Book 3.

The Parfitt Family- From Somerset, England

1. The Parfitt name:

Although not rare, the surname, Parfitt is not particularly common, only a Parfitt: English: from Middle English parfit moderate number being found in ‘fully trained’, ‘well versed’ (Old French historical records. A search of the parfit(e) ‘complete(d)’, from Latin perfectus , indexes for the UK suggest that it is ‘to finish or accomplish’), hence a nickname, almost entirely a southern name, probably originally denoting an apprentice occurring occasionally in Surrey, Kent, who had completed his period of training. Dorset, Wiltshire and Devon but very (The change from -er- to -ar- was a strongly in the county of Somerset characteristic phonetic development in Old from Bristol, south through Bath to the French and Middle English.) The modern Devon border. There are also a English word perfect is from Latin. reasonable number from Dissent with the superstitious practices of the Gloucestershire and some from Catholic religion became widespread Southern Wales but the latter seem to amongst Christians in Europe from the late be more recent. I have found one entry 11 th Century. It existed under many names in from Norfolk, one from Suffolk in the th different regions and was cruelly persecuted 19 century records but none further (by burning at the stake) by the established north that are readily available. The Church, eventually being suppressed spelling around Wiltshire and London everywhere except in Languedoc, now often appears as Parfett, Parfet etc. but southern France around Toulouse, where its any variation is likely to be due to non- followers were called Cathars . They had two standard spelling or to the local accent. categories, Perfecti (Perfects, Parfaits) and The name appears to have originated in Credentes (Believers), the former Middle English, (that is, English in the representing the heart of the " true Christian period from the 1066 conquest by the Church ". Demands of extreme asceticism fell Normans to the reign of Elizabeth I). It only upon the Perfecti who vowed to lives of therefore has a Norman-French simplicity, frugality and purity, credentes not influence with links to the word being expected to adopt the same lifestyle. “perfect” which, in its original form, They were however expected to refrain from means “finished”, probably referring to eating meat and dairy products, from killing an apprentice (see upper box). A and from swearing oaths. In the late 12 th speculated but unsubstantiated Century, a sizable portion of the Languedoc connection to the “ Perfecti ”, the more population, many from noble families, were extreme branch of the Cathars from the th “believers”. Their morals were much admired 13 century Toulouse region in France, but the Cathars were annihilated by a 20-year has been postulated. This is likely to be (Albigensian) crusade initiated by the incorrect which is not surprising as the Catholic Church (1209–1229), the Pope various forms of Catharism were not as offering their lands to any French nobleman strong in England which had always willing to take up arms. The violence led to expressed more religious independence French acquisition of those lands, an from Rome, than in France, heavily estimated 85,000 people dying during this under the sway of the Papacy and the crusade. German Holy Roman Empire.

67 2. Tracing the Parfitts:

The first Parfitt in our line in Australia for whom I can find an undisputable record is Parfitt (location): The name in south William Parfitt who arrived in about 1863 west England is more frequent in or 1864. Now as there were a number of Somerset than in other counties. Even William Parfitts in successive generations, there, it clusters in the mining region that I will designate them using their middle lies centred about 15 kms south of Bristol, initial for clarity. That is, the first William 10 kms south west of Bath. The towns is undesignated; his son (our grandfather) most commonly associated with it appear is William J. (John), his son, usually to be, in order of frequency, Clutton, called Bill, is William D. (Devonald) Radstock, Farmborough, Dunkerton, while finally the next is William L. Camerton and Midsomer Norton. Stoke (Lesley). Lane lies another eight kms south with Frome a further ten kms east, the name William married Margaret Butler in appearing in both these districts, (see Newcastle, Australia in 1870 and after the Appendix 2, Maps). birth of six children in ten years, died at Lambton, (Newcastle) on 20/10/1880 aged Clutton: A village and parish within the 39. Their marriage certificate, the death Chew Valley. The nearest town is certificate of William and the birth Midsomer Norton. It was called Clutone certificate of William J. are available. I in the 1086 Domesday Book meaning 'A will deal with these more closely after first rocky hill enclosure' from the Old English examining William’s possible origins in cludig and tun , but there is also an obscure England. However, some details are first Celtic word cluttya meaning a 'hen's required to be able to do this. The roost'. It has a long history of coal mining marriage certificate of June 1870 gives no both in the village and in the surrounding information other than that he was a Somerset coalfield, but the mines no miner. The other two certificates were longer work. reported by his wife, Margaret Parfitt (nee Radstock was well known as a mining Butler) and so are likely to be fairly village with houses built for the workers. th accurate. On his death in October, 1880, It was a coal mining area in the 19 she notes William’s origin as England, his century as noted in Simon Winchester’s years in the colony as 16, his age as 39 his book The Map that Changed the World . occupation as a miner (coal) and his Carboniferous coal measures are full of parent’s names as James Parfitt and well preserved fossil plants. Although all Martha. These names are consistent with quarries are now closed and overgrown, the naming of their children which will be there are still a few locations where fossils mentioned later and so are believable. On can be found. William John’s birth certificate in Stoke-Lane , (now Stoke St. Michael), December 1876, she gives the father (her The land is mostly pasture, with some husband), William Parfitt as being born in woods and plantations. It is in the diocese Somerset, his age being 36 and again his of Bath and Wells. The church, St. occupation being a miner. That is, these Michael, has a tower containing a clock certificates are consistent. If she was and three bells, rebuilt in 1838. The entirely accurate with his age, he must register dates from 1644. have been born between 20 th October and 26 th December 1840.

68 Modern Parfitts have proved to be enthusiastic family historians. Of all the name branches of our family, Parfitt provides the greatest number of web sites with extensive historical listings of births, deaths and marriages so given a birth date, William’s birth record should appear somewhere as it is within the period of compulsory registration. While the above indicates that his birth was towards the end of 1840, the accuracy cannot be guaranteed and an error of a year either way is feasible but the starting point for such a search is the last quarter of 1840. As the formal registration in England began in 1836-1837 and noting that his parents’ given names are known, such information should be sufficient to trace his town of origin in the UK and his own birth certificate but that has not proven to be the case. William’s exact origins remain obscure. No birth of a William Parfitt, born between say 1839 and 1842 in Somerset to a James and Martha Parfitt has been uncovered. Examples of the nearest births that can be found in Somerset are as follows.

1. William Parfitt, 1838, son of Aaron and Rhoda; village Dunkerton. 2. William Parfitt, 1838, son of Henry (coalminer) and Hester; village Camerton. 3. William Parfitt, age 6 months at 1841 census (on 6 th June, 1841), 4. William Parfitt, 3/1/1841, son of James (coalminer) and Ann; village Radstock. 5. William Parfitt, 1842, son of Abel (coalminer) and Elizabeth; village Dunkerton. 6. William Parfitt, 31/7/1842 son of William and Martha; village Stoke Lane,

These cover a wider range of years than is likely and, as well as the The mysterious William Parfitt: The birth date, all have inconsistencies. appropriate information may one day be found The first on the above list married a but at present there is only speculation. Why, woman, Mercy, and was still in the given that the Parfitts seemed at that stage to UK in 1881. The second still stick close together regionally and that records appears in the UK in the 1881 were in existence at his birth is he so hard to census after marrying Harriet. The find? It is a very well researched surname and third needs to be followed up as the there are extensive lists of Parfitts on the web. birth date is a close match but it Even his parents, a James and Martha Parfitt do seems likely that he was the same not seem to have ever co-habited. One child as the fourth. This latter possibility is that either he, his father or mother originally looked promising but he commonly used a first name other than their appears in the UK census returns registered one (for example, they may have used until 1881, married before 1871 to a their middle name). If one or other of the woman, Emily. All the above can parents, say his mother, died while he was be ruled out. young and he was brought up by another woman, perhaps from a second marriage, a The fifth may be worth considering much older sister or an aunt or grandmother although both parents and birth date then he might have thought of and recorded her are incorrect. The father was born as his mother. If his father died, his mother in Radstock, the mother in could have re-married and his birth name may Camerton and they lived about 3 not even have been Parfitt. There is a rumour km away from there at Dunkerton. I (see later, very probably false) that the “real” have no further census data on this family name should be Newth or similar. William Parfitt and he may have Finally, it is possible that he could have been left the country. I note that, at age illegitimate. nine, he is listed as a coalminer in

69 the 1851 census, a good reason to have poor lungs 1 and to leave Somerset. (See box, this page.)

