BASSENDEAN a social history 1829-1979 by JENNIE CARTER
Published by the Town of Bassendean Perth, Western Australia 1986 CHAPTER EIGHT
May Holman M.L.A. In the 1920s, among the prominent women activists of the community were Catherine Holman and her daughters, in particular Mary Alice known to all as May. Catherine was the wife ofJohn (lack) Barkell Holman, Labor Minister, Member for first Murchison, then later Forrest, President of the A.W.A. in Western Australia and Secretary (1907-1925) of the State branch of the Timber Workers' Union. In addition to raising nine surviving children, Catherine was also heavily involved in a number of Labor women's organisations. Like so many other Bassendean families, the Holmans originally came from the Eastern States, their first child, May, being born in Broken Hill in 1893, the same year that her father moved to the town of Cue on the Murchison goldfields. Three years later Catherine and her little girl travelled out to join him and May received her early education at convents in Dongara and Perth.' In 1920 the Holmans bought a ten acre property in Ida Street from George Jenkinson and moved into the large rambling home on the block. Almost immediately the family became involved in the social life of the district and 'Holman House' one of the suburb's centres of hospitality. Most of the Holman children were musically inclined and accustomed from an early age to perform in public and at private gatherings. The eldest son, John, became a professional musical comedy performer and a well known Vaudeville star under his stage name of 'jack May'. May was also a talented singer and an accomplished musician and her fascination with the theatre led her to form her own company The Entertainers in which her sisters Maude, Iris, Winnie and Eileen and her brother Edward (Ted) were members at one time or another. The group staged performances around the State, the profits of which usually went to the Labor movement and various charities. Ted also formed a band, the Broadway in which local girl Rita North was the accompanist and when later on Rita had another group The Black Cat Orchestra, Ted became a member of that one as well.
The Broadway hand - Rita Smith (nee North) at the piano and Ted Holman. (BLHe courtesy Gwen Fenech)
152 Queen oj Giving Bassen When in Iuly 1924 the Perth Hospital Appeal was launched Bassendean dean Hospital Appeal cerern pooled its efforts to fundraise on a grand scale. May Holman headed one ony at Bassendean town hall 29/10/1924. Back row LX of the number of committees and provided the musical entertainment Maude Holman, Mildred at several functions. The highlight of the appeal venture was a Queen Payne, Mary Raine, May Hol man (Queen oj industry and ofGiving competition with Myrtle Richards being nominated as 'Queen Giving), Rita North, Winnie of Defence' with the backing of the Rifle Club and the Returned Duke, Tina Peach. ina Roberts, Ted Holman. Front row L·R: Servicemen's League. May Holman by popular acclaim was nominated Minnie McDermott, Eva Med for 'Queen of Industry' and won the competition with the help of her calf, Connie Coltbam, Mary Smith, Freda Wilscm (seated), committee which raised the largest amount. Due in no small measure Sheila Holman, Bella Taylor, to May's untiring efforts and the force of her personality, Bassendean raised Eileen Holman, Verna Bowen. (BLHC courtesy Sbeila m<:re than £500 for the hospital appeal. This sum was greater than that Moiler) raised by any other district in the Metropolitan area and over £100 more than Claremont who were runners-up. Cottesloe, a comparable suburb in size and location managed only a trifling £20 a salient fact gleefully emphasised by the editor of the Bassendean Magnet.? In recognition of this considerable achievement, the Bassendean Appeal Committee members were guests of honour at a function organised by the Perth Hospital Board and duly presented with a brass tablet recording the district's contribution.' The cause of the Perth Hospital was one very dear to the Holmans and Catherine had served on the committee for the King Edward Memorial hospital and the Perth hospital. Later in her career May was also elected to the board of management for the Perth General Hospital."
153 The Holmans brought up their children in a close-knit family environment strongly loyal to the ideals of Labor and committed to personal service for the cause of working-class families. At the age of 16 she accepted the post as official recorder at the first Western Australian Conference of Labor Women - the beginning of a lifelong association with women's political movements, both State and Federal." While still a teenager May was her father's close companion and personal secretary and eventually became his assistant in the Timber Workers' Union during the years 1918-1925. After her father's election to the seat of Forrest in 1923, May became well known in that constituency and popular with the immigrant workers because of her fluent Italian.
