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Recollections of local residents Recollections and memories of local residents have been recorded by the Strathfield District Historical Society and provide valuable insight into the development of the district. Some examples are:
Reminiscing War Time Strathfield by Lucy Stone
[SDHS
Vol. 24 No. 7 July 2001]
Mrs.
Madeline Knizer of The Boulevarde Strathfield has supplied these details of her
early experiences within Strathfield and we thank her for her interest and
information.
‘We
moved to No. 154 The Boulevarde in 1937. My father, Carl Drayton, had this house
built on the old Francis Crago estate. Daisy Crago, (Mrs. Howard Lee) was our
next door neighbour, building in 1938. She was the wife of Canon H. Lee, the
rector of St. Marks at Darling Point.
When
war was declared in 1939 all the women of Strathfield joined the various groups
to help the Red Cross, the Canteen Fund, the group making camouflage nets. We
also formed a committee to raise $10,000 or £5,000 to forward to Mr. Churchill
to buy a Spitfire aeroplane.
A
short time after the war was declared, a meeting was called in the Strathfield
Town Hall by Miss Wythes, the President of Strathfield Red Cross. My sister and
I attended this meeting. The Town Hall was full. After Miss Wythes spoke of the
great need that would come as a result of the war and how long it may last, a
flag was placed on the floor and everyone was asked to place donations on the
flag.
I
was sitting near the front and was asked would I make out receipts for cheques
being handed over. I have no idea how much was collected. I wonder if the
Minutes of that meeting may still exist in Red Cross Headquarters.
Plans
were made of what committees could be formed. One of the early ones I remember
in which I had a hand was serving in a canteen at the site of the 113th A.G.H.
before the hospital was built. Huts were built and across the road where the
carpark is now some army tents were erected. Men were having a medical
examination for those who were joining the forces. We served Morning and
Afternoon Teas, probably assisted by other Red Cross branches involved.
We
were given donations of scones and cakes from the local shops. I remember Mrs.
Percy Arnott, Mrs. Wally Arnott, Mrs. Harold Arnott and Mrs. Beale amongst the
women who helped. I buttered many dozens of scones! I do not remember when they
commenced building the Concord Hospital. The local Red Cross made all the
various comforts that Red Cross gave to the men and women.
By
about 1940 - I think they had started a branch collection for the ‘Canteen
Fund’. My mother Mrs. Miriam
Drayton and Mrs. Henry Herron who lived tow doors from us, used to be donw at
7.30 a.m. sitting at a table in The Village collecting goods and money for the
Canteen Fund. We were also involved
in serving meals.
Another
active group made camouflage nets. My
mother, Mrs. Lea, Mrs. Marjorie Hornbrook who lived at No. 160 met with many
Strathfield women at the Hudson’s home in Wakeford Road to make nets.
My mother had her own stand and worked on the nets every spare moment.
I loaned that stand for a display at the Town Hall a few years ago and it
is still with Mrs. Doran. The Women of Strathfield made a record number of nets
and received a special visit from officers of the Army.
The
Physio Therapy Association commenced in 1940/1 and established the first
training course of Occupational Therapy at Sydney University .I became one of
the first students and continued to take an active role in Red Cross Activities
where possible.
About
the time of the ‘Battle for Britain’ Mrs. Henry Herron suggested that the
women of Strathfield collect money to buy a 'Spitfire' and send the money to Mr.
Churchill. My sister and I attended the meeting and as we had attended an Art
School we came up with the idea of making large posters of a Spitfire and place
them at strategic areas in The Village with a request the public cover them with
'silver'. In addition Mrs. Herron and others wrote appeal letters for
assistance. Finally we collected £5,.000 and this money was sent to Mr.
Churchill from the 'women of Strathfield’. I remember sitting on the floor of'
a bank near the station counting the silver.
As
Strathfield station was the meeting place of Strathfield, Burwood and Homebush
Councils with Concord close by on Parramatta Road, I did my share of writing to
Councils.