The information on number 6 on the list comes from a different source (Family Search, the Mormon site) which often has inaccuracies. This states that a son William was born in July, 1842 to a William and Martha Parfitt (nee Selway) at Stoke Lane (now always designated as Stoke St Michael). He was the seventh child, William and Martha being married in November 1826 at Stoke Lane. Note that there is also a belief in the family that William L. Parfitt is the fifth William in our direct Parfitt line thus disputing that his father was called James. However, this William appears to have married an Arabella Kerton in 1868.

So where in Somerset did the mysterious William come from? I do not know.

The Somerset coalfield included pits in north Somerset mined from the 15th century until 1973, part of a wider field which covered northern Somerset and southern Gloucestershire. It stretched from Cromhall in the north to the Mendip Hills in the south, from Bath in the east to Nailsea in the west, a total area of about 240 square miles (620 km²). Most of the pits in the Somerset coalfield were concentrated along the Cam Brook, Wellow Brook and Nettlebridge Valleys and in the areas around Radstock and Farrington Gurney. The pits were often grouped geographically in clusters which were close together, working the same coal seams and often under the same ownership. Many also shared the same trackways and tramways which took the coal to the Somerset Coal Canal or railways for distribution. Many of the pits closed in the 19th century as the available coal was worked out. Much of the original exploratory survey work was carried out by William Smith, who became known as the "Father of English Geology".

A further item of note is that working in the mines was a dreadful experience, some seams being less than a metre thick, while being 500 metres underground. In the first half of the 19 th century, boys as young as 9 were listed as coalminers. No wonder they were ready to emigrate, even if to continue elsewhere as miners.

3. William Parfitt in Australia:

As noted above, William, the first Australian Parfitt arrived in about 1863 - 1864 at the age of approximately 23 but there is no record of his port of entry. Given his Somerset background, it is highly likely that he was already a coalminer, perhaps since boyhood. Many miners were being recruited to the Newcastle coalfields from the UK which was suffering hardship at the time, a high proportion from Northumberland, a strong Wesleyan region, (which explains that religion’s strength in the Hunter region until the mid-20th century), but also from other mining areas such as Somerset. Alternatively, some miners arrived originally to seek gold but this was a precarious life financially and many moved from the goldfields to Newcastle for a more reliable occupation. If William came from the coal mining area of Somerset as postulated, the former is the most likely reason for his emigration.

1 William Parfitt died in Australia from pleuritis

70 On immigration records, I can find only one entry that is anywhere near Butler: English and Irish: from a word that the known information. He is a originally denoted a wine steward, usually the William Parfitt, aged 19 on arrival in chief servant of a medieval household, from Moreton Bay on the “ James Fernie ” Norman French butuiller (Old French in 1856 as an Assisted Immigrant. bouteillier , Latin buticularius , from buticula His parents are said to be James and ‘bottle’). In the large households of royalty and Mary (not Martha) and his origin is the most powerful nobility, the title came to Surrey, not Somerset. But Surrey denote an officer of high rank and may only have been the last responsibility, only nominally concerned with residence of the family. He does not the supply of wine, if at all. The name, appear on the UK birth records for although widely spread across Great Britain, is Surrey (official recordings starting in most common in Ireland. It is not Gaelic September 1837). One note however but Norman. It is rumoured that the alongside appears to read, mother first to use the name was Theodore Fitzwalter, still living while another says, sister who changed his name to Butler while in the on same ship . She was listed under a service of King Henry II in the mid 12 th different surname being married to century His family settled in Kilkenny and William Stemp. The Stemps settled surrounding areas becoming one of Ireland’s in Queensland and the last known richest. On visiting Ireland in 2011, I was told record of their children is in 1861, that if the name is Butler and Irish it somehow William dying only 3 years later. must derive originally from that family. Fanny remarried Robert Pamental in However, it is also reported that many servants 1866 and died in 1887. Her father is took the family name as their own. given as James Parfitt, mother as Mary Chitty. However, William McBride: Irish (mainly County Donegal, ie Parfitt does not seem to have settled very North West of Ireland) and Scottish. It is in Queensland on a permanent basis an anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Brighde, as there is no death record for him from earlier Mac Giolla Bhrighde (Irish), Mac there. He may have gone to NSW. Gille Brighde (Scottish) ‘ son of the servant of Be that as it may, the association is (Saint) Brighid’ . The Scottish Kilbride has the not close enough to be anything same roots. other than a possibility.

The first documented information found so far on William is his marriage to Margaret Butler on 13 th June, 1870 at Lambton. How did he get to Australia in the first place? I cannot find him in arrivals to NSW, although many steerage class passengers were unrecorded. And it is possible that he arrived in Melbourne (see William L. Parfitt’s comments later) and worked his way up to NSW and Newcastle. But there is no proof of this. If he was recruited in England as a coal miner, it is more likely that he came directly to Newcastle, or at least via Sydney.

From NSW records, on his marriage certificate it is clear that in 1870 he was a coal miner. As the Somerset region is Margaret Butler also a coal mining area, he may have followed his father Parfitt (1870), Jones into that occupation, later being recruited to the coal mines (1885) , ~ 1910

71 of Newcastle. It also may have been that coal mining exacerbated some bronchial or other breathing infection from his childhood in the UK thus promoting his early death at Lambton in 1880, officially from pleuritis (infection of the outer lining of the lung). This would particularly be the case if he was mining at 9 or 10 years of age.

What sort of life did he have? Apart from Margaret and his Australian family, it was probably not a great one. Some of his children also died as babies. He was buried in Wallsend in the Particular Baptist cemetery on 21 st October, 1880.

I will deal with the children of William and Margaret later. However, Margaret Parfitt remarried five years after his death, in 1885 to John Jones, also a coal miner and their issue was Ernest (1885), Herbert (1887), and Arthur (1890) plus one female deceased. Jones was reputedly a tough stepfather as well as a strict Particular Baptist of Welsh extraction and this perhaps explains William John’s apathy to religion in general and to Baptists in particular for the rest of his life. And from my memory, that aversion may also have included somewhat unfairly, the Welsh in general.