Before beginning her political career May unwittingly played a minor role in the dramatic events surrounding the defeat of the Labor Government in 1916. In 1914, shortly before her 21st birthday, May secretly married Peter joseph (Ioe) Gardiner, then State Labor Member for Roebourne. However, the couple never lived together as man and wife and not long after the existence of May's marriage was made known to her family, Gardiner abruptly returned to the Eastern States, apparently without c.1903 John Barkell Holman MLA for Murchison. (BLHe notifying the Party. His seat was subsequently declared vacant and at the courtesy Sheila Moiler) crucial by-election a non-Labor candidate was returned. The Scaddan Labor Government, first elected in 1911 found itself in a precarious position as the 1914 poll had reduced its majority to 26:24 and with the defection of Gardiner and the election of a Liberal member to take his place, the house was evenly divided. just three weeks after the 1915session closed, Labor member for Narrogin, land agent E.B. johnston, turned Independent and was re-elected as such, causing non-Labor parties to take a majority in the house. When Parliament reassembled in 1916, Labor was voted out of office and the Liberal/Country Party coalition under Frank Wilson formed a Government.
To compound the injury, johnston, who held the balance of power, accepted the post of Speaker (a non-voting position) leaving the Liberals with a clear majority of one; a situation that incensed the Labor members who felt they had been betrayed. One of the most vociferous opponents ofjohnston's appointment was jack Holman who in a heated interchange left his chair and moved towards the Speaker, threatening "I've come to yank you out." johnston called to the sergeant-at-arms to eject Holman c.1903 Katherine Holman wife from the chamber but Labor members formed a protective cordon around of j.B. Holman. (Bl.Hc. Holman while one took the audacious precaution of locking the door courtesy Sheila Moiler) behind the constable thereby preventing him from carrying out the order. johnston then left the chair causing the session to break up in confusion and after holding the Speakership for just a little over a fortnight, johnston submitted his resignation on the day following the fracas.v
In the meantime May, dispirited and depressed by the unhappiness following her ill-starred romance, retired for a short period to recuperate her energies by living and working on a farm. Putting the past behind her, she returned to the city and found an outlet for her renewed zest for life by forming a musical revue group, touring the State giving concerts
154 at military camps, hospitals and sanatoriums. In the space of ten months she gave over 100 performances to raise money for troop comforts and distress charities. In 1920, the year the Holmans settled in Bassendean, May obtained a divorce from Gardiner and although the experience appeared to have lett her with no discernible aversion to the male sex, she never remarried.
In 1921 Jack Holman resigned his seat of Murchison to stand for the electorate of Swan but was defeated by newspaper proprietor, Richard Stanley Sampson. After an unsuccessful try for the seat of Fremantle in 1922 he was elected Member for Forrest on the death of Peter O'Loghlen in 1923. Holman, however, had been in indifferent health for a number of years and died on 23rd February 1925 only three days before his 53rd birthday from complications following an operation for appendicitis. Despite her deep grief for her father, May campaigned for and won the seat of Forrest left vacant by her father's early death." With her entry into Parliament, May became only the second woman in Australia to hold a seat and the first woman Labor member in the British Commonwealth. Her long apprenticeship with her father stood her in good stead during the fifteen years she spent as Member for Forrest, which was principally a timber milling electorate. Although she remained passionately committed to issues concerning women and children, the predominately male constituency returned her to office for five consecutive terms. Amongst her notable successes while in office, she sponsored the Timber Industry Regulation Act through parliament in the year following her election. To help fight her case for the bill, she researched international labor offices, familiarised herself with the laws in other countries and worked closely with the various Trade Unions. The result was a comprehensive document, finely detailed and persuasively argued, the reception of which assured her the respect of her colleagues.
