Glimpses From the Past
This series of articles appeared in the "Macclesfield Newsletter" over a number of issues around 2010. Mr John Henry LEMAR, born 1901, lived and worked in Macclesfield for much of his life, and has written of some of his experiences of the early life and times in and around Macclesfield.
Some layout changes have been made to aid readability, since the original newsletters had to fit an A4 page. I have left unchanged the £ to $ conversions.
Among the earliest settlers in this area was Thomas LEMAR, a shoemaker and gardener who, with his wife and three young children, arrived in South Australia in 1839 on the ‘Resource’, having previously lived in Northgate Street, Canterbury. They settled at Black Forest and later moved to Paris Creek in the area known as ‘Shady Grove’.
Thomas was a very successful horticulturist and for many years carried off the main prizes at many of the country shows. The family lived and worked on the property establishing a market garden as well as many other pursuits. One son William married Mary KARG and another son, John Thomas married Sarah WOODS at Trinity Church, Adelaide on the 10th. May 1855 and also lived on the property. This couple had eleven children most of whom married into local families.
John Thomas, born May 1856, died aged one year.
Sarah Ellen, born July 1857, married Edward Fry.
Harriet, born July 1859, married Samuel Davis.
George William, born August 1861, died aged 24 years.
Henry, born January 1864, married Elizabeth Davis.
Albert, born August 1866, died aged 19 years.
James, born August 1868, married Martha Holton.
Ada, born September 1870, married Frederick Hann.
Lucy, born October 1872, died aged 3 years.
Edith Alice, born 1875, married William Lawrence.
Elsie Florence, born 1883, married Joseph Dugmore.
Some descendants of these families still live in Macclesfield.
These details were copied from the family Bible by the late John Henry Roy LEMAR known locally as ‘Jack’, a son of James and Martha. Jack LEMAR lived in the Macclesfield area from his birth in 1901 until he retired to McLaren Vale in 1963. The family were well known, being involved in town affairs, sports and entertainments during the time they lived here.
When Jack was a child he broke his arm badly and was unable to attend school for a whole winter. He spent much of that time with the older members of his family listening to their talk of the early days of the district, and, as he worked with them while growing up he also learnt their ways and grew to know many of the older inhabitants of the time. In later life he wrote these memories out “for the sake of the history” thus giving us a glimpse of life as it was “in days gone by”.
Jack continues the story as his Father told him: My late Father, James, went to the Paris Creek school, walking six miles along a bullock track through the scrub that joined the Paris Creek road to Strathalbyn, everyone walked so there was plenty of company. The school drinking water came from a spring further up and the creek ran past the school and into the River Angas at Strathalbyn. The water was always clear and cold. In winter when creeks and roads flooded the teacher couldn’t get there so there was no school, perhaps for days at a time, until things dried out and became passable again. About 1912 my Father took me to show me the old school, all that was left was a heap of rubble and the chimney. I remember it was a rough old ride in a spring cart and in some places we had to sit on the floor, it was safer than the seat. About 1900 a new school was built at the top end of the creek and only about three chains away from the spring, so they had plenty of good water there too. I started school there myself in 1908 but I finished at Macclesfield School. The Paris Creek School was pulled down in the 1940’s and a Hall built nearby.
When my Father left school he worked as an apprentice boot maker for Mr. WOODS in the building on the corner of Sturt and Venables Street in Macclesfield. He remembered life in the town in those days and the Echunga police and a Special Constable had control of the town. Sometimes things would get a bit rowdy and there would be a fight and they would say “I’ll soon cool you off” and dip them in the horse trough near the hotel before sending them home dripping wet. If there were troublemakers and the detention room was full the police could chain them to the hotel fence until they sobered up, and sometimes the local boys would come along and tease them. One night the Policeman sneaked up and caught them at it and belted one of the boys across the behind and he had to have stitches. No one was game to say what had happened to him as it was a great disgrace for his family in those days, but it kept the town quiet for awhile.
My Father later went on a working holiday to Horsham and when he came back he worked for Mr. and Mrs. SMITH at Angas Plains. His wages were 5/ - a week (50c) for doing everything but they were good to him and it was considered a good place to work. It was a mixed farm and one of his jobs was to drive the spring dray to Milang to sell farm goods, butter was Sixpence (5c) a pound and eggs threepence (3c) a dozen and he’d bring back a load of grain.