4. The Butler family:

Now we need to temporarily step back County Down was the first Ulster county to look at Margaret Butler (for the name to be colonized by the Normans in the 12 th Butler, see box page 71). Margaret was century, the knight John de Courcey taking born in the district of Illawarra, county the area around Downpatrick after the of Camden on 28/10/1854. That is, she Norman invasion. The county was formed was some thirteen or fourteen years about 1300, later coming into the younger than her future husband, possession of the DeLacys. Most of this William Parfitt. Her parents were county came to be known as the Earldom of William Butler and Eliza McBride Ulster. In 1569, Sir Thomas Smith whose abode is listed as Mt. Kiera (just unsuccessfully attempted to bring English south of Wollongong). From his death settlers into the Ards Pennisula and County certificate, William Butler died on or Down. Hugh O'Neill, the major Ulster about the 19 th December, 1864, aged 43 chieftain, began a rebellion in Ulster in at High Street, Mount Kiera, 1594. A well planned settlement of Ulster Wollongong. The cause of death was began in 1609, with the introduction of diabetes but whether type 1 or type 2 thousands of settlers. These adventurers, in cannot be determined. Given that few return for title to the land brought in a type 1 sufferers would have lived specified number of settlers to their estates. beyond childhood in those days, it was The Scot, James Hamilton, brought more more likely the latter. His son John was than ten thousand Scots to northwest Down. the informant and he gave William’s English adventurers also brought over place of birth as Down (that is County English families. County Down was less Down in Northern Ireland). He also badly affected by the Great Famine than stated that, that he was married to Eliza many other counties. One effect was a large McBride at age 22 and was 12 years in exodus from the rural areas to the city of NSW, thus arriving in 1852. William’s Belfast, part of which is in County Down. parents were Andrew Butler, a farmer The population of Down in 1841 was and Jane but her maiden name is 368,000. In 1851 this had been reduced by unknown. The deduction from this is approximately eleven percent. that William was born in about 1821 and married in 1843 some nine years before immigrating. From other information, his

72 birth was probably at or near Newtonsland (alternatively called Newtonslade) on the Portaferry Road just to the north of Belfast. County Down is probably the most Anglo- Saxon-Norman region of Ireland (see box, page 72). William and Eliza McBride married in Holywood, Belfast, Eliza being born in Northern Ireland, probably also County Down with parents reported as John and Margaret McBride (from anecdotal evidence, not fully proven). We know that she died in Wallsend, Newcastle on the 27 th of November, 1889 reportedly aged 75. Hence, she was born in 1814 and so was some seven years older than William. From her age given as 26 at marriage, this took place in 1840 so there is an inconsistency of three years with the 1843 calculated above. That is, it could be that William was born earlier in about 1818 or that she was 29 at marriage or that she died aged 78. The best guess may be that she was born in 1817, was married in 1843 and died at age 72. Whether or not William was a few years older than specified at his death is unknown. Note that an Eliza Jane McBride was christened in the First Presbyterian Church, Newry 2, County Down on 16 th April, 1820 with parents James and Mrs. James McBride but this appears to be too late for our Eliza and the father’s name does not match.

By the time that William and Eliza came to Australia some nine to twelve years after marriage, they had several children, John, born about 1843, James, born about 1847 and Jane, born about 1850. Eliza and William both appear to be of the protestant faith, Presbyterian at marriage, later becoming what was then known as Primitive Methodists (as distinct at that stage from Wesleyan, before these branches were amalgamated). The shipping records show that an Eliza Butler, aged 37 (ie born 1815) arrived in NSW on the vessel, “ Irene ” in 1852 as an assisted migrant with family. A William Butler, aged 29 (according to the records, with family) was on the same ship but was he her husband as the male often emigrated earlier? These would give his birth date as and even later 1823, just a little inconsistent with the 1821 from his death certificate and even younger than otherwise suspected. A further William Butler, aged 7 was also on that ship but he does not seem to be one of their children as only five are listed as living, none as deceased on the two death certificates. The older William Butler and Eliza were almost certainly our ancestors. No other adult Butlers were listed as being aboard so was the younger William a relative of the 29 year old William? A William Butler, born in 1845 (ie aged 7 in 1852) may be possible as a son of their marriage in 1840 (or 1843) but is unidentified as such. Alternatively, he could be a cousin or no relation at all. There still remains research to be done on these areas.

Whatever is the truth, little is known about William Butler, our direct ancestor other than his occupation in Australia which he designated as a farmer. We do not know what he farmed although it was probably a dairy as that was significant in that area. Many immigrants to Australia were sponsored in those days and there was a predilection for the sponsoring groups to bring those of like kind to their local area. That, I suppose, continues with new immigrant even today. The Irish 3 tended to break into two groups, those from Eire and Ulster, (or more specifically, Catholic and Protestant). Some noted Northern Irish Protestant regions were the dairy farming areas of Kiama just south of Wollongong and Maitland west of Newcastle. Ulster Protestants comprised about 20% of the Irish immigration and many rose to high office in Australia but significantly less has been recorded on their general history than for the Catholic Irish, probably because they blended more quickly with the English community and did not perceive themselves as

2 Newry lies on the Dublin-Belfast road in Northern Ireland and is about 55 km south of Belfast and is 108 km from Dublin. 3 See “ The Australian People ” Editor James Jupp, Angus and Robertson Publishers, 1988.

73 different. As noted previously, Newcastle and also probably Wollongong, was an overwhelmingly Protestant region due to the large number of miners from the Northumberland (Wesleyan) region. Northern Irish Protestants would have fitted in well.

William and Eliza Butler seemed to have remained in the Wollongong area from their arrival until his death. Their daughter, Margaret was recorded as being born in 1853 at Mount Kiera, Illawarra and their last son, Andrew (1858) at Wollongong when Eliza would, given her calculated birth date, have been for those days a mature 44. There may have been no difference in the place of residence with these two births, it possibly being merely the name of the registration district. In total, William and Eliza had at least 5 children, 3 males, 2 females all living in 1889, only the last two being born in Australia. These are identified as sons John, James and Andrew and daughters Margaret and Jane. Apart from that of Margaret, I have only positively identified the marriage of Jane (to William Ryan at Wollongong in 1868) and Andrew (to Isabella Brown at Lambton in 1879). There were two John Butler marriages near Newcastle in 1869, one at Morpeth to Charlotte Weaver and the other in Newcastle to Mary Stevenson but there is no positive proof of their relationship to William and Eliza. Jane Ryan, nee Butler died in Lismore in 1899. James remains obscure and his name appears only from a newspaper clipping of Eliza’s death notice. Also, he is the only one not named after his grandparents but there may be an older James somewhere in the picture. However, there are many Butlers on record in Australia.

William Butler died at Mount Kiera, Wollongong in NSW in December, 1864 from diabetes as noted above. Eliza died much later at Wallsend near Newcastle in 1889. For Eliza, still on the farm at Mount Kiera with five small children, the youngest being only six years old, this must have been a difficult period. She did not remarry as was common in those days as a male was needed to support the family. As she was about 50 at the time, this is a probable reason. All that can be said is that Eliza and the children, including Margaret, moved to the Newcastle area before 1870, the date of Margaret’s wedding to William Parfitt at Lambton. It is possible that they went there because of relatives as it is unlikely that Eliza herself had occupational reasons for the move. It is also possible that she followed one of her elder sons, who would have been about 21 (John) and 17 (James) at the time of William Butler’s death, to Wallsend. From both Margaret’s and Andrew’s marriages, it seems that they were originally domiciled at Lambton-Wallsend, these suburbs being in close proximity. It should also be noted that there was an extended Butler family living from the 1850s onwards in the Maitland-Morpeth region as well as a few at Wallsend-Lambton. Were these all related families? Given the numbers, however, it would be a massive job to trace these relationships. It is worth noting that, at Eliza’s death, her grandson, William J. Parfitt would have been about 12 or 13 and so probably knew her well and perhaps spent some time living with her, given the reported antipathy to his step- father.

