May Gibbs Mother of the Gumnuts
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May Gibbs Mother of the Gumnuts by Maureen Walsh Published by SYDNEY UNIVERSITY PRESS University of Sydney Library www.sup.usyd.edu.au Copyright 2007 Maureen Walsh (text), The Spastic Centre of New South Wales and The Northcott Society (May G ib bs’ works) First published by Angus & Robertson Publishers in 1985 This edition based on the 1994 paperback edition Reproduction and Communication for other purposes Except as permitted under the Act, no part of this edition may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or communicated in any form or by any means with- out prior written permission. All requests for reproduction or communication should be made to Sydney University Press at the address below: Sydney University Press Fisher Library F03 University of Sydney NSW 2006 AUSTRALIA Email: [email protected] ISBN 13 978-1-920898-49-6 Typeset by Laserwords Private Limited, Chennai, India Printed in Australia at the University Publishing Service, the University of Sydney ABOUT THE AUTHOR Maureen Walsh, a fourth generation Australian, after a back- ground in theatre of the fifties joined the crew of the ‘Whiplash’ TV Series in 1960 and during the next three decades enjoyed a challenging career in the motion picture industry in North Amer- ica and Australia. She has screen credits for writing, direction, production and editing for feature films, advertising, industrial films and documentaries. In 1986 Maureen produced and directed a documentary, ‘An Interview with May Gibbs’, which won an award in the Biographical Section of the New York International Film and Television Festival. Maureen now enjoys a retired lifestyle in the tropics of Queensland. The May Gibbs quest has taken up a large portion of Maureen’s working and retirement years. With the help of those who care for our heritage, May's memory has been kept alive. Maureen reminisces ‘It’s hard to say if May found me or I found May and all her little creatures. I certainly grew up on Bib and Bub’. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS May Gibbs’ biography grew out of another project undertaken prior to International Women’s Year in 1975. May Gibbs was one of six women whose life stories I intended to document on film, an ambitious proposal that was not realised. However, I was extremely surprised that so little had been documented about May Gibbs, an author whose published works were so popular with Australian children, and so, in between assignments, I pursued a number of leads. Unknown to me I had stepped into what I came to regard as May Gibbs’ magic circle, and there was no getting out. Each time my enthusiasm for the project waned, a letter, a telephone call or some incident motivated me to take the next step. I am indebted to a number of people who had known, visited, worked with and for, or lived with May Gibbs in the latter years of her life. My first lead was Shirley Field who was working as a volunteer with UNICEF, and interviews followed with Carol Odell, Stephen Wilson, Win Raynor, Eric Marden, Len Knight, Win Holden, George Ferguson, John Ferguson, Aubrey Cousins, Beat- rice Davis, T. Porter, June Garwood, Mrs C. A. Smith, D. Fenwick, B. Asmus, Ruth Kerr, G. Kendell, G. H. Jarvis, Barbara Haydon Nelson, Judith Wallace, Ruth Trant-Fischer, Mabel King, John Ryan, Peggy Cookson, Nell Couran (Palmer), Florence Carson, D. Philips, Shirley Malcolm, Ron Wright, Angela Epstein, Sydney Nicholls, Maurice Saxby, Hazel de Berg, Beatrice Stavenhagen, John Mitchell, John Baillie and Mrs B. W. Pratt (Pixie O’Harris). Mrs Pratt directed me to a paper she had written and lodged with the Mitchell Library, Sydney, titled ‘A Memory of May Gibbs’. From the staff I learned that artwork and papers from the May Gibbs Estate had been lodged with the Mitchell Library. I con- vinced Shirley Humphries, the Deputy Mitchell Librarian, of my sincerity in pursuing a work on May Gibbs, and with the Estate’s permission twenty-five cardboard cartons, which had held May Gibbs’ personal collection since her death, were brought from the Archives. Margaret Collins, with the help of Marian Shand, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v sorted this abundance. It took two years to catalogue. The Mitchell Library staff have been most supportive and I appreciate their care. This is my first venture into the literary field and I owe a great deal for help received to Barbara Mobbs, Tim Curnow, Joy Cavill and particularly to my editor Mary Coleman, and Fiona Daniels. May Gibbs’ family have generously allowed me access to corre- spondence, supplied information and related personal memories of her life. Nephews John and Kenneth Gibbs of Perth and Majorie Ridley of Bunbury, Western Australia, have given invaluable assis- tance. I am particularly grateful for the help given by the late Josephine Gibbs, May’s sister-in-law. It is sad she will not see the end result. To May Gibbs’ most ardent fan, Marian Shand, and her husband Neil I express my sincere thanks. Both have not only given me every support and help but engendered renewed enthusiasm in the project when my spirits were flagging. The following organisations and their staff have also given their time and help which I acknowledge with thanks: Battye Library, Perth; the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Bunbury City Council Library, Bunbury; the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; the State Library of South Australia, Adelaide; Launces- ton Museum, Launceston; National Library, Canberra; Australian Archives, Canberra; Angus and Robertson Archives, Sydney; Ure Smith, now a division of Landsdowne Press, Sydney; the Bulletin, Sydney; the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney; the Daily Telegraph,Syd- ney; the North Shore Times, Sydney; the Weekend Australian, Sydney; the News, Adelaide; the Sunday Mail,Adelaide;theAge, Melbourne; the Courier Mail and the Sunday Mail,Brisbane;theMercury, Hobart; the West Australian, Perth; regional dailies throughout Queensland, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. CONTENTS Introduction: Mother of the Gumnuts 1 1 The Gibbs and Rogers Families 5 2 Failure at Franklin 10 3 The Harvey 18 4 The Family in Perth 25 5 England Revisited 37 6 The Illustrator 46 7 Running Away 56 8 ‘WearetheGumnutCorps’ 67 9 ‘Getting Far Too Flash’ 71 10 Married 80 11 Further Adventures 93 12 A New Publisher 101 13 Cartoonist and Columnist 107 14 Mrs Kelly 116 15 Lean Years 123 16 Business as Usual 136 17 Scotties, Bears and a Dande Lion 146 18 Very Much Alive 153 viii contents Two Unpublished Short Stories: Spotlights on George and Mrs George and Kitty’s Ankles 164 Very Little Small Old Book 169 Appendix: Published Material 172 May Gibbs’ Legacy to Children and Adults with Disabilities 177 Nutcote 179 An Interview with May Gibbs 180 Index 181.