While there he played football with boys from the district against a team from Point McLeay. The Aboriginals were champions and won nearly all the games. There were many Aboriginals living around Angas Plains and Milang at that time and they bought things from the farmers. There was never any trouble and they often helped with pig killing and other things and were paid bacon and salt pork which they liked.
My Father learnt all the farm work and how to butcher and pickle and smoke the meat. The chimney had a bar across it for the pieces to hang from and a heap of sawdust was lit under it to make a thick smoke, then the front had to be closed right off and left until all were properly smoked. Mr. and Mrs. SMITH always sent half a smoked pig for the family when Father went home for Christmas. In later life I helped him do many in the same way when we lived at Paris Creek.
My Father, James, later went to Forest Range where he worked for a gardener who supplied vegetables to the East End Market. They carted them down with a horse and trolley. He told me the garden was on a peat swamp and if it caught fire it took months to put it out. There were plenty of goannas there at that time but not many kangaroos.
On February 13, 1896, my Father and Mother were married at Holy Trinity and they came back to Macclesfield to live in the house in the main street opposite the Davenport Arms Hotel (now the Three Brothers Arms) where l was born in 1901. We lived there until my Father built his own house on the property at Paris Creek joining where he was born in a thatched roof house. Our house of four rooms was made of galvanised iron and the floors were red gum off-cuts from the railway sleepers. Ceilings were whitewashed hessian, some of the walls were whitewashed but some were papered. The huge stove chimney was built with lime from the LEMAR brothers kiln and sand made into mortar to bind the stones. Inside the fireplace was a large hob you could sit on when the fire went down. The houses all around had sleeper off-cut floors, some homes were built of off-cuts, they nearly all had thatched roofs, some were slate. We later moved into a new house where my brother Leslie was born in 1908.
In many places there were long holes in the ground made for sawpits to cut the railway sleepers from the big red gums which grew along the creek. As they were used up, the sawpits would be abandoned and more dug further down to follow the trees. The off-cuts could be used by anyone and all the places had sheds made of them. My Grandfather built a sleeper shed in his garden about 1897; it had a thatched roof and was used for tools and storage. My Father enlarged it in 1913 and put an iron roof on it and about 1921 I nailed some of the off-cuts back on with big square nails.
To be continued...
Glimpses From the Past, continued from the last Newsletter;
I used it until I sold the property in 1956 and I know it was still in use in 1960. Those sheds were built to last.
My late Father’s family owned a lot of land at Paris Creek and they all worked together and made a good living from it. They had a big market garden and grew field peas, vegetables and flowers to sell. It was on a Tea Tree swamp and the water was at a depth of two to three feet, you could push a rod easily into the ground for six feet or so. Before I was born my Father dug a well on another part of the property and at 45 feet he struck very salty water, then quicksand started to cave in and he only just made it to the top before it all caved in, he left a pick and shovel at the bottom and even the windlass and bucket went down, so he had a very lucky escape. He showed me once where this had happened and there was a big gum tree growing in the middle of it. On that same section was the Fern Hill where hundreds of tons of white building sand was mined and carted to all different places.
My Father later dug another well through hard red soil and at 32 feet he struck marble. He drilled it and put a charge in the bottom and when he went back the next day it had 12 feet of good drinking water in it.
In 1958 the Government put a bore down on the northern side, they had to drill through marble and all sorts of soil and at 400 feet they got 30,000 gallons an hour and they couldn’t seal it off. It was only about four chains away from what had been the salt water well. The family also burnt the hard blue marble for lime to sell, it was said to be the best lime burnt at that time and once put on a stone or brick it was there to stay, they used bullock wagons to cart wood to the kiln.
During my Father’s time there were kangaroo hunting days, the dogs would start one up and drive it to the Big Water Hole, the men would need to hurry because if the dogs swam after it and it was a big old “roo” it could drown them if they got too close.
There was plenty of game about and they used muzzle loader guns, in 1918 I used one myself with little loads in it to shoot rabbits, there were thousands about then and they made a good feed. Later in my life, about 1922, I bought a double barreled 12 gauge shotgun for 12-0-0 Pound ($24.00). Cartridges were 4/6 (46c) a hundred but cheaper if you loaded your own.
Many of the men had good valuable hunting dogs and William LEMAR had three race horses, "Lady Phyton", "Lady Coram" and "Prior Perfect". In later years I saw the shed and manger where the horses were kept in the early days. There would be picnic race meetings some times and also they would challenge others' horses for entertainment.
