2023 RJM Life HX

Family History Memories of - Robert James Marmont
FAMILY HISTORY
MEMORIES
OF
ROBERT JAMES
MARMONT
P.S.M., J.P.
Compiled By
Robert J. Marmont
Updated 12/11/2023 Page 1

IN THE BEGINNING
Robert James MARMONT was born on the 22nd January 1949 at the Crookwell District Hospital, the first born of
Cyril James MARMONT and Catherine Eliza MARMONT (nee Howarth). Robert was part of the extended
MARMONT family living at "GRETA" at Golspie NSW. Living there at the time I was born were my parents
Grandparents Edward Leslie MARMONT and his wife Ethel MARMONT (nee Lang), their daughter Lila Ethel and
their youngest son Leslie Roy. Ethel died 24 June 1949, when I was six months old of Lymphatic Leukaemia.
THE THINGS AROUND ‘GRETA’ I REMEMBER:
My early memories of this time are somewhat sketchy and

scattered. I remember certain times and places though they may
not be in order, like going to school in Taralga on the school bus
from Golspie. I remember some of the names and pick up points
but most of the names escape me, those I remember being the
Mathews boys, the Cartwright boys, Croker boys and the Boys,
boys. In the early times I was taken to the road to catch the bus at
the "Greta" gate, the Francis's gate (they lived right on the road and
were good friends of my father, Allan and Herbert they went to
school with my Dad) or the Golspie Store. I would mostly walk the
two mile home after getting off the bus at one of the above places. I
would sometimes visit Aunty Annie Pollock who had the Golspie telephone exchange and at one time the Post
Office. Aunty Annie had a piano which I did not manage to master.
I would often call in for a drink and a biscuit or cake with Mr. Jack and Mrs. Iza
Bradbury who owned "Monkey Creek". The Bradburys' did not have any children
that I remember, so I was well treated. I recall that one of our fox terrier dogs
raided their chook house which caused quite a flurry of feathers, so as to speak -
Mrs B. was not impressed. The Bradburys’ moved to Goulburn and I can
remember visiting in Murray Street. In fact, Mrs. Bradbury was still alive when I
married in 1973, as I was going to leave my car there the night before the
wedding. Often, I encountered snakes on the way home, particularly at the
bottom of the steep hill just before the Bradburys' place and near the cattle yards
at the gate into “Greta”. There were two 'bogs' due to springs on or near the road
closer to "Greta" these were great to play in, some places a bit like quicksand, if you were quick you did not sink,
but if you did - big trouble when you got home. I remember the ice on the puddles of water around the springs on
a winter’s morning - great to jump on, some hard to break because they were frozen solid.
I remember an incident that was unpleasant, to say the least, for two of us. Back when I was five or six years old
caster oil was the treatment of choice for most that ailed you. I can recall a visit to a Doctor Burns in Crookwell, I
don’t remember what was wrong with me but a dose of the good old caster oil was prescribed. Now I had had this
foul smelling and even worse tasting stuff before. On this occasion my mother was attempting to administer it in or
with orange juice, which I tell you does not disguise it in any shape or form. The first dose went around and
around and came out. Certain threats accompanied the next dose. This dose was expelled with some force in fan
fashion, with my mother wearing the resultant spray. Needless to say, the next dose was swallowed after
considerable coercion by way of a thin piece of leather- the strap. To this day the smell of caster oil makes my
stomach roll and heave and to leave the room when the top is taken off the bottle.
I recall some of the dances held at the Golspie Hall as well as the wedding and the reception for David and Lila
McCall.

(My last visit to Greta, Golspie, Taralga and Crookwell was in August 2001)
During this visit I was able to take photos of around the old house, it was deserted and the back door was open.
The inside at the back was new, but the front was to a point the same as I remembered it.
There was a big old pine tree on the top side front of the house (now gone) ; there was a limb on it that made a
very good 'horse' to ride. The old dairy out the back near the grape vines and the willow tree - where the milk was
separated after milking. The wood heap which harboured many a snake, on the way to the outside toilet, (which
still stands today, 2001, must have been built well) the gully and the dam below. I remember the clover paddock
at the front of the house, often used to keep the horses. There was a small orchard at the side of the house, pear
and apple tree - between the house and the cow yard. The cows were milked daily with the calves being penned
up at night - there was a quiet cow that I used to milk, the name escapes me. There were the usual chooks and
chook house as well (gone today).
The house was surrounded by a fence, a tall one at the back, and a smaller one at the front. The house was on a
split level with steps from the back verandah to the kitchen at the back, through to the lounge room and bedrooms
at the front. Pop Ted (Edward) slept in the front room on the left just before you went out the front door, I
remember him having a big old crock hot water bottle. My parents slept in the bedroom on the right and another
bedroom went off the lounge room. There was also an old building at the back which was used as a storage shed
- it could have been the original house though I don’t know. There were a number of pine trees at the back of the
house on the top side. There was a large vegetable garden on the bottom side of the house down the hill from the
cow yard. Lila says that the family was self sufficient with veges most of the time in her early days. Pop Ted and
my Mum (Kate) tended the rather large vege garden during the time we lived at Greta. There was a small front
gate with a privet hedge on both sides, with a narrow garden bed inside the hedge. I remember a number of black
cars of the time and travelling with Pop Ted down to Richlands to visit some relatives I have been since told that
Pop Ted was interested in a lady friend down there. I am sure my father rolled more than one of these cars whilst
we lived at Greta. There were many rabbit warrens in a wash-a-way up near Sharwoods where many rabbits were
caught as well as being baited. The rabbit warrens were on the way to over the hill to Langs - once known as
"Llandillo" (Maynards) changed to "Weona" by John Lang (snr) and John Lang (jnr) lives there as at June 1985. I
can remember going up to Sharwoods - there was (is) a lake there - to pick quinces and gooseberries. There was
also good duck hunting there as well.
I recall going down to near Uncle Fred’s’ at Myome where there was another part of Pop Teds property to a set of
sheep yards – before the ‘bald’ hill. I recall lamb marking taking place and would have been in on the catching of
the lambs. I can remember putting sheep shit in an old vaccine bottle with water, it must have been there for a few
days and was under pressure. I still have the scare on the bottom of my left leg, threw the bottle at a post and it
exploded, glass went everywhere. I also recall using ‘larvicide’ on the rabbits in the deep wash-a-ways just behind
Kelvin Francis’s place, bloody terrible smelling stuff it was, worked well on the rabbits. All the fence posts were cut
from trees in those days, you fell the tree then used a splitting gun – a bit like an old artillery shell which was filled
with gelignite and gun powder and a fuse to light it to split the tree. Bloody wood would go everywhere dependant
on the amount of the charge, too much you ended up with match sticks.
The property "Greta" was sold by Pop Ted to his son Reginald
Bertram and his wife Hazel some time early 1956. This apparently
caused a fare bit of disagreement. Cyril, Kate and family had to
move from "Greta" and they moved down to Uncle Fred’s place at
"Myome" - I now know this to be the home of William
MARMONT the convict and his family. It was originally name
‘Galway’. We, Cyril, Kate, Robert and my sister Suzanne actually
stayed in the old Marmont house for some time. We lived in the
house on the left of the picture, the other buildings had been
knocked down as Uncle Fred had built his own newer house. There
were grape vines around some of the house both old and new.
There was also an old building out the back of the new kitchen, it
must have been to do with the original Marmont house.

Uncle Frank and Aunty Flo Marmont lived over and just upstream on the other side of Myanga Creek. I remember
shearing time at Uncle Freds’ on a number of occasions, there was a big old (new then) Lister engine.
There was another shed on the other side of a deep gulley connected by a ‘swinging bridge’. It was hell getting
sheep back and forth.
Because Myome was so far off the road I had to stay with Reg and Hazel at Greta to go to school during the week
and return on the bus to Myome for the weekend. This was not a particularly happy time, Reg and Hazel were not
ALL that hospitable - I had to walk to and from the bus and remember missing the bus more than once. Often
spending the day with great-aunty Annie Pollock at the Post Office on the hill, she also had the manual telephone
exchange. I can remember playing the piano there.
It was somewhere around this time, whilst we were living at Myome that Uncle Fred fell from a ladder in the
kitchen and injured his back. Fred spent some time in hospital recovering. His wife Ada became mentally unstable
after this, believing that he would never walk again. This was despite the fact that he walked back into the house
sometime after he recovered and continued to work the property. Ada was eventually admitted to Kenmore
Mental Hospital in Goulburn where she remained until her death, still believing that Uncle Fred could not walk. My
Mum used to visit her after we went to Gundary and have her out for the day. Uncle Fred eventually sold Myome
to Ray Collins and move to Goulburn so as to be closer to his wife. Adrian Collins (17) was killed on a tractor.
I can recall getting off the bus with the Matthews and Cartwright boys below St. Marks Church, in fact at the first
‘old’ Golspie School which was at the end of the bus run. I would have to wait with old Mrs. Cartwright for mum or
dad to come up from Uncle Fred’s to get me, otherwise I would have to walk home to Uncle Fred’s – fortunately it
was down hill all the way. Mrs. Cartwright was a very kind lady and would always supply a drink and a biscuit.
Barry Cartwright a little older than I entered the PMG, Australia Post as it is know today and I recall him in
Goulburn and Postmaster in Marulan.
TARALGA PUBLIC SCHOOL.

My recollections of Taralga are at the most very sketchy. I remember my first
class teacher a Miss Connie Francis and in particular for one thing - Miss
Francis would not let me go to the toilet this day and I ended up peeing my
pants. I don't need to tell you who picked her up and took her to hospital in her
latter days. These days some bleeding heart would say that it had an effect on
me. I recall the warm milo drinks or similar was to be had during the winter - in
those days everyone had milk at school. I got sick from one of those milo milks
and disliked milo for ages. Some of the family names that attended the school
when I was there are Stephen Todd, his father Percy Todd drove the school bus
to and from Golspie and owned the top end garage. Colin Denning lived about
halfway between Golspie and Taralga. Then there were the Stiffs from the Caves, the Chalkers and the Menzies
from Bannaby. The school still stands and is in use today, 2002. There was a small shop just down from the
school where you could buy ice creams for sixpence (5 cents today) The Shop opposite the bottom Hotel, was
owned by Bill Hannaford at one stage. There is an old two story building on the left of the school, this used to be
the Doctors Surgery in times passed. My father was born there.
THE MOVE TO GUNDARY PLAINS.

After being at Myome for some six months or more, Cyril
Marmont obtained a job as station hand on a property called
“Gundary Plains”, working for an Mr. Eric J. Pope and his son
Tony Pope some seven miles south of Goulburn on the
Windellama Road. We moved there in the May of 1957. The old
house we lived in burnt to the ground in the early 60's whilst we
were away for the weekend at Nanna Howarths. The cause of
the fire is thought to be an electrical fault in a fridge after an
electrical storm. The family lost nearly everything including many
old photos, some things were recovered but burnt, some coins
and my parents’ original marriage certificate I still have today.

