Chapter 18

The decision to leave Brisbane for Melbourne was a difficult one. Marcia was born and bred in Brisbane and had been there ever since except for a period of one year working in Sydney. All her family and friends were in Brisbane. Although born in Southport, I had lived in Fiji, Sydney and Adelaide and spent time in Melbourne as well, and had survived, hence was not so concerned about the climate. Of the housing situation we knew nothing. On the positive side, I considered the move should enable me to work more in research than I had been able to at Yeerongpilly, and there should be a career structure that proceeded up without having to wait for "dead men's shoes" as I would at the Animal Health Station. Probably one of the important considerations that turned out differently from expectation was that I would be working under one of the greats in Australian veterinary science, Dr. Arthur Turner. In summary, as far as the work was concerned, moving to CSIRO seemed to be all "plus" but as far as the family was concerned the move was of uncertain benefit.
We were very sad to leave our families. Dad and Mum had left Adelaide, which they liked, to be with us and any grandchildren that might eventuate. They had settled near us in a good house. Sadly it was in a very poor situation and they probably would have lived elsewhere had it not been for that proximity. I always felt sad about this although Mum lived on in the house even after Dad died and long after we left. Fortunately Norm eventually found a unit at Clayfield for her that was nearer to him and Gwen. This suited Mum very much as it was near transport and even though she was growing old; she was active and went to town quite often.
Similarly, leaving the Mansons was a blow especially for Marcia. She had decided to delay leaving until I had found some accommodation before coming with the children, Graham 3 years and 4 months and Ainsley 4 months. Sadly Marc was suffering from a physical problem that with hindsight was probably hepatitis. The move did not help this condition, and I feel she has suffered subsequently from moving before she was quite healthy. You could say that for Marc almost everything about the move was almost a disaster but she put a brave face on it all and she always has, and was very loyal.
The little house that Jim Clarey had built just for us at 44 Rhyndarra St., Yeronga was hard to leave, and indeed we have often driven there especially during visits to see it once again, because it was so meaningful for us. It suited the Mansons to move into the house as they were between houses at the time, and this softened the blow of leaving. Eventually they would sell it for us.
Farewells at work by staff were very touching and made us both feel that they had accepted us very well during our period of 6 years there. We made some lifetime friends there,
In early October 1955 I left for Melbourne by air. If I may digress here, there was a rule in the Public Service and CSIRO that when an employee entered CSIRO there must be continuous employment, that is he should leave his job one day and on the next day begin at the new job, with no gap in between. This was to preserve superannuation benefits and long service leave in particular. The employer being the government, ie. a group of bureaucrats, such rules had to be carried out to the letter. Today I venture to say the attitude would be more flexible, no doubt as a consequence of the executives themselves being much less rigid when it came to their own requirements.
I took a room at the Royal Hotel at Parkville, quite close to the Animal Health Research Lab in Park Drive. I had no special comments on the accommodation but I was amused by the washing facilities. After washing a load, I had to peg it out on lines on the roof of the 2-storey building. The clothes stood out at right angles in the stiff breeze. October in Melbourne is windy. In fact not long after arriving some fine grit was blown into my eye and could not be persuaded to come out. A visit to an eye specialist fixed it, however. He was a Tom Spring, a relative of Denver Spring who was a neighbour of ours at Templestowe. It was my first visit to an "eye man". He moved rapidly between 2 or even 3 rooms with patients, attending quickly and letting nurses take care of any less skilful tasks. I am sure he was making a fortune. On my way back to Parkville in a taxi, I remarked on my eye problem and the driver said-"Its that time of the year when we get those equilateral gales". So I guess instead of, say, the vernal "equinox" he would put the vernal "equilat"! Getting back to the washing, or what was left of it, my singlets had mostly disappeared into the gardens of nearby Parkville houses, but I salvaged some shirts and underwear, and didn't use the roof again for drying.
I had the address of someone at Balwyn and went to look over his house with a view to renting it. The house was not suitable, although handy to transport, but the owner told me of a development at far away Blackburn of three bedroom houses built by a L. Wall. Actually it was at South Blackburn, on the very fringe of suburban development in that direction at that time. To shorten a long story we followed this up and eventually bought the brand new 10 Hone Avenue house for about 4500 pounds. This was made possible by a mortgage plus the sale of 44 Rhyndarra St. While we awaited completion of the house we rented another house from a Mr Bishop in Wanbrow Ave, North Balwyn. I travelled to Parkville by bus along Belmore Rd to the Harp Hotel, and then by tram to the city and tram to Flemington Rd and Park Drive. Later I had rides from John Bingley who lived close by. We moved into the 10 Hone Avenue house just on Christmas with very high temperatures, and something wrong with the refrigerator. This was a blow to us, as we needed to keep the milk for baby Ainsley. There were no screens on the windows and the summer blowflies visited in numbers.