My Father’s land joined Bowmann’s Estate near the "Sheepwash". That area was originally called the "Woolwash" where wool was washed before being sold, there was a ford there and a wide flat creek. My Grandfather told me that a huge flood washed trees and logs down and left dead sheep everywhere and after that it was called the "Sheepwash" and it still is.
During my school days I was setting traps on the edge of the old Bullock Track and I came across a big post painted white with a name painted in black “Mr. J. BURKETT Claim 1854-1880"! My Father said it was a claim for ironstone diggings and they got enough stone and specks of gold to pay expenses before the iron quality dropped and ran out. I later saw many holes where they had prospected right down to the "Sheepwash" but we never heard of any big finds.
About 1908 I saw a boundary rider going around the fences near the "Sheepwash", he told my Father that the kangaroos and wallabies were nuisances and broke holes in the fences. I found that to be true because one morning I couldn’t go to school as I had to help round up sheep which had come through a broken fence.
I often went with my Father to set traps for possums at the bottom of the big gum trees. Their skins brought a good price, he would peg a piece of quince near the trap. At that time there were still kangaroos, wallabies, goannas and possums by the thousand in the scrub around Paris Creek.
Another story my Father told me was that when he was young he sometimes went with his Father to Milang on his greengrocer round. They would meet Woodrow’s big boat which went across the Lake and send vegetables to Point McLeay. When the boat pulled alongside the jetty it had a lot of Aboriginal boys on board. His Father would give him half a case of apples to throw in the water and the boys enjoyed diving for them. Eventually he had to stop because there were too many coming over to join in the fun. Milang was a big fishing place then and there were boats everywhere, it was very busy. Mr. WOODROW had the biggest boat and could carry tons of fish. They always had a big box of fish given to them to take home.
My Father also told me this story which happened before I was born. They used to tar the fireplace hobs once a year and over the years the tar got fairly thick in Grandma’s house. One day Grandpa took his hat off and sat on it, on the hob, the fire was hot and when he got up his hat and trousers stuck to the hob and the air went blue. In all the years I knew him I didn’t once see him in a temper.
He had a piece of wood called a stick and a half used for threshing vegetable seeds out, he told me it was a dangerous thing to use and I found out he was right because when I was about 10 years old I tried and got a whack on the head that made me feel quite ill for a while. When I was sixteen I learnt to use it properly. Not many people could use it.
My Father told me that he could break a pony to ride by putting a bag of chaff on the saddle and when it stopped playing up he’d put a boy on it. In 1912 he put me through the same thing. I had a few spills but soon learned how to stay on. I rode a pony until I was 16 years old and then drove a pony and sulky until I bought a motor vehicle. The first motor I had was called Bowmann’s racing car, I saw it coming down the Bugle Road, it belonged to the owner of Bowmann’s Estate at Paris Creek.
In my early school days I saw the MURPHY brothers making bullock shoes and bowes. The yokes were mostly made of she-oak about six feet long and one foot thick and trimmed down to about six inches to shape to the bullock’s necks. Bowes were made of round iron in a ‘U’ shape and they went around the necks and fitted through the holes in the yoke and there were two large slots for pins to go through and hold them in the yoke. In the middle of the yoke was a ring so the bullock could pull. You see them in museums now. The shoes had a different name and there was a special wooden frame called a sling to throw the bullock so it could be shod.
To be continued...
Glimpses From the Past, continued from the last Newsletter;
I will never forget being late for school while watching the bullockies. I had to write a thousand times “I must not be late for school”. I never finished it. The bullock wagons and drays had heavy iron tyres on wooden wheels and iron axles and bosses and big iron screw bar brakes. Also behind the back wheels a big wooden roller was chained to the axles so when they stopped on a hill the vehicle could go back on the rollers.
The log haulers were like wooden sledges, only had iron boxes and axles, they used wood because it was plentiful and iron was only used where it was really necessary. The drays had a shaft pole in the middle and a bullock went on either side with a big yoke to fit onto the pole. They started the team with a “Gee up” or “Gee off” and a crack of the whip and then call their names because each one had their own special place in the team and knew what to do. There were a good many cutters and carters and charcoal burners at the time, that was the main work, with splitting posts and fencing.
