THE FOSBERY FAMILY UNTIL
2000
The purpose of this document is
to provide all of the children, grand
children and great grand children of Harry and Thurza Fosbery with a brief family history and some interesting snippets
of information.. It is in the scheme of
things that we do not have total information and it may well be that someone
would like to add other details or snippets.
-- no problem at all, just call, fax, EMail or write and we can update the
record which has been saved . We
suspect the accuracy of some details.
For instance, it appears that Rhoda Anne Hinde married Frank Robert Fosbery,
aged 40, soon after she turned
16.(according to her passport) or 30 (according to her death certificate). Anything anyone can add or correct would therefore be
appreciated. Indeed, if anyone would like a personalised version
with more detail on their own situation
-- send the details to
Graham. It may take a while but it will
get done!!
Information has been gathered
over the years from various sources,
including family members, Thurza's ever reliable little birthday
book, Burke's Landed Gentry of
Ireland, Passports, death certificates, marriage certificates, letters,
Army records, personal
knowledge of immediate family and 'Primary Valuation of Tenements of The Parish
of Adare' 1851. Many details were also
found or confirmed during visits to Adare by Noel and Sue Fosbery in 1986 and
Graham and Pat Fosbery in late June 1997.
THE NAME FOSBERY
is clearly
well known and regarded in the town of Adare, Co Limerick, Ireland: appearing
in historical records, many times on
plaques on the walls of the local St Nicholas Church of Ireland and remembered
by the older locals. We understand that the name
goes back to around 1066. It is a derivation
from "John the Forester" and is variously spelt with a
"u" or "rr" or the
"e" is omitted.. Families
lived generally in the areas of Wiltshire/ Berkshire. There is a very small village named 'Fosbury', (about a dozen houses) which Graham and
Pat visited in 1980.
During the late 17th century at
least one family member, Francis
Fosbery, migrated to Ireland and took
up residence at Clorane House near the town of Adare. Whether he originally bought or leased the property is not
clear. What is clear is that the
property was owned by the family during most of the 18th and 19th centuries and
the first half of the 20th. century. In
addition, "Kilgobbin", a property of 213a 3r 2p, and "Mondellihy" were leased by
the family from the Earls of Dunraven for long periods until the early 1900s.
Various members of the immediate
and wider family have been gentlemen farmers and also builders, County
surveyors, Justices of the Peace, Ministers of religion and soldiers - among
other callings.
As far as we could
determine, there are presently no
people in the area bearing the
name. We really did not have time to
see whether or not there were any descendants bearing other names. There is however evidence that, on occasion, our name has been spelt with a double 'R'.
THE TOWN OF ADARE :-
is situated on the river Maigue, some
11 miles south of the city of Limerick,
Ireland . It is among the most
picturesque villages in all of Ireland;
beautifully kept with many thatched buildings, Adare Manor, given to the
town by the Earl of Dunraven, two
beautiful churches (one Catholic and the other
Protestant), both dating back to
at least the 13th century, other
buildings dating back through the centuries and even 25 B&Bs. It is extremely popular with tourists but is
otherwise a typical town with a population of say 2000.
The people we spoke to were
extremely friendly, even by Irish
standards, and could not do enough to help us and make us welcome. The tourist information centre people
(Eileen Kelly and Noel Hogan in particular) were most helpful and the local
Archdeacon (Rev Nuttall) made Church records available at very short
notice.
CLORANE HOUSE ;
is situated some two miles north west of
Adare. As far as we could
determine, the property was owned by
Fosberys until 1947 when it was sold by Robert George Widenham Fosbery for
about 1900 Pounds to Lord Dunraven. While we don't yet know what happened to
Frank Robert Fosbery, we can only assume that R.G.W. Fosbery inherited
the property, and possibly some
debt, upon the death of either his
father, Frank Robert Fosbery or his
uncle, George Ralph Fosbery, (who died
5. 1. 39).
After sale it was leased by
Venice Price until 1972 when it was sold to Stan Brown and Mary M. McClurman. They in turn sold it to John and Suzanne
Kennedy (owners of the Elm Motors Volvo franchise in Limerick) who are the present owners. Telephone no is 396524. A very friendly letter from the Kennedys
after we arrived home indicates that they are willing to show any of the family
over the property. Clorane House is
quite substantial and has large
quarters attached which we believe were
formerly used on occasion for bed and breakfast. The buildings behind the house were
previously staff quarters - and perhaps stables nearby.
John Kennedy senior (not related
to those on Clorane ) lives just opposite the imposing farm entry and remembers George Ralph JP and
Robert George Widenham and his wife Amy and children "Laddie"
"Chummie" and "Girlie"(presumably Michael, June and
Janet), quite well. However he didn't seem to know much about
Frank Robert Fosbery.
KILGOBBIN It appears that
Kilgobbin, along with many other
substantial properties, has always been
owned by the Earls of Dunraven (their
family name is Quin - Wyndham incidentally) but was leased to Fosberys at least
as far back as 1851. The postal directory of Munster for 1865 listed George
Fosbery of Kilgobbin, JP. and Thomas
Fosbery of Kilgobbin, Co. Surveyor
among "Gentry, Clergy, Professionals,
etc." of the town. It is
therefore reasonable to accept the assertion of HGK Fosbery that HTR Fosbery
and some of his siblings were born at Kilgobbin.
