Lavinia’s father was a sea captain and wrote prolifically over 40 years to Lavinia.
She kept all the letters in a wooden chest. Her father travelled the world and his letters were full of priceless stories.
One day they went to visit the Treasures at Martinup and a fire started by lightning swept through their camp, burning the humpy to the ground, and all the letters were lost.
In another fire at Mandora the stables burned down in the middle of the night and all of their team horses were killed.
Arthur Allardyce and the Aylmore’s had a difference of opinion over the access and use of water and land around the area.
Aylmore’s owned the land around Cadelup Well and Allardyce wanted to buy blocks there.
Allardyce put in electric lights at his property ‘Anglesey’ and built tennis courts but eventually went broke due to many extravagances.
Allardyce sold it to Ernie Moir in 1929 and leased (who) leased Anglesey between 1930 and 1938. (Ernie is related to Marion Wellstead)
It was a sad time for the team horses which were no longer needed. People couldn’t afford to keep them as pets, food costs were high.
Tommy Newbey shot his faithful old cart horse and fed it to the pigs.
Another farmer who owned a property near Mandora also shot 3 horses and fed them to the pigs, June’s father was very upset. Stan’s father also shot 3 horses.
Some local Aboriginal people bought or took over horses as they were being phased out – but they could not afford the feed required, keeping them on only grass. They became malnourished without the chaff and oats.
June’s father loved the horses and kept them in use on his farm out near Magitup (Kybelup) which was sand plain, and in 1942 seeded 700 acres with his team.
Because he would not modernise his two sons left the farm – one became a teacher.
George’s sister (Honor Aylmore) has kept up the family history.
June gave me photos of the shearers; Aboriginal workers on their farm. They didn’t have a team name, it was before the teams, they spoke in their language as they worked.
There was an art exhibition and June sent the photo as some were descendents of those shearers in the early days.
June told me a story about a local Remittance Man:
(‘Remittance Men’ were sent out from England because they were the black sheep of the family.
They had done something wrong, they had to leave but their family sent them money)
One tall elegant man who was an ex-guardsman, always immaculately dressed down to gloves and a cane would ride into Gnowangerup for his stores.
One day, just outside the National Bank (which had a fence in those days) two young lads were laughing at him as he arrived.
He got off his horse, quietly tied it up and strolled over.
“I do not like the cut of your clothes”, he said. “And what’s more, I do not like the shirt you are wearing, nor the tie, in fact I do not like you at all”
With that he picked up one of the young lads and threw him into a fence!
June has the history of the steam tractors- there were two and one got bogged coming to GNP so only one made it.
Carpenters who came to WA in the late 1800’s owned them – the bought them out from England with them to an estate in Albany .
They were a ploughing team, one on each side of the paddock, dragging a chain with discs on it between them.
But the soil in Australia was completely different and the Govt bought them to use as clearing machines.
But they bought them to the Pallinup Estate Lord Brassey in the Gnowangerup district (Pallinup) in the winter.
It took them 6 weeks to get them here – June has the story written down.
“The Eastwoods are rather a dour lot (said June) but Guy Eastwood, Stan’s (cousin) was a real outgoing gregarious. He lived in Gnowangerup in the early part of the century – he knew lots of stories.
June and Stan were fascinated and decided to go to QLD (Tamworth), take a tape recorder and tape his stories. When they were about 50 kilometres away they received a message that there had been a terrible accident and Guy had died.
June’s mother had also lots of stories but June didn’t get to record them before her mother passed away - June also missed talking to her Dad.
Guy told the story of the Chinese labourers who were employed to put up a fence, which they did and were paid for, after they left it fell over – they had dug only shallow holes, cut the posts to look the right height and the first wind blew it over.
June told of the rude joke about Telyarup . (“I can) Tell – you’re up.
“Charlie Stutely was still using his horse and cart to get to church in the 1950’s”.
June she remembers my mother Joy Stewart coming in to P & C stalls in front of the Memorial Hall. June said she would have had to have got up at 4am to milk the cows etc, and then cook 6 sponge rolls.
Mum had arrived at the stall in town at 8.30am.
A big thank you to June, this was a magic afternoon listening to these and other stories from days gone by. Merilyn.