Among our neighbours were the BARTLETT family and I was told stories of the bullock days by the Father and Mother. They would take a week each way to go to Adelaide and back with wagons and drays loaded with goods. They carted tons of wood to Adelaide, also wool and wattle bark. Then later carted to Bugle Ranges Railway Station when the line was built. Two of their sons, Albert and Leslie, cut and carted locomotive wood with five heavy horse teams. When I was going to the Macclesfield school I often got a ride home with them, I thought it was Christmas when they would let me hold the reins for the three and half miles to home, but I soon found that the whip was too heavy for me to use. I remember the leader horses were named Ben, Tops and Turpin.
When a two horse van came with groceries and drapery from David BELL’s store at Strathalbyn, my Mother would meet them at BARTLETT’s gate, they were the last customers on the round and we always stayed for a talk and they would show us their photos of teams and wagons and talk of the old days and the breakdowns they sometimes had on their trips through the hills. Mr. JARVIS was the driver of Bell’s van and he gave his customers a packet of boiled sweets for the children - it was a great treat. Mr. BARTLETT had a dog named Bob which he could control by whistling, one whistle meant chase the birds out of the fruit trees, two meant “shake hands,” three was to ‘lie down’ and four to ‘round up the cows’. Bob never made a mistake, but he didn’t like children to touch him.
Mr. BARTLETT told us that everything possible was made of wood in the old days, all the furniture and benches, butter churns and wheelbarrows and all, because it only cost the work to make them and the wood was plentiful.
My Mother and myself sometimes went to Adelaide with my cousin George on his trolley with vegetables for the East End Market. Sometimes in winter you got pelted with snowballs in Stirling’s main street and I have see a snowman built there too. My mother showed me the street in Glen Osmond where she lived, it was opposite the big brick chimney, I will never forget it.
Returning home either with cousin George or on the coach I can remember getting to the Devil’s Elbow and then the pull up the big steep hill through rough country, then onto a gully road past the "Eagle on the Hill" hotel to MEASDAY’s store and Post Office, then to Crafers, Aldgate, Mylor, Biggs Flat, Echunga, Macclesfield and then home to Paris Creek. It was a long trip. The coach horses would be changed at places along the way and there would usually be time to get a hot drink.
My cousin W.G. HOLTON married Hilda FEWSTER whose father was a coach driver for many years. I saw my first steam train at Aldgate on one of those trips.
My Father told me that in the early days a fishing party would be got up at Christmas each year and all go down to property owned by POPE’s on the Angas River. They would go in a two horse van and some would ride ponies and they would picnic under the willows. They always got bags of mud fish and yabbies. Later after I got married and had a motor truck I kept up the tradition with my cousin Edmund LEMAR. We would take a party of Uncles, Aunties, and friends down to the creek where the Crystal Lake Swimming Pool is now, there was still plenty of mud fish and yabbies in those days and we would make a fire and cook yabbies in a kerosene tin and have a feed.
When they went to POPE’s, old Mr. POPE would boil the billy for them and when they asked what he wanted he would say ‘A stick of tobacco please’. It was black tobacco called ‘Eurocake’ about nine inches long and an inch wide and half an inch thick. He would bite a big piece off and chew it and his eyes would nearly pop out of his head. “Thank you” he would say. “That will last me a few days, good money for just boiling the billy”. The tobacco cost ten pence (10c) a stick and the party always knew what payment he wanted. He was one of the oldest men in the district.
Another one was Mr. MURPHY and he was a very heavy smoker. He sat in a rocking chair and would put his big heavy boots up on the table, as he rocked his feet moved and the boots wore a hole in the table, I saw it all myself, if I had been told I would have said “what a tall story”.
Another old man got lost a lot and everyone would get worried and look for him. I found him in the paddock one day and couldn’t waken him. I called for help and when he was picked up they found half a bottle of whisky so that was the trouble that time. So between the Smoker and Tobacco Chewer and Whisky Drinker they all lived to be a great age and the oldest ones that I can remember.
When I was a schoolboy I often helped my Father at weekends and in the holidays and learned to make fences, how to mortise the post and split rails and then put brush at the bottom to keep out the wallaby’s. I also went to Strathalbyn with him to do the vegetable round.
I saw the butchers, Jeff PASSFIELD and Herbert YATES kill a bullock and hang it in a gum tree near the river to cool off many times. Then a new law came in and you couldn’t sell meat unless you had a proper slaughter house so they built a big one up on the hill. All their sons worked with them in the butchering trade.