Most of the coins came from Nanna Howarth, she used to save pennies, half-pennies, farthings, three pence and
sixpences and give them to the grandkids when they visited.
These coins some of which I have, were in the bottom of a wardrobe and with the heat the silver coins melted and
welded the coins together. Though the marriage certificate is browned around the edges it is still readable. Any
old photos I have in my collection today would have been copies of photos given by other members of the family.
Mostly we had only the clothes we had with us for the weekend – this was a sad time for the family.
There was an appeal conducted by the people in the Windellama area where we went to school, many things
were given including clothes. We lived in the shearers’ quarters on Gundary for the best part of nine months whilst
a new house was built on where the old one had been. I remember my Mum (Kate) being ill with kidney problems
during this time, she had a big operation to remove kidney stones and was on some rather nasty drugs for some
time. I had to cook the meals on the big old two oven shearer’s wood burning stove. The shearer’s quarters
bedrooms had to be fumigated at one stage due to bed bugs. The new house was nothing flash but had a slow
combustion stove in it which pleased my Mum, she loved to cook scones and sponge cakes. There were three
bedrooms, a lounge room. Pop Ted (Edward) came to stay on many occasions and spent most of his time tending
the vegetable garden. He would always give my Mum a large amount of money to assist in his stay and stayed in
my bedroom.
I can remember infrequent visits by Aunty Merle (my Mums Sister) and Uncle Leo and their children, Robyn, Terry
and Jeff, though it was hard to get Leo away, he had to be back to milk his cows. I had a bike and would ride up
to the top of the hill to wait for them to come – many times they did not come – in spite of my Mum cooking a
baked lunch. We did not have a phone in those days so people could not let us know if they were coming or not.
Mum used to ring Aunty Merle when she went to town shopping. Speaking of the bike, rode it many miles and
usually only at one speed. I recall coming off many times, one in particular, I still have the scares on my elbow
and knee. It was not far off the main road where a concrete pipe was under the road below a dam – too fast, too
sharp – big gravel rash, sore for weeks. Horse riding was part of the farm life from Shetland pony to larger horses.
Came off many times here to, particularly either when the horse stopped or turned suddenly – riding bare back
didn’t help and its rough on the family jewels. I had a white wire hair fox terrier dog called Tiny, I had had her as a
pup at Greta – she died having pups at Gundary.
I did, and learnt, lots of the on-farm things during the time our family spent on Gundary, nearly seventeen years of
farm experience, which has stood me in good stead over the years. I learnt to drive any and all of the farm
equipment and graduated to cars eventually. One of the first vehicles driven was the old grey Massey Ferguson
Tractor, and then often spent many hours ploughing on the bigger tractors. Helping with mustering of stock,
shearing, lamb marking, drenching and killing sheep were high on my interest list. Managed to get my bum kicked
on more than one occasion for doing the wrong thing. I attended many bushfires in the Bungonia area on the
Gundary fire truck - couldn't wait to get home from High School to go to a fire, got singed once. Remember seeing
some spectacular sights as big gum trees exploded in a ball of flame even before the fire got to them. Rocks
exploding as the result of the intense heat was rather scary. In the latter years I joined the Mulwarree Shire
Bushfire Brigade as a base station radio operator. I had one of the best radio links from a portable radio that there
was. It was a long wire in the shape of an ‘L’ swung between the tops of the pine trees on the bottom side of the
house. I could talk to anyone anywhere in the shire, base radio operators were know as ‘echo’ - I was echo one. I
continued this even after I joined the Ambulance and until I left Goulburn.
I spent a lot of my time with Tony Pope doing things on the property at the weekends and school holidays.
Gassing rabbits in dam walls and warrens, checking stock and water, checking lambing ewes and calving cows -
this having to be done twice or more a day. Assisting ewes to lamb or picking up dead lambs and baiting foxes all
part of the jobs. They still used the old 'arsenic' plunge dip to dip the sheep in the early times, you had to be up at
four o'clock to start and have the dipping done as early as possible. Things then modernised and the round or
straight pressure spray jet dips were used. I recall many a day spent drafting and drenching sheep. I remember
the farrier coming to shoe the horses on the property, Tony Pope used to play Polo sometimes and motor bikes
were not in vogue. I remember Dad having to ford the Gundary Creek in one of the floods to rescue stranded
sheep on the other side, he used a horse. The forge which was used to heat up the horseshoes was a hand
operated one and used coke to burn. With a little effort pumping the bellows which forced air through the coke (no
not the stuff you drink or snort) you could almost turn a horseshoe white hot. Shearing was an interesting time
with up to twelve stand and lots of activity for the best part of three weeks.

I used to help the pressor by putting the wool in the press and stamp it down and branding the bales. Couldn’t
wait to get home from school to go and help. Yarding sheep on the Sunday night and often dipping on the
weekend.
There was a guy by the name of Jimmy Waters who was a bit older than I, but who I had great times with around
the property; he went to the Goulburn High School and finished the year I started. We would often meet after
school to muck around, his mother worked as a cook / housekeeper for Mr and Mrs EJ Pope. I spent a lot of time
investigating things around the property, there was the old ‘dump’, many interesting things there and caught many
rabbits at the dump. There was an old englishman who worked on the property who taught me how to use a small
wire noose trap, the rabbit was not injured just held by the neck and you could take them home alive. I had many
a pet rabbit at one time, some also going to the pot, rabbit stew. Gundary Creek ran through the property on the
flat down from the Shearer’s quarters, it ran well during time of heavy rain and cut the property in half.
The creek also had a good supply of eels though they were hard to catch. The hay and machinery sheds were
also great places to investigate and to play. I used to help out when it was hay bailing time by loading bales onto
the truck and stacking in the hay shed. Hay carting was done at night.
The old (first) shearers quarters on Gundary were still standing in the early days, just, this proved to be an
interesting place. This was a large old weatherboard building, I have not seen the like since. There were a
number of old rat / mouse traps in the building; one was a plank over an old wash tub which had water in it. The
plank had a hinged bit at the end, when the mouse / rat went onto the end which was lightly baited with fat the
weight causing the end to drop down and the mouse / rat landed in the water and presumably drowned. The
shearing shed and yards provided many an interesting time, particularly at shearing time. There was a family who
lived in the house opposite us, his name was Rocky Carter and they had two kids who were much younger than I.
His wife designed a 'golf' course of sorts in the paddock just down from the houses.
I ran away from home during my time at Gundary, spent the night in one of the rooms in the shearers’ quarters. I
don’t remember the reason for my running away, though I recall Pop Ted being there. They were searching for
me the next morning and came home when I was ready; I think I still got a belting for my troubles.
Old EJ Pope (a pompas old man, drove a humber snipe) and his wife lived a very large two story 24 room house,
Tony and his wife lived in a more modest home not far from the main house. The Popes were of the 'upper class'.
Some of Cyril’s jobs were to milk the cows, four or so, for both houses, there was a large milk room and I
remember the large milk settling dishes. The milk was allowed to settle and the cream skimmed off the top. This
was done in preference to separating the milk and cream in a separator. There were chooks to be fed and bred,
lawns to be mowed as well as the gardening. Cyril usually only worked Monday to Friday and some weekends in
turn. He also did the butchering of the sheep for the whole property, which involved killing at least four or five
sheep per week for those working on the property. In the latter years I used to shut the calves up for Dad at night.
On my visit to Gundary in 2001 a lot had changed. The house we lived in was still there, though the pine trees,
gardens, the double car shed, chook shed and hedge were all gone. So to was the old bore water tank and stand
– the area around the house was bare. The house opposite was still there, though most of the trees around it had
gone – I suppose being pine trees that were old when I was there had died. The old machinery sheds down on
the flat still stand with old rusted and disused machinery lying idle. The old forge was still there had seen many a
horse shod, as were some of the silos as well as the old hand pump petrol bowser. The shearing shed and
quarters still stand, the quarters being used by workers who now run the property.
I don’t remember the move from Gundary to RMB 111 Rosemont Road, it must have been whilst I was away
working. I recall calling into Gundary with Rodney Wisbey during one of our tours selling peaches, near Christmas
time. I was still boarding with Mrs. Fitzgerald after I joined the Ambulance Service but must have returned home
to Rosemont Road at some time.

WINDELLAMA PUBLIC SCHOOL

I started at the Windellama School on the 21st May 1957 after moving to Gundary Plains. As entered in the
school admission register of the time, of which I have a photocopy. The school population being around 30 to 40
kids for all years. The first two teachers when I arrived were a Mr. Knight and a Mr. Moon. We lived about eight
miles from Goulburn but I had to go to school on the bus to Windellama some 23 miles away. Go figure!
The bus pick up point to Windellama was about 3 miles, I was either taken, rode my bike or walked or got a lift,
always walked home.
I caught the bus at the corner of the Bullamalita Lane and the Windellama /
Goulburn Road at about seven thirty AM. The family who lived on that corner
were named ‘Obst’ I think there were three or four kids; there was many kids
on the bus before I got on. Some of these being the ‘Readers’, the
‘Pinkertons’ the ‘Grangers’ and the ‘Geggs’. The bus driver was a Norm
Gegg, he had two sons one named Neil. The bus travelled down the
Bullamalita Lane to where it picked up the ‘Waltons’ then to Bullamalita to
pick up the ‘Pedens’ and the ‘Klowers’, the Klowers are related way back.
One of the older boy Pedens was killed in a bushfire accident some years
later.
We then travelled on to pick up the ‘Frost’ girls just before the junction of the Bungonia Road where the ‘Souths’
caught the bus. Geoff South was about my age and a bit of a bully – more on him later. The bus then picked up a
couple more times before it got to the crossroads of the Windellama and Bungonia roads. There were a number
of kids picked up here, the ‘Careys,’ Rolfes’ and others whose names I don’t remember. The bus turned left
toward Windellama and the school. There were some other pick ups on the way to the school, ‘Roberts’ and
‘McGaw’ kids. The school is situated on a hill on the right as you go toward Windellama, the school being some
miles before the Windellama Hall.
The names of the kids I remember are and I will start where the bus started. Neil Gegg, he had a brother but don’t
recall his name, Ron Granger, he had a sister but I don’t recall her name, David Pinkerton at Qualligo station,
then there was Peter and Mary Reader, I think there were two or three other children. Margaret Obst and other
children, Peter and Robyn Walton and two or three other children, the Bullamalita gate were Wayne and Kayleen
Klower, there was an older brother Neville, - Kayleen and I worked together years later at the Goulburn
Ambulance Station, she worked in the office. Meredith Peden went to a private primary school in Goulburn I think,
I remember going to High School with her. The name of the Frost girls escapes me, Geoff South and his sister,
their father drove a ‘DeSoto’ car. Helen, Jean and Ray Carey, there was an older girl but don’t recall her name. I
stayed at Ray Careys place one weekend and called in to see him during August 2001. He still lives in his parent
house and is the caretaker of the school. The kids I remember from the school were Ewen and Owen Rogers,
Jenny Varcoe – she was one bright student, a Jim Laity, Trevor McGaw – distant relation and he is buried in the
Windellama cemetery, died young.
There were two actual school buildings at the time along with a weather shed and toilets. On the western side
stood a row of tall pine trees under which we played marbles during lunch and recess. The marble track was
some twenty to thirty meters in length.
There was a cricket pitch just down from the buildings, I remember being hit in the mouth with a cricket ball and
loosing part of one of my front bottom teeth, didn’t like cricket much after that.
There was an older male teacher that I don’t recall his name that was there for a short time before a Mr. Tony
Plunket arrived. Mr. Plunket was a very good teacher who was also very sports minded and used this to get
students motivated to do their work. Mr Plunket was a strict but fair teacher, however, he could bounce a piece of
chalk of the head of any student in the classroom if you were not paying attention. In the front rows if you were
turned around talking, it was the blackboard duster that landed on the desk in front of you. Just as you turned
back around there was a great cloud of dust. He tended to spare the cane, however there was one incident that
brought one student in contact with six of the best. That unmentionable word was written on the back of the
school bus one afternoon. Many were questioned after a major enquiry Geoff South admitted to writing it there.

