINE TREE LINED DRIVE TO MANAGER'S HOUSE AT CANNING MILLS. |
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The Millar's Company and the Australian Hardwood Company were responsible for opening up much of the timber country in the south West. The Department of Forest was established in 1895. The first Annual report of the Woods and Forests Department of WA was published on June 20th 1897. In its report it noted that about 2500 men were employed in the timber industry supporting 7000 people. One thousand four hundred and fifty one horses and two hundred and eighty four bullocks were used in the industry. There were 193 miles of private rail line and tramways used in the forest. The peak of the industry in WA was reached in 1913.
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A TIMBER TRAIN PULLING A LOAD OF SAWN TIMBER FROM CANNING MILLS IN MARCH 1903 #14
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A LOADED TIMBER TRAIN c1922 BEING HAULED BY LOCOMOTIVE "COATES" #15
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A smaller mill, Smailes Mill was later built east towards Carinyah Forestry Settlement and dozens of spot mills and smaller cutters operated in the area between Canning Mill and Barton’s Mill in Pickering Brook. In October 1883 regulation were gazetted requiring all timber cutters to be registered. After the creation of the Forest Department in 1895 the supervision of all cutters was done by forest rangers. |
SMAILES MILL c1930 |
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SMAILES MILL PHOTOGRAPHED FROM OUTSIDE THE OFFICE 1942 #17 |
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SEASONED JARRAH LEAVING SMAILES MILL c1936 #18 |
SEASONING THE TIMBER AT SMAILES MILL C1945 #19 |
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SMAILES MILL c1936 Back Row L - R: JIM MARCHANT, BERNIE SMAILES, BOB CARTER, WALLY MANSELL, NORM HUTCHINSON, ARTHUR ANDERSON, GEORGE ANDERSON, ERNIE MASON.
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PLAN SHOWING LAYOUT OF SMAILES MILL MAP NOT TO SCALE
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Map drawn by GORDON FREEGARD Copyright : Pickering Brook Heritage Group 2008
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BUSH LANDING 1 MILE FROM PICKERING BROOK, |
LOGGING TRAIN IN THE MOUNT DALE AREA c1930 |
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LARGE JARRAH FELLED BY NIEL WESTON AT PICKERING BROOK c1950 |
SMAILES AND WESTONS MILL NEXT TO RAILWAY STATION |
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Some of the known mills are listed below. They spang up and thrived until either the contacts were filled or suitable timber ran out. It was then that they were moved to a new site and everything started all over again. This cycle happened continually with full sized mills and spots mills popping up all through the forrest areas. Barton's Mill Karragullen Mill No 1 Sleeper Mill No 3 Mill No 4 Mill McKenzies Mill Pickering Brook Mill Smailes Mill - named after Sydney Smailes Smailes & Weston's Mill Yankee Mill
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PLAN SHOWING LAYOUT OF CARINYAH FORESTRY SETTLEMENT MAP NOT TO SCALE |
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Map drawn by GORDON FREEGARD Copyright : Pickering Brook Heritage Group 2008
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RICHARD WESTON (THIRD FROM LEFT) STANDING IN FRONT OF THE MASSIVE WHIM CALLED "DAISY BELL", HE HAD JUST BUILT AT CANNING MILLS. IT HAD 9FT WHEELS. #25 |
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Richard Weston, the wheelwright and carpenter who had worked at Mason and Bird’s Mill pioneered his "Springdale" property in Pickering Brook in approx.1885 near the present golf course on Reserve Rd. Weston built the famous whim "Daisy Bell" at the Canning Mill before the turn of the century, the biggest then built in Western Australia with massive 9 foot diameter wheels. When you consider the method of making these wheels was to form the wooden wheel and then slip over this the heated metal rim which when cooled down shrank tight. To heat a 9foot diameter metal hoop was hard enough because this was heated over only wood fires but then to lift and man-handle this hot metal rim and place it over the wooden wheel rim and push it into place, was a true feat. |
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WHIM CALLED "DAISY BELL" WORKING IN THE FOREST NEAR CANNING MILLS. DAISY BELL IS PAINTED ON THE CROSS BEAM BETWEEN THE WHEELS. |
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Barton’s Mill situated east of Kalamunda, in the area now called Pickering Brook, was originally owned by Alexander Barton. When he died in 1908 Millars took over and moved the mill two miles east. Barton’s mill was a busy mill camp A school was established at the Mill and families were housed in weatherboard homes. The original mill burnt down in 1924. |
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VERY EARLY PHOTO OF BARTONS MILL #27
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VERY EARLY PHOTO OF BARTONS MILL #28
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PLAN SHOWING LAYOUT OF BARTON'S MILL c1925 NOT TO SCALE
Copyright: Pickering Brook Heritage Group 2008
UPDATED 2010 VERY RARE PHOTO OF TENNIS AT BARTON'S MILL - JOHN MCKASKILL #48
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SINGLE MEN'S WORKERS HUTS PROBABLY AT BARTONS MILL #45 |
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NEW BARTONS MILL AFTER THE ORIGINAL MILL WAS BURNT DOWN #29 |
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"SPOTTER" POSITIONING A LOG READY FOR THE FIRST CUT AT BARTON'S MILL #30
A LOG BEING PREPARED FOR THE SAW BENCH AT BARTON'S MILL #32
"SCANTLING" BUILDING TIMBER STACKED AT BARTON'S MILL #34
LOG YARD AT BARTON'S MILL #36
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SCANTLING (BUILDING TIMBER) AT BARTON'S MILL BEING LOADED FOR TRANSPORT TO PERTH #31
BARTON'S MILL TIMBER YARD #33
LOADING SAWN TIMBER AT BARTON'S MILL #35
LOG TRAIN WAITING TO BE UNLOADED AT BARTON'S MILL #37
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The main market for the timber produced was for railway sleepers, supplying contracts for Railway Companies in India, New Zealand and the Eastern States of Australia. Tram Lines were at that time, being laid in Perth and Fremantle and it was common practice to use Jarrah blocks as a foundation |
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JARRAH BLOCKS BEING LAID FOR PERTH'S TRAM ROUTE #38
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TRAMLINE BEING LAID IN HIGH STREET, FREMANTLE c1905 #39
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LAYING OF JARRAH BLOCKS BETWEEN THE TRAM LINES ON BOTH CLIFF & HIGH STREETS IN FREMANTLE, SEPTEMBER 1905 #40 |
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References: Article: Pickering Brook Heritage Group Images: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14 Cala Munnda A Home in the Forest - John Slee & Bill Shaw |
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Words and terms in general use in the timber
industry.
BANDSTICKS
When a wagon is loaded with timber, chains are passed over the load and
secured on both sides. One bandstick is then placed alongside the chain and
another stick is used to twist the chain around the first one. BAR A
steel bar manufactured from a piece of railway line of various lengths. It is
used between the wagons of a log rake to move the trucks further apart
according to the length of the logs to be carried. BENCHMAN
The sawyer in charge of a saw bench. BOLSTER A
baulk of timber twelve inches by eight inches used to take the weight of the
timber when it is loaded onto a wagon. On a log wagon there is only one bolster
pivoted in the centre of the wagon and carrying one end of the log. On a timber
wagon there are two bolsters situated over the wheels, and these are securely
fixed to the wagon BREAKING DOWN SAW OR BENCH Any saw or bench used to cut the round log
into flitches. CHERRY PICKER
Any person, usually a young lad, who cleans the logs before they enter
the mill and makes sure there are no stones embedded under the bark to damage
the saws. CHOCKS
Pieces of wood used to retain the logs in position on a wagon.
CLOSE COUPLED
Log wagons coupled buffer to buffer as on a normal train, in contrast to
an extended rake in which bars are used to adjust the wagons to the length of
the logs. CUBIC FEET
A piece of timber twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches. The
content of a log was usually expressed in cubic feet FULL VOLUME
Sometimes called "Lane Poole" after the Conservator of forests
who devised this method of measuring a log in 1921. See "Hoppus". FLITCH
Any piece of timber cut from the log and passed onto another bench for
finishing. FACE CUT
Any cut used to obtain a square face on a piece of timber. It is not
measured cut but is lined up by the benchman by eye only. FIREWOOD DOCKER
A pendulum saw which is driven backwards and forwards by power from the
mill and is used to cut waste wood into short lengths for firewood. Operating
this is the most menial task in the mill, hence the expression "He
wouldn't even get a job on the firewood docker", used to describe a
no-hoper or useless fellow. FRICTION
A power-driven device used to rotate the rollers on a saw bench thus
driving the flitch over the bench and returning it. GOVVY Any
Government Railways rolling stock used to convey timber, as distinct from a
"Millar" or company wagon. GALLOPERS OUT
Men employed taking the sawn timber from the mill to the stacking yard. HAULER A
steam-driven engine used in the bush to haul logs from the stump to the
landing. They were a Western Australian invention and were used from the early
part of the century until the mid 1930's when they were replace with tractors. HOPPUS A
method of measuring logs in the round. This method was used from the very start
of the timber industry. It used what was known as the quarter girth measure.
