FRANCIS DRAKE WILLMOTT !Nterviewed by John Ferrell (10 Tapes)
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FRANCIS DRAKE WILLMOTT !nterviewed by John Ferrell (10 tapes) and Del Willmott (3 tapes) Introduction This collection of memories is the result of a series of interviews with my father. The first two of these (Bridgetown and Political Memories) were carried out by me in 1988 and a third (Hale School) in 1992: Unfortunately work pressures and other matters intervened and I did not carry on with this project and the matter rested until my daughters, Deidre and Helen, decided in 2001 that they would engage a professional interviewer to talk to Frank who was by then aged 97 but still quite alert mentally. These interviews consisted of one hour of discussion each week and were conducted by John Ferrell who previously had interviewed a number of former Federal MPs. When completed Helen and I transcribed these interviews. As I did the transcription work I realised that it was a great pity that I had not carried on in 1988 as Frank's memories were much less clear by 2001. I also felt that my previous feeling that it was better for these interviews to be carried out by a non-family member without one ofus present was wrong. I found myself continuously wishing that John would ask "the next question" which I knew would have revealed a lot more information because I already knew at least part of the answer. As a result of this I felt that in addition to an accurate transcription of Frank's words for future reference it would be interesting if I provided an edited version to which was added my own knowledge and memories because, of course, our memories overlap to quite a considerable extent. Unfortunately, some of Frank's recollections are confused and I have provided quite extensive notes where I feel they can add to the accuracy or content of the narrative. I have also tried to give some of the historical background to some of the events covered. It should be remembered that in addition to his advanced age Frank also had serious hearing problems throughout the interviews which meant that often he was concentrating on hearing the questions rather than what he was saying. John Ferrell showed remarkable patience and understanding to get as much information as he did. Finally, I should mention that the original interviews and my editing and notes were done for future use by family members rather than historians. :1' RECOLLECTIONS OF BRIDGETOWN This tape which is being made in late 1988 is a record ofa discussion between my father, Frank Willmott and myself, Del Willmott. It is an attempt to record some ofFrank's and to some extent my own memories ofthe Western Australia that we grew up in and ofthe people we knew, particularly the people that Dad knew. Bearing in mind that his life has covered over half the time that European settlers have been in Western Australia and his family includes some of the earliest settlers in Wes tern Australia th ere should be some interesting reflections on the growth ofthis countly up until this year of1988, which, coincidentally is the Bi-Centena,y ofEuropean settlement in Australia. Frank was born atNannup on 23 rd January 1904. The family moved to "Applewood" later in 1904 with the children being Francis Drake (Frank), his older sister Catherine Josephine (Kitty), who later married Evelyn Hester, and his older brother Percival Edmund Sykes (Sykes). Two additional children were born in Bridgetown. Henry Joseph (Joe) and Del. The latter died of whooping cough aged two months. Frank's father Francis Edward Sykes Willmott ( also Frank), was born in Kirkley, Suffolk in 1870 and came to WA with his older brother Percy in 1887. Their father theRevHenryWillmottMA (Oxon), who was the Rector of Kirkley, died young leaving the family in somewhat difficult financial circumstances. Frank (snr) and Percy subsequently married the two eldest daughters of Edward Brockman of"The Warren" near present day Pemberton. Both Edward Brockman and his wife Capel (nee Bussell) were born in WA. Both families had arrived in WA in early 1830. When the family arrived in Bridgetown Frank senior was employed as a Forest Ranger by the WA Government and continued in this position until he entered State Parliament as the member for Nelson in 1914. He also developed and extended the apple and pear orchards at "Applewood" at the same time although it appears that his wife Frances Edith (Edith), who was a very capable and hard working woman, did much of the day to day management of the farm. Frank senior was one of the first group of members of the newly formed Country Party to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Western Australian Parliament and shortly after his election became the leader of the Party. · He served as minister in the Lefroy, Colebatch and Mitchell governments before losing his seat at the 1921 general election. He then served as an MLC for Southwest Province from 1921 to 1925 when he lost that seat also. The Country Party, now the National Party, was never able to consolidate itself in this area and was not represented again until the sixties and seventies when it again briefly held seats there. Frank senior died in 1941 and was buried in Bridgetown. His wife died in 1946 and was also buried in Bridgetown. Frank.junior went to primary school in Bridgetown and then attended High School (now Hale School) in Perth from 1919 to 1921. He farmed, first in partnership with his brother Joe at "Applewood", and later moving to the nearby old Doustproperty at "Geegeelup". He retained pait of"Applewood" when the partnership was split in 1945. He entered the Legislative Council as a Liberal member for his father's old seat of Southwest Province in 1955 and served until 1974. Apart from his original election, which he won easily, he was never opposed in 19 years. He moved to Nedlands in 1968 and was still living in his home at 72 Mountjoy Road when this interview was recorded in 1988. His wife, my mother, had died suddenly in England in 1970. He finally moved out of his N edlands home in 1998 when he entered Sandstrom Nursing Home in Mount Lawley where he died on 4th August, 2004 aged 100 years and six months) I was born in Bridgetown in 1936 while the family was still living at "Applewood". I started school in mid 1942 at a tiny school located on the old Hester property at "Dalgarup". I imagine the main reason for that was the Second World War, which was at its most menacing at about the time I started school. My parents probably felt that it was safer than being in Bridgetown if bombing occurred and of course my aunt (Dad's sister, Mrs Evelyn Hester) lived nearby in the event of a sudden emergency. In any event I used to walk across the paddocks at "Applewood" to Trot's Cottage at the foot ofTrot's Hill where Mrs Jones, the teacher, lived. Margaret Scriven and I as well as Mrs Jones' daughter, Jennifer, would then be driven to School in Mrs Jones' Vauxhall car which was notoriously unreliable, especially on cold winter mornings when it would refuse to start. I remember setting out up the hill from our home on "Applewood" being followed by curious cattle. On cold mornings they would breathe large clouds of steam hard on my heels. A very small, not overconfident, boy aged just six, I did not look behind for fear that might excite even more interest. Sometimes the ice on the grass would crackle under my feet which probably had no more than sandals on as my parents believed that it was better to have cold feet than wet shoes all day. In warm weather we wore sandals or went barefooted. At the top of the hill I climbed through a fence into a paddock known as the "Hundred Acres". At that time it had not been cleared for many years and during the depression and war it had become infested with rabbits and Bracken fem. There were also large numbers of dead ringbarked trees still standing and a good deal of fallen debris. It was into this tangle of bracken and rabbit burrows that I now plunged weaving among the fem patches some of which were close to six feet high. Of course my father had accompanied me the first few times but after that I found my own way. I don't remember being frightened but looking back it would have been easy to get badly lost in these thickets which continued out of sight of the houses for about half a mile until I emerged on the main Bridgetown-Perth road opposite Trot's Cottage about 2 miles north of Bridgetown. The little school closed at the end of 1943 and I moved to the main Bridgetown State School at the commencement of the 1944 school year. This entailed a walk of some 2 miles along roads in the opposite direction to my former route. The war had by this time moved further away and the immediate danger to Australia had been removed. Transcription This tape which is being made in late 1988 is a record of a discussion between my father, Frank Willmott and me, Del Willmott. It is an attempt to record some of Frank's and to some extent my own memories of the W estem Australia that we grew up in and of the people we knew, particularly the people that Dad knew.