He wandered around taking up various types of employment, arriving in Coolgardie at the height of the gold rush. He worked as a woodcutter on the famous ‘Woodline’. He also prospected for gold without luck. Albert arrived in Perth where he was working at a lime kiln in the Swanbourne area, as well as working as a ‘night man’ or sanitary worker.
Clare’s mother, Elizabeth Anna nee Stook (1881- ) was born in South Australia. Both of her parents and a brother died during an epidemic. The remaining three brothers and four sisters were split up – the boys (Will, Arthur and Alf) sent to work and the girls (Flo, Nell and Clare) were cared for by grandparents. The grandparents found they could not manage and the girls went into an orphanage. Clara was adopted aged 4. All of her siblings survived and lived long lives.
Elizabeth and Albert most likely met in the Subiaco area where Elizabeth lived and Albert was working. They were married on Christmas Eve in 1904. Clare was born in October 1905, her brother Arthur was born c1907 and younger brother Lou c1910.
At that time the government was urging men to "go on the land and open up the country at a cheap price.’ said Clare. Her father ‘wanted to own more than a house and be his own boss.’ About 1913 when Clare was aged eight, Clare’s parents sold the family home and furniture to buy a thousand acre virgin bush block at South Kwobrup (about 17 miles/27 kilometres). Albert named the property ‘Quondong Plains’. They also purchased a team of horses, a plough, stripper and winnower.
Albert left 12 months or so before the rest of the family joined him. They stayed with an uncle and aunt in Spearwood. Albert kept busy clearing the land and also built a humpy in the middle of a clearing. Constructed from bush timber and corrugated iron, it had a mud floor and no doors or windows when the family first saw their new home. There were two rows of timber posts with hessian nailed up.
Later her father built up the walls with two rows of moort sticks with mud filling. Elizabeth whitewashed the hessian inside. Elizabeth had kept her much loved piano, however that was later sold to buy some more team horses which upset her very much. They later purchased a Metters No. 2 stove. A copper was built in outside, and along with a bench and tubs this was the laundry. Clare commented she used the same system herself for many years.
The isolation of the country was a stark contrast to their previous life in the city. Her mother was ‘rather upset’ that there were no doors or windows but the children were ‘very excited’. Albert fitted the doors and windows very soon after the family arrived.
Albert cleared the property himself. The moort and silver mallet was cleared by axe, the lighter country with a roller made from a log. The family also collected the bark from the mallet trees.
Kangaroos and dingoes abounded in those early years. At first the children were very frightened of the dingoes and their father patiently helped them overcome their fears. After a time they became adept at imitating the howl, and one night Clare was able to call one up close.
Their closest neighbours – two bachelors – lived just half a mile away. However for five years they did not attend school - it was 10 miles to the Kwobrup School over a winding track – sandy in summer and mud in winter.
Although correspondence lessons were available at the time, the family chose instead to send the children for 2 hours every day to Mr Reeve’s house for lessons given by Mrs Gray. When the neighbours moved to Gnowangerup there were no more lessons. Mrs Holm was very upset because they had been promised schooling and there were plenty of children in the area. (One family had ten children).
Occasionally the family went into Gnowangerup for stores or blacksmithing repairs in their spring cart or horse and dray. The normal day saw Clare working with her father from 8am until 12 noon.
The farm was on ‘virgin country’ and the family cleared the lighter country mostly by the ‘rolling’ method. A roller was made out of a huge log, a frame was built around it and it was pulled by four horses. The heavier country consisting of silver mallet and moort was all felled by axe and later burnt. Often the mallet bark was stripped, bundled and sold for an extra income. At that time agents in Gnowangerup purchased the mallet bark and sent it by rail to be shipped overseas.
Clare could cook a meal, including bread, biscuits and cakes by the age of 10. She always loved horses and often worked with her father – Clare drove the horses whilst her father picked mallee roots ahead of the team and the combine or plough. Clare can recall only one paddock that was cropped using a stripper and winnower. The first crop was harvested just before Christmas and heaped into piles of wheat grain and chaff. That night a thunderstorm came up and the crop was lost to the soggy clay pan.
An aunt in South Australia sent over dresses which were ‘cut down’ and altered by a kind neighbour. For much of her first year at school Clare attended in bare feet, keeping her only footwear – a pair of black button-up boots for special occasions.