The timberman saw all logs as a square piece of timber. The method of obtaining
this square for measuring purposes was the basis of these two systems. In
Hoppus measurements the log was trimmed square theoretically as follows: In full volume measurements there is no timber
discarded. Imagine a huge press on all four sides of the log pressing it from a
round section into a square piece as follows:
X: LOG SECTION NOT COUNTED IN HOPPUS VOLUME
The difference in the resultant volume in these
two systems is as much as twenty-five per cent. Even after the advent of the
full volume system the milling companies still used the Hoppus measure as they
were convinced that the full volume was not a true measure, it being impossible
to obtain the resultant square in the mills. However after nearly forty years
of differing, the companies finally admitted defeat during the early 1960's and
Hoppus is no longer used. IN THE ROUND
Timber volume expressed in the log i.e. log volume before sawing. IN THE SQUARE
Volume of timber as expressed after it has been sawn. JARRAH JERKER
(Marri Mauler or Karri Killer) slang terms used for any person employed
in the timber industry. JOCKEY A
small log which rides in the hollow made by two larger logs which rest on the
bolsters of the wagon. KARRI KILLER (Jarrah Jerker or Marri Mauler) slang terms used for any person employed in the timber industry. LANDING
Any place where logs are loaded from wagons. Logs are secured at right
angles to the direction of the log travel and the logs to be loaded roll along
the top of these. LOAD A
measurement consisting of fifty cubic feet. Although the terms "super
feet" and "cubic feet" are world wide in use, the word
"load" in this sense seems to be peculiar to Western Australia. LEAF A
part of the top of a saw bench that is readily removed to enable the saw to be
changed. MARRI MAULER (Jarrah Jerker or Karri Killer) slang terms used for any person employed in the timber industry. MILLAR A
company wagon for conveying sawn timber as distinct from a log wagon or
government wagon. NIB IRON
A circular piece of iron attached to the pole of a whim and used to draw
it along. PIN BOARD
Usually referred to as the pin. A piece of iron three inches by two
inches section and reaching across the full width of the saw bench. It is
situated in front of the saw, is graduated with holes to take a pin and is used
to give the required size when cutting timber. PLANK A
portion of a flitch that is cut to the width of the finished product but not to
thickness.
A FLITCH CUT FROM A LOG PLANK CUT (OR RIPPED) RAKE Has
two meanings according to the prefix used. The rake usually means the train
laden with logs arriving from the bush. A rake is the term given to any
number of wagons coupled together to form a train. SET A
set is used to describe two wagons coupled together in such a way as to enable
logs to be loaded onto them, one end resting on each wagon. SNAKE CHARMER
A navvy employed to keep the railway lines in repair. SLUSH LAMP
A means of illumination used almost exclusively in the industry from its
inception until the early 1950's when they were dispensed with. They were
constructed somewhat similar to the old-fashioned coffee pot with a spout on one
side and a handle on the other. A wick was inserted into the spout and the body
filled with kerosene. The resulting flame, when lit, would throw a smoky glow
for a few feet and enable the operator to see what he was doing. SLUSH LAMP
SQUIRT
Slang term given to an injector, an apparatus used to force water into
the boiler under pressure. SUPER FEET
A super foot is a piece of timber one foot long, one foot wide and one
inch thick or its equivalent. Thus three feet of four by one or six feet of two
by one would make a super foot. SWAMPER
First used to denote a man who prepared the log for hauling to the
landing. Later extended to include any assistant to a man of a higher grade. TO TAKE THE BACK OFF To remove the sapwood prior to making a
measured cut. TAILER OUT
A person employed at the rear of the bench to remove the sawn timber. TRAVELLER
A carriage on which the log is mounted to pass through the breaking down
bench. TWIN SAW
Two saws mounted one above the other in such a way that two cuts
coincide thus giving greater depth of cut. They are used to cut the round logs. VERTICAL SAW
A large frame saw secured to the top and bottom of a large frame. As the
frame moves up and down the log is fed through the centre of the frame and the
saw cuts much in the fashion as a hand-saw. WEDGING UP
As the term implies, a name given to the process of driving wedges into
the saw cut to prevent the timber from "pinching" on the tail of the
saw. WHIM A
carriage for transporting logs from the stump to the bush landing. WHISTLE BOY
A lad whose job it was to pull the signal wire attached to the whistle
of a bush hauler. All movements were controlled by these signals.
Reference: Article: Steam in the Forest by Maurice Southcombe Click here to go to top of page
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Chapter 1. Having now decided to write my "Memoirs", in the hope that in the future my descendants will find them of some interest, and with not having had the foresight to keep diaries throughout my life, I must now explore the deep recesses of my mind, and memory, over a period of 75 years. What an awesome task! Where does one begin? All my forebears were English. The histories I have researched are the Gummerson’s of Wigan, Lancashire, my mother’s family, and the Hutchinson’s of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, my father’s family. |
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JOHN & ELIZA GUMMERSON AND FAMILY
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My Gummerson family tree dates back to
1709. Having cousins still living in |
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It was found that my mother Beatrice had a half sister named Louisa, whose mother was the first wife of my grandfather, her maiden name being Louisa Leedham. This was not known to me because my mother had never mentioned her. They were married in 1889. However Louisa died a few months after her daughter Louisa was born. |
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PENDOCK HUTCHINSON |
Pendock Hutchinson, my great grandfather, who married Labia Hood, was born in 1842 so it is assumed that his father Thomas, was born about 1818 –1820. Pendock and Labia had a number of children - Katherine, Thomas, Harry, Clara, Annie and Jane. Katherine emigrated to America leaving a young son back in England. |
LABIA HOOD |
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She is known to have remarried, but nothing further is known about her. Thomas, Harry and Clara emigrated to Australia in the late 1800’s, and Jane emigrate to Australia in 1901 soon after her mother died. Annie stayed home in England and my father William Joseph White was the son of Annie and her husband Thomas White. Harry later returned to England and nothing further is known of him except that he married and had a daughter Caroline and a son who was killed in the 1914-1918 War. It is to be noted that I and my siblings, together with the children of Thomas, Clara and Jane Hutchinson are the first generation of our families to be born in Australia. In the following pages, I will try and provide a profile on the life of my family commencing in Western Australia.. It began with my parents who lived in different districts of Lancashire, England and who were unknown to each other, simultaneously deciding to emigrate to Australia in 1927, to start a new life here in Australia. Living and working conditions in England at that time were somewhat difficult, even though it was some years after the cessation of World War I. Many countries were entering into what was ultimately called “The Great Depression” which, as it subsequently turned out, also flowed on to Australia. |
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WILLIAM JOSEPH WHITE |
My father, William Joseph White, was the second son of Thomas William White and Annie White (nee Hutchinson). He was born on 9th April, 1897 in St. George, Manchester. William was an Electrical Fitter by trade. In 1914 Germany and England were at War (WWI), so he enlisted in the Army on 3rd June, 1915, serving with the 14th Leicestershire Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). He gave his date of birth as 9th April, 1896. It is assumed that if he had given the right year, he may not have been accepted for service. He was sent over to France and fought in the trenches. He was ultimately wounded, having been shot in the arm. The bullet passed right though his upper arm, leaving a very noticeable permanent scar. |
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He was subsequently relegated to the Cook House for a time, cooking for the troops. He also served in the Labour Centre, Yorkshire Regiment. William was eventually demobilized on 6th July, 1919 and was transferred to the Army Reserve. The picture at right shows two rather cheeky looking fellows, cigarettes in their mouths, standing in front of a “Smoking Prohibited” sign. |
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(I tried to obtain William’s Army Records but the reply from the English Army Records Office stated that during 1941, the then Army Records office was bombed and many records were destroyed. Apparently there are quite a few boxes of charred records in storage, but these are possibly too fragile to do anything about them. After William’s demobilization he then returned to his previous occupation as an electrical fitter with Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co. in Trafford Park, Manchester, staying there until October 1927. The following is a copy of a letter sent to his second wife Beatrice from the trenches in France in World War 1. It details a little of the hardships faced by the soldiers in the trenches in France: |
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3/8/1916. My Dear Niece, |
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WILLIAM & DORIS WHITE (nee Booth) |
In July, 1921, William married Doris Booth. Doris was the daughter of a Methodist minister. He was the celebrant at their wedding on 28th July 1921. On 23rd September, 1923, their daughter Lily Earlem White was born. However, Doris died of consumption (Tuberculosis)) on 27th January, 1925, leaving William with a 16 months old daughter. In 1927, he decided that he and his daughter should emigrate to Australia because he had cousins who had previously emigrated to Australia, and who were all living in Western Australia. |
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LILY WHITE |
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My mother, Beatrice May Gummerson, was the first child of John Edward and Eliza Gummerson (nee Rogers), and was the eldest of six children – Edith, Edward, Lily, Agnes and John (John died as an infant of ten months of age). Beatrice was born on 20th March, 1897 in Wigan, Lancashire, living there until she emigrated to Australia, also in 1927. She left school at the age of twelve, as did many children of that era by going to work in the factories. Manchester was noted for its many cotton mills and factories. Hence the term “Manchester” was given to products made from cotton, eg. Sheets, etc. This “term” still exists today. She subsequently obtained work in a tailoring factory, earning two shillings and sixpence a week. This factory mainly made men’s suits, and she became very proficient tailor. |
BEATRICE MAY GUMMERSON
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At one stage, during her teenage years, she started to learn shorthand and typing at a night school, but did not continue on with it. However, she did win a prize during this course and received a copy of Mrs Beeton’s “famous” Cookery Book. Beatrice, had a lovely singing voice and in her teens and/or early twenties took part in a number of operettas. In 1927 Beatrice decided to emigrate to Australia, joining a cousin, Phyllis Hall, who had arrived in Australia a couple of years earlier. Note: For the purpose of these
memoirs, William Joseph White will, subsequently, be referred to as “my father” and Beatrice
May White (nee Gummerson) will be
referred to as “my mother”. |
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As stated above, my father, William, and his daughter Lily, and my mother Beatrice, sailed from England in November, 1927, aboard the S.S. “Esperance Bay, a journey which, at that time, took six weeks. Romance blossomed aboard ship. However, Beatrice and William were both destined for different States of Australia, my father for Perth, Western Australia, and my mother for Adelaide, South Australia. |
S. S. ESPERANCE BAY |
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On disembarking at Adelaide my mother was met by her cousin Phyllis Hall, who had emigrated from Englanda couple of years earlier. Phyllis was living at the Y.W.C.A. Girl’s Hostel opposite the Colonel Light Gardens in Adelaide, and my mother joined her there, at the same Hostel. She was immediately given work as a tailoress at the same men’s clothing factory as her cousin, also a tailoress. Not a lot is known of my mother's stay in Adelaide, except that she liked living in Adelaide, and indeed Australia. I do know that she did not have a great respect for the mosquitoes, nor did they for her. Because of her sensitive English complexion they thought she was “fair game”. |