Many vicissitudes followed in that house although we stayed there for 14 years, which now seems unbelievable.
After some time we were able to pick up a car, a Ford Prefect, at Melford, courtesy of Papa Manson and probably the sale of the Flying Standard that we had owned in Brisbane. We were now mobile in our own right. Not long after we had become established Eva Shovelton who was a first cousin of mine, contacted us. She was the daughter of Dad's eldest brother, James. I do not believe they ever met, as James had left home before Dad was born, and he was not very welcome to return, apparently. He was referred to as the "black sheep" of the family. Eva had seen a photo of Marcia and Graham in the Women’s Weekly taken on the patio at Rhyndarra St., with caption identifying them and indicating that they were moving to Melbourne. The same photos were used in the Victorian issue. We saw a lot of Eva over the years, and she was kind to us in many ways. She was fond of the children, and found ready ears for her travel stories of which she had a library full. I am sorry I did record the pieces of genealogy that she told us, but it was not always clear just whom she really meant when she said, "I can see him coming down the road", or, "I was only a little girl when I last saw him". The "him" could have been James, her father or, James's father or his grandfather all of whom were in Melbourne at some time. Actually the information gained from Eva gave us the realisation that after all we were not always a Brisbane family, but had our origins in Victoria. In fact, most of Dad’s siblings were born in Victoria, and only Reg and Dad were born in Brisbane. Eva was not the only relative to overuse pronouns, we knew at least one other, and it was hilarious trying to figure just who was the subject of the story every time we visited. We also met a relative of the Cribbs, one Edith Green, who lived in one of the streets in Canterbury parallel to Monomeath. Edith was a pleasant spinster who lived with a companion, and we spent some time visiting her in these early years. It was an area full of large homes and larger gardens. It is interesting that long after, one of us, namely Ainsley, would live in that area. We became friendly with a couple who lived in Holland Road about a mile away from Hone Avenue, Peter and Joan Cooper. Whether this came about because of Brian Coulls who lived near them and was friendly with them, I cannot remember. Brian had been in my year at Adelaide Uni, and we had played golf and tennis together during those years. Getting back to Peter and Joan, we stayed friendly, and have visited them on return trips to Melbourne. Peter had done some training under Uncle Jack Manson in the Bank of New South Wales, and Joan had been very friendly with Valerie Black in Perth, a girl whose father once worked with Dad in the Cable company, and whom we met in Sydney at a boarding house, and both Dick and I believed we were in love with her. We were about 7 and 9 at the time.
The year that followed was Melbourne Olympic Year, 1956. This and following years became indelibly etched on Marcia's mind. The daily grind, apart from shopping, consisted of the walk to deliver one child to kindergarten and return pushing the other. This was repeated in reverse later in the day. This involved a round trip of 2 miles each time making a total of 4 miles for the day. This was day in, day out. When Graham was ready for school, Ainsley was ready for kinder. Later, Robyn's attendance had to be considered. I would prefer Marc to write about her days, but the paper may not be sufficiently flame proof to stand up to it. All joking aside, Marc did a sterling job with little complaint, and yet her tasks were many and not easy. Youth was on her side, but when one sees the mother of today with their cars calling at kinder or school, one realises how much easier it is for them.
The early years at work were a challenge. It was interesting, even exciting for me, but not quite what I had expected. I had pictured working alongside the great, getting advice, tips, philosophy, stories of the great, and the usual encouragement! Almost none of this occurred, and I was expected to be able to work it all out myself, once being admonished by "You are a Research Officer, you work it out". This was alien to me. At Yeerongpilly those in charge encouraged the young, and there was a more companionable atmosphere. I struggled with the Parkville attitude for years before the mentors changed for the better. I felt the need for increased qualifications, so I worked towards a Master's degree. Fortunately after some problem with the powers that be I was able to use the work I was doing as the material for the thesis. Had I not been able to, there would have been no Master's degree, as those up above would not have allowed me the time or materials to do work outside CSIRO requirements. Part of the trouble was the large gap in age between those in charge (Gregory, Bull and Turner) and the few of my age, together with their possession of Veterinary rather than Science degrees. The attitude of older veterinarians to degrees in Science gradually improved over the years.