5. William and Margaret (nee Butler) Parfitt:

I will return now to the Parfitt-Butler line. After the early death of her first husband, our Great Grandmother, Margaret Jones (William Parfitt’s wife and William and Eliza Butler’s daughter, formerly Parfitt, nee Butler) re-married to John Jones and lived on in Lambton (25 Dixon Street) reaching the good age of 75. She died of heart failure there on 16 th March, 1929 and was buried in the Baptist cemetery at Sandgate. It is noted that

74 William Parfitt was also buried as a Baptist although the couple were married as Primitive Methodists.

William Parfitt and Margaret Butler were married on 13 th June, 1870. Margaret, it is noted was only seventeen at the time and required the permission of her parents. The entry on the marriage certificate mentions both. Why William Butler, dead already for 6 years is noted as giving permission is a mystery. But given the customs of those days, it is possible that the male parent somehow had to be acknowledged or it may simply have just been a conventional statement that was used. The children of William and Margaret (as officially recorded on the NSW birth, deaths and marriages) were Martha (1872 registered at Newcastle) died 1874, Martha J. (1874, registered at New Lambton, the J. being almost certainly Jane after her Aunt and Grandmother), William John (1876 registered at New Lambton), James Henry 4 and Margaret (seemingly twins, 1879 registered at New Lambton). These last both died in 1880 within a month of each other not long after their father. James Henry and possibly also his twin sister Margaret died from “ phthisis ” which was the old name for wasting diseases such as tuberculosis. What a tragedy for Margaret, her husband and twins dying so close to each other. All of Margaret’s information given for birth and death certificates show an additional female whose birth record cannot be found. However, from verbal reports of her niece and nieces-in-law (eg Lilian Hitchcock, the Aunty Lil of Bill., Les and Merle Parfitt, see Book 4), it appears that her name, after marriage, was Elisabeth (called Aunt Lizzie) Jenkins who remained living at New Lambton. On a funeral notice for one of Margaret’s children from her second marriage to John Jones, she is shown alongside William and Martha Parfitt as J. Jenkins (Jr.). This has caused some confusion but I believe that it was due to the habit in those days of referring to a married woman by her husband’s full name. As this funeral took place on 22 nd February, 1899, I believe that we can concur that she was alive then. However, on Margaret Jones’ death certificate, there are only two living children noted from her first marriage, Martha and William while there are four deceased, one male, three females. It seems from this that Elizabeth died before her mother passed away in 1929.

Now an Elizabeth Parfitt married a John Jenkins at Adamstown, (Newcastle) in 1887. This is certainly her. Assuming that she was 16 or 17 at the time, she would have been born soon after the Parfitt-Butler marriage on the 13 th June, 1870 5. That is, she would have been the oldest of the children and aged about 9 at her father’s death. This John Jenkins’ father was most likely (from NSW births, deaths, marriages) also named John, hence the appellation, junior associated with the funeral mentioned above. Evidence, although inconclusive of this is that a John Jenkins (senior) died at Wallsend in 1876. A John Jenkins, father John, mother Mary A. who was born in Newcastle in 1870 and died at Wallsend in 1919 seems a likely candidate for Elizabeth’s husband but as this is not a line relevant to us, no further information has been obtained. Elizabeth’s death, like her birth, is hard to trace, the only likely possibility in the postulated age range and with a father William, mother Margaret is an Elizabeth Jenkins who died at Marrickville in Sydney in 1927. That is, she would then have been about 58 years old. But this seems inconsistent

4 Note that all William and Margaret’s children were named after their grandparents or great-grandparents with both first and middle names. The only exception seems to be the use of Henry and it could provide a clue to the grandparent’s generation, possible William Parfitt’s grandfather. 5 I remember Letitia referring to Lizzie Jenkins but I had no idea who she was. Merle has a note placing her one year older than Martha J. but younger than William J. The latter is incorrect but the year older than Martha may be.

75 with my grandmother’s comments about her in the 1940s or 1950s when I was young as I interpreted them, probably incorrectly, to mean that she was still living.

The two long surviving children of William and Margaret Parfitt were Martha J. and William John. I know that Martha lived in Lismore as she visited my grandparents in Islington in the 1940s where I met her. Two children, Archibald and Margaret were born to Martha J. Parfitt in Ballina (1899) and Lismore (1900) respectively. Undoubtedly, she had gone to Lismore to stay with her Aunt, Jane Ryan (nee Butler) who died there in 1899. From this, the children named above of Martha appear to have been illegitimate (there is no father nominated and the children have the surname, Parfitt). Given the mores of the day when a single mother was not allowed to keep the children, it appears that Archibald went into an orphanage in Ballina from where he was probably adopted as a baby and is not traceable. Margaret, when a little older, was taken in by a family called Clarke who seem to have moved to Picton 6. Martha then married Alexander Nicholl from Lismore in 1903 and had at least two more children, Alexander C (1904) and Margaret A (1906). Her husband died in 1938 but she survived in Lismore until 1966 when she would have reached the fine old age of 92. She was the only one of the early Parfitt family to live until her 90s.

5.1 An Alternative Surname?

Ne wth (Neuth) : For many years, there has been a story that the real name of the family was not Parfitt but Newth (or a name of similar spelling). My mother, Merle Milton (Parfitt) told me this many years ago (in about 1980) although she was unsure of whether or not it was correct. I believe that the story was told to her by her brother, William D. Parfitt. Recently, his son, William L. Parfitt, recounted this story and is adamant about its veracity.

William L. Parfitt’s Story : Our grandfather’s grandfather was the first to emigrate to Australia in about 1860. His real surname was Newth (or similar) but he adopted an alternative, Parfitt, perhaps after a female grandparent. He ran away from home in the Newcastle-on-Tyne (England) area because he did not get on with his parents. His first foreign country was Canada where he spent time on the Alberta goldfields. His parents, who were wealthy, hired someone to find him which they eventually did, and he was brought back to the UK. He ran away again to Melbourne, and it is perhaps then that the name change to Parfitt occurred so that he would be harder to trace. From there, he worked his way north through the goldfields before eventually arriving in the Newcastle area where he was befriended by an old farmer (Payne of Payne’s paddock) in Lambton who helped him settle down and eventually raise a family. Our Great Grandfather, William and our grandfather William John Parfitt were his descendents. William L. claimed to be the 5 th William Parfitt directly in the line.

No evidence that this story has any substance can be found (my note)

Before continuing with the details of William J. Parfitt’s life, the story of an alternative family name of Neuth needs to be recounted. This states that the family name is not Parfitt but Newth or similar (eg Neuth) as described in the text box above. Merle (my mother) first told me this story in about 1980 just after we started this research and it was recently

6 From Michelle Sharpe, great granddaughter of Martha J.

76 (2008) reiterated by William L. Parfitt who was adamant in its veracity but given the evidence, it is extremely unlikely to be true. However, it may just possibly provide some link to say a friend who he travelled with that provides information on how he arrived in Newcastle as none can be found from the records. Stories passed on by word of mouth are often highly inaccurate but sometimes contain a small grain of evidence that is useful so I think that it is worth recounting. So where did this story come from? One would suspect that it could only have come from William J. who later repeated it to his children who then passed it on to theirs.

William J. was born on 26/12/1876, his father dying on 20/10/1880, just before his 4 th birthday. As noted above, William J. did have a sister, Martha J., (who I met in about 1949) two years older and Elizabeth, perhaps a further 1 to 3 years older again. There were no other living children or it seems relatives in Australia of William Parfitt from whom the Newth story could have been transmitted. William J. at less than 4, Martha at 6 were too young to be told any such story about the Newths, let alone assimilate it and even Elizabeth, at less than 9, probably would not have the details straight or the ability to question the evidence. If the story was passed on to them by their mother, it is inconsistent that she reported her husband as being born in Somerset of the name Parfitt, with father James and mother Martha. So where does the name Newth fit in, if it does?