Rounders were played on the side of the hill with first base being down the hill, second was across the hill, with
third base up the hill and home across the top. It was difficult to stop on first base. There was a larger cricket field
down on the flat across the road from the school, it also doubled as a sports field and running track. Peter Reader
was a very good runner and represented his school on many occasions. I remember cricket matches playing
against the Marulan School; they were played on the cricket field at the Windellama Hall oval.
I remember going on a science trip down the back of the school to the creek, there was a very old slab hut there
with newspaper lining the walls – no one lived there it was empty. I recall many hours of practice for a school
performance night held at the Windellama Hall. One of the songs sung was one that is sung at Christmas time,
the Emerald City, both verses and it was practised for weeks. Geoff South mouthed the words to all the songs,
his father didn’t know he could sing – my voice wasn’t much better, though the words I still remember.
GOULBURN HIGH SCHOOL

High School was a WHOLE new experience with some 400
students, the Principal at the time was a Mr. Hinchey, and he
was followed by a Mr. Garnsey. I had thought my schooling
to this point to be reasonable, however the grading did not
indicate so, I was in classes 1G/H, the lowest classes.
Though I must admit that there were other things that were of
more interest to me, like what was happening on the farm. It
took me four years to complete a three year course; I
eventually got my ‘external’ Intermediate Certificate and had
graduated to the ‘E’ classes. In fact, the last year that they
were issued was 1965, it became the School Certificate after that and it took four years. I still have my
examination reports from my High School years – most with a steady improvement noted.
Some of the teachers that taught me were a Mr. Vince Duffy a very tall man and a good teacher, though swung
the cane from a great height, a Mr. Blacklock, a. Mr. Keith Wilson for Maths, a Mr. McGrath for geography, a Mr.
Ross Banwell and a Mr. Graham (Billy was his nick name) they were the woodwork / metalwork teachers and a
Mr Bob Cork – I ran across his name at the Hay Students Hostel as part of their reunion papers many years later.
Bob Cork was an ex-student of the Hay Hostel and the Hay War Memorial High School where my three children
went to school. He had taught both Cheryl and I at Goulburn High School and we actually met him at a Hay
Hostel / High School reunion in 2001 and 2003. No, he did not remember us, but we remembered him, not a bad
teacher. There was a Miss Ogle who taught English, Wayne Klower gave her a hard time often, not to say I did
not. In my last year and towards the end of the year I gave her a cutting out from a magazine. You see Miss Ogle
was a little flat in front, so I filled out a coupon that told you how to increase your bust size – that almost got me
some corridor time.
Corridor time was if you played up in class, you were sent outside the room to stand in the corridor. There was
only one problem with this; part of the discipline policy was that ANY student found standing outside of a
classroom in the ‘corridor’ was automatically caned. One of the Master’s a Jack Plews – chrome dome for obvious
reasons (it was polished) would walk the corridors at any time during a period he was not teaching.
Any student found standing in the corridor was given two cuts with the cane – NO questions asked and he was
mean with the cane. If it was the second time in the one day it was four cuts. The other masters were not a
severe, one being a Mr. Connoll. There was a Mr. Wilson who tried to teach maths, except he taught from the
book – read page xx and complete the sums below. I failed maths. A Mr. McGrath taught me geography, a Mr.
Burbridge (library and English teacher I think) got me out of lots of trouble, particularly if I was late for a class –
‘helping’ out in the library Sir. I met Mr Burbridge some months / year after leaving school whilst working in
Araluen, I was selling peaches door to door down the coast somewhere, he did remember me. There was also a
Bob Elpingston who was the PE teacher, mean with the cane, downward motion with the cane just glancing the
buttocks. Made you stand up real quick. I suspect he later had something to do with the Olympics.

Some of the students I recall at High School: Jim Heinz, (wagged some school with Jim) Wayne Klower, Peter
Reader, Bill Fitzgerald, Stephen Ball, a rather big guy, Geoff Ings and a Lindsay Thorpe – this guy could bend his
elbows out forward. A Phillip Pilgram who lived just past Gundary, a Trevor Matthews, (worked with Trevor at
Araluen at end of 1965) there was a girl Lyn Rippon, had a crush on her at one stage, we played chess. My
school marks were not all that brilliant, it took me four years to get a three year certificate though did well in metal
/ woodwork and agriculture.
I also remember one of the cleaners at the school a Mrs Murdock, because I got to school early with Meredith
Peden I had a bit of time to spend. I would help her clean the desks before school, she was a nice lady and my
Mum would send her fresh eggs when the chooks were doing well.
ARALUEN THE FIRST TIME
I left school in November 1965 and was told that I had to get a job, so went to
the employment agency. I did not know what I wanted to do as a job but did
know that I did not want to work on a farm like my father. There was fruit
picking to be done in Araluen for at least three months. I was told to be there
at the Post Office in Goulburn a certain time to be picked up by the Owner of
an orchard in Araluen. Unbeknown to me Trevor Matthews was also going.
Trevor was not in the same classes as I at High School, but knew one another
a little, over the next three months got to know each other very well, sharing a
bed room. Trevor lived out on the Crookwell road past Kingdale.
We arrived in Araluen late that night and were in the same room together for
three months. The couple we stayed with were Jack and Beryl Wisbey, he was
known as ‘Unc’. They had no children of their own, except for the dog ‘George’
a blue healer cattle dog with a mean streak. Trevor and I were shown how and
what fruit had to be pick – I think we must have stuffed up a lot of the time, cause ‘Unc’ was always on our case
and going to fire us. It was noted from time to time that Unc picked a green box or two and others got the blame.
This was seven days a week job when the fruit was on, the pay rate was four dollars per day plus your keep
(meals and room). That was three main meals, morning and afternoon tea and as much fruit as you could eat.
That ‘as much fruit as you could eat’ was a catch. As nice as the fruit was, too much gave you the shits. Then
when you moved into another orchard and a new brand of peaches the same thing, too many peaches, more
shits. You didn’t eat all that much fruit in the end, two or three a day was enough.
The orchard business, mainly peaches was owned in partnership by two brothers and their wives. Jack the older
and Ned Wisbey had been growing fruit and expanding the business in Araluen for many years. Most of the fruit
was going to Canberra and any fruit that Canberra could not take was sent to the Sydney markets. Ned and Bess
Wisbey had four sons and two daughters; the last daughter was a very late thought, oops a mistake. There was
Rodney, Noel, Stan and Chris, then Joan and the little one whose name I don’t recall. Noel was not working there
on my first time, I think he was working somewhere else and both Joan and Chris were still at school. Rodney
was married and had a little boy – it turned out he was deaf, they lived in Araluen.
Ned and Jack did not get on all that well, they often had arguments over many things. Rod and Stan didn’t get on
with ‘Unc’ either, nor between themselves often.
The fruit season usually started in the last week of November which is when Trevor and I started and it continued
until the end of February. Some time in December the paper wasps would start to make their nest in the fruit
trees. These hot arsed insects were easily upset with an ‘attitude’ you don’t want to know about. You would be
picking fruit and the first thing you knew was when you had been hit by one or more of these fast flying hot arsed
creatures.
They were that quick that they would leave the nest, fly out sting you and be back on the nest before you realised
you had been stung. The pain was like a red hot poker going through your arm, neck or wherever they hit. Some
orchards were worse than others for wasps. There was always some newspaper in the truck in order to deal with

the little devils. Light the paper and when it was burning well quickly stick it under the nest – the aim, to burn the
wings off the little bastards before they could get off the nest.
If you weren’t quick enough you would get another sting for your trouble. Some trees would have two or more
nests. I recall Big Dave Jefferies got hit twice at nearly the same time, the first hit him on the side of the neck, the
second hit inside his mouth as he yelled about the first.
There were many varieties of peaches; I didn’t know there were so many (JH Hale, Elberta), each variety came in
at a particular and later time. There were also nectarines, plums, apricots and some pears. The peaches had to
be picked coloured, but not too coloured not too green so as to enable them to be picked, sorted, packed and
arrive in Canberra almost ripe. Jack threatened to sack Trevor and I many times, we were saved by Ned. I
sometimes thought Jack had a problem with ‘colour’. The men did the picking and the women the packing. I got to
do some of the nailing on of lids sometimes; this was in the days before cardboard boxes.
We were paid four dollars per day plus our meals for sometimes a ten hour day which started at six o’clock. Both
Trevor and I left Araluen in early February 1966, I kept in contact with some in Araluen but not so much with
Trevor.
THE GROCERY STORE STINT
I started in my Uncle David McCalls grocery store in Crookwell on the 14th February 1966. This was the first day
of decimal currency, Australia changed from ‘pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents and the
advertisements were to the tune of ‘click go the shears’. Talk about confusing: twelve pennies become ten cents,
six pennies become five cents. Ten shillings become one dollar and one pound become two dollars.
The grocery store was an old fashioned ‘counter’ shop where customers gave you their order from across the
counter. All the groceries and the staff were behind the counter, I had been in the store in my younger days and
had stayed with David and Lila at some time and had helped out in the shop on a number of occasions. One of
the first memories of the shop was the overhead till system, this was in many shops around and Lillymans and my
uncle’s shop was one of the last in Crookwell to use the system. The till was not at the counter it was in the office
where the cashier was in the office. When you were paid by a customer the money and the docket was put in a
round cylinder, screwed onto the part that was attached to the wire that took the cylinder to the cashier. Once the
cylinder was ready you pulled the cord the tensioned the cylinder and released it with great force to send it along
the wire to the cashier. When it arrived at the cashier he/she would remove the contents, write a receipt and send
the change back to the sender. There was a line to each department in the store, I think there was at least five in
the two stores. Some in some stores actually went up hill to the cashier, there was then no need to fire it back you
just released it and it ran down hill.
The groceries were on shelves from the floor to the ceiling, the heavy ones on the bottom and the light up on top.
You needed a hook on a pole to get the packets of cornflakes down, then you had to catch them on the way down
from about four meters up. By the same token you needed a step ladder to pack the items up on the shelves. It
was still the time when sugar, flour, rice, sultanas and many other items came in bulk including biscuits, (arnotts)
came in four pound tins and they were weigh out in brown paper bags and put in the customer’s order. Then there
was always the request for a packet of broken biscuit – they were cheaper.
In the beginning my job was to restock the shelves behind the counter, weighing out the biscuits, the flour, the
sugar and anything else that was sold loose. Lots of things came into the shop loose, potatoes, onions and the
like. At other times customers would drop their written orders in and pick them up later in the day. My job was to
fill the order, later, I did the home deliveries or carried the groceries to the customer’s car. I can recall buying
tubes of condensed milk just to eat. Bacon came still on the bone (ribs) and before you could slice it it had to have
the bone removed. There was a knack to getting the bone out and leaving the meat behind. The bacon bones
were then sold for soup.
I boarded with a Mrs. McGaw in Dennison Street in Crookwell and sometimes pedalled my bike out to Aunty
Merles place some ten kilometres out of town on the weekend. I also went fishing in the creeks around Crookwell.
I actually bought my first and for that matter my only gun from a Les Stephenson Sports Store, he had his shop
next to my Uncle David’s. It was a French made ‘Gevarm” .22, seven shot magazine automatic rifle, each time