While in Parliament she worked for the establishment of a Central Executive of Labor Women and helped set up the Young Labor League. She travelled interstate a number of times to advise and support Labor women's organisations in the various states and despite the fact that the Eastern States press appeared more interested in the details of her dresses than her political message, managed to get her point across with style and grace. The novelty of a long serving Member of Parliament being not only a woman, but also attractive, charming and unmarried made c.1926 May Holman MLA {photo taken in Melbourne). May good copy wherever she went. Her very virtues however, possibly BLHC courtesy Sheiler counted against her in her political career for despite her undoubted Moiler) accomplishments, her skill in debate and her years of service, she was never appointed to a Cabinet post. Instead she was unfailingly treated to the sort of avuncular gallantry from male members of the house (including her own party) that effectively underlined her 'special' status. During one unemployment debate in 1932, she invited her opponent to visit her to inspect some papers she had in her possession that would prove her case, immediately another opponent interjected with the advice that she would then need a chaperone. In response to the innuendo, May retorted, "In this House I am, as I have said on a previous occasion,
155 no lady, but simply a Member'» But it was her colleagues' attitude to her as a woman, masked at times by a stated concern for her health, which continued to hinder her political rise.
In 1930 May was appointed Alternate Delegate representing the Australian Commonwealth at the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva where she addressed the committee set up to deal with drug traffic and child prostitution and attended meetings on such widely diverse topics as disarmament, defence financing, the plight of children during war time and the licensing of brothels." Until she died May retained her belief in the ideals of the League and continued to serve the Council as the Australian correspondent to the World Committee on issues concerned with maternal and child welfare,'? During the United Nations conference, May's health deteriorated alarmingly and she was forced to spend a great deal of time in bed both in Geneva and in England where she went to attend the English Labour Party Conference in Wales after the Assembly. john and Katherine Holman and their children c.l')21 Despite her sickness she continued with a tour of Europe culminating outside their house in Ida in a visit to Rome and an audience with the Pope, May had been plagued Street. Back row L-R. Bill, Winnie, Ted, John, Mal', with recurring bouts of illness since suffering an accident in 1905 and Maude. Front Row DR: Eileen, battled asthma and arthritis all her life, This time however there were john Barkel/, Sheila, Katherine, Iris (BLHe courtesy Sheila actual fears that she would not survive and it was to be nearly a year Moiler) before she was really fit to carryon with her work again.
156 Since leaving secretarial school, May's youngest sister Sheila worked as her secretary and personal assistant. Sheila was well known in Bassendean for her outstanding ability as a swimmer, having represented the State a number of times as well as winning the Swim Through Guildford at the incredibly early age of 13 years. During the campaign for the 1939 elections, May, Sheila, their married sister Iris Demasson and another woman co-worker toured the Forrest electorate canvassing for votes and because of May's arthritis most of the driving was done by Iris who at that stage was six months pregnant. Iris and May were alone in the car when it skidded out of control and overturned on a gravel road nine miles from Bunbury on the 17th March. Just 10 days earlier Sheila had been admitted to the Dwellingup hospital for an emergency appendectomy. May suffered broken limbs and massive internal injuries in the accident and her sister Iris a broken arm and crushed ribs. Fortunately Iris and her unborn child survived the car crash but May, after lingering fully conscious, died three days later in the St. John of God hospital in Bunbury only hours after receiving the news of her re election to State Parliament.
May Holman was buried in the Catholic cemeteryat Karrakatta and albeit not a Minister of the Crown and thus entitled to a full State funeral, May's cortege was one of the most impressive seen for a very long time. Tributes to her came from all over the country and the service was attended by the Lieutenant Governor, the Premier, all the Cabinet Ministers, leaders of all opposition parties and Members of Parliament and its staff. The Trade Unions turned out in force and the women's organisations were fully represented. Students from May's old school Sacred Heart Convent formed a guard of honour and eight women from the Labor women's movement accompanied her coffin from St. Mary's Cathedral to the waiting hearse. Among the mourners were many from Bassendean not counting official representatives of the Road Board. The leader of the Federal Labor Party-john Curtin, a friend and former co-worker with May at the Westralian Worker broadcast a tribute to her life and work concluding with the heartfelt statement: "Her memory will have a precious place in the annals of our cause,"!'