THE EARL OF
DUNRAVEN : and his wife Lady
Geraldine, who own Kilgobbin, are a delightful couple who did everything
they possibly could to make us welcome and to assist us in finding family
history. Their secretary, Nellie O'Brien, recognised the name as soon as we spoke to her in the Earl's
office and put us in contact with him in no time.
Lord Dunraven was a victim of
polio as a boy and is confined to a wheelchair. He is, however, a wonderfully positive man with a very sharp mind
and went out of his way -- within minutes of meeting us as total strangers --
to put us in touch with various people.
St NICHOLAS CHURCH OF IRELAND. is situated
on the Eastern bank of the river Maigue
-- with the Rectory on the opposite side. (telephone no is 396227). It was formerly an Augustinian Friary and, no doubt,
was converted to Protestant use after the Reformation. The walls abound with plaques relating to
various Fosberys. Photographs, albeit not very good ones, are in an album and we are happy to make
copies available to anyone interested.
Of particular interest is one honouring those who died in WW1, including
Harry's brother Frank Sydney Thomas Fosbery.
Others relate to those killed in the Abbots Ripton rail crash in 1876
and another acknowledges the donation of the organ screen by the Fosbery family.
By an enormous coincidence, Ian MacFarlane, the consulting railway engineer on the Hines Hill (Western Australia) rail disaster, addressed the Karrinyup Rotary club on 17th.
Sept 1997 on the subject of two classic railway crashes involving systems
failure. The first, believe it or not, was the Abbots Ripton disaster, involving the Flying Scotsman, a
coal train and a goods train, which is
apparently the standard text on systems design failure for all railway
engineers. Briefly, all systems were activated correctly but the
weather was freezing and the signal arm remained jammed in the "go"
position even though the lever had been activated to "stop"—the
system failed but not in the safe position.
Several photographs which we
have indicate the general features of the church; in particular the font where Harry Tudor Raynor Fosbery and the
rest of his family were baptised, see
details later in these notes.
During the late 1980s the church
records were consolidated into a single register which is kept by Archdeacon
Nuttall at the Rectory. From it we were
able to extract the following details:-
BURIALS
DIED AGE
Fosberry Elizabeth 3. 6. 1827. 14 Adare
Fosberry Elizabeth 13. 9. 1827. 43 Adare (Wife of William)
Fosberry Georgina 15.
9. 1922. 98 Clorane
Fosbery George 30. 7. 1847. 63/64 Curraghbridge
Adare.
Fosbery Catherine 7. 1. 1850. 55 NR
Fosbery Elizabeth 22.
9. 1868. 88 Kilgobbin
Fosbery Caroline 13. 7. 1872. 86 Blennerville Tralee
Fosbery Thomas
4. 4.
1893. 73 Kilgobbin
Fosbery Thomas Frank 28. 5. 1897. 13
months Clorane
Fosbery Standish John Langford. 18. 5. 1902. 1 month Adare
Fosbery Georgina Charlotte 16. 4. 1903. 39 Kilgobbin.
Fosbery George Ralph
5. 1.
1939. 84 Clorane
THE MOVE
FROM CLORANE, VIA ENGLAND, TO AUSTRALIA
From letters written by 2nd Lt.
Frank Sydney Thomas Fosbery from he
battle field to his mother during the period 1916 -- 1918, it is certain that Frank Robert Fosbery and
Rhoda Anne Fosbery separated or Frank died some time prior to WW1. She moved to
32 Lansdown Crescent, Cheltenham, England with children Robert, Frank, Harry, William, Hilda and
Rhoda. What happened to Frank Robert at
that stage or since we are not certain but Rhoda Anne's passport issued on
11.10. 1923 indicates that she was a widow at that time.
What is certain from her
passport is that Rhoda Anne arrived in
Fremantle 8. 12. 1923. While two
children died in infancy, Frank died in
WW1 and Robert stayed in England,
William, Hilda and Rhoda Amy
migrated to Australia in the early 1920s ( if not with their mother in
1923). Harry arrived in Fremantle on
21. 5.
1923 (passport).
Rhoda Anne spent 3 yrs in W.A., 2yrs in S.A. and then about 11 yrs in N.S.W. where she died on
22. 2. 1941 and was buried in the C of E portion of the Botany Cemetary at the
age of 76 (death certificate) or 62 (passport)
Rhoda Amy moved
reasonably quickly to Sydney and eventually died there in the early 1970s ( she
was alive when her mother died on 22. 2. 1941 and a copy of her will is dated
1970.
Hilda lived at first in WA and then moved to NSW in the
early 1930s where she worked as a domestic for some years. She moved back to WA in the 1950s and lived
for a time in the same house as William in Murray St. West Perth. She later
took up residence at Pilgrim House,
East Fremantle where she lived until several strokes led to her death in
June 1991.
** Sadly it was not known by Harry or any of
his family until 1994 that Hilda had born two children, a girl born in Sydney on 23. 8. 1935. and adopted out on 25.10. 1935 and a boy
born in Sydney on 4. 11. 1939 and adopted out on 9. 1 1942.