you pulled the trigger it fired a bullet, that was in 1966. I gave it in during the amnesty in the early 90’s after the
Martin Bryant massacre in Port Arthur in Tasmania. It must nearly have been antique by then.
With the customer always being right, even if they were not, got up my nose more times than I remember, so after
nine months in the grocery store I returned to Araluen for a second time.
ARALUEN THE SECOND TIME ROUND
The second time in Araluen started in late November 1966 and finished in March 1968 which completed two full
fruit seasons. I turned 18 in the January 1967 which meant I could drink legally at the Araluen pub not that that
meant a lot this time round.
Not a lot had changed in Araluen during the nine months I had been away, again stayed with Jack and Beryl
Wisbey – just more fruit trees, more peas, beans and tomatoes. The first fruit season was a good year with lots of
fruit to be harvested. There were some new faces for the fruit season and Noel Wisbey had returned home. Joan
Wisbey had some of her girl friends and a cousin working as packers during the school holidays. I become friends
with a Margaret McGill, her father was the Police Sergeant in Braidwood. There was a Bev Travers, a nice girl
from a small place called Mogo out of Braidwood on the coast road, she eventually married Noel Wisbey.
Then there was Joan’s cousin from Sydney, don’t remember her name, she was a bit stuck up. There was a Moya
Jefferies from the same place as Bev, she was much younger and her dad, Big Dave.
I spent a fair bit of time before and after I turned 18 in the Araluen Hotel which was owned by a Miss Molly Collins
who was a little excentric. She always said that when she died, she wanted to be buried feet first in the hill above
the lookout on the mountain road to Araluen, so she could look out over her valley. 2023 found out that Mollie
Collins was buried in the local cemetery. Not a bad view mind you. The Wisbey boys went to the hotel most nights
after work. At that time, I drank either vodka and orange or squash, not much beer – didn’t like beer, still don’t.
There was often more than one argument over and around the bar. Jack and Mollie did not always get on.
The arguments between Unc (Jack) and Ned, Rodney and Stan were still a regular happening; it was most
difficult to get on with Unc. They had planted more new trees, and more trees had begun to bear fruit so things
had to be expanded and this caused friction. The bloody wasps were no better either and of course ate too many
peaches again which caused the usual diarrhoea problems, you would think you would learn.
Dieldrin was used to spray the fruit trees this time round – the new wonder chemical. Of course, not a lot of
protection was worn in those days – it’s a safe chemical they said. It may have been for some but not for me. I
must have got a dose of it early in the piece and become allergic to it.
The off season was taken up with market garden type duties. Tomatoes, peas, bean pumpkins and corn were
grown and had to be picked – by hand. There was also the pruning of all the fruit trees that had to be done, this
was easy enough once you got the hang of it. Once you had pruned the trees you had to go round and pick up
the pruning from under the trees and cart them away. Some of the other jobs were digging out and picking up
stones and carting them away in order to create new planting areas – this was hard work. One other was cactus
spraying, Prickly Pear Cactus was a noxious weed in the area so some of the off season was spent chipping and
spraying this weed. Stan and I seemed to get this job often. There was a large area of corn planted at one stage
which was picked by hand. Only the cob being taken leaving the husk on the stork, a special tool was fashioned
to split the husk so that you could get the cob out. The corn was milled and fed to the poddy calves which were
raised over winter.
The Wisbeys' would buy ten to fifteen poddy calves and hand feed them. At one stage these calves started to get
sick and die, Jack and Ned said it was just the scourers. I suggested it may have been pulpy kidney, I had seen it

before and the calves had not been vaccinated, A PM was suggested to see what the problem was, no PM just
scourers.
Jack and Ned were away one weekend when one of the calves died, a quick exploratory of the abdominal cavity
revealed, you guessed it, grossly enlarged kidneys. Some pulpy kidney vaccine was summoned from the supplier
in Braidwood and no more calves died – no more scourers either.
At one stage I took up SP (starting price) bookmaking in the orchard and the corn field, started off small 25 cent
on the nose and 50 cents each way. Of course, as I got a bit gamer the odds increase and was doing very well
thank you very much. That was until one Saturday when some nag with long odds and legs got up, almost broke
me – tossed it in after that. The Wisbeys’ were of course avid race goers in the winter months and travelled to
various places to the races.
Hailstorms were an ever present threat in the Araluen Valley and often caused
great damage to the fruit crops. Silver Iodide rockets were used in an attempt
to stop the hail from forming. These rockets made the skyrockets we had on
cracker night look like tom thumbs. These rockets were four to six inches (12
to 15 cms) round and two meters tall – that’s a rocket, the stick was attached
to that. At the first sign of a hail storms the rockets would go up. There were a
number of launch pads throughout the valley. I can recall one day we were
sitting at the table with Jack and Beryl, when suddenly Jack bounded from the
table and out to the shed trailing a number of expletives about ringing
someone. Before I realised and as I got to the back door there was a great
cloud of smoke and a large boom over head. A second rocket was then on the
pad and the fuse lit. Jack had obviously heard someone else’s rocket go bang
and realised what was on. There was always conjecture as to the benefit or
otherwise of the rockets and they were not cheap nor were they colourful as Stan W & Ray ?
they went up a thousand feet to above the clouds. picking pumpkins
in the corn field.
There were a couple of drinking occasions that rendered me a little worse for wear. One on particular was at a
party at Neds place, could have been a birthday party. Started off drinking the usual vodka and orange, about
three quarters of the bottle, then drank anything else available. I remember dinking claret and port with Ned. I left
the party near legless and walked the kilometre and a half home to Jacks through two rather steep gullies. I recall
walking up the driveway at home and George the cattle dog barking at me, George had got to know me and didn’t
bark when I came home. The last thing I remember was sitting on my bed and bending down to undo my
shoelaces…….. this I think was around three AM. I was awoken at the usual time of 6 AM to get up for work.
When I turned back the bedclothes to my surprise I was fully dressed in my work clothes, button up fly and shirt
all done up. I thought the guy Ray who shared the bedroom this time round had redressed me, but realised that
he was in worse condition than I. To this day I have no recollection of what or how this change of clothes
happened, nor can I drink vodka.
However, I paid the price for this over indulgence for the rest of the day and the next night. This day as I said
started with me already dressed for work. Seven o’clock we were in the orchard picking peaches, bending over to
put fruit in the box and then bending over to pick the box up was murder. At morning teatime, I was summoned to
the packing shed – relief I thought, well out of the sun may be. The job for the rest of the day was nailing up the
packed boxes of peaches, four nails in each box. Each hit of the nail with the hammer echoed at least four times.
The boxes once nailed had to be packed onto pallets. The final number of boxes nailed up that day was 500
boxes, it didn’t end there, and there were another 500 boxes the next day. The reason of the over indulgence you
ask? yes a girl……
Araluen was a nice place, not a lot to do but enjoyed my time there and have returned for a couple of visits since
– a nice quite little valley.

SOME OF THE PEOPLE I WORKED WITH:
I remember most of the people I worked with: Jack and Beryl Wisbey, Ned and Bess Wisbey,
their children Rodney and his wife Sandra, Stan, Noel, (he later married Bev Travers ), Joan,
Chris and ?? a younger female. Some of the others who I worked with, Bev Travers, Dave
Jefferies, his daughter Moya. Kathleen ?? , a local, Margaret McGill, (Braidwood Police
Sergeants daughter) She was a real good sort, even better in a bikini. Sometimes after work
a group of us younger ones would go swimming in the Duea River about 30 kms east of
Araluen towards the coast. Though the relationship did not last long as she was only there
during the school holidays. There was also a girl from Sydney during the school holidays, I
think she was granddaughter of a Mr Charles Cleaver. There was a guy named Ray ??, and
a guy from Goulburn, he lived in the old Kenmore Hotel I don’t remember their other names.
Peter, Robert or David Gourlay were there on and off, Cheryl, now my wife, “knew” one of
these guys very well whilst she was doing her Nurses’ Training in Canberra Hospital during
1970-1973, whilst we were boyfriend / girlfriend and going steady.
It was also around this time that Cheryl decided to take up smoking, that’s what nurses did. Bottom: Joan W
That was until one night I kissed an ashtray! Being a non-smoker myself, Middle: Bev T
it was then either me or the smokes…….. and as one can say, “that’s” history. Top Margaret M
THE SHOCKING TAZWELL EXPERIENCE
I started with Tazewell’s an electrical store in Goulburn in the March of 1968 working as delivery boy and TV
aerial erector. I had always been inquisitive as to how things worked and pulled most things apart to see how they
worked, getting them back together in a working order being the hard part.
I had met Steve Tazewell at the Wisbeys' in Araluen when he came down a number of times to repair their TV’s
and aerial line. Because the Wisbeys’ lived up the narrow end of the valley TV reception was not possible at the
bottom of the valley.
Steve Tazewell had designed a two wire line with boosters from a TV aerial up on top of the hills opposite Jack
and Beryl’s place down the hill to Jacks and then on to Neds’ place.
If the TV reception was off (it was not all that good in the first place) someone had to walk the line to the top of the
hill, a distance of almost a kilometre to check that there were no sticks or trees had fallen across the line.
In order to take this job I had to have a place to board because the only wheels I had was a push bike. I boarded
with a Mrs. Wendy Fitzgerald at 22 Kenmore Street. I had gone to school with her son Bill. Bill suicided sometime
after I left there. Wayne Corby also boarded there for some of the time.
My jobs was to deliver whatever the customer had bought, be it a TV (valve type) a fridge, a washing machine
and to put up TV aerials. I worked with a guy by the name of Bernie Annabel who had been there for many years
and had put up many TV aerials and towers. Bernie knew his way around Goulburn well, by the time I left I also
knew more about the streets of Goulburn than most. It was not unusual to take the long route to do a delivery.
To get TV reception in Goulburn in those days you needed a very high aerial. If the aerial was not on a tower it
would be mounted on the roof of the house and would be at least 18 meters up, some to of the taller one close to
40 metres with at least two aerials. Bernie and I travelled all around the Goulburn area putting up aerial. I knew all
the back streets and side roads in and around Goulburn very well. There was a Mrs. Bales in the office who was
very kind.

When not putting up TV aerials small appliances had to be repaired. Yes irons, toasters, jugs, kettles and vacuum
cleaners and the like were all repairable back in those days. So I was taught to repair these items, my history of
wanting to know how something worked came in handy.
I eventually graduated to the TV sets, this was not all that difficult either. See in those days all TV sets were valve
operated, there could have been up to 20 valves in a TV set. So it was not difficult to take the back off and find
which valve was not emitting an orange or blue glow.
The first line if repair was called percussive maintenance; that was that you tapped each valve with your
screwdriver to see if it made any difference or it lit up. That done and no result you replaced the valve that was
not glowing.
You had to be very cautious of the high tension voltage area within the set, touch it the wrong way and you could
end up on the other side of the room. You carried a large case that contained hundreds of different types of
valves. Each valve had a unique number, so take the valve from the set, cross check the number with a new one
and replace it. If that worked, you may have to replace a number of valves in series that was good and the
customer happy. If the valve jockeying did not work then the set had to be brought into the shop for the TV
‘technician’ to look at.
On one of my days in the workshop Steve Tazewell who was attempting to repair a movie projector almost
electrocuted himself and me. Steve Tazewell was a very bright man but sometimes did not have his mind on the
job at hand. He had found a break in the projectors power cable, so just picked up a pair of pliers and cut the
power cable, only one problem the power 240 volts was still on. Bloody sparks, pliers and bodies went in all
directions. I was to learn later that this was not an unusual happening Steve just forgot to unplug the cord before
cutting it – absent mindedness I think. It was just as well that we were standing on a three centimetre thick rubber
mat. It is said that there is not much of a line between a nut and a genius – Steve Tazewell was one of these
people.
I bought my first car a mini minor some time in late 1968 whilst I was working at Tazewell’s, Lilac City Cars had a
car lot beside Tazewell’s back entrance. My mother gave me money she had in trust for me and lent me the rest.
What I could not do in or with this car is probably best not describable. I could hand brake turn it through all 360
plus degrees, particularly out the front of the house at Bradley. After getting my four wheels I must have stayed at
Kenmore Street for some time, though I recall being at Rosemont Road at some stage.
I started going to lunch with Cheryl Jordon in 1969 whilst working at Tazewell’s once I had wheels. She worked at
the County Council offices and wanted to go nursing. The first time I had anything to do with Cheryl was at Easter
1969 when Cheryls’ cousin Patti Kennedy came to Goulburn with her boyfriend and Patti being a Catholic we all
went to mid-night Mass, so a romance took hold.
Some time in early 1969 I become aware or was introduced to the Ambulance Service in Goulburn and was
invited to become an Honorary Ambulance Officer. I was still boarding with a Mrs Wendy Fitzgerald along with a
Wayne Corby who later married my Sister. I had gone to school with young Bill Fitzgerald, though he was living in
Sydney when I was there.
Both Wayne and I started as Honoraries together, Wayne did not last very long.
After three months on the Honorary Staff a full time position was offered to me and I applied, I commenced duties
on the 25th July 1969 after being an Honorary for three months. Ross Peden, who was on the Committee, must
have had some influence. He came downstairs from the meeting and as he went past said “its right”.

