Gnowangerup History

Sam was sent to England and whilst recovering there he contracted tuberculosis, this further drained his immune system.
Sam returned to the family farm – still being run essentially by his parents and brothers – in 1922.
There were several blocks which the family had taken up, all along Cleveland Road. The road had been named after an area in Yorkshire, England, and was later renamed Foster Road.
Sam worked two or three seasons on the farm, building a small hut or cottage and naming his farm Belvedere.
Sam married Maria Williams whose father Duncan had also served in WWI and they had two daughters, Joan and Audrey. The family then he moved into Gnowangerup.

Sam was Secretary of the Gnowangerup Roads Board from c1922-c1934. Sometimes he was well and full of energy, but at other times he was very ill and had to take time away from work.
He eventually resigned as a result of indifferent health. Sam was an active member of the Methodist Church and a main force in the building of the new hospital in Gnowangerup – the old hospital was a ‘terrible place’ (Nelson Lemmon, Oral History Battye Library).

FOSTER FAMILY May 1913 #3
Left - Right: SAM (Senior), EDGAR, MARIA, SAMUAL (Junior) ARNOLD

Sam’s brother Arnold enlisted in WWII. Arnold had endeavoured to enlist in WWI with Sam but was rejected due to a health issue –scarlet fever as a child had left him with a slight heart murmur and at the start of hostilities the AIF was ‘very picky’. Arnold now joined up in the Tank Corps.
At the outbreak of WWII Sam initially joined the Gnowangerup Volunteer Defence Corps.
Sam’s son Bob, now living in Albany, remembers tagging along to the VDC training days, and the chief organisers – Fred Gaze, Tom Scott and Arthur.
Bob recalls the two guns that were displayed in the Memorial Hall – a German Spandor and a British Vickers Machine Gun. During WWII the guns were used for training due to the shortage of weapons. The barrel of the German gun was converted to a Vickers so it would take available ammunition.
It wasn’t long however, before Sam was sought out due to his military experience and knowledge and offered a position with the AIF at their office in Perth.
In later years he spent time at the Wooroloo Centre. There he spent time making cane baskets and producing pieces with ‘poker work’ – patterns and images produced by applying a hot poker to ply wood.
Sam is remembered as a man who was able to work comfortably and efficiently with others, he served his country in two wars, was a great community worker and family man