There are only theories. Few under the name Newth (or similar) can be found in England in any county. I found one Newth family in Somerset, one in Wiltshire but the names, James, Martha as parents, or a son, William, do not match. In NSW, there is one, James Neuth who died in Sydney in 1886, aged 68. A James and Sarah Neuth in Sydney had a daughter, Esther registered in 1863 and, if this is the same James, he was then 45. There is also a James Aldridge Newth married at Maitland in 1875 but there are no other records of him in NSW. On 24 th November, 1981, a death notice, sent to me by Merle, appeared in the Newcastle Morning Herald for Katie Gwendolyn Newth, formerly of Lochinvar (west of Maitland). She must have been a fine old age as she is listed as a great-great- grandmother.

Any connection then is no more than speculation. I think that it has to be discussed because of the obscure background of William Parfitt but too many points do not fit the known facts. Particularly, there is one too many Parfitt generations in the story. Could there be some relevance somehow? William may have been befriended by these Neuths on his way north (if he did come via Melbourne) with the story becoming confused between him and his own father who does not appear to have ever been in Australia but there is no proof. The James Newth from Maitland would be about the same age as our first known William Parfitt Right: William John Parfitt: Photo ~ 1895

77 and could have been a friend or acquaintance. But the name is rare in the Newcastle region and again, the connection lacks evidence. Even the Paynes of Paynes’ Paddock did not exist in Newcastle until after 1870.

Now William J. reputedly did not like his stepfather, John Jones who Margaret married in 1885 after William Parfitt’s death and certainly in later years seems to have cut him and his own mother out of his life. Merle Parfitt, on discovering that her grandmother, Margaret died in 1929 when Merle was 21 was dismayed that her only remembered contact with her was as a small child. That is, William J. had had virtually no contact with his mother (at least when his own children were with him) for over fifteen years. Anecdotally, he left home at about 15 in 1891 when he began work. Is it possible that he spent much of his time before that with relatives of his maternal grandmother in Wallsend or Maitland? Eliza Butler, his grandmother, died in 1889 when he was 13 which is a more likely age to absorb a tale such as that recounted above. This would mean that William L Parfitt’s belief that he is the fifth first-son of that name may be because the original William originated from Margaret’s father, William Butler, not from a Parfitt. Could the unknown maiden surnames of the mother’s of William and Eliza Butler have been Newth as it sounds Irish? Alternatively, the story may have been transposed from a childhood friend such as the James Newth mentioned above. Could it merely have been a made up story by William J. to amuse the children or to provide an explanation of something (his father’s arrival) that he had no real knowledge of? Until we find William Parfitt’s origins, the story is only of passing interest.

6. William John Parfitt:

William John Parfitt’s medal: Medals were struck in 1888 to commemorate the

Centenary of settlement in Australia. One silver and one bronze medal were sent to

each boys and girls school in the state to be awarded as first and second prizes for

proficiency and good conduct. They were 2 inches diameter set in a velvet lined case.

Now, returning to the story obtainable from the basic facts, it is clear that William J., our grandfather, born 26 th December 1876 was a very bright school boy as demonstrated by the proficiency medal that he received. That is, while at school, he was awarded one (the silver, first prize) of the two special proficiency medals for Lambton Public School, shown in the images below.

78 However, he left school at the fairly Sydney Cohen , was managing director of early age of 14 or 15 and began work in the family firm of David Cohen & Co, one a clerical position with David Cohen and of the biggest import businesses in NSW Co. (see box this page) where he was with headquarters in Newcastle. He was involved in the import and export chairman of directors of the Australian business gaining valuable experience. Gaslight Company and the Newcastle and On 12 th September, 1900, he married Hunter River Steamship Company, and Letitia Lilian Hitchcock in the Primitive president and committee member of the Methodist Church at Plattsburg. Her Newcastle Club and Newcastle Jockey address is given as New Lambton while Club. He was engaged in many community his is Lambton, both western Newcastle activities as Chairman or President suburbs. Letitia was under the age of 21 including Newcastle Hospital, 1911-13. He and required the consent of her parents. I moved to Sydney in 1915. He was knighted will not deal with her here, more in 1937 in recognition of his public service information being given in Book 4 on and included a Judaic emblem on his coat the Hitchcocks. They had four children, of arms. He died in 1948. William Devonald, born 2 nd May 1901, Thelma Lilian born 25 th May 1903 but who unfortunately died young of scarlet fever on 23 rd December 1903, Leslie Keith, 25 th May 1905 and Essie Merle, 18 th October 1908. It is quite a coincidence Thelma and Les having had the same birthday. William L. noted his father’s birth as 1902 but the above dates are from the family bible in William John’s handwriting. As he was very intelligent and prone to pedantry on issues such as this, I have no doubt that the latter is correct. NSW births deaths and marriages have no record of William Devonald’s birth although the others are shown.

William John’s obituary (see later) states that his stay with Cohens lasted 25 years although this seems to be debatable. If he started with them in about 1891 at age 15 and left at the age of about 40, that would have been in about 1916. However, we know that he and the family moved to Gresford in the northern Hunter Valley where he opened a General Store which he ran for several years. This was most likely to have been between 1911-1912 and 1915 although perhaps a year earlier for both dates. I have his old dictionary, a marvellous Funk and Wagnalls (an American Company) 1914 edition of some 2900 pages with colour prints included. This “special copy ” was presented to W. D. Jacoway (see box below) who apparently was a subscriber, by the Funk and Wagnalls president. He then passed it on to William J. Parfitt with a letter included (on Newcastle Club paper) saying, “In appreciation of his friendship and business ability, this volume is given to W. J. Parfitt” , signed by Jacoway on 15 th November 1915. This would probably have been shortly after time the time that William J. returned to Newcastle. But the connection with Jacoway seems to be independent of Cohens being more likely associated with BHP where William J. worked after returning to Newcastle (see text box page 80).

79

William D Jacoway : Metallurgist, joined the Newcastle Club on 8/7/1915 as a Country Member. He was proposed by A A Rankin, seconded G D Delprat. There is no record of him after the Members List of 1915. It is presumed that he worked for BHP (see Delprat below).

Delprat, Guillaume Daniel (1856-1937): Engineer, metallurgist, and pioneer industrialist, was born on 1/9/1856 at Delft, Holland. After wide experience in Europe, he accepted an offer in 1898 to become assistant general manager of B.H.P. After a period in Broken Hill, he settled in Adelaide from 1904 before moving to Melbourne in 1913 but spent many of these years at Broken Hill. In 1911 Delprat, with the help of John Darling, persuaded B.H.P.'s board to consider establishing a steel-works utilizing the Iron Knob deposit. From July 1911, he visited America, Britain and Europe to investigate their steel industries. His report was accepted by B.H.P.'s board. He was prominent in the complex negotiations with the Commonwealth and NSW governments which led to the signing of a contract on 24/9/1912 for the erection of the steelworks at Newcastle, this opening on 2/6/1915. In 1920, he denied being the initiator of the Australian steel industry. However he believed that the great wealth taken from Broken Hill had imposed upon B.H.P. a responsibility to reinvest in Australia's future; and it was his suggestion to make that investment in steel.