At the by-election held soon after, May's brother Ted who had been an unsuccessful contender for the North Perth electorate in the 1939 general election, campaigned for and won the seat left vacant by his sister's death and thus became the third Holman in succession to enter parliament as the representative for Forrest. Ted, while still a Member of the Legislative Assembly, enlisted in the Australian Infantry during the Second World Warl 2
With May's death, Sheila remained the only one permanently residing at Holman House in Ida Street. She married 'Ibm Moiler, the well-known fOotballer with the Swan Districts club towards the end of 1939 and although the young couple did eventually settle in Bassendean, the Holman family home was put on the market.
157 The 'working-class' suburb
The Holman family might stand as a symbol for much that was characteristic of Bassendean. Dedicated as were most of the residents to the advancement of the 'workingman' and to the principles of the Labor Party, and despite lip service to the socialist cause, Bassendean was a very settled, respectable, even traditionalist, suburb. What could best be described as a 'yeomanry' outlook permeated the district, exemplified . by an ambition to own the family home and enough land around it for gardens and to support a small amount of livestock as a means ofensuring at least partial self-sufficiency. J. 13. Holman himself, although considered a radical Laborite, owned a couple of properties, not counting the Ida Street block and bred racehorses; to a lesser extent his ideals were shared by many other Bassendean householders.»
Yet it would be facile to see the people of Bassendean as merely complacent adherents of a comfortable doctrine of right-of-centre Labor politics. In the confused years following the 1914/1918 war there arose a genuine belief in the imminent possibility of sweeping social change and the destruction of capitalism. In an article printed in the Westralian Worker Hugo Throssell, v.c. husband of Katherine Susannah Prichard, declared
"The war has made me a socialist. It has made me think and enquire what are the causes of wars. And my thinking and reading have led me to the conclusion that we never shall be free of wars under a system ofproduction for profit.... only the reorganisation of society on the basis ofproduction for use andfor the well being of the community as a whole can give any assurance of a permanent peace. "14
Throssell's conviction was echoed by many others who saw in social and political revolution the groundwork of a new and better future for humanity. In a move to translate these ideals into practical action, towards the end of 1920, a handful of people attended a meeting at the Perth Trades Hall and resolved to establish a branch of the Communist Party of Australia only weeks after the national body was inaugurated. To confirm this resolution, a letter was sent to the General Secretary of the new party in the Eastern States which concluded:
"The folloioing comrades agree to accept the principles and policy ofthe Communist Party ofAustralia and are prepared to submit to its discipline: G.W Whitbread, North Perth, WA. Katherine Susannah Tbrossell, Greenmount. Geo. Ryce, Guildford. F Shelly, Perth. Geo. Watson, West Guildford. W Hewson, West Guildford. "15
158 It is significant that of the six signatories to the letter sent to the General Secretary conveying this decision, three were from West Guildford. George Ryce a fitter and turner at the workshops who gave Guildford as his address lived in a modest weatherboard cottage in james Street (afterwards renamed Third Avenue), West Guildford and during the heyday of Labor domination of the Road Board was a member for the west ward during the years 1916-1919. Although many of his colleagues had reservations about his extremely militant unionism, he was widely respected for his integrity and personal courage. The acclaimed writer, Katherine Susannah Prichard admired him enormously. In an interview given in 1959 she recalled the early days of her association with Ryce and their formation of the Labor Study Circle.
"George Ryce was the most brilliantyoung man in the working class movement ofthe West when I met him. He was born in Scotland, I think, but had lived in the United States and Canada and taken part in industrial struggles there. He had a splendid brain and was a capable organiser: A man ofthe working class, militant to the core and a shrewd tactician in strike struggles. So much so that he was involved in almost every strike that occurred in the West in the early nineteen twenties. He died while still a young man as a result of the strenuous life he led trying to build working-class organisation, with total disregard ofhis own health. He was extraordinarily popular and had the confidence of the workers. "16
For his work with the Labor Study Circle, he was praised by john Curtin, then editor of the Westralian Worker who printed Ryce's public lectures on trade unionism in his paper."
Despite his committment to Marxist Socialism, however, Ryce had misgivings about some of the aims of the Industrial Workers of the World (l.WW) organisation and maintained that the I.WW. operated only on the fringe of the working-class movement. The 'Wobblies', so called, had a sizable following in the Eastern States where their ideals had permeated associations like the Industrial Union Propaganda League and a number of members had come to Western Australia expressly to influence the fledgling branch of the Communist party' 8 Ryce was personally attacked by one delegate for distancing himself from the League and for his insistence on speaking from a Labor platform during a strike,'?