The Adelaide Master's degree consisted of an exam on a large reading course and a thesis describing original work. This meant that while the children were young I spent much time at home on the reading of books for the set course as well as the journals for my own research. I also spent time on collating the results of research, and very little time helping Marcia. I do not think I realised when I took on the MSc, how much strain this would be for Marcia. Even though the extra degree helped me in some ways, it did not move me up the pay scales any faster, and as a family we did not see the benefits of all the extra work. It is greatly to Marcia’s credit that she does not bring up this subject.
Today’s graduates are expected to have done a Ph.D. before attempting to get a job in research. Presumably those who marry during the three years that are usually involved could go through the same troubled times.
Number 10 Hone Avenue is situated on the south western corner of Hone Avenue and School St. There may be a change of name required for the latter as there is no longer a school at the end of the street. It was a point in favour of buying the house that Graham and Ainsley would be able to walk safely and easily to school. Many other residents of the street had young families. The roads were unsealed and had no gutters, other than those formed by running water. One of the activities that brought together many of the residents was the need to get the gutters made and the road sealed. We formed working bees and dug gutters and under the eye of Frank Barnes (engineer) drained the bottom of the slope. A committee was formed to approach the council to request the road to be made. This was a “private road” and although the cost of roadmaking would be subsidised, there was a charge on each occupant for this. At 450 pounds this was quite hefty considering that represented about half the average wage in the street per annum. Fortunately it could be paid off in instalments, and it was a time of full employment.
For some time after obtaining a car we parked it inside the front yard where double gates had been provided and there was room for it on the lawn in an area set aside for a carport. However as the winters came, there were some disadvantages. Frosty nights left ice all over the car which had to be removed before going to work. The cold engine was also hard to start and excessive use of the battery tended to run it down quickly. Rain, too, provided hazards. I can recall going through the first steps of ice removal and engine start, only to find the ground was too soft for the tyres to grip and hence it was necessary to push the car backwards out into the street. Even the street became a trap. Once I was pushing someone else’s car down the hill to start it only to find my gum boot firmly gripped by the mud and my leg walking out of it onto the road and into the mud. We could hardly wait for the road to be made.
Describing the effects of mud leads me back to the sanitary provisions, unbelievable as it is today. Adequate sewerage or septic was not available to us in the early days and we had an outside toilet or EC (earth closet). There was no path from the back steps out to the toilet and I now cringe as I picture poor Mama Manson on a wet winter morning trying to keep balance on the entirely inadequate duckboards laid down to facilitate a dry trip to the loo. She and others could easily have lost balance and ended a great friendship. As time went on we installed septic which was satisfactory, and at the time of the roadmaking the sewerage was put on, to our sighs of relief at finally getting the major infrastructure in place.
Reverting to the car being parked in the open in the front yard, we saw the need for a garage. One girl at work was Margot Bundy whose father was a builder. We employed him to build us a garage in the back yard and provide a gap in the fence for access. He put up the frame, window, doors and roof and showed me how to do the weatherboard cladding. As it happened, Dad and Mum came down from Brisbane at this stage and Dad helped me to apply all the cladding and to paint the whole structure. As a matter of fact I enjoyed this because we had so few opportunities to do such things together. The necessary money for the garage was about 110 pounds. I did not have that much so had to borrow. As it happened, just prior to this our organisation CSIRO had started a Credit Society to provide loans (and allow for investments) in such situations. I joined and my membership number is 74, showing how timely it was for us. Nowadays the membership would be in the tens of thousands. Although we had a dirt floor in the garage for quite some time, it was an absolute pleasure to get into a dry car in mid-winter and have it start at the first turn. Also, of course, the paint was protected from the strong summer sun, which tended to oxidise the paint and produce a chalky feeling. Today’s paints are more resistant to the sun.
This long period from 1955 to 1965 saw the growing up of the first two children and the addition of our third, Robyn. Graham was three years and six months old and Ainsley 6 months old when we moved into 10 Hone Avenue from Wanbrow Ave., North Balwyn. When we left the house they were 14 years older. Through the period there were other children in the street to play with and Marcia encouraged them to come to our house. Our place was fenced and had no pool (few did in those days) so the children were safe without constant supervision that was useful when Robyn was young and required much attention. Their activities consisted of the usual games and use of prams and dolls, pedal cars, tricycles and the ultimate a bicycle. Oddly neither of the girls seemed to desire a bike, and anyway in those days and in those economic times a bike usually did not come before about 13 years of age. In a very praiseworthy effort Graham took on a job to buy his bike. It was second hand from Bob Campbell-Brown.