While
the children of the boy will not permit contact, the girl, Dulcie
King, lives on Lord Howe Island and has
done for most of her life. She is a
wonderful person, the image of her
mother, is happily married to Les King
and they have three children, Tracey
(husband Wayne), Stuart (wife
Joanna), and Hayden (wife Lea), all of whom are doing well in life. Dulcie and Les paid a visit to Western
Australia in 1995 and met most of the family. In turn, Graham and Pat spent two
weeks with them on beautiful Lord Howe Island in 1997. The Island is tropical,
very small and has a population of less than 300 people. They are wonderfully hospitable and look
after tourists (particularly relatives very well indeed. From our point of view
it was great and we feel that the sound bond now in existence should be
nurtured and expanded if possible.
William lived in West Perth and had various occupations
including a King St. business servicing
oil lamps and later assisting at UWA in the Geology department. It is also believed that, at one time, he had a permit to trap rabbits in nearby Kings Park!
Harry arrived in
Fremantle on 21. 5. 1923. and worked at
one time for the Piesse family in Wagin and the Holden Motor Company in
Adelaide before coming back to WA.
Among other jobs at that time he worked on the 6WA wireless tower at
Minding near Wagin. After he and
Thurza, (known to all as 'Polly'), married,
they ran a dairy farm at Muchea.
The success or otherwise of that venture is uncertain but there could be
little doubt that they suffered in the world depression of the day. Harry then worked for Alan Herbert on
"Ballagin" farm near Piesseville for 3 yrs prior to commencing war service on 4. 9. 1941(WW2).
He joined the Army, (WX 41442)
and served in the North of WA (as far north as Noonkambah) in the Royal
Australian Army Service Corps. He was at one stage part of the support team
searching for HMAS. Sydney. Further
north they were carrying bombs for the aircraft flying out to Timor to try and
forestall the bombing of Australia by the Japanese. Thurza moved into Wagin at
that time and lived in houses in
Khedive St and Narrogin Rd opposite the Showgrounds.with her then seven
children.
WAGIN DAYS
RECALLED
While we always had a warm bed and sufficient to eat, life was a little different from the
1990's. For instance, wages were around
three pounds ($6) per week, with the price of goods similarly pitched.
Floods At the time Kathleen Annie was born in 1939
the family was living at "Ballagin" farm near Piesseville. Towards
the end of July that year it rained heavily for several days . As a result the Arthur river, which flowed between the farm and Wagin,
became flooded and spread over the
countryside. On July 29 Thurza greeted
Harry with the news that she was about to give birth to their next child. Discovering that the flooded river had risen
over the bridge, a decision was made that the only way to get to the hospital
was to travel in the horse and cart the 10 or so miles . One can only imagine their feelings as they
approached the water with only the bridge railings visible. As it happened the
old horse took them safely accross
--some times swimming and most of the time up to its belly in water - and in to Wagin where
Kathleen was born.
Thrift Clearly there was no room in the family budget for waste and
Thurza was adept at making use of every resource available (In reality she had
little choice anyway). Alan Herbert,
the owner of "Ballagin" was a
very tall man and heavily built and thus a pair of heavy navy serge trousers
which he had discarded was manufactured into a very nice heavily pleated skirt
for Kathleen. The story didn't end
there because Graham’s wife Pat dismantled that same skirt and made it into a
pair of trousers for Geoffrey when he was about 3-4 years old. Thy don't make cloth like that any more!!!
Wartime rationing While Australia could produce most of the
necessities of life, even in those
days, the need to support the servicemen
and women meant that those at home had realisticly to accept the concept of
government rationing of essential goods.
While it is difficult to recall precise details of amounts allocated it
is certain that items rationed were petrol,
butter, tea, sugar,
clothing, and meat. Although
hostilities ceased in 1945 some rationing was still in place as late as 1948.
Early school days. Colin and Graham started their education in
1941 at Arthur River in the small one room school. They walked there each day in freezing weather from "Fair
View" the farm belonging to
Thurza's father, Robert Orr. Thurza was one of the first pupils at the
school and Colin and Graham among the last before school buses were introduced
to take students to the much larger school at Wagin each day. The only evidence of the school today is the
brick chimney base in the long grass near the current Shell service
station. The children old enough then
spent the time until 1948 at the Wagin State School after which time Graham went
to Albany High School and the others to Pingelly. Cost for Graham at Norman House,
Albany was 19 pounds ($38) per term plus one and sixpence (15 cents) per
week pocket money.
The wood heap all heating and cooking was by way of wood
fires. Harry being away at the war it
therefore fell to the older boys to cut the wood. That they did with a great deal of effort and a very poor
axe, fortunately with little damage to
themselves! While George Kelly
delivered some good wood with his horse and dray, one supply consisted of
wandoo railway sleepers. Nothing in the
world is as tough as wandoo to cut or split but the boys persisted and
"gnawed" through enough to keep the family warm and fed.
Toilets In line with the custom in those days, toilet facilities consisted of an
outdoor "lavatory" or
"dunny" . As the waste
container (a 10 gallon open can) was removed by a 'nightcart' only once each
week, it was situated some 50 yards
away from the house.
In one memorable incident,
Herbie Turner, who owned the horse drawn night cart, was driving his heavily laden machine at his usual breakneck
speed around a corner near our home
when it overturned, spilling the
contents of about 50 full "dunnycans" on to the road!!