Less than six months before Ryce became involved in the establishment of the W.A. Communist Party, he had been approached by "numerous influential Laborites" including his friend and fellow Road Board member W. Chinnery to run for pre-selection to State Parliament against WD. (Billy) Johnson. Many leftwingers felt that johnson had failed Labor for not speaking out more strongly during the 1916/17 Conscription debate. They also had reservations about the fact that his close identification with the interests of the wheatgrowers (of which he was one) might run counter
159 to Labor's claims upon him.>' However, Ryce refused to oppose Johnson or campaign for parliamentary office, preferring instead to channel his energies into the union cause and the advancement of socialism. In 1921 he was sent to Sydney as a delegate for the Amalgamated Engineering Union and while there chaired meetings of the Communist Party. 21 He was a close associate and supporter of Cecilia Shelley in her struggle for better conditions for female workers in the hotel and restaurant industry and after the long and bitter 'Esplanade Hotel strike' which began in March 1921, he took over her old position as secretary while she acted as organiser for the union.s- An official of the Metropolitan Council of the A.L.P., he also found time to assist in the setting up of the Fire Brigades' Union being subsequently elected to their executive and was a forceful promoter of the Rochdale Union Cooperative Stores movement.
Although the Australian Labor Party had adopted the 'Socialization Objective' in 1921, sectarian divisions within the party and the downturn in the economy had moderated the State Executive's enthusiasm to a marked degree by the time Labor was re-elected to power under Philip Collier in 1924 after 8 years in opposition.e> A conflict with the radical and militant left wing was inevitable and was brought to a head by the 1925 seamen's strike which tied up shipping in the West for over 3 months. Ryce, who was one of the organisers of the strike, became incensed when John Curtin refused to publish a letter from the Seamen's Union in the Westralian Worker and tried to blacklist Curtin. The A.L.P. promptly expelled the union along with Ryce and other militants including Cecilia Shelley>' George Ryce's influence within the union movement waned after his confrontation with the A.L.P. and by 1926 he had sold up and moved away from West Guildford.
Little is known of the other West Guildford foundation members of the Communist Party in W.A. George Watson lived for many years in Hamilton Street (later Fourth Avenue) and like George Ryce was employed at the workshops and occasionally carried out work for the Road Board. Winnie Hewson and her husband Carl were among the small band of willing helpers in the party, but as neither were ratepayers it is difficult to trace them, although an Agnes Hewson lived in Wilson Street about this time.
By the 1930s Communism had been largely discredited and the rank and file of Labor Party members were careful to avoid being linked with ideological militancy especially after news trickled out from Russia of Stalinist excesses. In Bassendean, reaction against Communism had forced many sympathizers to tread warily and there were attempts to 'weed out the reds'.
"When ljoined the A. 1,. P there were a couple there that ioere Communist bu t the>')! were generally honest blokes. One ofthem was a good worker for Bassendean and was on the A.1,.P Committee that uias collecting for the kindergarten. J quite liked him because he teas a pretty straight bloke and a good
160 talker. Tbere was a lot ofCommunist sympatbisers that worked at tbe iooresbops but there was no proof [ beat one fellow uiho [ suspect was a Communist for tbe secretaryship of tbe Labor brancb. [was asked to stand because [ was known as an anti-Communist. Well, [ am not actually, [ would call myself rniddle-cf-the-road Labor man, neither rigbt nor left and a lot ofBassendeanpeople would baue tbougbt like me. ''25
In general social revolution had not much appeal for a community intent Railioay icorksbop employees on the day to day business of establishing their homes and raising their Midland children. There was too much to be done within their own suburb to improve conditions and facilities and cement friendships to allow more than a cursory interest to be given to issues that were perceived as little more than indirectly affecting their lives. With concrete problems and practical matters, they proved themselves time and again to be forceful, energetic, resourceful and well organised. The preoccupations of Bassendean people were mirrored to a great extent by those who were in a position to influence the suburb's development. Few however have had the opportunity to make such an impact on the district as the longest running Chairman of the Road Board and later the Shire Council, Richard Alexander (Dick) McDonald.