Having other children in to play meant that garden and toys suffered more wear and tear they would have, if reserved for our own use. Constant biscuit baking and cordial supplies were also necessary. The lad opposite had an unfortunate ability to render unserviceable at least one toy per visit. Perhaps he was blessed with an enquiring mind. His sister, too, normally docile and pleasant occasionally performed nearly as well as her brother. In our garden I had planted a Washington Navel orange tree. This tree was nurtured over several years in which flowers came, but sadly fruit did not set. One year, one orange formed. What joy! It was encouraged to grow to maturity without a blemish on its beautiful orange skin. We planned to share the orange, when absolutely ripe, among the family, an event to look forward to. One evening when clearing up from the results of various activities, I saw on the ground some orange peel. I was irritated that someone could be so untidy, and put it in the bin. Imagine when a little later I glanced at the orange tree and failed to see our orange. I found out that this little /#@((!@#$ blank blank had taken and eaten our only orange, and without even feeling guilty enough to hide the peel. The tree never did produce another orange.
Our back garden retained several apple trees from the original orchard but it was hard to recover any without codling moth. We planted a cherry that did not bear fruit and a triple grafted apple that did. There was a nectarine grafted on to a peach, but despite our care the crops did not repay us. The soil was deep and black and grew vegetables and flowers well and Marcia did a lot in the garden when she had time.
As an exercise in “handymanship” I built a brick incinerator. At this time we could burn off flammable material in our own yards. It functioned well and looked the part for some years. It did not, however, withstand the fires built in it by the cleaning firm who rented the house when we were in Turkey. It must have been really hot at times, as cracks had appeared not only in the mortar but also in the bricks themselves. Also in the backyard was a strip of concrete that kept the firewood dry and formed the base of a compost heap, to which I constantly attended. For some reason I like to meddle with compost, with its dark, earthy, damp and coherent feeling. It just seems to be so highly nutritious that the plants will leap out of the ground as you apply it.
I put up two posts to support a horizontal bar in the backyard to encourage gymnastic ability in the children, but it wasn’t used much. Trevor Whalley demonstrated elementary gym work on it for Graham’s benefit but suffered for several days afterwards.
In the community of South Blackburn there was a move to have a church. A strong attendance at an Anglican Church was still possible then and we attended as a family. Subsidiary organisations were formed to attract children, CEBS for boys and some other for girls. Graham attended CEBS and got some benefits from it. I think there were camps and gymnastics and other organised games that otherwise he may not have known. The leader was well oriented towards youth work.
At one time a person well placed in the church hierarchy, especially in Missions, was to make an official visit and for some reason we were told off to entertain him to dinner. At an appropriate time before the visit, I explained to Gra and Arny the need to behave well during the dinner and to mind the manners. Ainsley asked me when he was coming, and when I replied “in ten days time”, she said, “Oh good! We have 10 more days to eat rudely in.”
Tennis and cricket appealed to me from an early age and I practised both so much that I had attained sufficient proficiency when in the senior years at TSS to be accepted into top teams in these sports. At university I did not play in competition tennis, but played a lot of singles on days off with classmates. At weekends I played very pleasant social tennis at the home of the Hughes in Adelaide. When I got to Brisbane, the pattern was even better. Social tennis with Marg and Joan Anderson was on most weekends, and when it dropped away, I played in the A Grade Hardcourt Competitions with the Argyll team run by Nowell Taylor, who was also a neighbour later when we moved to Rhyndarra St. Thus it was not unexpected that I would seek to continue with some sport in Melbourne and tennis was the most convenient. Three neighbours, Alan Bennett, Rick Mollison and Rob Westle joined me in playing on Saturday mornings at a court belonging to Westles parents. Later on I joined a group that included parents of a fellow student of Ainsley’s at Strathcona. I played with these folk at a number of different venues; finally at the Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) courts by virtue of Ian Polmear’s place on a parent’s committee.
For quite a while Peter Cooper and I took off each Saturday morning to play golf, usually at the 9-hole course at Doncaster. Sometimes it was so foggy that the green was not visible from the tee, even though it was a relatively short hole. We also played at other public courses, but the activity stopped when we went overseas in 1966-67.
Apart from sport, church, gardening, shopping and chores, our entertainment was made up of visits to friends, pictures at the “drive in” and going for drives in the country.