Graham even recalls his first
brush with "one of those new fangled flushing toilets". Thurza was taking the children by train for
a holiday at Busselton in 1944. During
a halt at Collie, Graham had a need to use the toilet and, upon completion, dutifully "pulled the chain" on the overhead water
supply. This triggered off a terrible
gush of water which didn't stop even after he let the chain go!!!!!!!! Being a
quick thinker and believing something terrible had gone wrong, he hightailed it out of there and on to the
train in the hope that someone would fix the thing without discovering who had
"broken it'!!! A true story.
OFF TO THE
PINGELLY FARM.
After being discharged from the
Army on 17. 6. 1947, Harry worked for a time as a ganger on the railways until, in April 1948, he moved with his family to East Pingelly where he had been
allocated a War Service Land Settlement farm. The property allocated had no
buildings as it was part of a larger farm known as "Yenellin" and the
other half had been allocated to William Goldsmith. Upon arrival in the area the family lived in a house, known as 'Brewers' and later
'Cameron's', between Pingelly and the
farm, pending the building of a house
and sheds on the farm which was soon to be known as "Clorane"
-- surprise, surprise!!
The War service Land
Settlementscheme, under which the farm was allocated to Harry, followed a similar scheme set up after WW1.
As the Australian economy depended so heavily at the time upon agricultural
exports, it was considered essential to
quickly resettle as many returned servicemen as possible on the land.
To that end, W.S.L.S. bought up many farms which had been
abandoned during the great depression and other farms around Australia. These were allocated to selected returned servicemen
on the basis of a perpetual WSLS lease.
"Rent" as it was called,
was paid on a half yearly basis at about three and three quarter% of the
unimproved capital value of the land.
Stock and plant were funded through a "stock & plant"
advance at reasonable rates of interest and had to be repaid in half yearly instalments over a period of
about 10 years. Buildings, fencing, water and other structures were funded by a
"structural improvements" loan,
repayable over 30 years.
In most cases working capital
was advanced in quarterly moieties against a carefully prepared budget and repaid in full each year, along with half yearly payments on rent,
stock, plant and structures. Once Harry
was able to carry on without a working
capital advance (about 1952) he was
much happier managing his own affairs. (A pound a pound for wool in 1950 or
1951 must have helped a great deal).
Although subsequent events and
inflation might indicate that terms were extremely favourable, such was not the case at the time properties
were taken up. Rather it was a scheme
designed to re-establish people on the land without unreasonable cost to the
community.
The scheme was administered by
the Rural and Industries Bank of
WA on behalf of the Government. While Bank managers were not all that popular
at times due to the very conservative nature of the Goverment directives under
which they operated and the need to "draw the line"with one or two
farmers with inventive systems of accountability, very few if any WSLS farmers failed.
Details of the farm were:-
Lease No P448,
Farm No. A43a
Williams Location 13896.
Area 1799 Acres and 10 Perches.
Half yearly rental originally 59 pounds 16 shillings and 6
pence then 89. 5.
3.from 12. 12. 1951
Cost of house, "humpy"
and machinery/shearing shed = 1611
pounds
Cost of 5 soaks, 1 well, 1 bore,
1 mill, 3 tanks, 4 troughs and 40 chains of piping. = 392
pounds
Cost of 1396 chains of fencing = 906 pounds,
Cost of sheep dip and yards -
materials only erected by Harry
= 215 pounds
The"Humpy" some months before the house was completed
Harry and Thurza moved with seven of
their children into a shed, known
affectionately as "The Humpy":
an unlined, timber framed
asbestos building which was 32 feet by about 12 feet and divided into two
rooms; with a verandah on
one side. Most of the children
slept in tents outside through at least a summer and a winter. Drinking water came from a small tank, washing water from a nearby well, there was no fly wire, the "dunny" was out in the
paddock, superphosphate had to be
stored under the verandah and the clothesline was strung between stacks of seed
wheat or oats. Life was not easy in the
freezing winter and hot, dusty summer!
Educating a large family. It is interesting to note that, even though Harry and Thurza certainly had
neither substantial means ( Harry's deferred pay upon discharge was 547 pounds
16 shillings and 8 pence. ($1095.67))
nor support from family and already had 8 children, they managed to fund boarding school to
matriculation standard for most of their children - beginning from just
prior to taking up the farm. As many as
three children were away at any one time.
No doubt Thurza and some of the
children raising 'chooks', milking
cows, raising pigs and the children
trapping rabbits for pocket money all helped.
The property was farmed very
successfully before it was sold in 1972 to a nearby farmer, Horace Giles and his family.
Civic involvement. While obviously busy with farming and
family, Harry found time to assist in
town affairs. Of particular note was
his leading role in helping to establish a Pingelly St. John Ambulance
service: for which he was honoured with
Life Membership of the Association on
13. 5. 1952. He was also
involved in the swimming pool development, bushfire board and tried
unsuccessfully for election to the Roads Board. Lawn bowls became his sporting love over many years and it was
perhaps significant that he should have died of a massive heart attack during a
game at Albany Bowling Club on 7 November 1976.