161 R.A. McDonald: the power and the purpose.
Richard Alexander McDonald, the most enduring architect of Bassendean's growth and development was born in Dublin, Ireland on the 3rd February 1885 and was only 8 months Old when he arrived with his parents in Western Australia. The family settled at Cottesloe and young Dick McDonald received his education at North Fremantle and Cottesloe schools until the age of fourteen when he began work in Pearce Bros. Boot factory at North Fremantle. Even as a youth, McDonald possessed the single-minded determination that marked his public career for he was barely 16 when he joined Kitcheners Fighting Scouts during the Boer War in 1901. He had previously tried to enlist in Western Australia but was rejected as being under age. Nothing daunted by the Western Australian contingent's refusal of his services, McDonald signed on as a cabin boy and worked his passage to Britain, from there he took ship as a stoker to South Africa where he was finally accepted into the Scouts. While engaged in the skirmish at Scheerport he was wounded and after receiving his discharge was sent home in April 1902.26 R.A. McDonald 1902 in South Africafor the Boer War. (Bl.Hc. - courtesy Alex McDonald) Soon after his return he took up an apprenticeship as a carpenter with William Lovell Walsh of Guildford whose daughter, Ethel May, became McDonald's wife in 1906. By 1905 McDonald had purchased four blocks of land, two in Kenny Street West Guildford and adjoining lots in the Bayswater area, but the family continued to live in Guildford until just prior to 1909, the date when McDonald joined the New Zealand Garrison Artillery, No. 3 Co. (Auckland). Richard, Ethel and their little daughter May, lived in New Zealand until 1911 after which time they returned to West Guildford where McDonald found employment at the W.A.G.R. workshops and built a house on one of his Kenny Street blocks.>? Two more children, Alexander and Donald, were born in West Guildford in 1912 and 1920 respectively.
Almost immediately after settling in the district, McDonald became involved in Labor politics and community affairs. A member of the Railway Employees' Union he joined the West Guildford branch of the Australian Labor Federation and represented them at the Fremantle Labor Conference in 1913. His interest in Local Government dates from about this point and he became a Road Board Member for the first time in April 1915. An adventurous young lad and a self confessed "wild youth",28 McDonald gained the reputation in his mature years as a reserved, shrewd, even forbidding man who spoke rarely but when he did was accorded absolute attention. During his first term on the Road Board he seldom embroiled himself in debate with his fellow members unless the discussion touched on war issues. Warlike to the core, McDonald was instrumental in having R.A. McDonald was fond ofthe the Board pledge itself not to purchase anything of German manufacture military life. Photo taken 1910 or bearing a German name, insisting that preference be given to British New Zealand Fortress Carr; SOH. (BLHC - - courtesy Alex made goods and it was McDonald who almost immediately upon his McDonald) . election, moved that the Board display an honours list of all residents who volunteered to fight in the war. 29 Six months later, he himself was listed among those names when he was accepted into the Army
162 Engineering Corps and saw action in Egypt as well as France where he gained the rank of Corporal and sustained an arm wound. Invalided home to the Fremantle Military Hospital, he arrived back in Western Australia on Armistice Day, 1918.30
After the war he returned to his job as a carriage maker at the workshops and became immersed once again in a number of local organisations, subsequently running for Road Board membership in the 1922 poll. His election to the Board caused a minor stir in the district due to the fact that he ran against and successfully deposed John Pickering the sitting Chairman by a slender margin of four vores.>' No doubt McDonald's war service record stood him in good stead with the ratepayers but his victory was still surprising considering the high regard held locally for Pickering's acknowledged calibre. Barnard, Road Board Chairman in 1915, was proven to be prophetically astute when he marked McDonald as "one of the coming men of West Guildford".32 John Pickering regained his membership a couple of months later after a by-election was held for the seat left vacant by the surprise resignation of H.L. Brisbane who stated McDonald with his wife Ethel and children May and Alex that he had relinquished his position "in the interests of the district" his 1915. (BLHC courtesy Alex sole motive being that Pickering could be elected in his place.» McDonald)
Despite such an inauspicious beginning, McDonald kept his own counsel and very quickly earned the respect of his colleagues even managing to remain on fairly amicable terms with Pickering. He became noted as an assiduous worker for the community right from the beginning and was in on the ground floor of a number of the clubs and societies that proliferated in West Guildford in the post-war years. In 1920 he was one of the fifteen foundation members of the West Guildford Masonic Lodge, he joined the Rifle Club, the Returned Serviceman's League and was one of the prime movers of the Bassendean Improvement Committee. Because of his identification with the latter cause, local wits insisted that the initials B.Le. were an acronym for the 'Big Irish Chairman' and in his later years McDonald was dubbed (not altogether affectionately) 'the King of
McDonald family in 1938 Alex, May, Donald, Ethel and Dick. eB/JIC - courtesy Alex McDonald)
163 Bassendean' In later years he sponsored the creation of the Swan Districts Football Club and became a patron of organisations as diverse as the Bowling Club, the Daffodil Society and the Volunteer Fire Brigade.