From about 1908 there were Graves Hill and Co. mail and passenger coaches between Macclesfield and Adelaide. I have told you we sometimes rode in one. I was in Macclesfield one day and the coach and horses finished up in the creek by the bridge near the Methodist Church. I had been to my Uncle Joe DUGMORE’s fruit and vegetable shop opposite the Catholic Church footbridge. The coach driver was taking the horses to the Angas for a drink and something frightened them and they plunged about and into the water. I watched them get it all back onto the road, it took a long time.
There was a Graves Hill and Co. coach on the property of Mr. W. ANDERSON in 1911. In 1923 I bought the back step from his son Harry for 5/- (50c) to put on the back of the truck I owned, I changed that back step from one truck to another a few times so it did a few miles from new.
Now I can tell you some more about my life and how I got to know many of the older people and talk to them and know some history and also to know all the roads and where people lived.
I had gone with my Father and Uncles on some of their greengrocer rounds and in 1916 I started on my own with a pony and a light spring dray. In 1923 I bought a Ford one ton truck for 197-0-0 pounds ($394.00). Top speed was 3.5 mph and Horsepower 22.5. My driver’s license cost 5/- (50c) and I didn’t need to have a test. Petrol was 17/8 ($1.78) a case of two four gallon tins delivered. Oil was 18/- ($1.80) for four gallons.
To be continued...
Glimpses From the Past, continued from the Newsletter Issue 775:
I did a bread and grocery round for Mr. BEAMES of Meadows, a round trip to the Jupiter Creek road and Echunga then Macclesfield and back to Meadows. I also took vegetables to the East End Market each week. In 1924 I started a passenger service until 1932 as well as the greengrocer round. I did some trips for Jack ADDISON as a mail driver with my Uncle Samuel DAVIS to show me where the Post Offices were. I got two pounds ($4.00) for each trip. Later I did likewise for the Mr. SPRY to Blackwood Railway Station, his son Carl showed me the way, and we got more passengers that way. I also took Picnic Parties around to places. Kuipto Hall Picnics, Port Elliot and Port Noarlunga.
There were Macclesfield and Paris Creek people to take to dances at Littlehampton, Mount Barker, Meadows, Echunga, Langhorne Creek, Strathalbyn, Kangarilla and as far as Port Elliott as well as the local dances like Kuipto and Macclesfield. Fishing trips to the Onkaparinga at Balhannah and the Angas at Macclesfield, Races at Oakbank, Murray Bridge and Strathalbyn, and the Shows at Mount Barker, Murray Bridge and Strathalbyn. I took the Tennis players to their games for 1924-5 and 1924, I took the Echunga Football followers to games for that season. I bought a Chevrolet truck in 1928, it’s top speed was 50 mph and horsepower 217 and it cost two hundred and fourteen pounds ($428.00) registered.
I finished the passenger service in 1932 and continued the greengrocer round until 1944. I killed meat as my Father had taught me and sold some and then from 1944 I had a butcher round for ten years as well as the farm work. In 1949-50 I also did a bakery and grocery round for Mr. Phil CARTER who had a shop in Macclesfield. He was ill for awhile and the trip to Bugle Ranges, part of Echunga, part of Meadows, Paris Creek and back to Macclesfield. So you see I called at many houses and got to know many people and to hear about old times as well.
I remember a passenger service was started by Mr. Walter LIEBELT of Hahndorf. It came from there to Macclesfield and Meadows and then to Tavistock Stables in Adelaide opposite the Tavistock Hotel. The vehicle had solid rubber tyres and was called the Bluebell. I travelled on it once. Then later he had the latest big passenger bus also called Bluebell. Later in his life he started a carrying business but one day his truck caught fire in front of the Meadows Hotel and it burnt right out so he was unfortunate.
About 1920 Mr. A. DURWARD started a passenger service from Macclesfield with just a motor car, it wasn’t long before he had a passenger bus. Mr. MAIDMENTt also came through in a Willys Knight car then a passenger bus and later Mr. Alan BARR started with a Silver Anniversary Buick and later a passenger bus. I went to Adelaide a few times in them, they were chasing one another for passengers. Mr. MAIDMENT retired and Mr. BARR joined with Bonds Tours and became Barr and Bond and were still going when I left Macclesfield in 1963.