Many
of the young folk in those days actively supported the N .S .W. Society of
Crippled Children or the Royal Alexandra Hospital and we raised funds with
tennis parties and fetes at the different homes of our members, such as Tiptree
with its extensive grounds from Wakeford, Kingsland and Llandilo borders. This
When
we first built in Strathfield a milkman called and left his card with a bottle
of cream!! And a note to say he would like the pleasure of' serving us. His
dairy was at the end of Coronation Parade along the river. At war's end and with the return of the service men and women, many of whom had been injured or prisoners of war and were in our General or Convalescent Hospitals in need of' further care, the Red Cross decided to develop Rehabilitation Departments with various forms of crafts and other activities that would help to develop confidence to return to normal life. I was asked by the Chairman of this scheme, George Patterson of the advertising company, to undertake the establishment of this new scheme. I declined but after a holiday I became a teacher of 0. T and worked in general hospitals as far away from war as possible. [SDHS Vol.3 No.3 October 1980] As recalled by Mrs E. Mansfield- Aged 86. Tape recorded and transcribed by Syd Malcolm.
My
parents came to Australia from Cornwall in 1881 and settled in Homebush. I was
the youngest and the only one still living of eleven children and I have lived
in this area all my life. I went to Homebush Public School when I was five. I
remember it was a brick building …its still there… opposite the railway
station. My brothers used to tell me that the first school building was a wooden
one with two classrooms and that it was moved to Parramatta Road for the School
of Arts. I think it is now called Homebush Hall.
Our
first headmaster was Mr. Tyler…. he lived in a school house facing Rochester
Street about half way along the present school grounds. His daughter was a
teacher there too. A Mr. Dwyer followed Mr. Tyler as headmaster.
In
those days Knight Street was called Rochester Street but I don't remember a
railway level crossing joining it with Rochester Street on the other side of the
line. Coming from the station towards Knight Street, there were two
cottages….. a family named Stewart lived in one and the other belonged to a
dairy on the corner of Loftus Crescent and Knight Street, I can't remember the
name of the man who had the dairy but he used to bring his cows to the end of
Underwood Road to pasture them. On the Parramatta Road corner was the Horse and
Jockey Hotel…it was there as far back as I can remember. The other side of
Knight Street - the paper shop side -was all paddock which you crossed to get to
Underwood Road. There was however a large timber yard on the corner of Loftus
Crescent and Subway Lane, close to the creek. The yard was owned by Kite and
Price.
We
first lived in Powell Street in a two-storey house which was divided into two.
In the same street there were three little houses owned by Mr. Schroeder …he
was the local lamplighter. He also owned paddocks in Underwood Road around his
own home and had an orchard and kept a lot of fowls. The only other place in
Underwood Road..it only went as far as Pomeroy Street ….then there was a rose
nursery owned by a Mr Dalton. We had two other rose nurseries in Homebush ..one
was Ferguson's just below the Wentworth Hotel at Flemington and the other was
George Knight's up towards the railway gates where the Hornsby line crossed the
Parramatta Road.
Parramatta
Road was much quieter in the early days but you had to be careful. On Monday and
Thursday nights, cattle from Flemington saleyards were taken along the road on
their way to Glebe Island for slaughtering and it was dangerous to be out. One
night my Grandma was coming over and she left it a bit late. The cattle were
already on the road, so she got herself into the creek and got lost. My father went looking for her and when he found her she was
still in the creek calling out ‘I am lost…lost I are’.
Powells
Creek started somewhere up beyond Rochester Street.
It was an open creek except where it went under Burlington Road, Loftus
Crescent the railway line – near the present underpass – and the Parramatta
Road. It didn’t carry much water
but after heavy rain it was different.
The
first shop on the Parramatta Road was a drapery shop…the came a butcher shop
and then, on the Homebush Hall side, a general store.
There was a bakery on the corner of Parramatta Rd and Station Street and
nothing else.
On
the school side of the line you would cross open space from the subway
[underpass] to Rochester St where there were some shops including a grocer,
butcher, bootmaker, Steven’s bakery, a carriageman and one or two others.
Near the Burlington Road corner there were two little houses…Mr King
lived in one and I think Mrs Ross lived in the other.