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My father and Lily disembarked at Perth, Western Australia. As stated before, he had various relatives living in Perth, and also around the Bunbury and Boyup Brook areas in the south west of Western Australia. I think my father may have stayed with a cousin in East Perth on first arriving in Australia. He was sponsored by his Aunt Jane in Boyup Brook. As far as can be recalled, he found it difficult to gain work on his arrival (especially in his own trade, as an Electrical Fitter). There was a scarcity of any sort of job , because, as earlier stated, 1927/28 was leading up to the World Great Depression. I do know that he bought some weighing scales (which I have to this day) in order to sell fruit, and also that he bought a horse and cart and did window cleaning. |
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FOREST AT BARTON'S MILL |
In early 1929 he was able to obtain permanent labouring work in a timber mill at Barton's Mill which is in the Darling Ranges, about 50 kilometres north east of Perth. Barton's Mill was named after the owner of the timber mill, a Mr. Barton, and to this day the district is still called Barton's Mill. This mill was situated in a Jarrah forest (jarrah being a Western Australian hardwood, very popular with the building and furniture industries). The whole population of this area was made up of workers from the mill, together with their families. There were about twenty families in all, as well as a number of single male workers. Married workers were housed in small basic four roomed, weather-board houses, fully fenced, whereas the single men were housed in small shacks nearer to the mill itself. |
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As there was a house available for a married worker, my father wrote to my mother asking her to join him in Western Australia. This she did, and they were married on 2nd March, 1929, in St. George's Cathedral in Perth. Having been selected for this position, it was the commencement of a ten year period of steady work for my father at the timber mill. His job, to say the least, was not the most inspiring, but because of his, aforementioned, inability to easily gain employment in his trade, it was a necessity. This job consisted of my father, continuously throughout each day, having to sweep under all the sawyers’ benches. The saw-dust was then put into his wheel-barrow, and he had to cart it to an ever heightening pile where the contents of the wheel barrow were disgorged; this sawdust was ultimately set alight. (To me, as a child, each pile of sawdust seemed so vast, appearing to go up into the heavens, but on thinking back, it was possibly only a few feet high, but I can remember thinking “how could my father make a pile that high just from continually tipping his load?” “How could he climb that high with his barrow?”. In my mind I can still see him walking up the sides of the pile and emptying its contents. As one pile of saw-dust lay burning and smoldering for some days, another pile would be commenced. Then, it in turn, would be lit. There were continuous, smoldering piles of burning sawdust, which created a lot of smoke, and there was always a smell of burning ash pervading the camp. This endless, tedious process continued for seven years. Then my father was promoted to the position of sawyer, another monotonous, but less soul destroying task. He gained an advantage from this position, in that he received a higher wage, and was finally under cover all the time, instead of being out in the weather day after day. Being the man he was, he, also viewed this position as being a more productive one. |
WILLIAM & BEATRICE WHITE ON THEIR WEDDING DAY |
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Late in 1938, the employees were told that operations were to be scaled down and the Mill would be closed during 1939. They were also given the opportunity to leave earlier if they could find employment elsewhere’ My mother had a friend in Victoria. Her husband contacted various engineering firms in Victoria to see if there was any positions available in Victoria for an electrical fitter. He had two references from Metro Vickers in England and these were duly sent over to Victoria. My father was lucky in that this friend was able to secure him a job in Victoria in his own trade, without having to have an interview. Therefore our family set sail for Victoria in May 1939, on the s.s. “Westralia”. (This will be documented in further chapters)
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S.S. WESTRALIA 1929 |
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Chapter 2. |
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BABY IRENE WITH MOTHER, BEATRICE AND LILY |
On Sunday 15th December 1929, I made my entrance into the world at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco, a suburb of Perth and two years later on 30th November 1931, my brother William was born at the same hospital, this being the major hospital in Perth at the time. On 28th June, 1938, also at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, my sister Gladys was born. Many memories come to mind from time to time, but to put them in any sequence would be an impossible task. Maybe I have missed out on some. |
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Firstly to describe a little of life in Barton's Mill, (which was named "the camp" by its inhabitants), as I remember it. There was one long row of timber houses with the school situated right in the middle of the row. At the front of these houses there was a cleared area which served as a road. Our house was the first house on this “road with no name” as one entered Barton's Mill from Perth. Each of these weather board houses were virtually the same, having been put up by the mill owner for the workers. Most of these houses were built above the ground and had three or four steps leading up to a verandah. |
BEATRICE WHITE, MRS. WHYTE (music teacher), RALPH WHYTE, LILY WHITE. |
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IRENE WHITE
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Our house, initially, was a four roomed dwelling and had a passageway right down the middle, the front and back door facing each other. There were two rooms on either side. On going up the steps and through into the front door, the lounge was on the right hand side and the main bedroom opposite, on the left. Behind the lounge room was the kitchen and behind the main bedroom was the second bedroom. It was very basic indeed. The floors were covered with linoleum. To make the lounge room and the kitchen a little larger, the right hand passage walls had been omitted, therefore we walked straight into the lounge room, then through a door to the kitchen and, likewise, the right hand passage wall had been omitted. As my parents were extremely poor at that time; each room had the most basic requirements in the way of furniture. The only furniture in the lounge room was two large wooden lounge chairs which my father had made from timber from the mill. Timber was freely available. These chairs were never upholstered, but my mother made a couple of loose cushions to sit on. An open wood fire in this room provided the heating for the winter. There was also a sideboard with three drawers and three cupboards underneath the drawers.
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The kitchen was fitted with a wood stove for cooking. Food was stored in an old fashioned kitchen dresser similar to the one pictured at left. This dresser, together with a table and chairs was all the furniture in the kitchen, except a small built in pot and pan cupboard under the sink A mantelpiece over the stove served as a shelf for handy everyday equipment such as the kitchen scales, teapot, etc. I cannot remember whether the kitchen actually had an enamel sink or whether the dishes were washed in an enamel bowl. Hot water was gained in the old primitive way by boiling it on the stove in a large kettle. The photo of the dresser was obtained from a reprint of the Original Catalogue for Foy & Gibson Pty. Ltd., 1923 edition. |
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The bedrooms also had basic furniture, but I remember my parents having a bedroom setting of a double bed, wardrobe and dressing table for their room. I cannot remember what piece of furniture held the clothes of Lily, Bill and myself. We all slept in the same room. I do know that there was a large piece of wood nailed to the wall with lots of hooks on it to hold coats, etc. |
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There was no bathroom. The means by which we had to have a "bath" was by using a metal tub. One could sit down in it with the knees up to the chin. This was easy for us children, but it must have been quite a trial for my parents to have a bath standing up, if that is what they did. We were never allowed in the kitchen whilst our parents were bathing. Also, we did not have a bath every day like we shower today. It was a “bath” on Saturday or Sunday and a “wash” each other day. We had our baths in the kitchen in front of the stove, which was quite warm especially in the winter time. This tin tube had lots of other uses such as washing the clothes, sitting the butter cooler in to wet it thoroughly, even dunking deceased chickens to wet the feathers for easy plucking and cleaning ready for cooking. |
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My father, being a rather industrious person, decided that if he could get some free wood from the mill he would put an extension on to the house. Permission was granted and low and behold, we had another small room complete with a dirt floor. I don't remember that a wooden floor was ever put down because the earth became so compacted with continual usage that it was not necessary. I suppose today, this room would be classed as a “lean to”. However it did have a closing door to keep out the elements. |
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This room also housed a rather large Coolgardie safe (also built by my father). The “Coolgardie” safe was named after the little mining town of Coolgardie in Western Australia where gold was discovered in 1888. It was invented in the late 1890’s because the weather was so hot. It was usually placed on a verandah, and where there was a breeze. This unit was used in those early days as we, today, would use a refrigerator. It consisted of a square structure with a door at the front. The walls and door of this piece of furniture were made of hessian which was nailed onto the framework of the structure. There was a shelf in this safe, and underneath the bottom shelf was a tin tray. This tray on the base of the safe was filled with water into which the overhanging hessian was placed, resulting in the hessian walls always being wet. This was, of course, providing that the water was topped up all the time. As the drafts went through this hessian, a cooling effect would be produced. Because this Coolgardie safe stood on an earthen floor my father built legs on it, and he had the legs standing in jam tins full of water so that ants and other creepy, crawly creatures could not climb up its legs and either eat, or taint, the contents of the safe. |
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Another cooling receptacle we had at that time, was a white porous container with a round bottom, and also a round lid which gave it a ball like appearance. This was called a “butter cooler”. It was placed in cold water until it was saturated and then put in the coolest spot available. Because it was only a small container, it could only accommodate butter or cheese. This had a similar cooling effect as the Coolgardie safe, but was nowhere near as effective. Neither the Coolgardie safe nor the butter cooler were very successful for setting jellies, except in the winter time |
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Being in the “bush” our outhouse (today called a toilet) was a really crudely built timber shed with a bench seat across the back. This seat had a hole in the middle to sit on. This building was called a “dunny” This was the Australian slang name for this outhouse. Underneath the hole in the seat was what was called a “dunny can”. These “dunny cans” were collected each week by the driver of a specially fitted “dunny cart”. They “dunny cans” were carried on the shoulder of the collector and then placed in the cart. It was open to conjecture what would happen if the “dunny man” tripped over. We never did see that happen The old “wooden dunny”, over the years, has become an Australian icon. Our “dunny” in Bartons Mill was not so luxurious as the photo on the right. (Internet picture) As the song “Red back under the toilet seat” infers, it probably was a good place for those red striped arachnids to hide. |
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BEATRICE WHITE WITH IRENE & WILLIAM Jnr. |
Beside our house was this beautiful large gum tree, which provided a lot of shade. My father saw the potential of the shade of this lovely old tree and built a wooden seat under it, see photo at left. It became a favourite place to sit and play.