SOME NOTES
ON DAYS REMEMBERED
The house and sheds were
completed in the very early 50s and, while adequate, were by no means
palatial. With building materials in
short supply, a 3 bedroom house with a lounge, kitchen, pantry, bathroom and an
enclosed verandah on one end, supplemented by a detached wash house (laundry in modern language) and
an engine room for the 32 volt power plant,
provided comfortable shelter. The boys occupied the sleepout and slept on "cyclone" stretchers
with rather thin mattresses and grey army rugs to keep warm. It was great to be curled up in bed with the
rain crashing down on the corrugated iron roof directly overhead.
The
so called "humpy" in which the family lived in the early days was
eventually transported to the new house and acted thereafter as a garage for
the car and a storeroom .
Farming consisted of sheep, a few cattle,
occasionally some pigs, "chooks' (they certainly were not chickens)
and cropping wheat, oats and barley. In the early fifties Harry imported several
bags of "Gumenia" wheat from NSW.
For the first few years it was all sold as seed and would certainly have
been at least part of the base from which millions of tons of that type of
wheat were grown across Western
Australia in the succeeding 30 or so years.
One of his customers was Syd Cliff,
his son in law, who grew the
stuff for well over 20 years.
Wool was exciting in the early 50s as prices went "through the roof" In 1950 or 1951 Harry received over a pound ($2) per pound (greasy) for his best wool. Even all these years later that wouldn't be a bad price.
Farm animals Horses owned
in the early days were Puddles, (a fine cart horse ) and Belle ,a saddle hack
of somewhat dubious disposition. and May, another cart horse. One remembers the
day during seeding when Graham was working the tractor in the house paddock and
a huge thunder cloud came overhead
Harry arrived in the truck to take him back to the house and, just as he
arrived, a deafening thunderclap sent them scurrying. Rain was crashing down so
that they could not leave the truck until well over an inch of rain had fallen
in about half an hour. In the meantime poor
old Puddles was left in the cart and tied to thre fence.
Dogs included Rusty, a fine
Kelpie who served as the farm sheep dog until he died at the age of about 17.
Others were Tiger, Nigger, Shep, Rough and several others. None was ever as good as Rusty.
Cows were a motly lot but some
stand out. Coral was a large red
shorthorn who is remembered by Frank in particular in terms which I cannot
print. Eleanor was a very tall
shorthorn, Rose, May and Buttercup were others Generally they were suppliers of
milk and cream for the large family but also provided a source of pocket money
when spare craem was sent to the butter factory.
Pet lambs (Sherry, Plonk and
Whisky come to mind) were nearly always about the place. Plonk in particular
would follow Carolyn around everywhere. On
occasion Carolyn would use him as a leader to take flocks of sheep
through gates and around the yards.
Thurza always had a number of
chickens, ducks and turkeys. They
provided eggs for the family and also income from sale of eggs to the co op.
They also provided Christmas dinner most years.
Pigs were raised in modest
numbers and provided much needed cash from time to time through the year.
The first farming implements After sharing a small Massey Harris tractor
with neighbour, Bill Goldsmith, for a
year or so, a brand new International
W6 became available and served us well until more powerful machines came on the
market.
In
those days almost every major piece of equipment, including motor cars, was available only on a 'wait your turn'
basis-- a far cry from today. An 8ft
ground drive Sunshine stripper harvester,
a 10 disc Sundercut plough, a 17 run Sun Duke scarifier and a 20 run,
iron wheeled combine made up the cropping equipment.
Farming operations. While
all of the boys drove tractors and operated machinery from a very tender age
and few if any safety devices were in place, there were no serious injuries -
although they all had one or two narrow squeaks from time to time. Memories of repairing a tractor tyre and pumping it up by hand in the
blazing sun on a scorching hot day are not easily forgotten.
The
older boys will recall the first time we stripped 100 bags of wheat in one
day. It was in a crop of 'Gluclub' down
in the Long Paddock in about 1950 or 1951 --pretty exciting stuff in those
days!!
The
original truck was a lease - lend Chev of some vintage and that was followed
over the years by a Bedford and a very nice International.
Paddocks were all
named, largely due to a feature. "The 80 acres", "The Humpy paddock" (named after
the 'humpy' mentioned earlier), "The Clover paddock", "Shipley's", "The Long paddock", "The Two Soak paddock", "The House paddock", "The Rocky Hill", "The Rough hill".
The family car Harry always had a liking for Ford motor
cars, his final pride and joy being to
drive the famous Fairlane. His number
plate from day one at Pingelly was PN 414.
Post Box Number was 60.
Currency. was in pounds, shillings and pence. A pound consisted of 20 shillings and a
shilling was made up of twelve pence.
Coins were 2 shillings (2 bob), 1 shilling (a bob), sixpence (a zac), threepence (a tray), 1
halfpenny,.and 1 penny. Notes were 10 shillings ( 10 bob), 1 pound (a
quid), 5 pounds (a spin) and 10 pounds (a brick).
In
converting to the current decimal currency on 14. 2. 66. a pound was simply
converted to 2 dollars, a shilling
became 10 cents and the penny amounts changed to the nearest cent.
Rabbits were in
absolutely plague proportions and ate substantial areas of grain crops in the
early years.. At sundown some evenings the Rocky Hill paddock almost appeared
to move into the rocks as the rabbits were disturbed by cars driving along the
road. On the positive side, they provided a means of children earning
pocket money by trapping them and selling the carcasses to the Rabbit'o who
drove by each day in his open sided van.