THE MOVE TO ROSEMONT ROAD
We moved to Rosemont Road some time in late1968 though I don’t recall

the move, I must have been working away. It was an old house on the side
of a hill, owned by an elderly man Mr. Howard who had retired to live in
Goulburn. Mum was quite happy, still had a cow and chooks and was
close to but not in town. Dads drinking habits did not improve after the
move. He worked at the wool stores in Goulburn which gave him more
access to the Hotels.
MEMORIES OF NANNA – MAY HOWARTH (NEE FENTON) (1887-1982)
Mary Fenton was born at ‘Horse Flat” Peelwood on the 20th February 1887. Information
related was that Mary was a very energetic girl in her younger days. She used to go to
dances at Binda by riding a horse side saddle, dance all night and ride home at daylight
and then go to work. She also sang in the choir at Peelwood before being married.
When she was married she first lived at “The Glen” Spring Valley near Goulburn,
moved to “Montana” near Peelwood, then to Limerick, then to Grandma Fenton’s at
Grant Springs before moving to Bradley in 1924. She was married for over 55 years,
bore seven children and raised six. Vera relates that not all of them were the easiest to
raise and they often caused Nanna to be come angry at some of the antics.
Nanna as she was known to us grand children was the typical type grandmother every
kid needs. Hiding behind the apron always prevented the sting of the willow stick or
strap from many mothers - that’s providing you got to the apron first. If you were in
trouble with your mother and you could make Nannas apron ( she always worn an
apron around the house) you were safe
from the ever present stick or strap your mother may have been wielding. She always
had lollies for the kids to soothe the jangled nerves, they were kept in a cupboard in the
lounge room.
Nanna lived at Bradley for the best part of sixty years, she was a very hard working lady in her younger days
according to all reports, though she was not named ‘contrary Mary’ by her daughters for no reason. In the early
days, at Bradley there was no water at the house, the water had to be gotten from a spring down by the creek
some two hundred yards away.
This was brought up in 44 gallon drums on a sled pulled by a horse, this was one of Nannas daily chores. Later a
windmill was put in down on the creek and it pumped water to an overhead tank above the house, this provided
all the water for the house and gardens. Pop Jim would milk the cows, up to three I recall in the early days and
Nanna would separate the milk and clean up the milking buckets. Of course, there was a large vegie garden that
had to be tended – for more than growing vegies. Nanna buried her money in the vegie garden.
Nanna lived until she was over 95 years of age surviving her husband by some ten years and was over 90 when
she was eventually extracted from the house at Bradley. This was a traumatic time for Nanna and for Vera who

had the job of getting Nanna to hospital in the first instance. There were two places Nanna had an aversion to,
one hospitals the other churches. Vera who lived in Goulburn would often go to Bradley to take Nanna to town
shopping but often found her in a distressed state. On one of the trips Nanna had burnt the whole back out of one
of her dresses.
Vera found it most upsetting to have to have her mother permanently taken from Bradley and then to sell the
contents but it had to be done. I was given two of the old oil lamps with there long slender glass tubes.
Nanna did not believe in Banks either, there were some problems when she had to change her old money to
dollars and cents. There was many a flurry of digging in the vege garden in the late sixties. Us kids often went to
the garden to get worms, hoping to hit the jackpot, none of us did. I suspect there is probably some money still
buried around Bradley somewhere.
The thing that I, (Robert) most noticed about Nanna was the routine throughout the day, nearly every day. A
cupper in bed, always brought in by Pop Jim before Nanna got out of bed, up for breakfast, another pot was made
which was stewed til morning tea, and lunch was always at 12 noon - except Christmas when the girls upset the
routine. The morning housework, sweeping making beds and washing, clothes washing was always done on
Monday. Then from time to time the lounge room open fireplace had to be ‘whitewashed’, this meant painting on a
special white lime /clay mixture to the walls of the fire place. The afternoon nap between 2 and 4 pm, another
cupper for afternoon tea, tea was prepared to serve at seven, wash up and set the table ready for breakfast in the
morning.
That was with the exception of Fridays when she went to town shopping, not every Friday but most. I can
remember taking here to town shopping when I went there once I had a car. In the wintertime porridge with bits in
it followed by some form of hot breakfast, chops and eggs, sausages and eggs. No sooner was breakfast cleared
than lunch was being prepared.
Christmases at Bradley were a scene to behold, of the early days I did not pay much attention to the detail
(unfortunately) however if the latter years were any indication of the former they would have been a blast. A few
days before Christmas some of the daughters (usually Kate and Vera) and the grandchildren would turn up at
Bradley to start the Christmas preparations. In the early days Pop Jim did the deeds on the unlucky especially
fattened chooks, turkeys and ducks, all bred on the place. It was essential that at least two turkeys, eight or ten
chooks and a couple of ducks or geese were beheaded, plucked and stuffed for the occasion. The same though
not as many were despatched for New Year. Catching the intended birds was not all that simple, I think they new,
because if you did not catch all the condemned birds before you lopped the head off the first the others headed
for the hills - especially the turkeys.
Chooks may be stupid type birds, but they knew it was not feed time at two in the afternoon. Pop Jim was an
expert in dispatching the head of the birds, the axe was especially sharpened for the event and the best block
was selected at the wood heap. Not many a foul got away from Pop Jim, but from time to time I saw more than
one headless chook on the run. It certainly got my mother Aunty Vera and anyone else for that matter, who was in
the vicinity of the wood heap on the dance floor. Nanna did not take part in holding the birds whilst they had their
heads removed, I suspect she may have see it all before and stayed inside, after all she fed the birds most of the
year. In the latter years the beheading of the birds become my job, it was difficult to hold a chook securely with
one hand and wheeled the axe with the other and take the head off in one blow of the axe. I can see how the
headless chook came to be.
The copper had to be boiled to be able to dunk the birds in prior to plucking, then the feathers and guts would fly.
According to Aunty Vera more than feathers and gut flew one day when Aunty Trudy was there when the killing of
the chooks took place. Trudy was a very clean person and everything had to be boiled and cleaned more than
once to be clean.
On this particular day Trudy had been boiling her clothes for the best part of the day and Vera was wanting to put
clean water in the copper to boil it for the bird dunking. There was a heated argument between Vera and Trudy
with Vera taking all the clothes out of the copper and putting them in the bath. I think Nanna had the last word, but
Vera got the copper, and feathers and guts flew well into the night.

Nanna, for as long as I can remember, always made a suet Christmas plum pudding. Suet is the fat that is around
the kidney of cattle. This pudding was made about a month before Christmas, it contained the usual fruit, flour
and the suet, not forgetting the silver coinage. The pudding was boiled for an hour or so then hung up the dry in
its rapping cloth. The pudding was then boiled again on Christmas day for another hour or so.
Christmases continued at Bradley for a few years after Pop Jim died, but the daughters decided that it was too
much for Nanna and the family Christmas dinners were held at Merles then for many years.
Christmas day was always a big affair with most if not all the family at Bradley for a hot Christmas dinner or tea at
night, 20 for dinner was not unusual.
I can remember the daughters saying for years that it was a lot of work to have a hot dinner and we should be
having cold dinners, but they never eventuated. Pop Jim usually had a keg and a few bottles of rum down in the
gully under the willow trees and many would visit from around the area just to have a Christmas drink under the
willow trees.
This was often the cause of some discontent as Nanna did not drink alcohol and it caused the men to be late for
lunch. Some of the rest of the family who had had lunch with their own family would come to Bradley for tea.
I remember one Christmas when Uncle Lionel who lived and worked in Sydney came home for Christmas. He
presented Nanna with a nice walking stick, it is the only time I saw Nanna get upset and how Lionel did not get his
hair parted I don’t know. She was cross to say the least, and what’s more I don’t recall Nanna ever using that or
any other walking stick.
Nanna had a number of galahs and budgies as pets over the years. All of the galahs she taught to talk as well as
laugh and whistle. There was one occasion when Pop Jim was still working around the property that Nanna was
fooled by her own galah. It was about lunch time 12 o’clock when she heard what she thought was Pop Jim
whistle the dogs to tie them up before lunch. So, Nanna dutifully served the hot lunch expecting Pop Jim to walk
in, in the next few minutes. Some twenty minutes passed and Pop Jim did not appear. So, Nanna walked to the
end of the verandah to check, in the distance on the other side of the creek she saw Pop Jim coming on the
horse, another fifteen minutes away. The galah had whistled like Pop Jim enough to fool Nanna.
Once I had wheels I would often go to Nanna’s for the weekend. It often meant splitting some wood and getting
some kindling to start the wood fire. There were always other things to do like fishing or relaxing. The creek was
well stocked with trout, though like all fish a little difficult to catch. I recall taking Cheryl to Nanna’s on a number of
occasions before we were married. There were always scones and a good number of sweets. Nanna’s scones
were not like the usual scones, they were more like a biscuit type of scone, nice all the same. She was very
handy at very fine crocheting, Vera has some of the things that Nanna had crocheted in her younger days.
On my visit in August 2001 many things had changed around Bradley.
The garage had gone, the fence around the house was gone, so to the
chook house and the vegie garden and all the hedges. The house was
deserted but the inside was nearly the same as I recall it, even the
smell. The old green stove was still in place and so to that copper, the
rooms still the same though some of the plaster had fallen off. The cow
shed and other garage were gone; just stumps, the stables were still
standing and the old willow trees were still in the gully. The old outside
pit toilet was gone. It used to be and area of entertainment, particularly
at night. Rocks on the roof or just bang the side was enough to make
most drop that extra bit, not forgetting the newspaper used as toilet
paper.

Memories of Pop Jim Howarth 1887-1973

James Arthur Howarth was born in Crookwell on the 19th October 1887. Not
much is know about Jim in his younger days though he worked from a very
young age and worked even after he retired. When he was married he first
lived at “The Glen” Spring Valley near Goulburn and worked for a Percy
Fisher. Jim and Mary moved to “Montana” near Peelwood, then to Limerick,
then to Grandma Fenton’s at Grant Springs before moving to Bradley in
1924. He was married for over 55 years and I remember the 50th wedding
anniversary at the CWA hall in Crookwell.
Pop Jim as he was known, managed Bradley and Fayles for Jim Williams and his son John of Thalaba.
(2023) John Williams died on the 10th February 2022 and was buried in the Grant Spring Cemetery on the
Thalaba property in the 21st February 2022.
These properties were mainly sheep with some cattle, Thalaba property was actually a sheep stud. Pop Jim was
somewhat of an expert with a whip, as some of his children would remember when they did not do the right thing.
Even after he retired he continued to get on the horse and ride round and check things and report back to John
Williams. I can remember Jim Williams visiting at Christmas time and bring Pop Jim a bottle of rum.
I remember spending some if not all of the Christmas holidays at Bradley and would help Pop Jim from time to
time. One occasion I recall was drenching sheep over at Fayles. Pop Jim was drenching and I was pushing the
sheep into the race, toward the end of the mob the rams were drenched. As the last ram was drenched and the
gate opened I got on the last ram to ride it out if the race. Well I cleared the race but that was about it….. I often
helped Pop Jim milk the cows and it was my job to pen the calves up at night.
James and Mary were married for over 55 years, during that time it is 50 years married
doubted that Jim actually missed giving his wife her morning cup of tea in
bed, may be in the latter years when Pop Jim was sick. In the early days
(before electric) that meant lighting the wood stove to boil the water to make
the cupper, in the winter it also meant lighting the open fire in the lounge
room. Once done he would head off to let the chooks out and feed them and
milk up to three cows before breakfast, then start work for the day. Pop Jim
used to smoke and more often than not roll his own cigarettes, often more
tobacco on the floor than in the cigarette. Someone gave Pop Jim one of
those chromed cigarette rolling machines, one of my jobs in latter years was
to make and roll his cigarettes for him for the next day or so. He used plug
tobacco in the early times and then progressed to fine cut tobacco.
Pop Jim was a very proficient sheep butcher, from the time the throat was slit,
the skin off and til the guts were on the ground was under four minutes. I also
recall a number of bullocks being butchered but taking a bit longer. He was
also a very accomplished horseman, though Vera related one incident where
Pop Jim almost shot one of the horses because he could not catch it, had it
not been for Nanna he would have. I can remember chasing one of those
horses around the paddock for ages. Vera tells me Lionel had the same
problem with the horse; however Lionel was a little more patient in catching
the horse. But once he did the horse was in for the ride of it life, it would come
back white and exhausted.
Pop Jim may have been a proficient butcher and a skilled horseman, but his car driving was not one of his forte. I
think he was more suited to the horse and cart era. I can remember an old green early model Holden sedan with
column gear change. Pop used to rev the motor, ride the clutch and crunch the gears.

