They brought with them 3 cows and two calves, arriving by train. Ethel had to immediately milk the cows as they had been so long in transit and she gave the milk away to anyone who wanted it.
They remained on this property (adjacent Wise property) till 1922 when they moved for a short while to “Maileup” Borden.
They lived in a shed near the main homestead, a grand two storey affair which sadly burnt down. Howard continued to share farm, but the family moved after a few months to what was previously the Road Board (?) office and house in Yougenup Road, opposite G.S. Hendry and Co
Howard moved to Magitup Borden which he then share farmed with Mr. Davis until approx 1944.
Ethel moved back to Magitup after her family were grown and married. However after Howard suffered a breakdown, they retired to Denmark where they lived for many years. Their latter years were to a retirement home in Perth.
Ethel was a board member of the new Gnowangerup Hospital, prominent in the Methodist Church and helped to raise money to buy and transport the present (Uniting) church from Southern Cross.
Methodist Guild was held in the Yougenup street premises where the poor young lay minister had to read passages from the Bible to the ladies while they sewed.
The ladies took turns to record the minutes and seemed a feisty band, often disputing what the previous lady had expressed in the minutes or an opinion the Minister had made so the young Minister’s afternoon must have been traumatic
Ethel was a talented cook and kept bottles of meticulously bottled fruit on display always.
However she always taught us “pride before a fall”. As a renowned sponge cook, she invited her neighbor to learn how to cook sponges and while she awaited the lady’s arrival she quickly whipped one up for afternoon tea.
The lady arrived; the oven door was opened with a flourish to reveal a congealed mess in the bottom of the tin. In her haste, she had omitted to add the flour before baking.
Suffering from rheumatoid arthritis since 17, she still managed to knit, crochet and keep a meticulous house although her hands were completely disfigured. Ethel always sang as she worked in the house, always to hymn tunes but never the words.
Simply “dee dee” as we grandchildren always heard.
Ethel died in 1969.
