‘I shut my eyes and picture our place’: gardens, farm landscapes and working-class dreams in 1930s–1940s south-eastern Australia

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Kyla Cassells and Kerry Nixon for their research assistance and the Australian Research Council and La Trobe University for grants, which funded my research. I am also indebted to Lyndhurst/Langwarrin local historian Dot Morrison, who was able to identify Peanuts' surname through her extensive knowledge of local families.

La Trobe University

Notes

1. Weekly Times (16 October 1937), p. 50.

2. Edward Harwood in Edward Harwood, Tom Williamson, Michael Leslie and John Dixon Hunt, ‘Whither Garden History?’, Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, 22/2 (2008), p. 97.

3. Similarly, Libby Robin has argued that the ‘natural world’ should be understood as having ‘agency in history’ and has played some part in shaping thinking and developing identities in Australia. Katie Holmes, Susan Martin and Kylie Mirmohamadi, Reading the Garden: The Settlement of Australia (Melbourne, Victoria: Melbourne University Publishing, 2008); Libby Robin, How a Continent Created a Nation (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2007), pp. 2–5.

4. The Weekly Times cost 4d (four pence) plus 2d postage in the 1930s.

5. From 1931 to the end of the decade, well over 4300 letters were published and these included 250 letters by women who can be identified as being from Gippsland in south-east Victoria. Of these, 50% mentioned farm and/or bush landscapes or gardens.

6. Letters were clearly edited for length, particularly once paper rationing was introduced in 1941. Newspapers’ number of pages published was generally cut by 50%.

7. Children and husbands were talked about, although marital conflict or violence were not.

8. Of the writers identifiable as being from Gippsland 97% used pen-names.

9. John Wilks William had enlisted in the AIF as a private in April 1916. http://naa12.naa.gov.au, NAA: B2455, WILLIAMS J W.

10. The cost of divorce was prohibitive to working-class people in the 1920s. See Hilary Golder, Divorce in 19th Century New South Wales (Sydney: New South Wales University Press, 1985); Hilary Golder and Diane Kirkby, ‘Marriage and Divorce Law Before the Family Law Act 1975’, in Diane Kirkby (ed.), Sex Power and Justice: Historical Perspectives of Law in Australia (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1995).

11. On the electoral rolls, John Wilks Williams is recorded as living at 12 Egremont Street with Hope Lavinia Williams — perhaps a name Grace gave herself, after the death of her baby. But Grace Muriel Tucker is also listed as living at 3 King William Street, Fitzroy — only ¾ mile from where John and Eliza Williams had lived together in 1919 — with her occupation listed as home duties. None of her family are listed there, nor is John, so it is possible she was — or had been — working as a domestic at the house for some years. Grace did not appear on the 1919 electoral roll, as she was only twenty years old. Australian Electoral Roll, 1919, 1924.

12. No written details of the purchase lease exist. However local historian Dot Morrison recorded interviews with 1930s’ settlers in the area who recollected that 10-acre blocks on the Francis Allen sub-division required a £5 deposit with the balance of £45 to be paid at the end of 12 months. As Grace did not obtain title for 5 years, it is clear she was on a different purchase lease, possibly with a deposit of £5 or £10 and annual payments of £7–£10 for 5 years. We don't know how Grace obtained the funds for the deposit. No probate records exist for her parents, so it appears they left her no money or property. Dot Morrison, 100 Years in Skye 1850–1950 (Frankston, Victoria: Mornington Peninsula Family History Society, 2004).

13. ‘Peanuts’ pen-name came from their horse, called ‘Peanuts’ and because she liked ‘eating peanuts’.

14. Weekly Times (24 April 1937), p. 49.

15. Weekly Times (24 April 1937), p. 49. Scabious is now regarded as a bushland invasive plant in Victoria. See http://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/bushland_invasive_plants.pdf.

16. Those on unemployment farms in the early 1930s, were subject to three monthly inspections, with a programme of works specified. Failure to undertake specified works resulted in leases being terminated and notice to repay the advance. On soldier settlement, see Marilyn Lake, The Limits of Hope: Soldier Settlement in Victoria, 1915–38 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1987).

17. Weekly Times (16 October 1937), p. 50.

18. Weekly Times (8 October 1938), p. 41.

19. Lake argues that men's desire for independence led them to pursue the yeoman ideal, while effectively enslaving their wives and daughters. Grace's pursuit of owning a small rural holding complicates this analysis. On the yeoman ideal, see Lake, The Limits of Hope, pp. 12–17.

20. Although the problems of such schemes had been investigated by Royal Commissions, the yeoman ideal lived on; and was evident in the state's irrigated settlement schemes through the 1920s and the creation of ‘unemployment farms’ during the Depression.