Opposite our house , through a small area of bush, was the home of the Manager and his wife - the Thompson's. Because they were quite close to our house, and because Mrs. Thompson and my mother became friends, we visited their house quite often. Their status meant that their house was a little more luxurious than ours. The feature that is most etched in my mind, is that their house was a split level home with a highly polished staircase of about four stairs leading up to an open lounge room. Below the stairs was a rather ornate box in which they kept the wood for their fires. Also at the side of this box the fire pokers were kept. The kitchen was to the left of the bottom of this staircase. |
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The timber mill was the predominant feature of Barton's Mill. Apart from the row of houses, there were a few other houses dotted around the outskirts of the mill itself. Each day. from time the whistle blew quite early in the morning to when the whistle stopped at night, there was a hive of activity at the mill. The logs were brought in and stacked ready to be taken into the mill itself . The machinery would start and then the sawing of the wood would continue throughout the day, only stopping for a break at lunch time. Other employees stacked the cut timber ready for transport to Pert hand beyond by steam train. I cannot remember much about the transport from the actual forest to the timber yard, but I do remember that the timber was transported from the Mill by a steam train. Below is a photo of the timber train on the Zig Zag railway at Kalamunda. |
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ZIG ZAG RAILWAY AT KALAMUNDA |
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Chapter 3 |
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There were not many public facilities in Barton's Mill. However, there was a small Post Office which was managed by the wife of one of the mill worker's, a Mrs. Catchpole. Here, one could buy Newspapers, as they would come from Perth by passenger rail to Pickering Brook, and then would be transported on the timber train to Barton's Mill. There was also a Public Hall which served as a community meeting place, dance hall, church, etc. etc. Most of the people from the mill attended the Sunday church services, in a lot of cases possibly because this was the socially acceptable thing to do, and also possibly because there was little else to do at weekends. All the church services at the public hall were Protestant, with preachers from varying denominations coming from Kalamunda and Carmel to preach. At the time of my christening there was a Church of England Minister in attendance, therefore I was christened Church of England. At the time of the christening of brother Bill and sister Gladys , a Methodist minister was in attendance, therefore they were christened Methodist. Lily had been christened in England. Below are photos of the Church and Sunday school groups outside the Public Hall at Baton's Mill. |
IRENE WHITE'S BAPTISM CERTIFICATE |
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CHURCH & SUNDAY SCHOOL GROUP OUTSIDE PUBLIC HALL AT BARTON'S MILL 1933c
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CHURCH & SUNDAY SCHOOL GROUP OUTSIDE PUBLIC HALL AT BARTON'S MILL 1934c
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For some of those years, the Church services were run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. They had a church and the big Sanitarium health food factory at Carmel which I can remember visiting with my family on occasions, possibly at the invitation of the pastors, although no specific details of these visits come to mind. The Seventh Day Adventist Church is still active in Carmel as there is a large College still there. |
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Whilst on the subject of cooking, my mother made our own butter. To do this, she had to save the cream from a few milkings. (see further paragraph re dairy herd). The procedure was to beat and beat the cream with an beater, adding a little salt, until all the liquid had come out of the cream, and it turned into butter. When I was old enough, I used to like the job of patting it with butter pats, thus getting it to the final stage of every last bit of liquid being extracted. She did try to make cheese, but only tried once as it was not a success. Also she used to scald (not letting it boil) the milk and a thick cream would form on top. This scalded cream was especially nice with puddings and scones. Another one of mum’s cooking failures was a fruit cake that she had made which was not a success, and I accompanied her to the cow yard where she threw it over the fence. (see following paragraphs re cows). |
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Fresh milk was not available. We only had powdered milk. Only Mrs. Anderson had a milking cow which supplied her and possibly a neighbour or two. She also had a bull called “Bevan” who put the fear of God into the residents of the “camp” as he was allowed to wander around the camp area at will. “He would not hurt anyone” said she when tackled abut his roving habits. Sometimes he would park himself outside our cow yard eyeing off our cows However, one day, he turned on her all but goring her to death. The quick action of one of the men managed to divert the bull’s attention, thus enabling her to be rushed to Perth Hospital. She recovered but Bevan disappeared after that, no doubt being sold to some other unsuspecting person, or more likely to the abattoir. “Bevan” terror in the camp ceased. This lady having a cow gave my father an idea. He was on such a low wage when he first started working at the Mill. (As stated earlier, he had the job of sawdust sweeper which was the lowliest job in the mill, taking sawdust out to a pile in the yard), so he decided to buy himself a cow. Firstly he put up a cow yard, mostly from thin logs. He knew nothing about cows at all, having been brought up in the large industrial city of Manchester, England, but went ahead and bought “Maud”. She was a very feisty cow, and was getting the better of dad whilst learning to milk her. She was literally “kicking the bucket” of milk over each time he milked her. He said “I’ll fix her”. He put a chock in her feed stall which he moved across, thus locking her head in, and then he put a leg rope on the back leg of the side where he sat to milk and tied it backwards to the fence. One night he inadvertently forgot to take off the leg rope, so there was poor “Maud” with her leg strung all night and her head in the chock. Next morning, he was mortified that he had forgotten her, but it probably taught her a lesson regarding her behaviour, as she was very docile after that. |
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After having Maud for some time, he had another idea. If he could get a bull, then he could breed from Maud, and if they were bull calves, he could kill them for fresh meat. This he did. (I don’t remember the bull’s name). He had a yard of his own and we children were under strict orders not to go near the yard. Even without the yard being a “No No”, his fierce countenance and his huge bulk was enough to scare us anyway. A little time later, he thought that if he bought some more cows – he could start a milk round and supply milk to the people at the mill. Along came “Girlie” a very skinny jersey cow, but cheap, which he fattened up, then Daisy, Effie, and a couple more which gave him a small herd of cattle. Having a number of cows, he got some timber from the mill and made a much larger and more substantial fence. |
WILLIAM WHITE'S COW YARD MADE OUT OF TIMBER FROM THE MILL |
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He milked the cows by hand every night and morning, and then each morning before work, he delivered the milk to the various families by carrying a large pail of milk (with a lid on it), to each household, then ladling it out into individual containers left by the residents at their front doors, To do this he used a one pint ladling measure. The residents had fresh milk every day, and Dad went on to make a little extra money. After school, it was Bill’s and my job to go and round up the cows from the bush. They were all fitted with bells, so they could be heard from afar. However they did not wander far away. Once we had herded them together they were easy to shoo home, as they knew where “home” was. Also my father killed some of the male calves, and sold some of the veal to neighbours. I don’t know whether there were any health regulations about killing your own cattle at that time, but I guess we were far removed from the bureaucratic “powers that be” of the State of W.A. and any rules that they have might have had in place. |
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My father had so much tenacity, he would have a go at anything. When I think back to that time in my life, my father worked very hard for his family.