MEMORIES OF MY MOTHER - Catherine Eliza Marmont – (nee Howarth) 1921-1976
My mum was a very kind and caring woman, at least that’s the way I
remember her. However, her life was not an easy one which will
become evident as this story goes on. Mum was born at Crookwell
before the family moved to Bradley. She went to Monks Crossing
School up on the Laggan / Tuena Road near Hogan’s. After Kate left
school she worked at Lake Edward on the Goulburn / Crookwell Road
as a nanny and housekeeper.
My early recollections of my Mum are at Greta and the strongest at that

stage would have been the castor oil episode which I have described
earlier. Relatives state that Mum worked very hard around Greta
particularly when Grandma was not well and dying. She took over
running the household and looked after Leslie Roy as he was only
thirteen until he started work. Mum and Lila ran the house until Lila got
married in December 1953, Mum continuing until we left in late 1956 or
early 1957.
From this time on I was aware that life was not easy for my Mum, having to leave a place that she had been in
since March 1948. Dad not having a job and his increasing drinking, moving to Uncle Fred’s’ were not that easy.
When Uncle Fred fell from the ladder and his wife Ada became unstable my Mum ran the house at Myome. Uncle
Fred recovered and returned to the house but Ada did not believe he had recovered and eventually ended up in
Kenmore Mental Hospital til her death. Things improved a little when Dad got the job at Gundary Plains, however
it did not last long, the grog eventually was the cause of us having to leave Gundary for Rosemont Road.
I recall my Mum as a very caring and compassionate person, who was always willing to lend a hand come what
may and as I now know life was not easy. She as well as the family spent many hours outside hotels and money
was tight and there was many an argument, though Mum tried to keep the peace. She always kept a vegie
garden going so that there was some sort of vegies. She was a great cook and could turn most things into a good
meal. Gem scones and sponge cakes were her specialty, though she could turn her hand to anything. She did not
always follow the cake recipe when making a sponge cake though the cake came out well each time. Mum made
a mean sheep’s head pie. It was made from the lower jaw of the sheep’s head, hence the name, its tongue,
shanks and kidneys all covered in a pastry baked in the oven. Not forgetting the upside down egg cup to hold the
pastry up in the middle of the pie dish. My Mum also made many meat dishes like, pressed ox tongue and
pressed shank meat. I get the impression that this was learnt as a young person probably at Greta. You used all
parts of whatever was available to make things go further – nothing was thrown out or wasted.
There were many a happy time at Aunty Merles’ at Christmas and New
Year. All the family got together. This was after Vera and Kate decided
that Christmases at Bradley were too much for Nanna. Christmases had
always been at Bradley for as log back as I can remember.
Photo in Merles lounge room: from L to R Vera, Cyril, Kate, Robyn and
Frank O’Brien.
I am sure the house fire at Gundary hit Mum very hard. All the things lost many of them personal had been saved
for and she had put a lot of time into anything she made, so she started again. Mum was very handy with a
sowing machine and needle. Many of our clothes were hand made and all were patched, often more than once.
Having kidney problems and then having an operation to remove the stones would not have helped. We lived in
the shearers quarters whilst the house was re-built. Starting over would have been very difficult, but she did and

scrimped and saved in order to get it. I remember the first TV set coming to Gundary after we moved into the new
house.
Mum had a peddle Singer sewing machine which she used often to make new clothes and repair torn clothes for
all of us. I can’t say she had any hobbies as such, she liked to play cards particularly yuker, I think her hobby was
her family. In her early days she loved to dance and actually taught me some of the dance steps I know – though
that’s not many and waltzing was not my forte. Both Mum and Dad could dance many dances and danced well
together, that was until Dad become too drunk. I remember going to some of the dances at the Golspie hall.
Mum administered most of the punishment to us kids most of time when we did the wrong thing, and that was
often. My sister and I did not always get on and fort a lot of the time. At Gundary the ‘strap’ hung on the power
point in the kitchen. It had a buckle on it which rattled when it was picked up. When you heard the rattle you knew
what was coming. The willow switch was often used at Bradley, also being threatened with Pop Jims razor strop
helped keep us in line. Sometimes Mum used her bare hand which often resulted in a burst blood vessel in her
finger. Manners were very important in our house and often resulted in a clip under the ear if you forgot please or
thank you. The same principle applied to my kids as well. You must always address your elders as Mister or
Misses, this has caused me some concern in my latter years in my job.
Pop Ted came to visit regularly and would stay for two or three months at a time. He would always give Mum five
hundred pounds when he arrived, that was for looking after him. Pop Ted would not give Dad the money as he
knew it would go towards alcohol. Pop Ted would work in the vegie garden, split the wood and get the wood in,
tend the chooks and feed the dogs.
There was one incident at the wood heap at Gundary. Snakes were often found around the house, in fact one in
the toilet. Often dead snakes would be left around to scare people. This day Mum went to the wood heap to split
some wood. She saw a snake in the wood heap, thinking that someone had put it there, to be sure, just in case
she dropped the axe on it about a foot behind the head. Not a dead snake, the head part was most upset and
headed for mum who dropped the axe on it again.
Leaving Gundary was also another heavy blow for my Mum, Dads increased alcohol intake, stomach ulcer
problems and a suicide attempt did not help Mum. In an attempt to solve the alcohol problem Mum had Dad
committed to Kenmore through a Court Order, this did not work. Roy tells me there was another time when Dad
spent time in Rozelle whilst he was in Sydney. I don’t remember what my Mum did during these times, I think one
of them was at Gundary. These times must have been devastating for my Mum. I know she tried, as did I, many
ways of trying to stop my Dad from drinking, finding all the hides, confronting him with the bottles, empting out the
bottles in front of him. None worked, he just got more cunning. It was ten years after my father died that I was told
the reason for his drinking. I am told that he did not drink until after his Mother died, he was very close to his
mother and spent the night in the Church with her after she died. Dad never mentioned his mother in the time that
I knew him.
Mum was where possible a regular church goer, though not all that religious, even during the time we were at
Golspie. I can remember the Minister coming to visit at Greta. When we were at Gundary we went to West
Goulburn Church. A number of the Ministers who had been at Golspie came to West Goulburn Church; a Rev.
Gordon Armstrong, must have been with the wrong religion as he had many children, then there was a Rev. Len
Bassingthwaite. Mum took us kids went most of the time though Dad did not always come or if he did he went to
the hotel instead.
Mum was reasonable happy at Rosemont Road where she had a cow to milk and chooks to tend. I know Dads
drinking got much worse here and Mum had moved into the other bedroom to sleep. My Mum never complained
very much to me, just to say I wish your father could give up the drink.
Dads’ death must also have been very difficult for my Mum, though not all that surprising. Mum had been away
somewhere, I don’t remember where. I believe something was wrong ( I have the feeling that Mum was going to
leave Dad.) Mum had Dads brother Reg and David McCall come out to Rosemont Road with her, the house was
all locked up and Reg had to get in through a front bedroom window. They found Dad dead on the couch in the
lounge room, death by asphyxia due to an overdose of barbiturates. I was in Boorowa on relief at the time.

After Dads death in 1972 my Mum was of course saddened, but I think
relieved, however her health began to suffer. She went out to milk the cow
one morning; you could milk the cow anywhere. When she sat on the stool
she felt unwell, the cow looked at her and walked off. Mum realised that she
had lost the use of her left arm. She had had a small TIA, from which she
fully recovered.
Mum continued to live at Rosemont Road until after I was married in March
1973. I remember visiting her on our way out of town the next morning
heading away on our honeymoon. I moved back to Rosemont Road after
Dad died and up until I got married.
Some time in mid to late 1973 Mum moved into town with daughter Suzanne who was married to Wayne Corby
and lived in Albert Street. Somewhere along the line Mum got a pensioner unit in Hume Street, though she
continued to visit the family. She was in Tumbarumba for the birth of Leah in February 1975. She had visited Hay
a number of times and had made a number of friends in Hay.
Mum had come to Hay early to look after me for Marks birth in May 1976. This was the last time we had Mum,
Mark was born late in the evening of the 3rd of May and Mum died at the Hay Hospital mid afternoon on the 5th of
May 1976. However she did get to see her son grandson. I think her time was up and she just stuck around to see
her grandson born.
Mum had suffered from angina for many years and was due to be assessed for heart surgery in Sydney. I think
Mum had suffered enough because she could not do the things she wanted to do, like sweep and walk and get
the washing out and in without pain.
I think my Mum was very proud of me when I become an Ambulance Officer.
Memories of My Father Cyril James MARMONT ( 1925 – 1972 )
My Dad was born at the Doctors rooms in Taralga. This is a photo from
more recent times , around 2003 on one of my trips through Taralga.
My early memories of my father were at Greta where he worked on various

places. I remember well his need to drink, spending many hours outside
hotels in the district.( Laggan, Taralga, Crookwell and Goulburn) He could
not pass a hotel without stopping for a drink. I can remember a car he
rolled over near Bolong CEPT property, I think it was one of Pop Teds’ cars.
Photo on left is of Dad whilst at school at Golspie at a sports day.

I am told that my father was a hard worker and drove trucks from Wombeyan
Caves to the rail head at Taralga and to Goulburn carting the limestone blocks
that were used to build the Sydney GPO. He also worked in the mines at
Captains Flat near Canberra as well as local properties, there were other
relatives working there at the time. Some Marmonts’ still live in and around
Captains Flat. His last job was working at the Wool Stores in Goulburn.
I spent a fair bit of time with my father when he was working and fishing. He
worked at Greta, and Myome. As mentioned before the splitting of trees into
fence posts. I recall going fishing with the Francis boys Allan and Herbert on the
Abercrombie River down past the Levels. Some very steep country, but a good
fishing spot.
My Dad was a quite drunk and at no time did I see him violent. In the latter years
he was a desperate alcoholic. He did try on a number of occasions to join AA but
just could not stop drinking. When he was sober he was a very nice man who would do anything for anyone, but
when he had had a few would forget time existed.
My Dad was a wiz with any motors of the time and could get nearly any motor going in quick time. He could tune
a car motor by ear, no need for timing light. A skill I learnt and could do that until the invention of computerised
engines. He was also very good with horses though patience was not a virtue.
It was many years after his death that I believe I found at least one if not more of the causes for his increasing
drinking as related by one of Dads cousins, Ruby Wilcox (Lang) As I now know the abuse of substances is the
signs and symptoms of something that is un-resolved in ones life. Apparently my father was very close to his
mother and took her death very hard. In fact it is said that he spent the night in the church with her after her death.
His drinking also become much worse after we had to leave Greta when it was sold to Reg and Hazel. Having to
leave Gundary would also have been another heavy blow for Dad. Dads increased alcohol intake, ulcer problems
and a suicide attempt at Gundary was the last straw with him being asked to leave. In an attempt to solve the
alcohol problem Dad was committed to Kenmore through a Court Order for about six week, this did not work
either.
Roy tells me there was another time when Dad spent time in Rozelle whilst he was in Sydney in an attempt to get
him off the grog. I don’t remember what my Mum did during these times; I think one of them was while we were at
Gundary.
Driving with Dad was often scary, because no matter what amount has had had to drink he would always drive.
Many a time Mum would have to yell at him to get back on the road. How he got home at times is somewhat of a
mystery. There was one story when he left the Laggan hotel in the wrong car, same type and colour, just the
wrong car. He did not realise until he was half way home to Golspie when he went to get something from the
glove box. He had to take the car back to the pub and get the right one.
Dads’ death was a shock at the time and there have been times since that I regret that I did not get to know him
and his background better. His death though was a relief for all of us as we were concerned for Mum and what
she must have been going through. I know I had had my say on more than one occasion about his excessive
drinking and how it was affecting Mum. I also realise that my Dads’ mental anguish must also have been extreme
and to have had little or no control over his drinking must have been very difficult. It was a vicious circle.