I finished the butcher round in 1954 and for two years only kept the dairy going. Then I became ill and had a big operation so sold the farm in 1956 and went to live in Macclesfield in TONKIN’s old shop on Luck Street. It had very thick walls and it was a comfortable home. I was still able to do light work and handyman jobs and my wife and I lived there until 1963 when we retired to McLaren Vale. Our family were grown up by then and some had been married and moved away before that. Of course I got to know many people around the district, some would only move here and live for awhile, so I have only named those who were permanent and I’ve probably missed some but the names might be of interest to someone.
The men also did council work on contract and stripped wattles, grew potatoes and sold the surplus and also sold loads of firewood to bring in extra money. Most of them had wives and children but some were not married and often brothers and sisters would live in their old family homes after their parents had died, lots of times they were looking after the old ones and their lives weren’t easy as there wasn’t much money and people lived off their land as much as they could. But they usually helped each other and would put in a day’s work for some extra food or a calf to rear or something like that.
A lot of the men had to go away to work mostly on the railways and later when the Goolwa barrages were built, some worked there. The women usually kept fowls and would sell eggs and butter and dressed poultry, a lot of them fostered State children and the Government would pay for them and that way they could all manage a bit easier and the children helped with the work.
In Macclesfield township a lot of older people kept a dairy cow or two in the parklands, there weren’t any fences and they minded them while they grazed. You would often see people sitting around on logs and stumps having a talk while their cattle were grazing even along the sides of the roads. The Night Paddock was fenced and anyone who didn’t have a piece of yard to keep their cattle in at night was allowed to put them in there. Sometimes the local lads would forget to put the panels back up when they went there rabbiting and so on and the cattle got out and there would be a great ‘to do’ until they were all sorted out. You weren’t allowed to have cattle just wandering around or they would be pounded and it cost money to get them out again, so the people wouldn’t be very happy if the panels were left down.
Now I will set out the names of some of the people I remember well, of course some of them were my relations, as a lot of local people married into other local families.
William ANDERSON and son Harry, mixed farmers, charcoal burners, wood cutters and carters.
John ADDISON. Mail driver and carrier. He had worked on the river boats too, during his early life.
Frank BARTSCH. Wood cutter and carter. He married Harry ANDERSON’s sister.
Ernest BARTLETT. Farm worker, later had a greengrocer’s round with a horse and trolley.
Albion BARTLETT. Bullock driver, wood cutter and later a mixed farm with fowls and goats.
Leslie BARTLETT. Wood cutter and mixed farm, his daughter Marjorie married Barney FRY.
Old Mr. BARTLETT was a pioneer from the earliest days.
BARNETT’s had a baker’s shop in the main street in Macclesfield in the house where I was born. Mr. BARNETT was killed in an accident not long after they came here to live. The family kept the baker shop and round for many years.
Mr. CUMMINS was a shop keeper in early days.
Michael CAIN, retired, lived near Catholic Church.
Michael CORCORAN. Horse team and council worker.
To be continued...
Glimpses From the Past, continued from the last Newsletter;
Michael CAREY. Retired. There was a large family of them but I didn’t know all of them well.
John CALABY. Dairy Farmer and had a quarry on Temple Bar road. The Rifle Range is on their property.
Thomas COSGRAVE. Mixed dairy farm, he was a bullock driver and also worked on the railways and was a councillor.
Mr. DANCKER had a shop in Macclesfield main street next to the Hall and sold everything from a needle to a haystack and was also on the council.
Joe DUGMORE. Farm worker and greengrocer’s shop in main street, later Mr. and Mrs. Perce ANDERSON kept it and DUGMORE’s had a farm.
William DUANCE. Retired. Sons Widgeon and Herbert farm workers and seasonal work, shearing, pea picking, potato and grape harvesting. Good workers.
Alfred (Talf) GOOCH. Blacksmith where MATTSCHOSS Motors is now. He also played the violin for dances and concerts.
Mr. GRAY. Mixed farmer and councillor.
Mr. ENGLAND. Mixed farm near Temple Bar.
Charlie EDMONDS. Dairy farm and horse team driver.
William EDMONDS. Mixed business and drapery store at the south end of Macclesfield. Also had a two horse delivery van.
Frederick and Albert HANN. Market gardeners and farm workers. One of them was a wood cutter and carter.
Brothers Roy, Perce. Les and James HALL worked all their lives in Macclesfield as wood cutters and carters and charcoal burners. Roy also grew potatoes and they always worked with horses even when they were old men.