Bassendean Road Board members 1927-1928_ Back row L-R: A. Drysdale, IE Claugbton, I Pickering, W. Hardman, R.A. McDonald, E. Stewart. Front row L-R: EI Gaunt, E.G. Lindsay (Sec), I Gallagher (Chairman), R McKellar (Electrician), IM. Steele.
R.A. McDonald took his responsibilities towards the Road Board earnestly and as early as 1924 deputised for the then Chairman, ].M. Steele, during BASSENDEAN OVAL 3rd December, 1932 his absence. The necessity for strict economic measures dominated the thinking of the Road Board for much of McDonald's early years as a "A" GRADE member ana thus little rein could be given to ambitious plans for the CRICKET development of Bassendean. Yet McDonald's underlying vision was apparent in his whole hearted support of the B.I.C. project and his MT. LAWLEY championship of schemes to improve local sporting facilities, although v there was not much he and other like-minded administrators could EAST PERTH achieve while the district was in such a parlous financial condition.
Thi. m~l£h will be phycd on B.."""Jun Oval <'on>m"ncing at !lp.n,.<)ns"luruay, 3rd n"ccmbcr, 19N. Bassendean and the Swan Districts Football Club. Duringti'l<:adjournrtKnl. ,h.. G.and'I."d a"dOv.1 will be Officially Opened by R. A. McDonald f.•q., Cha'nun Ba="dc:m Ru>d Board By the end of 1926, however, finances for the Road board were beginning to improve slightly and loan funds from the State Government were more
_ G. HEATH. H"". s..,. Mo_Lo.",l.,. Cri
Prior to this move, McDonald had organised a small group of residents
164 to lobby the Western Australian Football League for the acceptance of Swan Districts football team a district team with headquarters in Bassendean into their ranks. Before 1934. (BLHC - courtesy Geor gina Gipson) the First World War Midland]unction had hosted a 'B' grade league team but by 1917, due to an almost mass enlistment of their players, this had been disbanded. Financial problems and the absence of a really suitable ground, had prevented the team being reformed. However moves were being made to re-establish the Midland team when McDonald made his approach to the W.A.F.L. The official body was coy about committing itself but agreed in principle to the proposal along with a stipulation that before any final decisions could be made, the reserve must first be converted into an approved football oval with all the facilities necessary for players and public. McDonald and his co-lobbyists undertook to get the Bassendean Road Board to raise a loan to cover the costs of upgrading if they could have the assurance that if the work was done within a
Dick McDonald kicks off the first League football game on the newly reconstructed Bas sendean oval 1934. (BLHC courtesy Bob Bryant)
165 Aerial photograph of Bassen reasonable time the central body would guarantee their team's admission dean showing the recreation reserve (football oval) 1939, to the League, but League officials continued to remain vague on this point. (BLHC - courtesy Alf At the 1927 ratepayers' meeting, objections were raised against spending Richards) such a large sum of money just to provide a football oval that would benefit an outside authority. These arguments were countered by the assertion that the Board would not allow control of the reserve to fall into the hands of the W.A.F.L. and that the ground was really for the young people of Bassendean who were being forced to go out of the district for their weekend sporting fixrures.e>
Opposition to the scheme remained active however, and in March 1928 the Board finally agreed to hold a referendum to decide the matter. As an indicator of the passions aroused by the proposal, an anonymous pamphlet urging residents to vote against raising a loan began circulating soon after the referendum was announced,
"Ratepayers! Are you awake? lfso do not let any more ofyour money be squandered on white elephants. Stop this rash waste of £6000 plus interest of your money VOTE No on Saturday! "36