FROM THE CROOKWELL GAZETTE APRIL 21 1948 - PAGE 8
Marmont -- Howarth
A very pretty wedding was solemnised at St. Bartholomew's Church of England, Crookwell, on Easter Monday,
29th March, when Catherine Eliza, youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs James A. Howarth, of "Bradley," Laggan,
was married to Cyril, James, second son of Mr and Mrs Edward L. Marmont, of "Greta," Golspie. The Rev. Canon
Nell officiated.
The bride, who was given away by her father, looked charming in a beautiful gown of white silk velvet, featuring a
high neck line and long, circular train. Her veil (which was kindly loaned by Mrs L. A. Wilcox, Ruby) was held in
place by a coronet of white asters and tuberoses. Her beautiful shower bouquet was comprised of white asters,
stocks and tuberoses. For something old the bride wore an emerald and pearl pendant.
On entering the church, which was tastefully decorated, the bride was preceded by her bridesmaid, Miss Lila
Marmont, who wore a pretty gown of white satin, featuring a sweet-heart neckline, with which she wore a string of
pearls (a gift of the bridegroom). A coronet of red asters and stocks held her shoulder length veil in place and she
carried a shower bouquet of red asters and stocks.
The bridegroom was attended by Mr Lionel Howarth, brother of the bride, as best man. Between twenty and thirty
guests assembled at the School of Arts to toast the health of the happy couple. They were received by the bride's
mother who chose a frock of black crepe with matching accessories and shoulder spray of red carnations and she
was assisted by the bridegroom's mother who wore a black beaded frock with matching accessories and shoulder
spray of pink carnations.
The beautiful two - tiered wedding cake, which was much admired by all, was the gift of Mrs F. P. Marmont.
Before leaving for the honeymoon, which was spent touring the south coast, the bride
changed into a saxe (light blue colour with greyish tinge) blue frock with matching hat and navy accessories.
The future home of Mr and Mrs Marmont will be at Golspie.
Memories of Pop Ted. Edward Marmont. 1895-1967
My recollections of Pop Ted are a little vague at the time I remember at Greta.
I remember the bedroom he had and the old ‘crock’ hot water bottle he used.
The old black car that he drove and I recall going to visit a lady on a dairy just
out of Taralga – Richlands area.
Pop Ted would regularly come to visit; he visited most of his families from time
to time, though did not visit Roy in Sydney very much. He would stay for two
or three months at a time working in the vegie garden, split the wood and get
the wood in, tend the chooks and feed the dogs. He had a peculiar way if
sitting on his ‘haunches’ whilst he was gardening. Pop Ted always seemed to
be a kind and gentle, but lonely man. His wife, my grandmother Ethel died six
months after I was born. Pop Ted and Ethel (1882-1949) had been married 29
years and she was 57 when she died from Lymphatic Leukaemia.

FROM THE GOULBURN EVENING PENNY OST 23RD SEP 1919
Wedding. -- At the Church of England, Crookwell, yesterday Mr. Edward L. Marmont, son of Mrs. Marmont, of
Golspie, was married to Miss Ethel Lang, daughter of Mr. James Lang, of the Wombeyan Caves.
The ceremony was performed by the Rev. S. Broadfoot, Rector of Crookwell.
Miss May Marmont was bridesmaid, and Mr. John Lang, brother of the bride, acted as best man.
There was a nice gathering of relatives and friends at the church.

The future home of Mr. and Mrs. Marmont will be at Golspie.
Amongst those present at the ceremony were Private and Mrs. C. W. Marmont,
who arrived from England recently per the Indarra.
17th September.
INTERVIEW WITH ROY MARMONT – AT SWANSEA 2003
Cyril was always working on the bloody Thames ford trucks to keep it going, in partnership it was owned by Frank
Keogh. They would load the truck up and take to the rail head in Taralga, then they would adjourn to the pub for a
couple of hours. It was about this time that Cyril began to drink heavily. That’s
why they only got two loads a day. Frank Keogh was a bugger for drink too.
Frank was Mick Keoghs son, Frank would have been more Lila’s age. I can
recall a hell of a fight at home one night, don’t ever say anything to Lila. Frank
and Cyril lived together, somehow or other Frank must have given Lila a lift
home from Taralga one day and he (Frank), put the hard word on Lila. It did
not go down too well, I can remember that was a big kafuffle. Frank was
supposed to be a friend of Cyril and was he in hot water for a while there.
20 Swansea St Swansea
Frank tried to race Lila off apparently. I went to primary school at Golspie, I Sold Nov 2023
only went to Goulburn to the High School.
I used to walk from Greta to the school up over the hill. Half the time we never wore shoes. The soles of my feet I
could walk on glass and it would not cut me, the soles of my feet were as hard as the hobs of hell.
The teacher when Roy first went to Golspie School was a Mr. O’Donoghue then a Mr. William Henry Planter
Hannaford (Bill Hannaford). Bill Hannaford also taught at Myrtleville. Bill Hannaford lived at Greta whilst he was
teaching at Golspie. The Hannaford’s ran the Milk Bar at Taralga when Robert was going to school at Taralga.
Lila is nearly three years older than me.
I was born in the November 1933. If you asked me when mum was born I could not tell you 12 7 1892. I can
remember her mother as well as anything that is Jane Maynard, I can remember her as well as anything. I was
only thinking the other day, we were talking about nursing homes, when people are older and they cant look after
themselves they go into a nursing home. In those days there was no such thing, it was all done at home.
Grandma Jane as we called her, she suffered from terrible arthritis she could hardly walk and her fingers were
bad. She used to have a mug, spittoon, which Dad made out of a tin, he put a handle on it, and she used to spit
phlegm onto. We used to have to wash it out, bloody hell. I don’t know when she was born but she died in 1947,
that’s right. I was about 13 years old. If you were 13 then you were 14 when your mum died, I was going to school
in Goulburn when mum died. Information is that Lila was actually born at Greta, I believe that’s so.
Dad (Cyril) was born in Taralga at the Doctors Surgery in a two-story place next to the public school. That was
Doctor Lyons at Taralga. Reg being born at Greta. When dad was taking mum to the hospital when I was born, he
got bogged on the way to Crookwell. It was a supposed to be a stinking wet day with lots of mud. He got bogged
somewhere near Bradley, there’s a couple of springs on top of the hill there. It was in the old Chrysler in those
days and I ended up being born at the Harley hospital. He was lucky not to have got bogged down from the house
before the first gate.

I don’t know how they built a two story place in those days. It’s made of large blocks of sandstone and granite.
Apart from Taralga you had to go to either Crookwell of Goulburn. The coroner often certified people. Paddy
Fitzgibbon was the local funeral man undertaker. He was the undertaker at mums’ funeral. Owen McPaul is a little
older than me I used to help get the cows into the dairy, I thought that was great. If I remember rightly mum was a
devout Anglician and the Fitzgibbon’s were very devout Catholics. It did not go down well that we had to have a
catholic undertaker at mums’ funeral.
Uncle Arthur had the store at Golspie, he used to didle people when he sold them petrol too the bastard. He had
one of those old petrol bowsers you had to pump the petrol up into the glass bowl. As he was letting it go into the
car he would let some go back into the tank. Uncle Fred he was a wise man, he was into everything he had lots of
thing he had fads. I can tell you a funny story about him, he had large hugh hands. Apparently they used to have
crow traps in those days, they used to catch crows and hawks. A cage with a hole on the top and a dead sheep
inside. One day Uncle Fred caught this crow and he straps some gelignite to it with a detonator on it, lit the fuse
and let the crow go, of course the crow went up in the air with the fuse burning and flying into the mob of crows.
The explosion went off and heaps of black feather came down it blew the shit out of all the crows. Uncle Fred
thinks that’s a good idea, so some time later he caught a rabbit near the house and did the same thing with the
rabbit, tie a stick of gelly onto it and let the rabbit go. He was expecting the rabbit to go down the burrow and blow
shit out of the burrow. But when he let the rabbit go it went straight to his bloody house under the house and blew
the bloody flooring boards out of the house.
There must have been a warren under the house. That was the sort of man he was, he would have a go at
anything. He built the swinging bridge, I can remember that swinging bridge as well as anything. He used to have
a beautiful grape vine growing around the verandah, had some beautiful grapes off there. I Robert, can remember
that when we lived there. I remember now what you were saying about building a new place. Part of the old one
was turned into a dairy or something, a store room. It was the kitchen and the new was the bedrooms. I can
remember when your mum and dad lived there.
The main part of Ted’s’ property was 230 acres between Bill Marmonts’ and Fred Marmonts’ the sheep yards
were at the top, just on the left when you went through the gate. The paddock on the right was sown with all types
of stuff there, corn, turnips, it used to be full of sorrel. The sheep would be turned in on the turnips to fatten them.
The fresh and smaller turnips would be picked and taken home to Kate. There were two sheds at Uncle Fred’s,
one the shearing shed and the other across the gully was the dipping shed. You had to take the sheep across a
suspension bridge and back again.
Uncle Frank had his own shearing shed on the other side of the river on the side of the hill. At Uncle Franks the
shearers had to get the hot water out of the engine to wash themselves before they could have a bath. I (rjm)
knew Aunt Flo used to keep the lounge room furniture covered with sheets. Aunt Ada went funny after Fred fell off
a high ladder onto the ‘Arga’ stove and hurt his back.
Kate used to see Ada from time to time and take her out on her birthday and Fred would see her as well. Uncle
Fred had a house in Crookwell. Doctors Broadbent brought Roy into the world at Harley Hospital. Also Turk,
Burns was on the top of the hill, a two story place. Kate worked for Burns at one time.
One of the Marmonts married a Warn who lived in Crookwell, Roy can remember Pop Ted going there to have a
cupper tea when he went to Crookwell. Pop Ted must have had at least 20 cups of tea a day, Ted was always
having a cupper tea. Rev Champion married Reg and Hazel. Pop Ted used to call the minister ‘alf’ and did Ethel
go crook. Marge Cameron played the organ, out of tune. Pop Ted sang in the choir, he could never sing either.
They sat in a pew around the organ and sometimes Marge would hit a note that was way out and it would sound
bloody terrible. I can remember Marge playing at Ethels’ funeral – abide with me. So Pop Ted sang in the choir,
yes as I said he couldn’t sing, he really could not sing, just made up the numbers. Aunty Martha was still around
in Robert’s time. Selby Matthews was a very handy man, he could do most anything. Robert can remember
Marge Matthews playing the organ, she was an awful player, and she was probably self taught I would say she
was. I think Selby Matthews built the new part of Greta I’m sure he did. The old place was turned into a storeroom
to store chaff and potatoes.