Rudy HANDKE. Mixed dairy farm, stripped wattles and later carted and sold wood to cheese factory. He also had a truck and would cart furniture and other goods when needed.
Fred DAVIS. Dairy farmer.
Samuel DAVIS. Butter and cheese factory.
Herb DAVIS. Butter and cheese factory.
Albert DAVIS. Dairy farmer.
Ken DAVIS had an interest in a shop and also the piggery.
The DAVIS family were very well known in Macclesfield.
Nino IELASI. Mixed dairy farm.
Inkermann JACKSON. Hotel keeper and councillor.
Mrs. Mag JORDAN. Retired. Some State boys lived there.
Mr. LAWRENCE and son Bill. Market gardeners and greengrocers.
Edward FRY. Mixed and dairy farm and also Herbert FRY who was a councillor.
Mary McMAHON and her brother Jack. Retired council worker, engineer and surveyor.
James McGRATH. Charcoal burner, wood cutter and carter.
Thomas McGRATH. Mixed farmer. The McGRATH family were pioneers and some married into local families.
Thomas McNAMARA. Horse teams and mixed farm.
George McNAMARA. Did all kinds of work including on railways and later in life for DAVIDSON’s.
Edward McNAMARA. Good worker and handy man worked on railways and in marble quarry, later on council. Built his own house when in his sixties.
Richard MOUNTSTEPHEN. Retired Councillor. (possibly MOUNSTEPHEN)
Mrs. STUBBS. Retired.
Alfred MOTT. Farm work and charcoal burner, later dairy farmer.
Jack MOTT worked on roads also kept bees. Lived near brother William MOTT. Retired.
The MURPHY Brothers. Michael. Council Worker. Patrick. Bullock driver and marble quarry and Matthew. Bullock driver and horse teams.
Clem O’BRIEN worked on railway and later with horses and on the council. His wife taught piano for many years.
J.J. O’MALLEY had two shops on Bugle Road and had a two horse delivery van. He was very prominent in town affairs.
There were some other O’MALLEY’s but I’m not sure if they were related.
The O'LOUGHLIN brothers Patrick, Edward and John were dairy farmers. Edward and John later retired and built their houses in Macclesfield.
Patrick NESTOR. Dairy farmer. Descendant of pioneers.
Mr. Andrew PARKES. Blacksmith in main street.
Gilbert PENNA. Large dairy farm and piggery. Contract work and was also a councillor.
Mr. POPE. Mixed property towards Strathalbyn on the River Angas. Grew wattles for bark.
Edgar PETERSON. Large property at Bugle Ranges and one son Peter farmed next door at "Lashbrooke". Peter was also a councillor.
Martin PURSELL. Dairy Farm, cut and carted wood, hay etc. He was a councillor.
The PASSFIELD family with sons Hurtle, Clarence and Bert all ran mixed dairy farms and at one time were butchers too. .
Harry PFEIFFER had a wattle plantation and was a champion wattle stripper and a good day worker. Son Fred also ran their dairy farm and worked a market garden and greengrocer round. They also supplied music for dances and concerts. Harry’s brother George had a mixed farm and agisted racehorses, he had one of his own.
John, Thomas and Samuel ROSS built many of the houses around Macclesfield. Samuel was also a councillor.
Ren SCOTT and his family also had a mixed and dairy farm. They were prominent townspeople.
There were SMITH Brothers. Charles had a shop in the main street, he made tanks and also had a large garden and kept pigs. Horace was a farmer and beekeeper and Hartley worked on farms.
To be continued...
Glimpses From the Past, continued from the last Newsletter;
Mrs. Kathleen SMITH was a widow and later married Perce HALLS. I don't know if she was related to the other family.
Herman SCHMIDT was a mixed farmer and later his son Joseph ran it. His daughter Myrtle married Clarence PASSFIELD.
Otto SCHMIDT was also a farmer.
Richard TONKIN had a general store with hardware and drapery in Luck Street. He had a two horse delivery van. Son Walter had a mixed farm and also bred horses and dogs. He was District Clerk for many years.
Mrs. TROUGHTON was Post mistress and her husband kept a small shop next door. Later Misses Genevieve, Maud and Florence NICHOLAS kept the Post Office.
Brothers Edward and Patrick WHITE were bullock drivers and also had horse teams working on the roads.
Andrew WRIGHT was a good builder and also kept bees.