Health regulations were not as strict in those days! A local character,
Ernie Watson, used to trap rabbits to supplement his income. He caught up to
200 pairs per night from tim e to time.
In
early 1955 the myxomitosis virus was introduced in an endeavour to take some
control of the introduced pest. As luck
would have it, floods, caused by over 7 inches of rain that February, provided the ideal breeding ground for the
mosquito which carried the disease from one rabbit to the next. Thus they were brought under control in a
matter of three months and kept there with later developments in '1080' and the
like.
Drinking water came from
tanks adjacent to the house while water for the bath, toilet and laundry came from a bore about half a mile south of
the house. For many years the steel pipe lay above the ground and the water
sometimes froze in winter and was near boiling in summer.
The
shed and sheep yards were built some 150 yards away and stood the test of time.
Family health was reasonable
and all of the children grew up to be "sound of wind and limb". However,
one or two incidents bear recording.
In the early 50s there was an epidemic of measles and virtually all of
the children and Thurza were sick in bed at the same time. Eva Fraser,
Thurza's sister, came from Wagin
to help and carried on marvellously,
cleaning up after blood noses, emptying sick buckets, doing the washing, preparing meals and bathing sick children. Even Harry abandoned
his traditional avoidance of housework and pitched in to help.
Not long after the birth of Jennifer in 1954 Thurza became
very ill and required major surgery which very nearly cost her her life. Although the children were not keenly aware
of the details or the seriousness of the problem at the time, some well recall
Harry returning from Narrogin hospital one evening clearly outwardly distressed
and showing very rare signs of emotion.
By good fortune Thurza finally regained a reasonable level of health and
lived for another 42 years.
Christmas Day was always
spent at the farm. Somehow there was an
appropriate gift for each child under the Christmas tree (cricket bats. tennis
racquets, scooters and the like were often there), a hot roast (sometimes even
a 'chook') in the oven regardless of the weather, a hot Christmas pudding and plenty of soft drink. Boxing Day and/or New Year's Day often meant
a trip on the open tray of the truck to a community picnic/sports day at Pumphrey's Bridge or Lake Yearlering.
Although hot and dusty sometimes, those were great community days
The school bus travelled by every day to take the children
to Pingelly school some 11 miles away along a gravel road. Other families to
travel were the Giles’, Hills, O’Briens, Camerons, Innocents, Thompsons,
Chopping, Goldsmiths, and several others who don’t come readfily to mind.
Kathleen
has finally admitted to occasionally throwing her lunch out of the window of the bus so that Thurza
would believe she had eaten it!
Before
selling the farm, Harry and Thurza
built a substantial home at 180 Middleton Rd Albany (adjoining Strawberry farm)
where they lived until Harry died in November 1976.. Thurza stayed on there until 1981 when she
sold the property and took up residence at Glenn Craig Retirement Village, Albany,
where she lived until her death in
April 1996. Both are buried in
the same grave at Allambie Park cemetery,
Albany.
The
trip to Europe Harry had always
wanted to take Thurza on a substantial trip so, on May 27 1976 they set
sail from Fremantle on the luxury liner Galilao bound for Europe via Melbourne
and Panama. The trip took them to
Sydney, Aukland, Noumea,
Tahiti, Acapulco, Balboa,
Panama City, Christobal, Cuacao,
Malaga, Messina, Naples, Genoa,
Pisa, Siena, Rome,
Florence, Venice, Milan,
Innsbruck, St Mouritz, Maloja Pass, Stresa, Simplon
Pass, Geneva, Paris, London, Scotland and parts of England. All of that from May 27 to August 11 at a total cost of a little
over $2500 each. A certificate on file
indicates that they crossed the Equator on 18th June 1976.
OTHER
SNIPPETS OF INFORMATION
Fosbery Court
is a short street in the middle of Wanneroo, just West of Wanneroo Road in outer
Metropolitan Perth On checking with the
Nomenclature Committee at the Department of Land Administration it was
confirmed that the name was taken from the "Fosbery of Clorane" entry
in Burke's "The Landed Gentry of Ireland". Clearly our family.
SUMMARY AND
FOLLOW ON FROM BURKE'S LANDED GENTRY OF IRELAND.
FRANCIS FOSBERY of Kilcooly Co Limerick whose will is dated 20. 5. 1700. left
issue by his wife Mary
1 FRANCIS
2 William.
(1) Sarah
1. FRANCIS FOSBERY of Clorane
Co Limerick, said to have migrated to
Ireland in 1690 and whose will is dated 18. 6. 1717, left issue by his wife Bridget four sons and five daughters.
The
third son;
3. WILLIAM FOSBERY
of
Kildimo Co Limerick married Jane, dau. of Frank Evans, and had issue;
1 Francis born
12. 2. 1738.
2 GEORGE ???
3 Francis. ???
2. GEORGE FOSBERY of Kildimo m 20. 10. 1782. Christina Mary, (died 1813) only dau. of Thomas Rice of Mt Trenchard Co. Limerick and died 11. 7.
1791. leaving issue,
1 GEORGE born 23. 10. 1783.
2 William died young
3 Thomas Rice born 23. 2. 1788.
4 John Francis born ? 11. 1790.
(1) Mary Rice born 7.