166 The Recreation Reserve loan proposal was defeated at the referendum, but McDonald and his co-workers were determined not to let the matter rest. The following year Dick McDonald was elected Chairman of the Bassendean Road Board and soon afterwards the Board again announced its intention of raising £3,750 for improvements to the reserve. This time those in favour of the move were more efficient in marshalling their supporters and the W.A.F.L. aided the cause by giving a firm committment to admit a team drawn from the districts east of Bayswater to the League by 1934.37 As a consequence of McDonald's comprehensive canvassing and given an assurance from the Board that revenue from League football matches would be used to repay the loans raised, the referendum was passed by the ratepayers with a resounding majority of 483 to 145. 38 Doubtless too, the publicity given to the proposal and the heated reaction displayed by Midland Junction may have played a part in swaying Bassendean voters' opinions. Shortly before the referendum was held, Midland Junction spent £2000 on improving their ground ostensibly in response to unofficial representations made by the League. Those responsible for expending this amount protested that although nothing was put in writing, there existed an "honourable understanding" on the part of the League to admit the Midland team.w Bayswater also made claims for their ground and insisted that their district should have an equal right to be considered, but their protests paled by comparison with the vehement opposition voiced by Midland residents."?
McDonald's task was also made easier by the fact that in February 1929 the W.A.N.F.L. had reviewed the applications made by MidlandJunction Daily News 4/5/1973. (WA Newspapers)
"Ceipes, the Swans supporters hove
167 --- since 1922, had made an inspection of the Midland oval late in 1928 and concluded that the Midland ground "would never be fit for first class footbal1."41 To clinch matters, at their next meeting the following June, the W.A.N.F.L. resolved that Bassendean would be the headquarters of North Eastern Districts League and that to assure the formation ofa suitable team, no players from the new district would be permitted to join any other League club for two years prior to its admission.v
Despite common knowledge of the upgrading of the Recreation Reserve and reports in the local paper that a proposed League Football team was to be based in Bassendean, and given the strength of feeling aroused in 1929, surprisingly, it was not until the middle of 1931 that Midland's objections to the scheme were given a really wide press coverage. The casual announcement that a 'B' grade team drawn from the eastern districts was in the process of being selected, sparked a renewed and spirited wave of protests from indignant Midland residents. Arguments against the siting of the new team's headquarters at Bassendean were long on emotional rhetoric, but short on practical alternatives and largely concentrated on MidlandJunction's outrage that an 'upstart' little suburb should have been given preference over the long-recognised 'football centre' of the eastern districts.w "Midland will not join with Bassendean," declared Mayor Poynton who headed a deputation to the League headquarters. "It may be unfortunate for Midland Junction and. for the game generally, but there is no hope whatever of Midland using Bassendean as its headquarters. We are at the parting of the ways..."44
Plans to boycott the new League team were refined at a meeting of Midland Junction football supporters, but the move was made too late to have any real effect on the outcome and the furore eventually petered out. Half-hearted attempts to revive the controversy were doomed in the face of Bassendean's fait accompli and an uncharacteristic refusal by the editor of the Swan Express to publish letters containing personal invective." Old enmities were finally buried by the time the new Swan Districts Football League team was formed in 1933 and included among the officials of the club were several representatives from Midland.w
The committee which was headed by McDonald as the foundation President and Fritzie Lange from Midland as vice-president managed to obtain the services of the legendary George "]udda" Bee as coach for the Swan Districts club and with the acquisition of players of the calibre of Russ Grieves and Buck Millwood from East Perth, the newest League team proved to be a worthy member of the W.A.N.F.L. Nevertheless, although often making it to the finals, Swans only managed to grasp the elusive Premiership for the first time in 1961: but just to prove the drought had broken, the team performed a hat trick becoming Premiers in 1962 and 1963 as well.f?
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