Wallingford Berks Line

Intermediate Certificate 1924 Junee. Leaving Certificate 1926/27. Sydney Teachers College 1928/29. Primary teacher Junee, Coolamon, Wagga, South Australia (on teacher exchange), Temora. In 1939/40 had to resign because of her marriage. (Married ladies were then barred from teaching.) 1942 living in Junee and asked to return as an infant school teacher. In 1943 moved to Harden. Put on list for primary promotion. Deputy MistressYoung Primary School 1956/57. Taught Merrylands Primary in Sydney (1960), St John's Park Primary in Sydney (1961) as Deputy Mistress, Deputy Mistress Blacktown "A" 1965, 1966 Doonside, 1969 Jasper Road.

My father, Reginald Percy Lovelock was born on 29 May 1885 at Tungamah, Victoria, south west of Albury. His early schooling was broken as the family moved around a lot, sometimes living at Gobur in Victoria, where his mother's people lived, and sometimes in various towns around NSW when his father, Charles Wright Lovelock, went to NSW shearing. The family went with him in a horse-drawn, covered wagon.

The family finally settled at Junee in the 1890s. The two older brothers, Charles and Reg, were soon out looking for work. They got a job on the building site of the new Union Bank in Broadway, Junee. The family were then living in Peel Street.

In 1910 Reg married Elsie Sterry in Junee and got a job at Griffith as a fireman on a steam engine. The railway line was now extended south west as far as Narranderra. About 1914 Reg returned to Junee with two children: Gwendoline and Reginald William Charles. By this time Junee was developing its railway complex of engine sheds with a round table for changing the direction of the engines and training apprentices as fitters, turners and boiler makers.

About 1916 Reg began to build a home in Hill Street. He built a large house with twenty foot square rooms with twelve foot ceilings. There were eight foot wide verandahs surrounding almost half the English-style fibro house. There were pathways of asphalt and concrete, a large fruit and vegetable area and flower gardens. The backyard was fenced off and used for the woodheap, clothes line, cow bail, water trough and a large shed for the sulky and horse feed storage. The toilet was outside and attached to the back fence so the 'night soil man' could collect the pan each Monday. The cow (Shorthorn or Jersey) was kept in a paddock just over the hill from our back lane and the horse one and a half miles away at the Common.

If Dad was working on the 'Shunter' at the Hill St Gates end, we used to take a hot dinner down to him. The plates were stacked on top of each other and enclosed in a big serviette and towel for carting. Dad wanted mum to stay in bed till breakfast was over as she worked so hard during the day. He was always up about 5.30 to 6.30am digging in the garden or looking after his trees and grape vines which covered an overhead trellis about twenty feet long with garden seats. The children were on a roster for bringing up the wood and lighting the fire in the stove and making the morning cup of tea for everyone.

The aluminium teapot sitting on the hop kept the tea hot and a long toasting fork was used to make long-sliced 'Tin Bread' toast on the hot stove embers. A tray went to mum. The boys cooked a large iron pot of porridge with our own milk and rich cream. There was also a roster for the washing up. All the children took turns. The boys used 'billy carts' to bring up from the back dry, chopped wood and bran pollard for the fowls and store it outside the laundry.

At first there was no bathroom. A large enamel bath and shower shared the laundry where a 'chip heater' was used to heat the water for the bath. The shower however was always cold. There was no sewerage but a large system of drains took water to the garden. The drains had to be scrubbed and disinfected each washing day, which was always Monday.

On washing day clothes lines were propped up in both yards. The copper was prepared the night before by filling it with water and shredding soft soap, made at home, into it to soak all night. A fire was prepared in the firebox underneath. Clothes were sorted into heaps of big whites (table clothes, sheets, towels), small whites (pillow slips, underclothes, pyjamas, night dresses, napkins) and working clothes, flannels and trousers. They were taken from the boiling copper by a big stick (usually a broom handle) to two nearby wash tubs. One of the tubs had tap water for rinsing. Whites proceeded to the 'blue' water in the bath. A big dish of starch for linen, some dresses, collars and some shirts, was prepared.