In Gresford, it seems that much of Adapted from "Gresford History 1829 - the business involved transport of 1999": Gresford began in 1829 and was named goods by horse drawn wagon to after a town on the Allyn River in North Wales. more remote areas. I can Supplies for the Parfitt store would be picked up remember Merle talking of a long from the wharf at Paterson (the main wharf, trip by horse and carriage to a mill King's, was where the rail bridge now stands, not in the Upper Allen River when at Tucker Park). The cross roads near the store she was very young, possibly four was a big part of the township, Church Street or five. This is consistent with that being a major business center. The Beatty Hotel aspect of the store’s activities. It (in East Gresford blamed by the family for seems possible that he also opened William’s drinking problems) was owned in a second store in East Gresford 1907 by William Rooney but there was also a nearby. However, no record can pub at the cross roads that could equally have be found of his ownership of been a source of the problem as it was much either of these properties. Barry closer to home. Early transport by vehicles came Milton suggests that it is possible when the railway opened at Paterson in 1911. that Cohens sponsored him (this does not seem to be consistent with Merle’s somehow for the store. It may recollection of travelling to Newcastle by ferry have been leased with him owning unless it was to bring back large quantities of the goodwill or he may have been stock or that the Parfitt period in Gresford was a otherwise backed by Cohens as an year or so earlier than believed). Messers Grey outlet for their import-export and Handcock used a solid tyred truck as a bus business. Cohens may have from Gresford to Paterson. There was a sawmill wanted to expand their business operating on the Upper Allyn prior to 1914. into the Hunter Valley and backed him financially to do it. I doubt if

80 we can discover the full details at this stage. Alternatively, it is possible that he used money saved during his working life at Cohens. Was it a mid-life crisis where he needed something different in his life?

Unfortunately, the store was located near the local pub and he became rather addicted to a few too many drinks too regularly and so the store, or stores, failed. There are stories of his wife, Letty after the eventual sale, squirreling away merchandise belonging to the store and its new owners that was not then legally theirs. This, from knowledge of her, rings true. Her mother had died in 1908, her father four years later so she may have had some inheritance as well as other savings that enabled the purchase of the store in the first place so she should not be blamed. Merle always noted that she had a knack for handling money.

During William J. s alcoholic period, Merle further recounted such things as how she had to stand between his legs while he sang to her and that he thought that he saw ants crawling over her skin. So obviously, it was more than just a case of just heavy drinking. Whatever the details, the store failed after only about three or four years with William J. needing some rehabilitation, anecdotally at Waterfall in the Blue Mountains. This must have been well before the end of 1915 when BHP opened and he obtained employment there.

The three children would have started school in Gresford. William L. reported that his father, William D. began piano lessons with an old “German” teacher during that time. This began his musical career for which he later became well known in the Newcastle district. William L. also says that his father had an introductory letter from Gresford School to Newcastle High (later Newcastle Junior High) when they returned to Newcastle. As William D. finally left school at about 15, this means that it was most probably late year 1 or year 2 of high school when he was about 13 which may indicate that the family’s departure from Gresford was 1914. Alternatively, William D. may have boarded with relatives in Newcastle until they returned. But with which ones, we do not know. His grandmother, Margaret Jones (nee Butler) did not die until 1929 so she is a possibility although, as noted, there was a likely estrangement between her and William J. (or his wife, Letitia) for some time about that period.

81 The Parfitt General Store at Gresford, Hunter Valley, NSW: photo circa 1913 It is likely that William Parfitt is the man on the right

After leaving Gresford, the family returned to Newcastle and William J. must have only spent a short period “drying out”. Following that, he must have recovered at least to become a controlled drinker as he obtained and held a reasonable position at the then new BHP steelworks where he remained until his retirement in 1943. With BHP, he originally handled the shipping between Sydney and Newcastle (hence his designation, “Shipping and Forwarding Manager”) 7 but moved to other clerical positions after the company headquarters was re-located to Melbourne and more senior executives moved with it. Note that BHP began in Newcastle in 1915 so he was an early employee. Be that as it may, he must have been reasonably successful at BHP as the family, while not wealthy, did not seem to lack resources in cars, houses and holidays over the following years. It is noted that he did continue to drink beer throughout his life although I was never a witness to him drinking wine or spirits. I can remember him coming back from the pub in Islington on several occasions slightly, though not excessively, tipsy and in quite a merry mood. Sometimes, however these moods were often accompanied by a quite irritable disposition.

I also remember a large quantity of home-brew in his garage stored in old kerosene cans. These square section cans were common in the 1940s and were soldered from tin plate, hence representing a significant health hazard from the lead in the solder. I also remember that he walked to work each day from Islington to Mayfield and back, a kilometre or so distance which must have kept him reasonably fit. On the downside, he smoked a pipe excessively which probably contributed to his bronchial problems and perhaps to his final

7 I have a note from Merle Milton (Parfitt ) that he was in charge of Dispatch (Shipping, also see funeral notice) and at one stage had 12 people working under him. William L. indicated that it handled Newcastle- Sydney shipping until the steelworks was fully incorporated in the Melbourne head office with more extensive shipping controlled from there.

82 heart attack at age 72 in June, 1949. He was always interested in knowledge and education and after his retirement at age 66, was very helpful to me in making models etc for school, listening to me recite poetry and so on. Although he could be sharp and irritable at times (as we all can as we age), I mostly got on well with my “old grandad”.

Obituary, W. J. Parfitt (extract) Mark Christian Reid , Died 30- The Parfitt bible, (notices in front) Jun-49, Director of John Reid, Mr. William Parfitt, who died at his home in Shipping, Colliery and Insurance Hubbard Street Islington, at the age of 72, Agent, general merchant, exporter was born at Lambton. While a school boy, he of coal, coke, wheat and wool, was awarded one of only two special importer of lumber, colliery proficiency medals that came to Australia requisites and general merchandise. (not entirely accurate, see previous text box) . He was a nephew of Sir George He was long associated with the shipping and Reid, former Prime Minister of commercial life of Newcastle, being for 25 Australia and Premier of NSW and years shipping agent for Messrs David Cohen the nephew of Hugh Ronald Reid, and Company, at that time managed by Sir founder and Chairman of Samuel Sidney Cohen. He was also Deputy Melbourne Steamship Company Vice-consul for Greece. Later, he was Limited. appointed shipping and forwarding manager

for BHP where he continued till shortly

before his retirement. In later years, he spent

most of his time at Swansea. For many years,

he was a business and personal friend of Mr.

Mark Reid who died on the same day.

7. Letitia Lilian Parfitt, nee Hitchcock: Now a discussion of William John’s family needs to be undertaken. As noted above, in 1900, he married Letitia Lilian (Letty) Hitchcock (see Book 4) who was born on 14 th December, 1880, the marriage taking place at Wallsend on the 12 th September, 1900. After beginning this research, Merle Parfitt was quite startled to find that her seemingly over strict mother was actually Letitia (left) and Annie (right) Hitchcock 1883 pregnant (although to be fair, only just) at the time of her marriage, the first child being born only 8 months Letitia Lilian Parfitt, later. Letitia had always kept the marriage date secret nee Hitchcock, ~ circa from her daughter. I note that she did not wear an 1905 -1910 engagement ring, only a very heavy, gold wedding ring

83 and her comment (at least to us as children) was that she had had them “ made into one ”. Whether the wedding was scheduled before the pregnancy or not is open to speculation. It shows that people were human even in those days and I certainly have no worries about it.

Letitia was often but not always a fierce lady with an irascible temper. Bettye Heatherington (nee Parfitt, William D.’s daughter) tells a story of Letty having an argument with her sister, returning to her sister’s back yard while she was out and flaying the washing with a dirty cabbage pulled straight from the garden. True or not, it is not out of character. On his death bed or not long before, Merle reported William J. as saying, “Letty has been a fine wife and mother but, oh, what a woman to live with.” But I will deal with Letitia more thoroughly in the separate Hitchcock document.

