GARNETT Elizabeth  

Compiled by Gordon Freegard based on research by Merilyn Stewart

Article by Hazel Carr

“Born at Booleroo Centre in the year 1878, Elizabeth Wise married James Garnett, the son of a London stonemason, in November 1899. The young couple settled on a small farm near Craddock, S.A. Drought and vermin forced them to sell their holding, and they decided to embark on the S.S. Bombai for Western Australia.
In April 1905, they landed at Albany, bringing with them their two young daughters, stores, and a few personal belongings. They had shipped a good team of horses and a wagon from South Australia, with which they traveled to Peringalup. They camped at Poonewiup Pool, closely following the wheel tracks of Mr. and Mrs. Chas Stutely. While in this area, they began bark stripping in partnership with the Jenkin family. Mrs. Garnett and Mrs. Jenkin found camp life rather monotonous and spent much of their time trapping possums for skins.
One day, the men were mystified when the ladies asked for the use of one of the wagons and horses. Later, the children came in yelling for Dad to come and help, as Mum and Auntie were bogged down by the creek. Imagine the men’s surprise when they came upon the bogged wagon, so heavily laden with small pieces of mallet bark that the horses could not move it.

ELIZABETH GARNETT            #1

JAMES & ELIZABETH GARNETT           #2
 

Mr. and Mrs. Garnett next made their way to the old Eugenup property, which they rented for a short period in 1906. The first Baptist Church service was held at Eugenup House when the Garnetts were there, and a Mr. Abbot arranged to hold monthly meetings in the Garnett home.
A near neighbor had a house built of two hessian walls, and she often told of the terror-filled nights she spent alone when her husband traveled to Broomehill for stores. The dingoes came so close that they made the nights hideous with their howls. Once, a neighbor of Mrs. Garnett was in Tambellup collecting provisions when she admired an exotic-looking pot plant. The owner of the plant gave it to her, saying how the seeds had been imported from England, and told her of the special care needed to rear it. For thirty miles, the lady carried the pot plant tenderly on her lap. It was Mrs. Garnett's unpleasant task later to inform her that her well-nurtured and healthy plant was a pie melon vine.

Land Selected

In 1907, Mr. Garnett selected the blocks now known as "Glenroy," situated about two miles west of where Gnowangerup is now located. He erected two large mud brick rooms on the western end of the farm, and later he built a similar house on the eastern end. To improve his financial position, Mr. Garnett went into partnership with Arthur Aylmore in a damsinking project.
As trips to Broomehill for stores were neither often nor regular, Mrs. Garnett was obliged to bake her own bread, which was done in an outdoor brick oven. She grew her own fruits and vegetables, which gardens were watered from the dam. Water was carted in a tank mounted on a horse-drawn sled.

 CHILDREN VERDUN & HAZEL GARNETT           #3
 

Among the fruits grown were sweet brown pears that were good winter keepers when stored on canvas in the wool shed. Possums were blamed for plundering them, but some of the Garnett children knew where the pears really went.

Dedicated Christian

Mrs. Garnett, throughout her life, was a dedicated Christian and brought up her ten children accordingly. They supported the Baptist Church in Gnowangerup ever since it was opened in 1914, Mrs. Garnett being one of the foundation members. In 1928, Mr. Garnett bought the property called Christmas Farm, four miles south of Glengarry, for his second son Verdun. In 1935, a second farm was acquired for their son, North. In 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Garnett retired to live in Albany, where Mrs. Garnett cared for her husband, who had suffered for many years with a heart condition until his death in April 1948.
Mrs. Garnett then sold the small block and her home on Glenroy to her youngest son, Glen, and moved to live with her daughter, Miss Thelma Garnett, in Katanning. Other daughters in the family are Mrs. Muriel Mycock of Kukerin, Mrs. Ida Smith of Borden, Mrs. Hazel Carr of Gnowangerup, Mrs. Amy Parnell of Katanning, and Mrs. Joyce Wray of Broomehill. Mrs. Grace Wellstead of Bremer Bay (third daughter) predeceased her mother by seven years.

Because her sons and daughters lived within easy driving distance of Katanning, Mrs. Garnett enjoyed her later years visiting them. In February 1959, Mrs. Garnett suffered a severe stroke that made her an invalid for five years. In spite of her condition, she still maintained a lively interest in her 32 grandchildren and 13 (then) great-grandchildren.
Miss Thelma Garnett, fourth daughter, spent five years of unselfish loving care on her invalid mother, who died on September 25, 1964, aged 87 years. Elizabeth Garnett, a splendid pioneer, left many loving memories for her family and numerous friends.”

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