The drive in theatres was in many suburbs and catered mostly for families, although courting couples enjoyed them too. The children could watch or curl up and sleep, but in any event were suitable confined, while adults took in the entertainment. It was fairly painless gearing up to go, as one could stay in the car all the way to the viewing spot. However the inevitable Minties that we ate managed to spread their stickiness around the car and especially on the steering wheel to render driving unpleasant to say the least. On arrival home, sleepy children had to be carried all the way to the bed from the car, but were already prepared for bed.
Drives in the car to other parts of Victoria were great. We all enjoyed the motoring although Arny felt motion sickness more that the others. It was best to avoid very curvy roads as we realised when trying to negotiate the Acheron Way near Marysville. Victoria is closely settled and the old towns have some very substantial brick or stone buildings of perhaps 100 years old, dating back to the prosperous days of the gold rushes. It was enjoyable to visit such towns, to look around at the architecture and the gardens, and perhaps have some afternoon tea in the park, on a typical sunny Victorian day! Such activities tended to soothe away the frowns of the previous week in preparation for those of the coming week. These drives took us all over Victoria, particularly to places within the day’s journey from home, there and back. The only problem was that despite the great variety of places to visit, with the routes radiating like a wheel from the city, the first and last parts of the journey had to be the well travelled beginning and end, usually city to home.
These years 1955-1964 in particular were relatively hard. Such a lot fell on Marcia, at first with 2, then 3 children to care for. She had a constant battle with the bleak cold weather and suffered poor health. The children were constantly succumbing to colds in the winter, just from mixing with others who were infected. These infections placed a strain on the family situation. The timber house usually adjusted to the outside temperature so one needed to be near the source of any heat to keep warm. I have to thank the family, especially Marcia, for being so good in these early years, and later too of course. For me, apart from the concern about the family, there was a constant battle to get good original work done and maintain a rate of promotion that would bring in a salary that would relieve our debt. It was slow. For example, on the scale of Research Officer there were 13 annual steps before the next grade. I had joined the scale at step 2, leaving 11 years to reach the top. The annual increments that arrived were not substantial, being about two pounds a week. Dr Turner, my superior, retired about 1958 and there was no replacement until 1961. His departure did not affect me very much as he had offered me almost no help or advice in the whole time I had been there, contrary to my expectations, which were in line with usual practice. Dr Richard Hudson, an English veterinarian with much “hands on” experience in Africa was appointed to lead the section. He proved to be a just and wise leader, although he also held himself aloof from the staff to some extent. This attitude did improve somewhat with time. Jim Whittem became O-I-C, and these two appointments changed my life for the better. One of the most difficult aspects of working on an unusual area (and being the only one in Australia working on that area) was simply the isolation from others with the same interest and the difficulties surrounding transfer of information especially if you had not met the other workers. Some were reluctant to tell you of progress in case you gained an advantage over them. Often this attitude would evaporate once you had met and chatted with them.
We did play host to a number of visitors to our laboratory and Professor Henry Adler, who worked with M. gallisepticum and turkey sinusitis, came for a sabbatical for nearly a year. One worker came from Moredun where he worked with Stamp. Such visits were of value, but they also took up a lot of time at work and also part of our leisure time, as we felt it necessary to provide some hospitality just as they would have done in a reverse situation, and indeed we usually enjoyed doing so.
While this period at work was one of struggle and consolidation, at home it was the period of growth and development of those precious gifts, our children. (We did on some occasions, not value them so highly). Hindsight is well developed in the old because it is essentially looking back over the years of experience. Unfortunately it was not given to the parents of young children. This is one major fault in the design of humankind. By definition new parents start out with no experience in child rearing, unless they have been the elders of several siblings. Also each new book on the subject puts forward a variation on the theme which may be acceptable for some years or may quickly be superceded. Even though we tried our best we, like most parents, realise that we made mistakes. For this we are very sorry, and these often come back to haunt us. We have not been pardoned, except by seeing how well our children seem to have coped. We certainly gave them as much love as was available at the time, this being the rock, allegedly, on which good parenting was built.
Family gatherings such as birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day and so on are special days when the children are young. Their actions, responses to gifts or their attempts to follow the traditions of these days are all delightful to watch. The sayings of the young can be beautiful at any time, even though they may not reproduce well out of context. One sibling will had a special name for another, usually because the younger cannot pronounce the name of the older, but its time runs out and the name may be changed without notice. Because of the circumstances that led to my writing weekly to Mother when Rob was young, some of her pronouncements have been recorded. For example, when discussing the proposed trip to Miami in 1964, Rob at the age of 3 said, “My Father is taking me to Mee Meeoww.” She also had taken on a saying from Gra and could be heard muttering to herself, such things as “Flamin’ wops, my bike hurt me!”