21. Many of Grace and John's neighbours were labourers, joiners and painters, who had moved from Melbourne and taken up small allotments in 1936–1937. Crystal and Eugene Finster (painter) lived in Williamstown in 1931. By 1937, they had taken up a small farm in Halls Road, South Lyndhurst. Myrtle and Oliver Greenwood (labourer) moved to Billingtons Road, Lyndhurst in 1937. Australian Electoral Rolls, 1931, 1936, 1937.

22. Weekly Times (5 June 1937), p. 49.

23. She also included a verse: ‘Jesus understands, all His ways are best; As He gently whispers, Come to Me and rest; Everything is wonderful in the Master's hand; Here's a word to cheer you, Jesus understands’. Her belief in a caring God who nurtured the earth continued through drought. ‘May God bless, guard, & help us all. He sends the sunshine and the rain. Nor lets the drops descend in vain’, Weekly Times (5 June 1937), p. 49; Weekly Times (30 September 1939), p. 47.

24. Weekly Times (5 August 1939), p. 42.

25. Weekly Times (25 March 1942), p. 24.

26. Weekly Times (28 April 1943), p. 15.

27. Her son Jack was still away at war and her daughter had married and was pregnant. Weekly Times (2 February 1944), p. 15.

28. See Holmes, Martin and Mirmohamadi, Reading the Garden: The Settlement of Australia, pp. 7–24.

29. Weekly Times (16 October 1937), p. 50.

30. Weekly Times (27 November 1937), p. 47.

31. His occupation listed on the electoral rolls from 1931 to 1937 — when they lived at Prahran, Springvale and then Hampton Park — was ‘dealer’, but the entry for Langwarrin in 1937 was ‘pensioner’ and in 1942 was ‘nil’. Australian Electoral Rolls.

32. Weekly Times (8 January 1938), p. 43.

33. Weekly Times (19 February 1938), p. 45.

34. Weekly Times (5 August 1939), p. 42.

35. Weekly Times (30 September 1939), p. 47.

36. Charles Daley, The Story of Gippsland (Melbourne: Whitcombe & Tombs for the Gippsland Municipalities Association, 1960), p. 109. On the history of Cranbourne, see Niel Gunson, The good country: Cranbourne Shire (Melbourne: F. W. Cheshire, 1968).

37. Weekly Times (4 February 1939), p. 37. On the drought, see Jenny Keating, The Drought Walked Through: A History of Water Shortage in Victoria (Melbourne: Department of Water Resources Victoria, 1992).

38. Weekly Times (7 May 1938), p. 47.

39. Weekly Times (3 September 1938), p. 42.

40. Weekly Times (4 February 1939), p. 37.

41. Weekly Times (14 January 1942), p. 23.

42. Weekly Times (25 March 1942), p. 24.

43. Weekly Times (22 July 1942), p. 20.

44. Weekly Times (22 July 1942), p. 20.

45. Weekly Times (28 April 1943), p. 15.

46. Weekly Times (27 November 1937), p. 47.

47. Weekly Times (5 June 1937), p. 49.

48. Weekly Times (11 March 1939), p. 43.

49. Weekly Times (26 August 1939), p. 44.

50. Weekly Times (30 September 1939), p. 47.

51. Weekly Times (26 August 1939), p. 44.

52. Weekly Times (30 September 1939), p. 47.

53. Weekly Times (14 June 1941), p. 30.

54. Weekly Times (25 March 1942), p. 24.

55. Weekly Times (3 June 1942), p. 19.

56. Weekly Times (22 July 1942), p. 20.

57. Weekly Times (28 April 1943), p. 15.

58. Weekly Times (16 June 1943), p. 15.

59. See James Beattie, Jasper Heinzen and John Adam, ‘Japanese Gardens and Plants in New Zealand, 1850–1950: Transculturation and Transmission’, Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, 28/2 (2008), pp. 220–223.

60. Harwood in Edward Hardwood, Tom Williamson, Michael Leslie and John Dixon Hunt, ‘Whither Garden History?’, p. 95.

61. Weekly Times (30 September 1939), p. 47.

62. On poor families in South Lyndhurst in the 1930s, see Morrison, 100 Years in Skye, pp. 39–42.

63. The Victorian Readers also included description of indigenous plants. Marie Pitt, ‘Spider Orchids’, Victorian Readers: Sixth Book, Education Department Victoria (Melbourne: Education Department Victoria, 1929) pp. 164–165. On nature study in the school curriculum see Leslie Blake (ed.), Vision and Realisation: A Centenary History of State Education in Victoria (Melbourne: Education Department Victoria, 1973), pp. 323, 347–348, 358, 367. The Victorian Field Naturalists and the Gould League were also important. See Holmes, Martin and Mirmohamadi, Reading the Garden: The Settlement of Australia; Thomas Dunlap, Nature and the English Diaspora: Environment and History in the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 116–118. On school arbour days, see David Jones, ‘“Plant Trees”: The Foundations of Arbor Day in Australia’, Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, 30/1 (2008), pp. 79–91.