On washing days the midday dinner was usually curry/vegetables, rice pudding/custard/Blanc Mange. Ironing was with a heavy flat iron heated on the stove top. It needed to be tested for heat on an old cloth first and wiped carefully before using.

On Tuesdays the grocer called for his order. It was a day for darning and mending and light household work.

Wednesdays were for polishing; Thursdays for shaking the carpets. Friday night was choir practice. Saturday was dressing up for a walk down town; a time for shopping and ice cream; possibly the 'Ocean Wave' Merry-Go-Round or Wirths or Soles Circus might be in town. We might see Blondin who walked on high ropes or a play group who had come to town: Philip Hunt, Worth, George Sorlie, Williamson's, Alan Wilkie. They all brought their own large tents and rows of seats.Alan Wilkie did Shakespearean.

On Sundays, when we were very young, we had to help prepare the harness for the horse and sulky or buggy - greasing and shining.

The western side verandah was sheltered from dust storms emanating from the western plains by many climbers: dolichos, moss roses, ivy, bougainvillea and grape vines covering wooden slot blinds and extending around the corner. Our water came from the Burrinjuck Dam via Jugiong (on the Hume Highway) and metres were installed. Before the 1920s our lighting was of kerosene lamps and sometimes candles. Cleaning the glass chimneys of lamps was quite an art, using newspaper and vinegar. About 1920 electric light arrived. Each room had a cord hanging from the ceiling to switch on the lights which had lovely shades to match the rooms. There was one point in the kitchen for a Dux Jug or Iron and a point in the lounge room for a wireless or radiogram. Each room had a switch on/off with a yellow metal cover.

At this time we acquired a player piano and I was having piano lessons.

Before 1920 as Sunday approached dad would take the boys with him to walk the one and a half miles to the Council Common to catch our horse and lead her home. She was then brushed and combed and the harness greased. The lights on the sulky and later the buggy were also cleaned. All was in readiness for the Sunday afternoon picnic when we would also look for mushrooms and gather manure on paddocks for the garden. At other times he took the boys out to Four Mile Dam on the property of a friend to teach them to swim and catch crayfish. Sometimes dad took the horse and cart and went to cut trees down for our wood where it was permitted by the local Council.

As the boys grew they were allowed to go rabbiting with a group of friends. They would take potatoes and onions to cook in a hole to entice the rabbits. No traps or ferrets. They would just form a circle and close in on them. Dogs could also help.

Reg's Sunday 'best' consisted of a silk shirt with a plain white, separate collar, either stiff or soft, starched and attached to the shirt with studs, a three-piece tweed suit in pin stripe, brown or navy and a calf length overcoat. A tie and knitted white silk scarf completed the attire.

At this period there were no buildings at the side of our house and we had a large playing space which in Spring time was covered with wild flowers such as buttercups, cowslips, Nanny Goats and Billy Goats, star flowers and dandelions. Dandelions were good for making playtime decorations as head and necklace ornaments.

We always had dogs at our place. My mother had an Australian Terrier called Togo. We also had Kelpies and Cattle dogs. Other pets included coloured rabbits, guinea pigs, hens, calves & lambs (given by stockholders taking flocks along Hill Street to the Common to rest. Sometimes one was too young or not well and we were given it to look after.) We also had a bird aviary for pigeons. Inside the house we had silk worms.

There were many birds in the garden hedges and trees not seen as much now: swallows, sparrows, starlings, goldfinches, robin redbreasts, magpies.

We played lots of games: the meccano set, kite making (I especially liked sending paper 'messages' up the tail), marbles ('six holes' was a popular marble game which required following the holes), 'go carts', spinning tops, card flicking against a wall, cricket (regular and French), football. We played football on Lane Hill at our back behind the Taylor's house. Football boots were heavy and black, reaching up the leg and held by long, white laces, with heavy studs on the sole. In Winter we played draughts and card games such as Crib, Snap, Memory, Matching Pairs, Patience, Euchre and 500 on the kitchen table. We played table tennis on a large 'bobs' table - as well as 'bobs'. We played tennis at school and on the railway courts.

The Railway Picnic was an annual event. There were many races: 50 yard dash (my favourite), three-legged, sack, egg & spoon, relays, piggy-back. There were also races organised by the Sunday School.