There was an old fireplace that was used to melt the kidney fat down to make soap. Roy can remember cutting up
the kidney fat, melting it down and pouring it into drums. It was taken into Goulburn and exchanged it for soap.
You would take in so many kero tins of melted down fat and they would exchange it for so many bars of soap. A
trip to Goulburn from Golspie was about an hour and a half it could have been longer. It was bitumen road from
Taralga to Goulburn.
Roy went from Crookwell to Goulburn with Cyril and Kate on the first part of their honeymoon and it poured rain.
Roy was going back to High School after Easter. I think it was in the A model Ford. Cyril could have been working
at Captains Flat Mines when he was married. He used to bring home carbide lamps. There are still Marmonts’ at
Captains flat. I finished three years school in Goulburn in December 1949 having done my external intermediate
certificate, I started work with National Mutual in Jan 1950. I think they went twice to Goulburn one to have photos
taken and back then on the honeymoon. Cyril worked at the caves then in the mines at Captains Flat. Kate was
older that Cyril. Roy had never seen carbide lamps, water dripping on carbide powder which produced the gas
hence the light. Cyril and Kate lived at Greta when Roy finished high school. I used to come home to Greta for
school holidays and I am sure Cyril and Kate were at Greta. Roy boarded in Goulburn with a Mrs. Cameron then
with the deputy headmaster of the primary school. His surname was George, he had a son Bob, he was a bit
older that Roy, he lived not far from the high school. Mr. George taught at Bourke Street primary school. Mr.
George was a nice bloke.
I think Cyril finished in the mines were married and moved to Greta when married. He started to work for the
Lang’s who were over the hill. Ray Collins was a strange bloke. He told Pop Ted one day, I thought there was a
bushfire the other day, what do you mean a bushfire, ah it was only Roy down the creek smoking a cigarette. Roy
states that he never smoked a cigarette.
Ted always said to Roy if you want to have a cigarette don’t get down the bank of the creek, if you want a
cigarette come and see me and I will give you one. The Cartwright boys were into smoking. He had one puff of a
cigarette and never again. I knew Ray Collins told a deliberate lie just to get me into trouble. Roy used to have a
grey hound he was a good dog. If I found a rabbit in a squat I could call him, show him and he would head off out
round in many directions. Then he would circle back and get the rabbit before it left the squat. I will tell you a
funny story about Cyril, I was over at Langs with the greyhound one day, a rabbit jumped up and took off into Mick
Keoghs, father of Frank Keogh. Cyril said look at that our rabbits run into Mick Keogh paddock, Roy said what do
you mean ‘our’ rabbit, he said it’s got to be our rabbit cause it’s got a white tail.
Roy was Vice President of the Sydney bicycle and motor club. The club was
founded in 1879 and was the first licensed club in NSW. The founder rode a
penny farthing bike from Sydney to Melbourne in 8 and a half days. Roy was to
become the President, however he proved to the president of the time that the
club was being ripped off and would not take over as president unless the
persons concerned were sacked. They were not and Roy resigned. Roy then
become a member of the Civic Club owned by the Liberal Party and was at the
rear of the National Mutual Building.
Roy owned a Morris A40 red a cream sports car which Robert can remember
being at Greta. That would have been on his 21st birthday in 1954, he drove it
from Sydney.
Ted and Ethel played tennis at and with Jack and Alice Lang “Weona”. The tennis courts were on the hall side of
the Yalbraith Road just down from the Golspie School.

Roy believes that Cyril and Kate’s reception was held in Uncle Freds’ house in
Crookwell, a two story house behind the Bank up from the Niagara Café in
Goulburn Street. There was a laneway between Fred’s and the Bank. We think
Fred brought the house to retire in before Ada took ill.
Stan Pollack painted the new section of Greta, he apparently dropped either the
paint brush or the bucket of paint and was heard to utter ‘pigs arse’. A few Sundays later when the local C of E
Minister a Rev. Champion was at the table, Roy belched and was asked by his mother Ethel, what do you say
and his reply was of course what had been said by Stan Pollack ‘pigs arse’. Needless to say all hell broke loose
and Roy was suitably punished. Greta was self sufficient in all of its needs most of the time. Roy remembers that
carrots and parsnips were buried in a sand heap under the tank stand out near the dairy. The tank had a small
leak which kept the sand moist and cool thus keeping the carrots and parsnips fresh for many months.
Pop Ted owned a red kelpie dog named Peter and in the photo of Pop Ted near the wood heap the boy in the
background is Roy.

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Lilas' Memories of her Mother ETHEL - transcribed from her booklet dated 25th January 1986.
The photo below is of Lila at Golspie School
I remember my mother Ethel ( nee LANG ) telling me of her girlhood spent at

“Fernbank”, the many hours of hard work she, together with her father ( James
LANG ) and brothers ( George Bertram, John Thomas and Roy James ) put in
felling timber and knocking suckers on the family property “Tellygang”.
She also helped her sister ( Ann Martha, Louis May and Eliza Jane ) with the
milking – this chore was considered “girls” work and seldom, if ever, was
undertaken by the men folk.
When she married and came to live at “Greta”, she, together with my father (
Edward Leslie MARMONT ) grew all the vegetables needed to provide for the
family. Mum (Ethel) was a very good and economical cook and could always find a
meal for any visitor or traveller at the drop of a hat when they called.
She baked her own bread in the early days and was noted for her beautiful Fruit Easter Buns. There was a certain
Minister who always happened to call on one of Ethels’ baking days (as he referred to them) and always went
home with a loaf of her freshly baked bread.
Mum was also a good seamstress and could take a scrap of material, a bit of ribbon and lace, go to her sewing
room and using a treadle machine, would emerge a couple of hours later with a new dress. She could also
crochet very fine cotton and made all the doilys and dutchess sets for her “glory” box.
My childhood memories include: Walking about a mile and a half to school each day, what a fear I had of snakes
in the summer months! When one appeared on my usual route (a short cut across the paddocks) I would go the
long way around to miss it. In the winter months when the puddles were all frozen over, we had great fun stepping
on each one to break the ice. On snowy days how good it was to get home and have a hot milk drink to help thaw
out.
I remember Roy (Leslie Roy) as a very mischievous teasing little brother. One day he had me very frustrated so I
decided to give him a lesson he would remember – a few wacks around the legs. However he ran away and I
could not catch him, I was just about to give up in despair when brother Cyril (Cyril James) came riding over the
hill. He took one look at what was happening, promptly caught Roy and brought him back for me to deliver a few
well aimed smacks.
The memory of Cyril that is the strongest, is of one day we all went swimming in a big water hole in the creek near
Colonel Twynams. I got some reeds caught around my legs and of course panicked. I seemed to be under the
water for ages, then Cyril grabbed me and heaved me to the surface. What a relief it was.
How sad we all were when Reg (Reginald Bertram) came home on his final leave before going overseas during
the war. The day he left he walked through the house – in and out of every room – as though he wanted to
memorise everything just as it was. Later came the joy and thanksgiving when peace was announced! We all
went to Taralga to celebrate by dancing in the street. We knew our brother and son Reg would soon be safely
home to stay.
I remember Mum being kind and loving, generous if her neighbours or friends were troubled in some way, always
willing to offer a helping hand when it was needed. In her long illness proceeding her death, she was a tower of
strength to us all. Mum believed that her death was Gods’ Will and insisted that we all carry on as usual with our
lives.

Lilia Ethel McCALL
9 Elizabeth Street
CROOKWELL. NSW. 2583
25th January 1986

Elizabeth St Crookwell
L to R Back: Lila, Pop
Ted, David McCall
Ann, Jill and Kaye
FROM THE CROOKWELL GAZETTE 20 JANUARY 1954
Weddings: Golspie Bride Chose French Lace.
McCALL - MARMONT
On December 5 last at St. Mark's Church of England,

Golspie, Lila, only daughter of Mr. Edward L. Marmont, of Golspie, and the late Mrs. Marmont was married to
David, only son of Mr. and Mrs. D. McCall, of Punchbowl.
The Rev. J. Brain officiated at the ceremony and Mrs. C. M. Bradbury, of Taralga, presided at the organ.
The bride, who entered the church on the arm of her farther who subsequently gave her away, looked radiant in a
gown of French lace over taffeta which featured a fitted bodice with turn back collar and a full circular skirt which
fell away to a circular train. Around her neck she wore a rhinestone necklace, a present from the groom.
The three - tiered finger-tip veil, which was kindly loaned for the occasion by
Mrs. B. Hamilton, the groom's sister, was held in place by a coronet of orange blossom and she carried a bouquet
of white gladioli and Cecil Bruner roses.
The Matron of Honour, Mrs. Cyril Marmont ( Kate - a sister - in-law of the bride), wore a ballerina length frock of
deep mauve tulle over taffeta. She carried a Victorian posy of Dale Featherstone carnations and pink and mauve
sweet peas. The coronet which held her shoulder - length veil in position was made of the same flowers.
The duties of the best man were ably carried out by Mr. Warren Hogg, of Kingsgrove,
a friend of the groom.
The reception was held at the Golspie Hall, where about 50 people were received by the bride’s sister - in - law,
Mrs. Reg Marmont ( Hazel ) who wore a .grey crepe frock with cherry accessories and was assisted by the
groom's mother, who chose a powder - blue beaded frock with which she wore navy accessories.
The two-tiered cake was made and beautifully decorated by Mrs. W. Price, of Yalbraith.
Many lovely presents and numerous cheques were received by the happy couple.
When leaving for their honeymoon, which was spent at Katoomba, the bride travelled in a junior navy faille suit
with navy and white accessories. She added a shoulder spray of carnations.
The young couple are now residing at Golspie.
THERE IS MORE HISTORY TO BE FOUND IN MY BOOK AND ON MY WEBB SITE MARMONTS WEBB
https://marmontswebb.weebly.com/

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Family History Memories of - Robert James Marmont

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 1

THE THINGS AROUND ‘GRETA’ I REMEMBER:

My early memories of this time are somewhat sketchy and

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 2

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 3

TARALGA PUBLIC SCHOOL.

THE MOVE TO GUNDARY PLAINS.

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WINDELLAMA PUBLIC SCHOOL

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 7

GOULBURN HIGH SCHOOL

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 8

ARALUEN THE FIRST TIME

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 9

THE GROCERY STORE STINT

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 10

ARALUEN THE SECOND TIME ROUND

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SOME OF THE PEOPLE I WORKED WITH:

THE SHOCKING TAZWELL EXPERIENCE

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 13

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 14

THE MOVE TO ROSEMONT ROAD

We moved to Rosemont Road some time in late1968 though I don’t recall

MEMORIES OF NANNA – MAY HOWARTH (NEE FENTON) (1887-1982)

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 15

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 16

On my visit in August 2001 many things had changed around Bradley.

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 17

Memories of Pop Jim Howarth 1887-1973

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 18

MEMORIES OF MY MOTHER - Catherine Eliza Marmont – (nee Howarth) 1921-1976

My early recollections of my Mum are at Greta and the strongest at that

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 19

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 20

I think my Mum was very proud of me when I become an Ambulance Officer.

Memories of My Father Cyril James MARMONT ( 1925 – 1972 )

My early memories of my father were at Greta where he worked on various

Photo on left is of Dad whilst at school at Golspie at a sports day.

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 21

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 22

FROM THE CROOKWELL GAZETTE APRIL 21 1948 - PAGE 8

Memories of Pop Ted. Edward Marmont. 1895-1967

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 23

FROM THE GOULBURN EVENING PENNY OST 23RD SEP 1919

There was a nice gathering of relatives and friends at the church.

INTERVIEW WITH ROY MARMONT – AT SWANSEA 2003

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 24

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RASERl., f r rqsTL:1 I Mdsr ftporo6 tSE FaR Nor H4\/| q 4ilslJfrf D

ila L I Doy nT frt'tY ft ME '

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 28

The photo below is of Lila at Golspie School

I remember my mother Ethel ( nee LANG ) telling me of her girlhood spent at

Updated 12/11/2023 Page 29

Lilia Ethel McCALL