64. Weekly Times (27 November 1937), p. 47.

65. On native gardens, see Katie Holmes and Kylie Mirmohamadi in this issue; Holmes, Martin and Mirmohamadi, Reading the Garden: The Settlement of Australia, pp. 98–102.

66. We don't know whether she planted them in her gardens or in the bush reserve. Weekly Times (13 December 1944), p. 20.

67. Weekly Times (2 April 1938), p. 51.

68. ‘Peanuts’’ observation and knowledge in finding 52 different wildflowers is evident given the 1926 Frankston Wildflower Show, held under the auspices of the Frankston Horticultural Society, had a ‘fine display of orchids’ with 33 entries received. Argus (8 October 1926), p. 13.

69. See Tom Griffiths, Hunters and Collectors: The Antiquarian Imagination in Australia (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

70. Weekly Times (7 May 1938), p. 47.

71. Weekly Times (15 October 1938), p. 41.

72. See Holmes in this issue; Holmes, Martin and Mirmohamadi, Reading the Garden: The Settlement of Australia, pp. 99–100; Libby Robin, ‘Nationalising Nature: Wattle Days in Australia’, Journal of Australian Studies, 26/73 (2002), pp. 15–18.

73. Weekly Times (7 May 1938), p. 47.

74. Weekly Times (23 April 1938), p. 49.

75. Weekly Times (7 May 1938), p. 47.

76. Nature study was included in the curriculum from the 1930s, and her children would have studied it. Charles Barrett had a nature page in the Weekly Times during the 1930s and 1940s. Grace may also have participated in Arbor Day while at school herself. See Blake (ed.), Vision and Realisation, pp. 323, 347–348, 358, 367; The Victorian Readers; Jones, ‘“Plant Trees”’.

77. ‘Kia Ora 3rd — Your specimen was received by Charles Barrett and will be answered in his columns’ was the message published in the personal notices column of the women's pages. Charles Barrett also wrote for the Sun, and was the author of several nature books including Charles Barrett, An Australian Wild Flower Book (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1942); Charles Barrett, The Australian Bush (London: Cassell, 1943); Charles Barrett and Richard Bond, Victorian Ferns: Descriptions of All the Species Occurring in the State (Melbourne: Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria, 1934). Weekly Times (28 January 1939), p. 41.

78. Weekly Times (10 May 1941), p. 30.

79. On work and nature, see R. White, ‘“Are You an Environmentalist or Do You Work for a Living?”: Work and Nature’, in W. Cronon (ed.), Uncommon Ground: Toward Reinventing Nature (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995); R. White, The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River (New York: Hill & Wang 1995).

80. Weekly Times (2 April 1938), p. 51.

81. Weekly Times (7 May 1938), p. 47.

82. Weekly Times (4 June 1938), p. 47.

83. Weekly Times (15 October 1938), p. 41.

84. Bob Addison, a child at school in Lyndhurst in the 1930s, recollected that ‘many people engaged in cutting scrub, picking heath in season and raking up moss in the swamps for florists’ wreaths’ during the 1930s. Morrison, 100 Years in Skye 1850–1950, p. 42.

85. Weekly Times (10 May 1941), p. 30.

86. ‘Peanuts’ made several pen friends through the Weekly Times and maintained correspondence with three of them for eight years; commenting on ‘the great deal of pleasure’ she got ‘from the correspondence’. Weekly Times (3 January 1945), p. 21.

87. Weekly Times (19 April 1944), p. 16.

88. Weekly Times (6 September 1944), p. 18.

89. Despite her prolific letter-writing, her will is the only example of her handwriting.

90. She evidently wrote the will herself — without obtaining legal advice, which might have recommended only giving the property to John in his lifetime. This probably reflects the lack of spare funds to pay a lawyer for advice or perhaps distrusting authorities.

91. His death certificate acknowledged his five children with Grace. No probate records exist, indicting that he left no will, property or funds.

92. In her letter celebrating owning her home and a later one, she emphasized her happiness despite her small home. In 1944, she wrote: ‘I haven't nice dresses or a nice home with all conveniences. I haven't many things that Mrs So and So has, but I know I am as happy as a lot of Mrs So and Sos who have all the things I'd like to have, and a lot happier than some of them’. Weekly Times (19 April 1944), p. 16.

93. ‘The invaders hated trees’, wrote W. K. Hancock. Geoffrey Bolton argues in his chapter ‘They Hated Trees’, that ‘to most settlers trees were simply a nuisance to be cleared to make room for building or farming’. W. K. Hancock, Australia (London: E. Benn, 1930), p. 33. Geoffrey Bolton, Spoils and Spoilers: A History of Australians Shaping their Environment, 2nd edition (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1992), p. 37.