We all had pocket money. At first we kept our money in money boxes but later we were given bank cards which were only to be used for banking money. The boys were allowed to use their 'Billy' carts and sell some of our large garden produce such as peaches, plums, nectarines, peas and beans of which we had more than we could use. They also worked as 'caddies' at the local golf links when tournaments were on and got to be known as useful.

Our kitchen was a busy place, cooking during the morning while the oven was alight; dinner was at midday. Cooking vessels were of cast iron and the inside was enamel. The boiler was oval, there was a round pot for soups and another large one for making jams and pickles or brawn or sauces. The 'Coolgardie Safe' on the verandah under the grapevine trellis was used for fresh milk and cream. There was a meat safe, square and of metal with many breathing holes also hanging in the shade under the grape trellis. When cake cooking was on, expectant people were waiting to have the mixing basin 'to finish'.

In the early years the kitchen had a white scrubbed pine table and a large pine board for mixing cooking needs. As the family grew the table was changed for a larger one and the chairs were seated with replaceable leather and some had plywood seats. There were two large dressers and one aerated cupboard.

Every room had its carpet on a roster to clean and its side polished wood to be waxed. A hall went from the front door to the back door and was always bright looking. The children slept on the covered verandah but if the weather was stormy we packed up and used the bedrooms. The verandah had two double beds and three singles. Pillow fights were inevitable.

As times changed cars began to appear. J.S. Taylor had the first; he also had the first accident, having a quarrel with a post office pole. Otherwise, everybody walked, cycled or rode horses. Steam trains were the life of Junee and Reg Lovelock was a grade one driver. Aeroplanes came to Bullocky Hill to give rides and race: Puss Moths and Tiger Moths. The paper train arrived about 4pm up from Sydney. On Sundays a farmer used his aeroplane to bring the Sunday papers to town.

There was a flu epidemic in 1917 and the school at Junee was closed and used as a hospital. Everyone was required to wear white face masks.

There was an Open Air Pictures in Lisgar Street, opposite the doctor's house and near to the Fire Brigade Station. It cost 6d for children and 1/- for adults. It later moved to a hall in Lisgar Street, behind the corner chemist facing Lorne Street. It was called the Lyceum theatre. The sessions opened with piano music which softly played through to picture time. Some early silent pictures that played there were "The Ten Commandments" and pictures starring Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. It was also used as a concert theatre for schools and Sunday schools. Much later it burnt down and the Athenium was built on Broadway. Sound came in the 1930s.

Roy Gardner helped build the War Memorial Clock/Tower to those who fell in the 1914-18 World War. A cannon from the war was situated alongside it. In 1919 at the end of WWI, a big celebration of the town was held here and all the school children were given a special medal.

There were travelling picture shows such as 'Regent Pictures' which was owned by Arthur and Fred Sterry (Gwen's uncles) and Fred's son Keith They used a van and a wagon with projectors and mostly went to small county towns showing early movies. There were travelling photographers such as Fred Sterry who specialised in photos of family groups, home, sporting teams, church and civic groups. He travelled with a covered wagon with a white horse. He made our home in Junee one of his stops.

There were travelling tea merchants who sold 50lb tins. Hawkers were always on the road: Indians sold silk and jewellery and Syrian women had backpacks of silk material for sale. Others sold brooms and sewing materials, haberdashery and, especially after WWI, house linen; Rawleigh's and Watkin's medical products; religious literature; rabbits at 6 pence each; poultry and dairy products from farmer's wives (butter was 1/- a pound); fowls or turkeys at Xmas time only; eggs. In the early days Chinese Green Grocers walked the town with two baskets supported by a pole across their shoulders. They often had gifts of green ginger in ceramic jars for a good sale; they also sold chinese tea.

Each Monday families could give their grocery orders to storemen who came personally to people's homes. Each store took a month's turn. The groceries were delivered by horse and cart. Stores who provided this service were Taylors, Keasts, Farleys and later Ogilvie Cooperative Society. A bonus of a bag of boiled lollies or biscuits was often offered if the order was paid at the month's end.

