CARINYAH TEACHER  

LIFE AT CARINYAH

By Jean Stanbury

At the beginning of the school year in 1935 we moved to our first home. I can still remember the excitement when we found that we were to go to a small school only 30 miles from the city. The Education Department regretted that we would have to live in a single quarters, but that did not worry us in the least. After all, we were only just married and would cheerfully have lived in a tent.

The school served the small Forestry settlement of Carinyah where about half a dozen families lived and a sawmill about a mile away from which most of the children came.

The quarters were reasonably new and consisted of a 12’ by 20’ (4m x 7m approx.) room divided into a small bedroom and a kitchen. Along the front of the house ran a verandah, one end of which had been enclosed to make a small bathroom. There was no hand basin or bath heater, just a rather badly stained bath – but we got by alright as we were quite used to heating water over the stove in a kerosene tin.

The bedroom was so tiny that there was room for nothing but a bed. Luckily, there were two built-in cupboards in the kitchen and by removing the shelves from one of these we had a wardrobe large enough to hold a few things. The other cupboard held everything else in the way of linen and clothing that we owned. The small amount of furniture we needed was made by Charlie Mullins who ran a small business in Hay Street, Subiaco. It consisted of a table – with a round top -, four kitchen chairs, a kitchenette (very modern and the pride of my heart) and a bed. A mattress and a piece of lino for the kitchen and we were in business.
 

TEACHER"S QUARTERS AT CARINYAH           #2
 

We spent four happy years at Carinyah and I often wonder now how we managed to cope especially after Janet was born. Harold managed to get a copper and troughs put in at the side of the house and another 1,000 gallon tank. We even saved enough money to buy a new Singer sewing machine in a polished cabinet and our first car, an old Fiat which cost sixty pound ($120). On a salary of 210 pound ($420) per annum, that was a fair effort. At the end of 1938 we received word of a transfer to Clackline. Much jubilation again as we were still quite handy to the city and only 12 miles to Northam.
 

SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD FAYE GIBBS with  her sister, MYRTLE and father,  GEORGE GIBBS AT CARINYAH TENNIS COURTS 1947               #1

By Daughter Lynne Danks (Nee Stanbury)

My father, Harold Stanbury, befriended Mr. Sullivan, the owner of one of the sawmills in the Carinyah area. Dad did Mr. Sullivan’s account books for him and because “moon lighting” was frowned upon by the Education Department, Mr. Sullivan paid Dad in she-oak slabs. Out of these lengths of wood my father made various household items – a curved frame for an oval shaper mirror (I still have the mirror and frame); a beautiful and very practical sewing box which I now use; the frame for the kitchenette (it still lives with me); a shoe box which kept the boot polish, brushes etc. This later item was pulled apart and my son has a small wooden lidded box which I made of his 50^th birthday. Those pieces of she-oak have certainly served the family very well.

My Mum and Dad were very keen tennis players and were instrumental in constructing a tennis court at Carinyah. This court was made from crushed ant hills, lime stone (crushed) and cow manure then watered and rolled until it was fit as a playing surface.

CARINYAH SOCIAL LIFE

By Jean Stanbury

The Settlement was principally set up as a sawmill and during the depression, the Forestry Department and the Government of W. A. had sustenance camps in the area. In these camps, the men who were otherwise unemployed were used for siliculture work in the Jarrah forest. They lived in tents and worked two days per week for a wage of thirty shillings ($3.00) and most of them had their permanent homes in the metro area. They travelled at their own convenience and in their freetime back and forth between tent ant home.

The sawmill was called a "spot" mill. It was owned by Syd Smailes who was a charming old character and he employed about a dozen men. The timber, so produced was transported by truck to the railhead at Karragullen, four miles away, and hence to a destination of order. These employees at the mill were often large families and the resulting pupils combined with the forestry family children made up the school population. For the most part, there was an enrolment of about eighteen children at the school during the four years of our habitation. As we did not have a car in the first years, we were dependent upon the goodwill of friends, forestry and saw-mill people. There were occasional dance evenings either at Barton's Mill, a nearby saw-mill (owned by Millars) or in the school building. The people were very sociable and there was never an occasion when there were any differences of opinion resulting in brawls.

For weekend entertainment, we all combined to construct a tennis court near the forestry offices and many of the mill people started out in there tennis careers. The tennis court was built of Colas and sawdust for the surface. The fence was twelve-foot high with wire netting and bush posts and the area had to be cleared of large trees - done by the (tree) fellers from the mill. On completion of the tennis court, the Shell Company had the audacity to request a payment of ten shillings as royalty for the use of the colas system with sawdust - needless to say, this was never paid!!

On November 8th, 1935 our first child, Janet Lillian, was born at Subiaco. For the last two weeks prior to Janet's arrival, Jean stayed with Aunty Ettie at Shenton Park. Harold batched at home! Our friend Lionel Hooper, was with him and they conducted a "good" household. Harold at this stage, hadn't been married long enough to be trained in the way of keeping house.

When Janet was brought home, we had the problem of sleeping accommodation - or lack thereof. The answer was a large drop-side cot - a modern invention. This proved to be a problem to get in the house. Later, we converted the section of verandah into a sleep-out and there installed out double bed and Janet's cot. This was rather chilly during the winter when there were heavy frosts.

Early in 1936, Jean's father, George, came to visit us to see the baby, his first grandchild. He travelled all the way from Boulder although he was a very sick man. He stayed some weeks and returned to his home where he died late in the year (October). He died of miner's phthisis, or silicosis, a form of consumption, caused by granite dust inhaled in his mining work.

In this same year, we bought our first car, a 1924 Fiat 501 Tourer. For this we paid sixty pounds ($120.00) on a twenty pound ($40.00) deposit. In the course of time, this car was completely renovated and stayed with us for the next four years. She was called "Fanny" and served us very well.

After four years at Carinyah, the school was upgraded, and Harold received a transfer to the Clackline State School. Here, the house was a mansion by comparison with Carinyah and in this year, 1939, war broke out which caused complete disruption to our domestic situation.

Articles:                Lynne Danks

Images:              1      Gordon Freegard
                          2      Lynne Danks

Copyright : Gordon Freegard  2008 - 2020