Mr. WEBB once owned the marble quarry and also built a lot of houses using local stone.
Bill WAKEFIELD had a large sheep farm.
Norman WYATT worked at all sorts of jobs and later had a greengrocer shop in Barnett’s.
Oswald YATES. Dairy farm with son Murray.
Herbert YATES and sons Cecil, Laurie, Lloyd and Norman had a dairy farm and butchering business. They had a shop in Macclesfield main street and Laurie delivered meat from a horse and cart. Later Cecil had a round with a motor van and his wife Jessie, nee EDMONDS, ran the shop.
In the 1930‘s Mr. and Mrs. Phil CARTER kept the grocery shop and they sold petrol and other things as well.
Harry SHEARER built a small new shop at the other end of the street opposite the Catholic footbridge.
Charlie SMITH's shop on the corner was the first delicatessen and he had a good garden there and also kept pigs.
Later Bill lNGERSON took over Carter’s shop and Jim SIMMONS was in Shearers.
I think Bob STUBBS took over from him and he also had the deli, but I’m not sure of the dates.
Mr. and Mrs. Glen BOOTHBY also ran the deli and Frank and Clarice EDMONDS and also Walter and Rosemary TONKIN.
INGERSONs kept on the bakery and also grocery rounds to Bugle Ranges and Paris Creek with two delivery vans.
When YATES‘ gave up the butcher shop I think Mr. ROBERTS from Strathalbyn took it on for awhile and then it shifted to the shop by the Post Office and Tom SHOBBROOK had it. They had a farm and the family helped run the shop as well. Tom was a great horseman and helped run the New Year's Day Catholic Picnic which was always a big day in the district.
You could buy almost anything you wanted in the shops in Macclesfield in the 1930's-1940's and later and there were also drapery and clothing vans which went around selling from door to door. Bread, groceries and meat all delivered meant you didn’t really need to go out and do much shopping, a lot of things came on the milk trucks too, you could ring the shop and they would send newspapers and mail and medicine and whatever you needed. Of course there were a lot of farms and a lot of trucks collecting milk for the factories at Macclesfield and Mount Barker and a Farmers’ Union truck came from the city to some places.
Even the people who had only one or two house cows could sell the surplus milk and bring in some money, and as I said some ran a few cows in the parkland or rented an empty paddock here and there. During the war the trucks were only allowed to collect in their own district but after the war when they could get petrol again I think they could go anywhere.
When the factory started making ice, people bought ice chests and the milk trucks delivered ice too. You could see the big blocks on the back of the truck covered with bags and the drivers would carry it into the house with a large pair of tongs. I think Mr. Len PULLEN could tell you something about all that, he was one of the drivers.
In all my years of driving in all weather I was lucky, I never had an accident, there were some near misses but I was always careful. But I can remember some bad ones that happened in Macclesfield in the 1930’s.
When the swimming pool was built Mr. Jim DALY was carting a load of timber down to there and something happened to his truck and it went over the bridge near the Methodist Church and he was killed. He left a widow and five children, they ran the farm between them for a few years until they left Macclesfield.
Not long after that accident there was another one when Mr. BARNETT, the baker, was killed. He was the father of ten children, some of them were nearly grown up so they were able to help their mother and keep the business going.
In 1935 a very bad thing happened to Mr. Herb LOCKETT, who was on his way, fairly late at night, to deliver a load of wood to a sick person and going around Lane’s corner he saw a motor bike coming fast and too far over, he tried to avoid it but there was a smash and when he went to help the rider it was his own son Cyril lying there dead. It was very sad for them because he was their only child.
Mr. Ned HOLDER from Greenhills was also killed in an accident while he was carting wood. Of course there were other accidents when people were injured and some were left crippled and families had to look after them, there wasn’t much help for people so they had to help each other as much as they could. Sometimes things were very hard for them in the early days and most families were very poor.
(N.P.) I have many more happy memories of my life around Paris Creek and Macclesfield and some of the people we knew, I could go on with more stories but have filled up one exercise book and will have to start another. I hope it will all be interesting for someone to read in future times, the maps I drew are not to scale but they will show where some of the places I mentioned were if anyone ever wants to know.
It is all true and signed by me,
JOHN HENRY LEMAR.
The Newsletter Committee would like to thank Mr. John LEMAR for sharing some of his memories of his life with the community.
We would also like to thank Betty WHITE (nee McNAMARA) for her excellent job of editing his many notes.