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Because we had no electricity, our lighting was by kerosene lamps with glass bowls similar to this type at left. These did not give out a very big radius of light so we had to have a few of them which were carried from room to room as required. Herewith, a descriptive note: “These lamps were a wick type of lamp. They had a small glass bowl which served as a kerosene tank and a wick usually made of cotton. This wick is dipped in the fuel tank of kerosene and the top part extends out the top of the fuel tank and usually has a wick adjustment mechanism which could be turned up if a little more light was required. When the top part of the wick is lit, the kerosene which has been absorbed in the wick, burns and produces a yellowy flame. As the kerosene is burnt, capillary action inside the wick draws more kerosene up from the fuel tank to be burnt. If the wick is turned up too high the lamp will produce smoke (Unburned carbon soot).which blackens the glass funnel.” . The kerosene lamps we had were not quite as glamorous as those above, as ours weren’t made of coloured glass. This photo courtesy Sue Jenkins. Later on we had lamps with a mantle. These were a pressurized lamps fuelled by a substance like Shellite, which gave out much brighter light, but every so often if they were bumped, the mantles would break; this then caused the mantle to burn and smoke and it would have to be replaced. |
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Another inconvenience experienced by families at the camp was that we had no clothes washing facilities such as washing troughs. Therefore the trusty old metal bath became a washing trough. To scrub the clothes clean a scrubbing board was used. The clothes were soaped and then rubbed up and down on the rippled glass centre. Some of these boards had rippled metal centres and some had rippled wooden centres. It, was, at least, better than beating clothes on stones as is still done in some countries in the world. |
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When shoes needed repairing, my father put on his “cobbler hat” and mended our shoes, a job that he kept up all through our schooling and up until, and during, the 1950’s. He had a cobbler’s “last” (as shown) that he mounted on a block of wood. He would then put the shoes on the last and cut out the shoe leather. It was then nailed onto the sole of the shoe with small tacks. Quite often after he had finished, the points of the tacks could be felt underfoot. He would then have to put them on the last again and belt the points down with extra forceful hammering. As will be seen, there are three sizes, one for large feet, medium feet, and a little one for children’s feet. |
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Also, because of the lack of electricity, my mother had only the old fashioned flat irons. A number of these were usually obtained as they were put on the wood stove to get hot. When one iron cooled, usually in a very short time, it had to be put back on the hot stove to reheat, and another one used, which was rather tedious. In later years, these flat irons made very good door stops. |
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As mentioned earlier, my father tried selling fruit and vegetables at one stage when he first arrived in Australia in 1927, and bought a set of scales with weights. He did not keep on with this work, but kept the scales which were very handy for my mother. I still have them to this day, and have utilised them many times when making jam and preserves. |
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Chapter 4 |
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JARRAH FOREST
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As stated earlier, I cannot put any chronological sequence to events in my life in Western Australia, but at this point I would like to reserve a few paragraphs and photos to depict the forest in which we lived, and its related flora and fauna. Notably, the predominant trees were the Jarrah trees. They have a reddish brown to grey trunk, with fibrous bark, the leaves growing to about 5 inches long with clusters of nectar-rich flowers coloured creamy white. These trees can grow up to from 35 to 100 feet high. Below are the blackboys which do not flower regularly every year, but always do so after a fire. These look like they could have survived over the years from the Jurassic era. |
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GIANT BLACKBOY
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The Black boys are a unique group of plants found only in Australia belonging to the scientific genus Xanthorrhoea. Even small fires blacken their trunks and produce the long spike like flower, which in the eyes of the early settlers, resembled native warriors or "Blackboys” when seen from a distance. They are also called grass trees. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words xanthos (yellow) and rheo (flowing) and describes the yellowish gum commonly found in the plants. This was used extensively by the Aborigines to attach heads to their spears, and by the early white settlers as a substitute lacquer and varnish. Some blackboys are less than half a metre tall, while others have been recorded as being six metres tall. The flowering spike contains hundreds of individual flowers which also vary greatly in length. As the flowers die small thorn like fruits protrude from the spike. Blackboys are found in all States of Australia, with seven species being found in Western Australia. The Western Australian grass-tree is confined to the South West corner of the State and is closely related to, and often confused with the blackboys. |
BLACKBOY FLOWERS
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GRASS TREES |
There are several major differences to distinguish them; the trunk of the grass tree is usually taller, more slender, unbranched and not as conspicuously blackened as the blackboy; many drumstick shaped flowering heads are produced rather than the usual single spear; the base of the leaves of grass trees are covered with short silky hairs giving them a silvery green appearance and thus feel much softer. The grass trees are commonly 2-4 metres tall with some growing taller than ten metres. |
GRASS TREE FLOWERS |
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Banksias are over many parts of Australia and some varieties were seen in the forest. They are very colourful and can grow to varying heights. There are coastal varieties also. The banksias are named after the famous British Botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, who accompanied Captain James Cook when he discovered the east coast of Australia in 1770. Interesting Note: (Our daughter Sue was presented with the “Sir Joseph Banks Medal for Excellence” by the James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, when she completed her degree in Botany. She then completed her Honours Degree. She has also gained a PhD.) Cook landed at what is now named Botany Bay and a large number of plant specimens, were collected. All were completely new to science at that time. The name Banksia is used for both the scientific and common names for this plant group. Although commonly called a flower, each banksia is actually made up of several hundred individual densely packed true flowers which is called a spike. |
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The
size and shape of the spike varies from small flattened balls 4 cms. in
diameter to the giant candle shaped Bull Banksia which can grow up to 40 cms.
in length. As the flowers die a large
woody cone or “fruit” develops, holding the seeds for later release. In some species a fire is needed to split the
cones so the seeds can be dispersed. Except for one species which extends into |
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There are twelve species of the kangaroo paw, so named because each flower is shaped like a kangaroo paw complete with soft bristly fur, The red and green kangaroo paw (at left) is Western Australia’s floral emblem. There is also a black kangaroo paw, and similar smaller plants called a cat’s paw. |
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The species of flowers and orchids on the forest floor were many with different sized plants and colours, there for the picking as in those years the emphasis of saving every species from extinction was not in force. In that era and area that we lived, the total population was probably only about 100 plus, so the small amount of wild flowers picked would not have had any great impact. Even at that tender age, I derived great joy at being in such a beautiful habitat. As we were completely surrounded by bush, my mother used to let me outside our property to pick these wild flowers, always keeping her eye on where I was. She would dutifully put them in vases. |
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CARPET OF EVERLASTINGS |
At left is a carpet of everlasting flowers. These are named because of their ability to retain natural colour and apparent freshness for exceptionally long periods; the everlastings are easy to recognise by their crisp papery texture. They are sometimes called “sunrays” or “paper daisies” and are extremely popular for dried flower arrangements. There are many species of similar appearance, but lacking the dry papery feel of the everlastings. These are closely related and are found in the coastal or forest areas of the South West. Everlastings come in a variety of colours, and most of them grow in the dry semi-desert interior completely transforming the dusty barren soils into lush carpets of colour after heavy autumn or winter rains. In their natural state, however, the everlastings are short lived, the harsh sun and hot desert winds quickly reducing their glory to a mass of dry litter. |
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I have been fortunate enough to see a carpet of pink everlastings on one of the walks with my parents. Over the last sixty five years of my life in Victoria I have talked about them and wondered exactly where they were growing. I had remembered my parents saying that the place in which they were growing was something like “The Darkening”, but I realise that that could not have been right, so that has been as teaser over the years. When my daughter Sue worked for twelve months in Western Australia some years ago, she brought home a large bunch of pink everlastings for me. |
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Whilst looking on the Internet for Barton's Mill, I found listed a “forest walk” called “Barton’s Mill – Little Darkin Walk”. I feel that I can be sure that that might have been what they were saying. Walk description: Location:36 kms East South East of Perth Length: 16.5 field kms. (65% off track. Difficulty: Medium. Amount of uphill walking 300 m. The Little Darkin River flows through this area. Fires raged through this area in January 2005 and 28,000 hectares of forest was destroyed. It could take years before the forest recovers. It was in the late 1930’s before we left Barton's Mill, that another fire in the forest was burning. We lived in the first house as one entered Barton's Mill from Pickering Brook, and I can remember that it was such a hot day that my mother was feeling the extreme heat and lay down on the linoleum floor to get cool. We could see the trees blazing quite close to the camp. From what I remember, the fire extended from Pickering Brook to Barton's Mill, but I am not sure what the full extent of it was. Tall tree trunks were burning for a few days and the rest of the forest was blackened. No one was evacuated that I remember, but I suppose that the Manager of the Mill was apprehensive, also the residents. |
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The fauna in the forest consisted of the usual reptile population such as snakes and goannas, of which we had to be on the alert, and other small creatures such as rabbits. |
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WILD BRUMBIES |
On one of our family walks in the forest we came across a group of horses. My father told us that they were “brumbies” and that they roamed the bush. They have a social structure within each group. They also can be fleet of foot and travel quite long distances, and always move as one mob. Dingos were very prevalent in the bush around Barton's Mill. Dingos are wild dogs that inhabit the dry plains and forests of Australia. It is thought that their origins may have been the descendants of domesticated dogs brought to Australia over 3,500 years ago. They are a medium sized dog. Most dingos have short yellowish-tan fur, but it can vary from black to cream coloured. It has large ears, sharp eyes and a keen sense of smell. These dogs do not bark but sometimes howl. They are nocturnal (most active at night). |
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There was a litter of dingo pups
found amongst the stacked timber at the Mill, and my father decided to bring
one home as a pet. He reared it for
quite some time, but as it became older, it eventually went back to its own
habitat and kind in the bush. We never
saw them around the camp during the day, but they always came nearer the houses
at night time. The residents who had
fowls had to make sure that they locked them up securely at night. |
WILD DINGO |
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KANGAROOS
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Most seen, were the kangaroos. They were always seen as we walked through the forest. One kangaroo, in particular, comes to mind. Our next door neighbour Pete French, aged about 26 was responsible for checking that the motorised pump at the small dam up a track not far from our house, where all our water came from, was kept in good order. Each day at 4 p.m. he would go past our house to the dam. He had befriended a kangaroo, and every day it would sit outside our house waiting for him, and would follow him there and back. This dam had a red clay base and the water was always a rusty colour. We had a wooden barrel below the tap and my father would wrap the tap in a bundle of material, which, after a few days would become a very dark red; this material then had to be washed and changed. |
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Eventually after much frustration and many complaints about the quality of the water, another spot was sought. Eventually a spot was found where the clay was coloured white,. A new dam was excavated, therefore giving a cleaner supply of water. I remember them as the “red” dam and the “white dam”. Barton's Mill was only a couple of miles from the Mundaring Weir but I gather it was not feasible to put in a pipeline from there to the Mill, as they probably thought it would be a transient operation, which it turned out to be. (more information about Mundaring Weir in a later paragraph).
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As shown by the photo on the previous page, Mac and I visited Western Australia in 1988 but did not visit any of the relations there as I had lost touch with them. However, about nine years ago, I found the address of one of the cousins and contacted her because I had intentions of trying to do a family tree. She was able to put me on to her mother, and I was then able to meet most of these relations in the year 2000. It is worth noting here, that after the Timber Mill finally closed down, the Fremantle Gaol took over the site and built a lower security complex for some of the better behaved prisoners that were in the Fremantle Gaol. Whilst I was there in 1988, I contacted the Chief of the Barton's Mill Gaol complex and explained that I had lived there from 1929 to 1939 and wondered whether there was a chance that I could visit the surrounding area. |
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He gave his permission, and provided us with
one of the guards, who took us, by car, around the bush area. I couldn’t really get my bearings as I think
the old homes had been pulled down and others built for the prison employees. The
old well near Mrs. Anderson’s place was still there and was covered with
cement. There were blocks of concrete
also there where the single men’s
quarters had been. Also, he
showed us the site of the “red” dam, which was really red soil, and then he
showed us the site of the “white dam”.