8. William J. and Letitia Parfitt in Newcastle :

Over the next approximately sixteen years after their marriage, the Parfitt family lived in New Lambton in Queen’s Road with their three surviving children. All these were born in New Lambton. Note that William D.s second name, Devonald is a family name stemming from the Hitchcock side of the family (see Book 4) and so William D. follows a tradition. Thelma Lilian falls part way as she had her mother’s middle name Parfitt house (Photo ~2008) in while Leslie Keith seems to indicate a break New Lambton, now needing a paint . with tradition with no such known family name background. This is similar for Essie Merle. Essie is not a frequently used name and I can find only one other about that time in the Newcastle area, an Essie Jenkins who married in Newcastle in 1926. She would have been some 5 to 10 years older than Merle. Was Merle (Essie Merle) called after one of her Aunt’s (ie Lizzie Jenkins) relatives?

The Gresford period followed after which the family seems to have done quite well financially. This may well have been due to Letty’s tight financial control rather than anything else, it may have been that William J.s salary at BHP was quite reasonable or there may have been some family inheritance from the Hitchcock side of the family as Letty’s father, Thomas George Parfitt house (Photo ~ 1948) 11 Hubbard Street Islington Hitchcock, had died only a few years (2 or 3) earlier in 1912. Whatever the reason, they had enough funds to either immediately or soon after their return purchase the house in Islington (11 Hubbard Street). Why was Islington, moderately inner city, chosen rather than Lambton or New Lambton where the family had their roots? It may have been to separate themselves due to William’s alcohol problem, it may have been a quicker access to the city by the tram line but more likely it was the easier access to the new BHP steelworks where William J. was now employed.

84

At Katoomba: 1923, From left: Parfitts; Les, Letitia, William J.

Explorers tree, Blue William John Mountains: 1921, Parfitt ~ 1925 From left: Parfitts; Les, Letitia, Merle

In 1921 and in 1923, the family had holidays in the Katoomba area of which quite a few photos exist, some being shown above (dates given on the photograph). William J. was a keen photographer and processed and printed his own copies. Hence, multiple copies exist. After that, they toured extensively for few years by car. The Rugby, their first car (see below) was not available outside the USA in 1921 so it is presumed the Katoomba holiday was undertaken by train but the car must have been purchased soon afterwards.

So by about 1924, William J. now aged about 48 was able to purchase a reasonably sized automobile, a 4 cylinder Rugby car (see box page 86). As cars were not widely owned in those days, this indicates a reasonable level of affluence. The family, William D. (ie Bill), Les and Merle were now aged between 23 and 16 and accompanied their parents on many adventurous tours on dirt roads throughout NSW. In about 1930, William J. upgraded to the new 6-cylinder Durant from the same company. This was a magnificent car for its day, two tone, black mudguards and navy blue body, and was William’s pride and joy. It was carefully kept under cover and was always immaculately polished. I remember it clearly from my childhood. Both cars are shown below. Not only did he carefully polish the vehicle, he was meticulous about mechanical repairs. There is story about him being hauled out from underneath almost dead from carbon monoxide poisoning having undertaken repairs while the engine was running. He kept a small shed behind the garage where he had what were to me, as a child, fascinating tools. But we were not allowed to touch them. He could be kind and interested in us but he could easily become irascible and angry. Or so it seemed to us as children but, I suppose now that I am old, I can understand that children, whether you love them or not, can become very annoying at times.

85 William Crapo (Billy) Durant, (1861-1947): was the founder of the General Motors Corporation. He began his career with a horse-drawn carriage company in 1886 and took over Buick in 1904, forming the General Motors (GM) Company in 1908. He lost control in 1910 to Chevrolet but regained ownership in 1915. He was forced out for good in 1920 and founded his own company, Durant Motors, Inc., in 1921. In May 1921 the "Durant Four" was put on the market and by June had received 30,000 orders. In February 15, 1922 Durant stated that his company would offer a small four cylinder car of modern design called the "Star". In 1923, when Durant Motors tried to export the Star, the name was already registered for use in the British Empire so the name Rugby was chosen instead. Star cars continued to be sold for export under the Rugby name until their production ceased in 1928, being replaced by the 6 cylinder Durant D65. Rugby “Continental”. Their 4 and 6 cylinder motors established an enviable reputation for reliability. The company became insolvent in 1931.

Sometime in the 1930s, William and Letitia acquired a block of land on a reserve waterfront (ie a waterfront with a wide access to the public in front of it) at Swansea (south) on Lake Macquarie. They built a house on it, much of the work being done by William himself, although I believe he had a builder to assist in making the frame. This originally consisted of two rooms with a wide verandah on the east, north and west sides the last facing the Lake. But sometime before my earliest memories of it in the early 1940s, it had been modified by closing in the eastern and part of the northern verandah to make a dining, kitchen area. At the extreme (southern) end of this L shaped dining-kitchen area was an old coal (or wood) burning stove, the dining area being situated in the northern part. The house was unlined, the frame being creosoted annually to prevent white ant activity, often just before our arrival for holidays to our horror as we as children disliked the smell. The toilet was outside as common in those days but it was not a flushable one connected to the sewer. The “sewerage man” arrived each week in his truck and carried the waste laden bin (or two, there was a spare) on his shoulder to his truck, returning with an empty one. The toilet paper was old newspaper. All this generated much interest in us as children.

We spent most of our summer holidays at Swansea with our cousins, Geoff and Robert. During the war we saw the Catalina Flying Boats roaring along as they took off on the other side of the Lake near their base at Rathmines but in general, we were blithely unaware of the implications of the war. We swam, rowed the small boat, played cricket and chasings. As well as the garage and outside toilet, the yard contained two large wattle trees that we loved to climb and on which was hung a swing. There was a vegetable garden which, if we ventured into it in our games, we ran the risk of a severe dressing down if we intruded to regain a ball, chase or hide during our various other games. There was also a sand-pit where we spent many hours of labour in building castles and being swarmed upon by sand flies in the late afternoon. At times, the families walked to Swansea township in the balmy summer evenings, at others we were taken out in Grandad’s 16 foot clinker row boat to a deeper, sea weed-free sand hole where we swam in water just above our heads. They were good times.

86

Top: The Parfitts day touring : ~ 1925 From left: William D. (Bill), Les, Belle (Bill’s wife), Letitia (with William L as a baby), William J.

The Parfitt cars: Top: The 4 cylinder 1924 Rugby Bottom: The 6 cylinder 1929 Durant Top: The Parfitts day touring: ~ 1925 From left: William J. Belle (with William L as a baby), Les, Letitia, William D.