11. 1784.
(2)Jane born 25. 12. 1785.
(3)Christina born 22 12 1786.
1. GEORGE FOSBERY of Clorane and Curraghbridge
Co. Limerick JP. married 4. 5. 1805. his cousin, Elizabeth Christina dau of Francis Fosbery of Curraghbridge and
died July 1847 leaving issue,
1 George born 23. 3. 1806.
2 Francis born 18. 6. 1807
3 THOMAS born 1. 5. ???
(1) Elizabeth Philippa. born ???
3. THOMAS FOSBERY ; County Surveyor of Kilgobbin and Clorane Co
Limerick married 25. 3. 1852. Georgina
, dau. of Sr George Smith of Greenhills
near Drogheda and died 1. 4. 1893. leaving issue,
1 George Ralph. born 25. 9. 1854.
2 FRANK ROBERT born 1.
9. 1857
(1) Mary Elizabeth. born ?
(2) Catherine Matilda. born ?
(3) Jane Phillippa. born ?
(4) Georgina Charlotte. born ?
2. FRANK ROBERT FOSBERY married 22. 11. 1894. Rhoda Anne, (passport says b 19. 10. 1878. Montreal Canada although death certificate indicates that
she was 76 when she d Sydney 22. 2.
1941, indicating b 19.10.1864. That may be unreliable as the certificate
also indicates Ann and that her
husband was Frank Ralph, both of which are incorrect) eldest daughter of Surgeon Major General
Sydney Langford Hinde (CB) and Mary (Standish) Hinde and had issue.
BORN BAPTISED
1 Thomas Frank 14. 4. 1896. 6. 5. 1896. died 26.
5. 1897.
2 Frank Sydney Thomas. 21. 10. 1897. 17.
11. 1897. 2nd Lt. 2/47 Machine Gun company Killed in action 21. 3. 1918. Epe'hy France
unm
3 Robert George Widenham 17. 4. 1899. 16. 5. 1899. died late 1980s 3 children
4 Standish John Langford 27. 2. 1902. 31. 3. 1902. died 12.
5. 1902.
5 HARRY TUDOR RAYNOR 21.
12. 1904. 8.
3. 1905. died Albany WA. 7. 11. 1976.
6 William Edmund Vincent. 8. 4. 1906. 21.
5. 1906. died Perth 1. 11. 1975..unm.
(1) HILDAGARDE GEORGINA KATHLEEN15. 9. 1900. 18.
10. 1900. died Perth June 1991 unm
(2) Rhoda Amy 6. 6. 1903. 7.
7. 1903. died
Sydney NSW unm
5. HARRY TUDOR RAYNOR FOSBERY married at Wagin 8. 2.
1933. Thurza, (b Wagin 25. 10.
1912, d Albany WA. 29. 4.
1996) dau of Robert (b South
Aust. 9. 2. 1875 )and Annie (Ruscoe b 23. 10. 1879, Birmingham England) Orr,
farmers of Arthur River WA. and
had issue,
1 Colin Harry b Midland 30. 7. 1933.
2 Graham Laurence b Wagin 18. 10. 1934.
3 Keith Raynor b Wagin 11. 3. 1936.
4 Brian Clive b Wagin 19. 7. 1941.
5 Franklyn John b
Narrogin 1. 11.. 1942
(1) Elaine Hazel b Wagin 6.
12. 1937.
(2) Kathleen Annie b Wagin 31. 7. 1939.
(3) Carolyn Kaye b Wagin 12. 1. 1947.
1 COLIN HARRY FOSBERY
married in Perth 17. 11. 1973, Maureen May
( b 26. 11. 1946 ) dau of Frank and Stella Nichols,
farm managers, of Kojonup. WA. and had issue,
(1) Vivianne Stella Maureen b Kojonup 16. 4. 1974.
(2) Alison Thurza May b Katanning 9. 1. 1977.
(1)Vivienne
Stella Maureen Fosberyand Mick Harvey had issue,
(1). Sarah Jane Maree b Perth 26. 2. 1999
(2)Alison Thurza May
Fosbery and Brett Andrew Harper
( Farm hand) had issue
(1)Chloe Celine b
Albany 2. 5. 2001
2 GRAHAM LAURENCE FOSBERY married at Fremantle, 19. 4. 1958,
Patricia June ( b 5. 6. 1937) only dau of Geoffrey Wilfred
Bordoni. (Killed in action 7. 5. 1945
Wewak New Guinea. His grave is in the War Cemetery in Lae) and
Rose Marjorie Bordoni (nee Clatworthy)
of South Fremantle and had issue,
1 Geoffrey Graham b East Fremantle 1. 2. 1959.
2 Noel Laurence b Geraldton 4. 7. 1961.
3 Lindsay Robert b Wagin 28. 10. 1963.
1. Geoffrey Graham Fosbery (BSc. Ag..(Hons) UWA) married at South Perth on 23. 7. 1983, Allison
Mary ( RN. b 21. 11. 1961) dau
of Alex and Mary (nee Frane) Roy of Victoria Park and had issue;
1 Matthew Alexander b Perth 9. 6. 1986.
2 Cameron James b Perth 22. 9. 1989.
2. Noel LaurenceFosbery (B. Pharm. M.P.S. Curtin ) married at South Perth 28. 1. 1984, Susan Elizabeth
(B. Pharm. M.P.S. Curtin b
11. 11. 1961) dau of Brian and
Rosslyn (nee Heuston) Francis of South
Perth.and had issue,
I. Daniel Francis b Perth 12.
5. 1989.