He just drove around the area of the prison compounds, at a
distance. When we were outside the
perimeter of the prison complex, we had a little wander in the bush, then went
to Mundaring Weir on the way back to |
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Chapter 5
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In Chapter 4, I mentioned Mundaring Weir so thought I would relate some information regarding the same. In 1896 the Western Australian Government decided to construct the Mundaring Weir and the pipeline which would connect the water from the Helena River to the mining towns of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie.
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VIEW OF MUNDARING WEIR OVERFLOW |
WATER PIPE TO KALGOORLIE |
MUNDARING WEIR MUSEUM |
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The dam was complete in 1900 and the laying of pipes began in 1902. The man behind the project was Charles Yelverton O’Connor. He was Engineer-in-chief. We were told that he committed suicide because the water had not reached the Kalgoorlie by the estimated time, their estimations being a little out. It was also said that he had a lot of pressures with his very responsible his job. The pipeline was finished in 1903, and still carries water to Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie.
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GOLD MINE, KALGOORLIE |
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ST. GEORGES TERRACE, PERTH 1927
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Travelling toPerthwas another inconvenience for most people at the Mill because of the lack of Public transport which was virtually “Nil” at that time. Only two people at the Mill had motor cars. The Manager also would have had one, but that would not have been for public use. Mrs. Hall was available for anyone who wished to go to Perth when she, herself, was travelling down, and she would also oblige in an emergency, on a paying basis. Peter French also owned a car and I think he would sometimes take passengers with him to Perth. We always thought we were grand when we were travelling by car |
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However, that was after my father sold his motorcycle. When I was about three year of age, he bought a second-hand Harley Davids on motor cycle and side-car. For a few years it was his pride and joy. I have memories of those rides in the side car and we were able to visit relations in Perth and its suburbs. |
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My mother said that it was riding in the open side car that gave me all my freckles!!!!!! She did put a hat on us children. Mum made these hats herself, a pink one for Lily and a yellow one for me but, although they covered the head well, the brims were only very small, as was the fashion of the day. |
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On one of our trips to Perth, he got too close to a tram and his leg was caught between the step of the tram and his motorcycle, and he sustained quite a large laceration on his thigh, but had no lasting effects. However, he decided that was too risky to continue to take us all in the side car, so he sold the motor cycle, which again, left us without independent transport. The next phase of my family’s transport to Perth was by train. This was very exciting for us children as we got to ride in the actual loco of the timber train with the driver and the fire stoker. After clamouring up into the engine, my mother and the youngest member of the family Bill, were given the main seat in the cabin, the other seats were block of wood in front opposite the furnace. We children watched with fascination as the stoker periodically stoked up the furnace with either coal or wood. I think it was coal. The heat which emanated from the furnace during this operation was incredible. This furnace would need to be very hot to produce the steam. Also, water tanks were located in various areas en route so that the train could fill up with water. The old archive photo at left, shows the Kalamunda Railway station with a water storage tank at the end of the station. |
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KALAMUNDA RAILWAY STATION |
The 28 mile journey from
Pickering Brook to I would sit in the passenger train and watch the opposite passengers rocking from side to side and wonder why they did so, not realising at the time that it was because of the movement of train, and I probably was doing the same, although I did not think I was. |
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To get to Perth from Barton's Mill, all means of transport had to negotiate the Darling Ranges. Therefore, what is known as the Kalamunda Zig Zag Railway was built for the trains. This meant that the train had to go backwards and forwards on a number of low gradients to enable it to negotiate itself over the top of the ranges. Naturally when the train was over the top from Barton's Mill, it could gather speed down the other side of the ranges into Perth. Of course, on the homeward journey, the same process had to be followed, and when over the ranges, the faster trip was back down to Kalamunda, then on to Pickering Brook. However, the boredom of the homeward journey was far outweighed by the pleasure of being met by Peter French or Mrs. Hall in their cars. They were willing to drive the seven miles to pick up residents of the camp who travelled on the late steam passenger train from Perth to Pickering Brook. I think they charged a small fee for this convenience. The bottom two archival photos show the Zig Zag railway with a train going up the gradient, and on the other, a train descending the gradient. |
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KALAMUNDA ZIG ZAG RAILWAY
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KALAMUNDA ZIG ZAG RAILWAY
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Whilst on the subject of steam trains I should mention that on visits to a cousin of my father’s in Perth, he would take us children to the end of the street in East Perth and we would walk onto the foot bridge that spanned the railway yards. It was great to see the steam trains going under the bridge with their smoke billowing out behind them.
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EAST PERTH RAILWAY YARD REDEVELOPMENT
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The steam train era is a time to look back upon with pride, pleasure and gratefulness that I had the privilege of being brought up in Barton's Mill. Because of my experience of having traveled in the locos and also the passenger steam trains, it is easy to see why many people derive great pleasure in restoring these trains to their former glory. There is one of these restored steam trains at Maldon in Victoria which is used to take tourists. Passengers would board the train at Maldon, travel along the line for a few miles, and then go back to Maldon. In the last two or thee years, railway line has been re-laid right through to Castlemaine, making the day trip much more exciting.
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I commenced school in 1935 having turned five in December 1934. Being in a small community, and with all the children attending the one school, and also by socialising after school hours with the various ongoing activities at the camp, it was not a daunting prospect, but something to look forward to. Our elder half-sister Lily was in grade 4 in 1935. Brother Bill commenced school, aged 5 in 1937. |
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Miss Bowman decided to put on a little theatrical show to present to the parents at the camp. It was called “The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. This was held in the Public Hall. One of the mothers made the paper mache pigs heads and the clothes for the event.
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Left to Right: GLORIA WALLIS, HILLARY FLANAGAN, IRENE WHITE
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Left to Right: HILLARY FLANAGAN WITH FLUTE, IRENE WHITE WITH VIOLIN and GLORIA WALLIS WITH DRUM
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Drinking water for the children at the school was from a rainwater tank. More often than not one got a glass of water with “wrigglers” (mosquito lavae). All of the children used to go home for their lunch |
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Rag dolls were plentiful , courtesy of Uncle Toby, as the oats came in calico bags. On one side of the bag a doll in coloured clothes was drawn and the back of the bags was just plain white. My mother would sew them together and fill them with rags or cotton wool. Rags were plentiful as they were kept for all manner of chores such as dusters, floor cloths, dish mops, etc. etc. Bill had a small teddy which he carried around everywhere he went. |
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WILLIAM WHITE WITH IRENE & YOUNG WILLIAM Jnr.
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Chapter 7 |
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When I was about 6 – 7 years old I contracted scarlet fever which necessitated a one month stay at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Subiaco, an experience that I certainly did not like. No visitors were allowed, even parents.The various wards were separated by long outdoor covered corridors so that nurses and doctors could go from ward to ward. At night, bats found their way into the ward, and their flying around lent an eerie feeling in the glow of the nurse’s dimmed night desk light.
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LILY EARLAM WHITE DIED 19th FEBRUARY 1937 |
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On 28th June, 1938 Gladys was born. I used to take her for a walk in the pram. The prams were rather large, made of cane and had large wheels. This was an advantage when we were living at the camp as there were no made roads, only bush tracks, and it was easy to wheel the pram over the rough terrain. |
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GLADYS WHITE. BORN 28th JUNE 1938 |
Whilst my mother was in Perth for about a fortnight after the birth of Gladys, my father had to take over the reins and do all the cooking, etc. I think his army cooking training came to the fore. I can remember his stews were the usual meat and veggies. However, into the stew went the celery tops, carrot tops, onion tops, etc. They tasted great. |
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Also in 1938, my parents decided that I should learn to play the piano so they went to Perth to see what pianos were available. They decided on a piano, which was new to Australia called a mini-piano. It was the most beautiful piano, and I was lucky to find a photo of it on the Internet. It had a logo on it which was a Crown and the words “As used by Princess Ingrid of Sweden". Mrs. Whyte was a qualified music teacher, so she was engaged to teach me, and so an hour’s nightly practice had begun. Bill was to learn when he became a little older, I think after we arrived in Melbourne, and in due course Gladys was to learn. |
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Also in 1938 also, my father, after having saved some extra money due to his milk round, decided to buy a car from the young fellow next door, who was updating his car to a newer model, He knew that this car had only had the one owner and it had been well looked after. It was a 1929 Chevrolet. We had jumped up in status! My father had never driven before, therefore he had to go and have lessons. I think the lessons were in Kelmscott. This, again, gave our family some independence, as we were able to have more frequent trips to Perth, and we children thought it was great having the back seat all to ourselves. Gladys always was nursed in the car by my mother. Again, no beauracratic rules to abide by, but highly dangerous. On one trip to Kelmscott my father nearly lost control of the car on the corrugations in the road. That was fairly scary, but it did serve to make him aware of the dangers of the many dirt roads that went through the forest in those days. Even the inner suburbs were very sparsely populated in those early days. |
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WILLIAM WHITE WITH HIS 1929 CHEVROLET CAR
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Life was going along fairly well for my family until late in 1938; as stated earlier in these memoirs, employees of the Timber Mill were given notice that the Mill was going to close in 1939, which meant that each family was on notice and would have to look for other employment. In all fairness to the employees, they were given months of notice, and were told that anyone who could get employment earlier, was welcome do so. We werethe first family to leave Barton's Mill. As earlier stated, he secured a job on written references only, and a personal reference from this friend who worked at the then Ordnance Factory in Footscray, near Melbourne in Victoria. My father was relieved about his new position as it was in the electrial fitting field in which he had worked in England. He did not want to stay until the final closure and then have to look for work. |
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He set about selling the cows; the fowls were easy to get rid of, as we had chicken for meals for a couple of months, including my pet red hen. I was extremely upset that she had to join the table menu. I used to carry her around all the time, however, she had to go but I did not want to eat any of her. My parents respected my sadness and didn’t force me to eat her. I can still remember her!! |
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I can still remember a rather traumatic incident as we were leaving Bartons Mill for the last time bound for Perth. I had this large celluloid doll at 16” high. My first “real” doll, from Santa. Its head, legs and arms were all held together with elastic inside the middle of its body. As I was carrying it, the elastic broke, and legs, arms and head went everywhere. I was then given an ultimatum – I either carry the doll or it would be left behind. Being nine years old, and not wanting to be seen with a decapitated torso, plus its other accessories, I elected not to carry it, and it was duly left behind, entombed in the drawer of the sideboard which was to be sold. I have often wondered about its fate. Possibly cremated in someone’s stove as celluloid was highly inflammable. I had lost my two most treasured possessions, my red “chook” and my doll. Bill was able to bring his teddy with him and he had this for a number of years, and maybe still has it. Our small sister Gladys was only eleven months old when we left so she was blissfully unaware of the ensuing change from living in the beautiful forest of Barton's Mill to moving to a capital city. |
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One incident on the ship that I remember very well, was that one of the passengers (a married man with a family who sat on our dinner table,) always called me “carrots” because of my red hair. I had never been called that before in Western Australia. I became very irritated by him saying that, so I cheekily began to call him “carrots”. He then told my father that I was giving him cheek. I thought him a horrible man. My parents then sat me at the other end of the table to him.