The larger department stores in town had an overhead wire along which travelled a container holding cash or invoices. The wire ran from the sales counter up to the office situated on a high platform. Money was sent up the wire and change returned if necessary. Grocery purchases were wrapped in brown paper and string.

About 1918/20 the greengrocer's van called at home weekly. The milkman called daily. The milk on the can was in large metal containers with a tap. You paid for what you received. The baker delivered the bread in a covered basket. Bread was 4d per loaf.

There were many swagmen after WWI. They left signs on fence posts as a guide to other road men if the place was good for getting a meal to help them on their way. Our family obliged. They generally arrived for the midday meal and often cut firewood for their meal, especially on farms. We had a shady outside area where swaggies could rest for a while. [Gwen Lovelock]

Although I was aware of my Lovelock cousins, our families had drifted apart. My father occasionally spoke about his cousins at Junee and how he used to visit them as a boy. But I have no recollection of ever meeting any of them - until I met Gwen. It was of course an interest in family history that brought us together - almost 15 years ago.

I'm not sure what draws us to researching dead ancestors. It does seem to appeal more as one gets older. It appears to have become increasingly popular in recent years. It's certainly addictive! Whatever sparked the moment, there I stood at the front door of a second cousin whom I'd never met, grasping a single page of very rough notes I had gathered from my own parents about 'the relatives'. Just a few names and dates was all I knew and none too sure about some of them. Little did I know that I was about to embark on a whole new adventure.

Gwen is in many ways a remarkable woman. Born in the New South Wales of Narrandera in 1910, Gwen was christened Gwendoline Emerald Campbell Lovelock. Her mother used to say her name was a bit of Welsh, a bit of Irish and a bit of Scottish. The Emerald part was after the town in Queensland where her father spent twelve months moving cattle to get enough money to marry her mother. Her mother evidently just liked the name of Gwendoline.

Gwen became a school teacher and Infants Mistress, teaching at country schools in New South Wales and later in Sydney. She also went on a teacher exchange program and taught at various schools in South Australia, a few weeks at a time. Apart from the time she was barred from teacher after she married ( because at that time married ladies were prohibited from teaching) she continued teaching up until 1976.

Gwen made several overseas trips: to New Zealand, to Alaska and to England, the latter of course to further her family research. She is one of those who can actually remember when the English civil registration indexes could only be accessed via massive books at St Catherine's House in London.

Gwen loved her teaching and used her musical talents to great advantage. She often said that you could learn anything that you could set to music.

Gwen had an almost photographic memory and used to fascinate me reciting generations of family history without a note in sight - names, dates, places and personal stories. Mind you, she did have a gift for the gab!

Gwen was always full of surprises. She once presented me with a collection of her old '78 records - 'for safekeeping'. Amongst the collection I was surprised to find an early recording of 'The Internationale', not the sort of recording one expected to find in a venerable elderly cousins' personal collection. I later asked her about it. 'Well,' she said matter-of-factly, 'if you wanted to discuss anything other than weather and sheep and cattle, the local Socialist group was the only place in town where you could find intelligent conversation!"

Gwen certainly ignited my passion for family history and for telling a good tale along with it. Fifteen or so years later I'm still as fascinated as ever. She started her family history research back in the 1970s. In those days there was no internet, no email, no message boards. Communication was by letter and Gwen wrote hundreds of them over the years.

Thirty years of research accumulates a lot of material. Gwen had an entire wall of her house devoted to family research. Long shelves down her hallway were stacked row after row with thick folders bulging with her collected notes.

Gwen had a dream to publish a book on her own family tree with a contribution from every living member of it: a short piece about themselves and a photo. The amazing thing is that she actually managed to persuade hundreds of family members to contribute. 98 this December, Gwen has perhaps slowed up a little. She now lives with one of her daughters in northern Queensland but still loves to talk about her great loves: her music, her family and the many people she has met along the way in her years of family history research.

Gwen was a pioneer of Lovelock Family History and knew the tough slog of researching when records were extremely difficult to come way.

So thanks Gwen for the legacy you left behind. Thanks for all the sweat and toil. You can put your feet up now. Others can now pick up where you left off. [Robert Sterry]