On 24 August 1926 James Walshe (my father) left London for Australia on the steamship ‘Largs Bay’. I still have his ‘Contract Ticket’ which sets out all provisions which had to be given to him during the trip. Dad said the boat came around ‘The Cape of Good Hope’ and the journey took about six weeks. Ever after that Dad would not attempt to swim, and only went on a boat if he could see through the water to the bottom. Dad’s brother John followed about 18 months later. Uncle John’s boat came through the Suez Canal. They both came out under ‘The Big Brother Movement’. In this movement someone in Australia assured them of work and helped them adjust to the new life style. Dad was sent to a farm up Euroa way and Uncle John to a farm in Gippsland near Glengarry. Eventually Dad left Euroa and joined John in Gippsland.
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ON 9th. August 1928 Dad turned 21. I still have the two cards Grandma Walshe sent him. I believe that he had this studio photo taken of himself to celebrate the occasion. I suppose that a copy would have been sent home to Grandma and Granddad Walshe. |
My parents met at the Church in Glengarry.
At some stage Dad moved into the farm house with Uncle Charlie and they
both worked the farm from then on. On 29 September 1934 my parents were married
in St. Michael’s Church Traralgon by Father McLoughlin.
My mother then moved back to the farm and Auntie in to a house in
Traralgon.
By this time the original kitchen and breakfast room had
been burnt down, and Uncle Bill Hower had built a new one.
This new one was only about 8 ft. from the main house.
This formed a breezeway which was enclosed at one end to make a bathroom. It even had a proper bath in it, but still the water had to
be heated in the copper in the wash
house, and carried to the bath in buckets. The other end of this breezeway was enclosed by just a wall with a door
and a window. I cannot remember
anything about the curtains and blinds on any other window in the house, but I
remember that window, it had a wooden venetian blind on it.
I was only a few months old when my mother was diagnosed with cancer of the uterus. Eventually she had to go into hospital (Women’s in Melbourne). Although Auntie was 70 by then she took me to live with her. My mother spent some months in hospital but was finally sent home. She went to the house in Traralgon where Auntie and I were living and there on 26 December 1926 she passed away and once again Dr. T.A. McLean signed the death certificate of a family member.
Family Part 6 Family (1) Part 2 Part 3 Part 4