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S. S. WESTRALIA
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Irene White married James McInnes Jenkins (Mac) on 2nd March 1957 at the Methodist Church, Dandenong, Victoria. Beatrice White in the white hat next to William White. Irene's sister Gladys is on the left and on the right is Irene's friend of 70 years William passed away on 14th August 1957 aged 60, from asbestosis. Beatrice passed away on20th November 1988 aged 91.'After having Alzheimer's disease for ten years. Mac and Irene Jenkins (nee White) had four children: Stephen born 1958 in Dandenong, Victoria
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They were talking round the camp fire A
jarrah log, t'was eighty feet On
this the fallers all agreed Now
Whistler drove a hauler
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#1 |
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#2 |
Old
Tim, a teamster, jumped to arms
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Tim
fed his team at break of day
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#3 |
Was
the balance right, too much nose
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With
nimble hands and flying chain
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#4 |
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#5 |
As
the whim team slowly made it's way
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The
team was well high floundered
Maurice
Southcombe |
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Reference: Article: Maurice Southcombe Images: 1 Battye Library
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In that whim he worked when the night winds
bellowed
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All the hands have gone, for the rich reef paid
out,
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But there comes a night when he sees lights
glowing
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While the old drum creaks, and the shadows shiver
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In a gully green, where a dam lies gleaming, |
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STEAM POWERED WHIMS UPDATED May 2010
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This interesting article is reproduced from a book titled "Steam in the Forest" written by Maurice Southcombe. Although it is not directly related to the timber industry around Pickering Brook, it deserves a place on this website. Some were modified into giant tractor "whims" and were developed during the transition from horses to motorised power in the industry. Steam traction engines were used to clear land around the district and Archie Anderson had two of them. He was responsible for clearing land around Pickering Brook using these monsters. A few were modified to become "motorised whims" and used for dragging logs through the forest to the mill landings. |
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No record of the early days of steam in this State would be complete without mention of the steam tractor engine Evidently Mr. Wanliss of the Rockingham Timber Company was one of the first to use this method of transport. In the "Enquirer" of the sixteenth August, 1871 is recorded the fact that Mr. Wanliss imported from Melbourne, an eight horsepower traction engine called the Thompson's Road Steamer and it arrived in this State aboard the schooner "Azelia". After its arrival, it was used by the company for general haulage concerned with the building of the line and also hauling materials to and from the mill. One of its jobs a few months later was to haul the new loco, the "Governor Weld", from Perth to Rockingham where it was assembled. This tractor caught the attention of the then Colonial Secretary, Sir Luke Leake who showed great interest in this new form of transport. In the "Enquirer" of October 1st, 1877, a news item states that in company with Mr. Lee Steere, Sir Luke traveled to Jarrahdale by train from Rockingham where he was welcomed by the manager Mr. Steedman. |
HARRY STEPHEN, THE INVENTOR OF THE STEAM WHIM, BUILDING HIS FIRST STEAM WHIM.
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THIS PROTOTYPE STEAM WHIM WAS BUILT LOCALLY USING TIMBER FOR THE CHASSIS.
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A gloom was cast over the visit by the fact that a Mr. George Vackner had been killed in the mill the day before, having been caught in a belt and severely mutilated. The report went on to say that Sir Luke met up with an old friend in a new guise, The Thompson's Road Steamer, now stripped of its wheels and used to drive the saw-sharpening machinery in the mill. Imported
portable and traction engines played a significant role in logging and milling
timber from Australian forests. Although steam power units were a fire hazard
in summer, they nevertheless proved popular, because the engines could be fired
from offcuts and waste timber - virtually free fuel. Several Australian-built
steam machines called "whims" worked in the forests near the Yarloop
district of Western Australia from the late 1890s. They could straddle a log,
then lift and transport it to a sawmill. The idea
for the whims was conceived by an employee of Millar's Timber Company, Harry
Stephen, around 1896. Millars were interested in the idea and gave him every
assistance, including the use of the company's workshop. |
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The
original whim, or "steam transport log carriage" consisted of a
wooden framework and platform approximately 25 x 7 feet wide, over four large
wheels, almost 10 foot in diameter at the front and 11 foot diameter at the
back. Power was provided by a 8-inch bore single-cylinder steam engine powered
by a vertical boiler. A steam winch and steel rope and chains were used to lift
the logs, which were secured under the whim by chains and quick-release hooks.
The whim could carry approximately 19 tons at a time. One man was employed to
steer the machine and another to look after the boiler. This whim became the
first mechanised form of log-carrying in Western Australia. At least
two wooden-framed machines were made. Two unit built at Yarloop were designed
to haul logs of up to 5 foot diameter and 60 feet long. A steel-framed whim was
made in Melbourne by the Geo. W. Kelly Company (later Kelly & Lewis). Its
wheels were a mere 9 foot diameter at the rear and 8foot diameter at the front,
but it could still carry 19 tons of timber. The whims worked constantly from
the time they were built in the late 1890s until 1914, when the operators went
off to the war. They did little or no work after the war, having been
superseded by crawler tractors in the meantime.
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TAKEN IN 1914. IT IS NOT KNOWN WHEN THIS WHIM WAS BUILT. NOTE THE EXTRA STRENGTH,
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EARLY STEAM WHIM #8 |
THE STEAM WHIM AS IT APPEARED IN 1958. IT WAS LATER CUT TO PIECES BY |
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The whims
had their limitations. They were fairly easily bogged in wet ground, and they
always had to work close to a water source, since they carried only a limited
water supply for the water-hungry boiler. One of the wooden framed whims was
destroyed in a 1930s bushfire. As for the steel framed machine, it was cut up
when the Miller's Hoffman's mill closed in 1964.(Phil Wyndham, Rossmoyne,
W.A. personal communication) When the going got too rough for the tractor to haul the log it would couple the rope onto the log then move ahead, paying out the rope until it reached a large tree. After having backed the wheel against the tree, the wheels were put out of gear and the drum gear engaged. The log was then winched along until all the rope would be wound in, then the process would be repeated. In this fashion the log would eventually reach the landing. Another steam tract worthy of mention, is the one purchased by the Buckingham's, another milling company, during 1880. This remarkable machine was first used in the Kelmscott-Roleystone area as an ordinary steam road tractor. At some time later it was converted to a winch and used for pulling logs. At a still later date it was again converted, this time to a geared locomotive. This latter role was evidently very successful for it continued this work for some years before it was discarded. The Adeliade Timber Company also used one of these converted tractors as a loco up until the mid 1930's. This one was known as "Snorting Liz" and was a familiar sight at the Wilga mill for many years. The steam tractor was also in great demand during the early days of "Group Settlements" in the 1920's and was used extensively for tree-pulling and clearing operations. |
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STEAM-POWERED WHIMS WERE DEVELOPED IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA FOR LOG-HAULING. THESE TWO VIEWS SHOW THE STEEL-FRAMED OUTFIT, WHICH COULD HANDLE UP TO 19 TONS OF TIMBER AT A TIME. A CREW OF FOUR WAS NEEDED, TWO ON THE WHIM AND TWO ON THE GROUND. IT WAS MADE BY GEO. W. KELLY IN MELBOURNE. # 5 & # 6 |
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A
WOODEN-FRAMED STEAM WHIM BUILT IN YARLOOP c.1904-06. THE FRONT AXLE WAS ARCHED TO PROVIDE CLEARANCE FOR THE LOGS. |
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Reference: Article: Steam in the Forest by Maurice Southcombe Images: 1, 2, 3, 4 Steam in the Forest by Maurice Southcombe |
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Research by Mrs. B. Harper-Nelson
Present Owner Location Original Construction Additions Alexander Barton Transport and Communications Horses School Locomotives Attached are two photographs of locomotives. The
one of the "Coates" was taken in 1913, at the "bush landing at
Jean Norris' place", which was on the Barton's Mill line, just over the
road from the present Carilla Townsite, and about 1/4 mile west of Personalities M. Alf Cook Mr. George Anderson ( It has come to light since this was written that Emily Brown's parents, John & Clara Brown, actually had 12 children but two are deceased. They were: Emily, Susie, Mary, Clara, Olive, Elsie, Joe, Walter, Ernie, Frank, and Lucie (dec.) and a girl unnamed (dec.) Thanks to Pam Beard and her Sister) Mrs. Bruce and Mrs. Mortimer Mr. Crabb Claude French Louis Zola Rev. Frew and Elms Mr. Harry Catchpole Mr. & Mrs. Charlie Liebow Mr. Hunter Oddments Yarloop Loco "COATES" Available records do not show where the engine
first saw service, but it can be safely assumed that it was at Canning Mills.