2. Michael Graham b Perth 2. 11. 1991.
3. Benjamin Noel b Perth 2. 3. 1995.
3. Lindsay Robert Fosbery (B. Ed. Edith Cowan and
Senior Commercial Pilot Royal Flying
Doctor Service) married at Broome WA. 29. 10. 1994, Lynda Jane Wishart, ( b Albany 6. 8. 1970) and had issue,
(1) Emily Rose b Port
Hedland 7. 10. 1996.
(2) Lauren Elise b Port Hedland 5. 5. 1999
3 KEITH RAYNOR FOSBERY married at Perth WA. 1. 11. 1975, Christine Catherine Smith b (5. 1. 1935), dau of Robert Clark Smith, Grocer, and Christina Mc Queen McAlister Smith of
Campbeltown Scotland.
4. BRIAN CLIVE FOSBERY married at Perth WA.
8. 4. 1989, June Rookledge (b
6. 6.
1939). dau of Ernest and Margaret Pollard, Laundry
worker, of Leeds Yorkshire.
5. FRANKLYN JOHN FOSBERY married at Mourambine WA. 27. 11. 1965, Lillian Daphne Sonners
(Stone)( b 21. 8. 1946), dau of
----Sonners, Eva
Stone of Pingelly and had issue,
1. Darryl John b Narrogin 20. 11. 1966.
(1) Suzanne Marie b Pingelly 4. 2. 1968.
1. DARRYL JOHN FOSBERY and Robin ? had issue
(1)
Rachel
Elizabeth b.New Zealand 13. 9. 1988
(1) ELAINE HAZEL FOSBERY married 1stly at Narrogin WA. 23. 7. 1960, Roy John Hynes, son of Donald and Muriel Hynes,
of East
Pingelly and died at Albany 10. 11.
1988, having had issue,
1. Neville Graeme b Narrogin 25. 1. 1961, drowned
at sea in a storm off Pt. Moore,
Geraldton while crayfishing with his father,
5. 8. 1977. Buried Geraldton
cemetery.
2. Gregory David b Narrogin 28. 4. 1962, died in car accident near Nyabing on his way home from football
training 6. 8. 1988. Buried Allambie
Park Albany.
2ndly at Albany WA. August 1985- John Rowe having
issue,
(1) Michelle Ann b. Albany 12. 7. 1972
(2) KATHLEEN ANNIE FOSBERY
married
at Pingelly WA. 25. 3. 1961, Sydney Dennis Cliff, (b
24. 6. 1936), second son of Harry and
Maud Cliff, Farmers of Cuballing
WA. and had issue,
1. Neil Robert b Narrogin 25. 10. 1969.
(1) Julie Rhonda b Pingelly 30. 5. 1962.
(2) Helen Maree b Narrogin 17.
11. 1964.
1 Neil Robert
Cliff married at Stoneville on 3.10.1998 Elizabeth Frances Hutt (b
) dau of Robert and Pauline Hutt
of Stoneville.
(1) Julie Rhonda Cliff married
at Perth WA. 26. 11. 1983, Gregory Morris (b
31. 7. 1959) son of Morris and Pat Ellson of Perth
and had issue,
1. Reilly James b Perth 26.
11. 1991.
(1) Ashleigh Simone. b Perth 18. 4. 1987.
(2) Caitlin Maree. b Perth 10. 6. 1989.
(3) CAROLYN KAYE FOSBERY married at Brookton 15. 2.
1969, Graeme John (b 10. 4.
1948), son of Archibald and Josephine Whittington , farmers of Brookton WA. and had issue,
1. David John b Albany 8.
3. 1975.
(1) Sonia Lee b Albany 9. 5. 1972.
(1) HILDAGARDE GEORGINA
KATHLEEN FOSBERY Had issue
1. Anthony John b Sydney 4. 11. 1939.
(1) Dulcie b
Sydney 23.
8. 1935.
(1) DULCIE was not named by her
mother but was adopted on 25. 10. 1935 to
and Hilda West of Lord Howe Island.
She married at Lord
Howe Island on 2. 4. 1959 Leslie Allen
King (b 30. 8. 1921) and had issue;
1. Stuart Henry b Sydney 10. 6. 1962.
2. Hayden
Leslie b
Sydney 21.
6. 1964.
(1) Tracey Lee b Sydney 16. 2. 1960.
1. Stuart Henry King Married
10. 12. 1993 Joanne Papalexandris and had issue;
1. Dylan b
Sydney 17.
7. 1995. (Stillborn)
2. Jessy Dylan b Sydney 2. 10. 1997.
2.Hayden Leslie King Married 3. 4.
1993 Leanne Gay Freeman (b 13. 2.
1964) and had issue;
1. Mitchell Leslie b Sydney 5. 12. 1996.
(1). Tracey Lee King Married 2. 4. 1995
Wayne Krause (b 14.2. 1960) and had issue;
(1). Jessica Lee b
Sydney 23.
8. 1997.