Tradespeople
called regularly in those days…we had a butter man a milkman – who used a
measure and put your milk straight into a jug – a greengrocer, a grocer who
called for orders and others who sold various things like rabbits, clothes and
even clothes line props.
For
other needs we had to go to Burwood…usually on a Friday or Saturday night.
Murrays shop near Burwood Station sold just about everything. Sometimes we
walked to Burwood and other times we caught a train from Homebush. The trains
run about every hour.
The
post office was where it is now, opposite the station. I can't remember what
kind of building was there before the present one. The postman delivered the
letters on horseback. I think Mr.
Doughty was our first postmaster he lived in Powell Street.
I
can’t say if there was a doctor in Homebush in the early days.
The first one I remember here was Dr Waldon in Burlington Road. The doctor we had came from Burwood and he nearly always came
to our place. I remember it was a Dr. Lee in 1914 because just before the first
World War my father took ill and Dr. Lee put him in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
where he died. I think R.P.A. was our nearest hospital then. To get our medicine
we had to go to a chemist shop in Homebush Road opposite Burlington Road it was
the only one.
When
I was young there was not much by way of entertainment. There was an open-air
picture show on the Parramatta Road Concord but nothing else. We made our own
entertainment we had a piano and enjoyed evenings with a singsong or listening
to the gramophone. We didn't go to Sydney very often but now and again we would
go across to Manly by ferry.
Mr.
Kite and Mr. Price, who both belonged to our church, would sometimes give us
(the local children) a treat by taking us for picnics to Cabarita using one of
their horse drawn drays. We really enjoyed those outings. Mr. Kite lived next to
where Arnotts now have their playing fields and Mr. Price lived in the Crescent
about halfway between Meredith St. and Bridge Road. There were some nice big
homes in that block. Mr. A.W.S. Gregg, one of the principals of Richardson and
Wrench, Estate agents, lived in one which was later pulled down and now houses
two houses in its place. The Hudson family lived in another which was also
pulled down. I think the Hudsons were connected with the 'big timber firm.
Where
the Homebush Boys High School is now there was a very large house with a lot of
land. It faced Bridge Road about halfway down the block. A Mr. Kirkpatrick lived
there I think he was the Commissioner for Railways.
There
were some nice houses in Abbotsford Rd and Burlington Road but I didn't know
much about the people who lived in them. A big house not far from where we lived
in Underwood Road was Pomeroy House" on the corner of Pomeroy St and
Wentworth Road. It was owned by Mr. Pomeroy who was high up in Anthony Horderns.
We
had a golf course in Homebush in the early days. It used to lie between George
Street, which ended at Pearce's Flour Mills, this side of where Pomeroy Street
is now and the northern line. Strathfield North Railway station was not there
then. I remember a lot of doctors used to play golf there. Near the flour mills
there were three cottages running back to Powells Creek they were made of
weatherboards and looked alike, each having an open verandah across the front.
The middle cottage was used as a clubhouse and members used to sit out on the
verandah. It may be still there. Two brothers -I can't remember house and looked
after the course. I am told the golf club later moved to Concord.
I
think they built Strathfield North station at the same time as Arnotts Biscuit
factory was built. Arnotts meant a lot to the locals most of them worked
there…. my father for one…. he used to drive a small runabout cart for them.
There wasn't much at Flemington apart from the saleyards, the Wentworth Hotel and Ferguson’s Nursery, but it may not be known that on the other side of line going towards Bankstown there was a rifle range. It was always in use and soldiers used to shoot there.
I
have been a member of the Methodist Church (Uniting Church) in Burlington Road
for as long as I can remember. The first Minister was the Rev. Benjamin
Meek...". He was there for many years. Among the early members of
importance were Mr. & Mrs Bailey, The Uther Family, who lived in Burlington
Road for a long time and two families of Johns'. The Johns family also came from
Cornwall. One lived in Broughton Road and the other in the Crescent. They were
wonderful people. Mrs Johns donated the porch at the entrance to the Church. I
have known and made friends with many other lovely families that has been one of
the joys of living in Homebush. |
Information on copyright and use of information from this website. This website was launched September 2003. Enquiries: cathy@strathfieldhistory.org.au
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