L.
J. Purcell, Note; Sources of information on Barton's Mill;
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These lists are not complete. They have been compiled from various records including the local Postal Delivery Directories for the years 1898 - 1930.They do however give you some idea of how large some of the mill settlements were, particularly Canning Mills which had 400 men working there at its peak. Canning Mills opened in 1890 and had a chequered past. It opened and closed a number of times before if finally closed for good |
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FAMILIES AT BARTON’S MILL UPDATED May 2010 ANDERSON Dave mill owner 1916 - 1919 and also ran a char-a-banc service three days a week to Perth 1920 ANDERSON George main log-hauler 1916 - 1920 Married Emily Brown 1913 Children: Dave? BAILEY Chas 1916 BARTON Alexander Mill owner. Died 13/7/1907in a serious accident at the mill. Buried at Guildford Wife: Nee Osborne, later married William Thomas Children: Ken Lois Jessie BASSENELLI Don mill employee 1930 - BERRY Alan Children: Alan BIAGIONI G. BOWMAN Miss L. Bowman was a school teacher BRIDGES BROWN John (Joseph) Teamster 1914 blacksmith 1916 - 1920 Mother: Clara Emily (nee Dart) Children: Emily married George Anderson 1913 Susie Mary Clara Olive (married Baynton) Elsie a Brown ran a boarding house Joe Walter Ernie Frank Lucie (dec) Died 9th February 1914 aged 6 days old. Buried at Barton's Mill by Robert Maitland (friend) girl unnamed (dec) BROWN Ernie (Son of John) 1930 - Wife Rita Children: Gwen BROWN Frank (Son of John) Married Elma Gibbs BROWN Joe (Son of John) mill employee 1930 - Wife Ivy Children: John Joan BROWN Walter ( Son of John) mill employee 1930 - BRUCE Mrs Janet. 1916 – 1920 Ran a boarding house in partnership with Mrs.Mortimer BURTON Rector A. CAMPBELL Two men worked at the mill CATCHPOLE Harry train driver (Died 1938) Wife ran post office Children: Gordon, Mavis CHESTER 5 Children all girls: Eileen, Elsie, ? . CLEMENTS Harry mill employee 1930 - COOK Alf mill manager 1930 - CULLITY Miss. Teacher ELMS Reverend Methodist Minister EVANS William 1916 DONOVAN Children: Evelyn DRUMMOND George mill employee 1930 - FERGUSON 2 small children FISHER George H. teacher FLANNAGAN Mike time keeper. Were Catholics Children: Ron Margaret Mary Hilary "Tinksie" FRENCH Claude Tasman orchardist and fireman Wife: Margaret (nee Gately) Children: Baby Boy stillborn 20th August 1908 buried at Pickering Brook Baby Girl stillborn 24th October 1911 buried at Pickering Brook French’s Hill was the slope from the Bracken & Pickering Brook Roads intersection up to the school. French’s Orchard was just behind the Pickering Brook Primary School FREW Reverend Methodist Minister GIBBS Frank (Brother of George) GIBBS George (Brother of Alma, Leo, Frank & Jean) mill employee 1930 - Wife: Olive (Nee Brown) Children: Fay, Pam, Myrtle, Nina GIBBS Leo (Brother of George) Later married Ila Wood GOLDING Richard 1916 GOODCHILD Jas mill employee 1930 - GUNZZELLY G. 1916 HALL Len train driver HANBURY C. H. 1917 HEATON Alfred mill employee 1930 - HUNTER Sam. His father was an ostler HEWISON William tally-clerk 1916 - died 1943 Wife: Helen Children: Robert, Doris, Alice born 13/07/1909, Flo. HOBSON William mill employee 1930 - HOLTEN Chas 1916 ISAAC Sammy Son of Harry Entertained at dances with “Minstrel Act” with Bibby McGee JOHNSTON Children: Mavis JOHNSON Eric mill employee 1930 - Wife Suzie (nee Brown) JONES Jas 1916 JOYNES Chas mill employee 1916 - 1930 KEATCH Alfred mill employee 1930 - KELLY Mike train guard Married Sylvia (Roads) Lived in house previously occupied by the Oswalds KIDD William J. Sleeper cutter 1920 - KING J. mill employee 1916 - 1930 LANGE LEADER Frederick 1916 LOWE Percy 1916 MAGOWAN Frank Roland mill employee 1927 - 1934 Born 1864 Died 1949 Married Martha Maria House in 1892 Children: Doris (Dec 12th April 1929), Grace, Rhoda, Blanche, Jessie, Alec, Len, Mabel, and Thora MAGOWAN Raymond Charles mill employee 1932 - 1939 Born 1903 Died 1961 MAITLAND Robert 1914 MARSELL French 1916 MARTIN Frederick 1916 - 1917 MASON Ernest 1916 McCASKILL Roderick. Mill worker 1916 - 1920 and farmer. Had a crippled son McDOUGALL teacher 1930 - McSHANE teacher McGEE “Bibby” Played button accordion and preformed “Minstrel Act’ with Sammy Isaacs McKee Mrs. Barbara 1930 - McKENZIE D. M. Fruit grower 1918 - 1920 McLEAN mill employee 1930 - MEAD George 1916 METTLETON George mill employee 1930 - MILLER William mill employee 1930 - MILLAR? 5 Children: Ruby, Syd, Anna MOLLER Harry mill employee 1930 - MORTIMER Mrs. Ran a boarding house in partnership with Mrs. Janet Bruce. 1916 - 1920 MUNRO A. C. mill manager NESBITT Len mill employee 1930 - NEWTON Frank N. 1916 Children: Valda, Roy, Alwyn (Elwyn??) OSBORNE Frederick 1916 OSTWALD Andy mill employee 1930 - OSWALD?? 5 children PASSMORE M. Bill. teacher PEARSON J. 1916 - 1919 PELL William mill employee 1930 - PESITIL C. 1916 PULLEN mill employee 1930 - REEDLE Mr. Teacher RICHMOND George 1916 RISEBERRY mill employee 1930 - ROBINSON George mill employee 1930 - ROBINSON Tommy traindriver RODGERS A. mill employee 1930 - SALAGARI Robert Fruit grower 1916 - 1920 SALA TENNA Father: Peter 1930- Mother: Savina Children: Rose Vincent (Vin) Josephine Peter Joan Ralph SCARI Joe mill employee 1930 - SEXTON Alfred Wood contractor 1916 - 1920 SHADFORTH William Wood contractor 1916 - 1920 SHEN Thomas 1916 SHIER Edward 1916 - 1919 SINCLAIR Chas 1916 STEADMAN EDWARD 1916 SWEENEY Alfred 1916 - 1920 THOMAS George 1916 THOMAS William, married widow Mrs. Barton THOMPSON Arthur mill employee 1930 - THOMPSON Ernest L. Mill Manager 1916 - 1920 Mrs. Thompson liked the bottle, great Victorian lady. Her sister lived with her. Children: Florie. TULLACK J. 1916 TURNBULL William 1916 VAN ORAN J. 1916 WALLIS Harry mill employee 1930 - WALLIS Father: Levi train guard WALLACE? Children: Gloria WALLIS Richard mill employee 1930 - WASHER Alfred 1916 - 1920 WEEDEN William mill employee 1930 - Children: Marie Beth Billy WEIR Les mill employee 1930 - WESTON Gregory wood contractor 1916 WHARTON Roy mill employee 1930 - Married Florrie Thompson WHITE Father: William sawdust sweeper/sawyer 1929 – 1939 Mother: Beatrice Born 20/03/1897 - 1988 Children: Lily Born 23/09/1923 Irene Born 15/12/1929 William Jnr Born 30/11/1931 Gladys Born 28/06/1938 WHYTE Mrs. Was a music teacher Children: Ralph, Walter WIGHT William mill employee 1930 - WIGNALL Sydney mill employee 1930 - WOLLAMS William wood carter 1919 WOOD They were Catholics 5 children; Hubert went to Albany and eventually suicided Ila had an “air” about her – you had to be her friend or you were ignored. Unfortunately she died an alcoholic Colin Had two sons that worked at the mill. WRIGHT mill employee 1930 - YOUNG Pearl Canteen cook Aunt of Sylvia Kelly (Roads) ZIUSEPPE G. 1912 ZOLA Louie blacksmith
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FAMILIES AT CARINYAH BARON BATES MANSELL McKAY Charles
Officer in Charge Forestry Department OGG SAUNDERS Wife: Rosie STANBURY
Percy Headmaster
Wife: Jean SULLIVAN
Tom
Wife: Bernice
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