The Parfitts day touring : ~ 1929 From left: Bert Milton, William J., Letitia, William D., Belle Children: Bettye, Bill, Beryle The car had its tent too: From left: Les, Merle, Letty

87

The Parfitt house , T he Esplanade, Swansea , Left late 1930s, Right, mid 1940s

On the side, in front of the free standing garage was a boat carriage for launching William J.s other pride and joy, his 16 foot clinker row boat. This was normally, during his periods of occupation of the house, kept between fore and aft mooring posts some twenty metres out in the shallow water. There were probably about a dozen such boats (some indeed with half cabins and small petrol motors) similarly moored along the three or four hundred metres of shoreline. Because they did not swing, they each dug out a shallow hole in the soft sand beneath, perhaps half a metre deep and it was in these that we learned to swim and to dive under the moored boat. Occasionally the adults would row us in the boat to deeper water further out which was just above our six to ten year old heads. About three hundred metres to the north was a slightly deeper and certainly wider channel (Boyd’s Channel), dug out at the beginning of WW II to launch 40 to 80 foot wooden boats. It was there that we learned to swim properly; it being a challenge to get across the six metres or so of deep water that was over our heads. Our grandparents also kept a small 8 foot rowboat for the children but we were not allowed to take it ourselves into the deeper water some kilometer (or so it seemed, it may have been less) away from the waterfront. The reserve front area was 20 metres wide with a narrow dirt road in the middle along which an occasional slow vehicle would trundle. Here we ran and played, dodged the spiky jo-jo weeds (as we called them) and cats-head thorns and had great fun and freedom. We all loved it. Right near the shore, a series of casuarinas trees grew. Further to the south, perhaps some ten or so houses away, was vacant land, full of blackberry bushes, casuarinas trees and other undergrowth. As children we were warned about going there by ourselves because of the danger of snakes and, perhaps, of wicked men although we ignored that at times. But each year we would have the blackberry collecting days with our parents and would come back with cans full for Grandma (Letty) to make delicious pies and jams that seemed to last for days. On some warm, summer nights we went prawn fishing in the shallow waters with kerosene lamps to attract the prey, and sometimes fishing although that was mainly an adult past time. It was a marvellous time, sadly curtailed by William’s death in 1949. The house at Swansea is shown above.

We saw our cousins Geoff and Robert (Les and Nell Parfitt’s children) frequently during that period. After William John Parfitt and two years later, Bert Milton died, we saw them less, although their parents visited fairly regularly for a few years. In the early 1950s, Geoff, who had a bright personality, occasionally used to visit us after school as he was close by at Newcastle Technical High School then located at Tighes Hill which was only a

88 short walk from Islington. We eventually grew apart and saw each other infrequently after we finished school. But we have good memories. Such is life.

William and Letitia Parfitt : ~ circa 1930s Above: Islington, Right Top: Swansea Right Bottom: Blue Mountains, Bert Milton in centre

William J. and Letitia Parfitt: Left and above: Sydney, 1939 Baby is Brian Milton

89 We saw even less of our elder Parfitt uncles, aunts and cousins until after 1950 when Bert died. William D. and his wife, Belle (nee Woodhams) occasionally called in to Swansea when we were there in their Morris Cowley touring car (about 1930 vintage) on their way to Belle’s parents’ weekender at Nords Wharf, also on Lake Macquarie some miles to the south. In previous years, Belle’s family had had a house at Rathmines on the opposite, deep water side of Lake Macquarie. During World War II, it was taken over as a base for the Flying Boats, (called Catalinas) that we often watched taking off and landing from the house. Recently Rathmines is being looked at by the local historical society as the site is being developed. As such, William L. Parfitt and Bettye Heatherington (nee Parfitt) have been asked to record their memories for this Society and have kindly given me copies. These are included in the text boxes at the end of this document as they are of general historical interest.

William in June, 1949 died of heart problems (chronic myocarditis) compounded by chronic bronchitis no doubt exacerbated by his persistent pipe smoking. Letitia survived him for 18 years passing away from pneumonia caused by influenza in 1965. She had had double pneumonia (ie in both lungs) some 40 years before and in those pre-antibiotic days, was lucky to survive but she was very tough.

9. The children of William and Letitia:

After the above digression, I will now return to the children of William J. and Letitia Parfitt. William D. (always called Bill) became a well known pianist running his own dance band in Newcastle. As mentioned before, he began playing the piano under the tutelage of an old “German” teacher during the time that he was at primary school (reported by William L. Parfitt) in Gresford. Back in

Newcastle, he began as a metallurgical Bill (William D.) Parfitt’s band: trainee at BHP in May 1915. However, it ~ 1930 . Bill is on the right at the piano. seems that he had a misdemeanor (from a letter from William L. Parfitt) of some sort at work and was terminated. This may have caused some disapproval from his father. Merle also told us that he had had brush with the law while still at school with police coming to the house and searching for, assumedly, some stolen articles. She believed that he had to spend a short period in a correctional establishment but whether her recollections were of a few days, some weeks, a longer period or what is unclear as she would have Bill: probably 1950s been only perhaps 6 or 7 years of age at the (right) at the piano time.

90 However, William D. did well with his more exciting life of playing music, having a few beers and fun with his mates. After the terminated traineeship, he concentrated on the music and the band that he was forming. This became very successful. It played on the ferries that ran up the Hunter River from Newcastle to Morpeth and was a noted band hired for regular functions in Newcastle. He also is reputed to have been commissioned to organise the entertainment and dance music for guests for the opening of Newcastle Town Hall on 14 th December, 1929 by the then NSW State Governor, Sir Dudley Deshair. He married Susan Isabelle (Belle) Woodhams on 24 th May 1924 and they moved to a house in Waratah which they retained for the rest of their lives. After his termination at BHP, he had found work at Waratah Brick Works until becoming redundant at the start of the 1927-1934 depression. He then moved temporarily to Belle’s parents’ place at Rathmines with his family, helping them with chicken and pig farming. Ryland’s Brothers was his next employer as it supplied the farming industry which was less affected by the depression and he started there in 1927. Eventually, after their subsidiary, the Australian Wire Rope Works, commenced he began work in an essentially low skilled occupation (for someone with his ability) as a wire drawer. He remained there until his retirement in 1965.

From left: Merle, Bill, Les Parfitt: 11 Hubbard St. Islington ~ 1915

Les (left), Bill (right): at 11 Hubbard St. Islington ~ 1920

He and Belle had three children, William Leslie (always called Young Bill by us, born 27 th October 1924), Bettye Merle (born 28 th April 1926) and Beryle Faye (born 23 rd April 1928). William (Uncle Bill to us) was a great character, intelligent, a marvellous raconteur and good company. After our father (Bert Milton) died when we were all quite young, he and Belle were exceedingly helpful. He arrived on several weekends soon after Dad died and took me to the Rugby League finals series, introducing me to a lifelong passion for the game. He helped me to use tools and carry out minor carpentry repairs and gave me ideas about repairing cars, this being one of his passions. Under his car in his own garage, he had dug a pit so that he could work conveniently underneath it. Later, he built a caravan that he and Belle commenced seeing parts of the country during some of his long service

91 leave. While my Dad taught me many things such as how to use and axe and saw, I owe Uncle Bill much for the basic skills with tools that have helped me since.

When they visited, after we children were supposedly in bed, I used to slide along to my bedroom door to listen to their conversation. It was always enlivening. As the years passed, I had many good natured debates with him on engineering science, politics (Mum and hence we children were Bob Menzies’ supporters in those days, different from now, while Bill often took a more left wing position, perhaps to stimulate discussion) and religion where his strong Masonic background and my developing atheism were often opposed. He would come to our house and belt out music on the piano while we attempted to sing along with him. We had great times with him over my teenage years. Apart from that, he liked a beer (or a few more) and spent much time at his bowling club both on the green and in the clubhouse.

In 1966, while I was returning through the Middle East after two years in England, I was shattered to receive a letter from Mum that he was being treated, unsuccessfully, for severe back pain by a physiotherapist. At the next stop days later, I received another from Janice, written earlier, about his sudden illness. He had used his long-service leave some years earlier to explore parts of Australia in a caravan that he had built himself and he and Belle had enjoyed it thoroughly. Apparently, with a newly built caravan while on an early post-retirement trip into Queensland, he contracted a severe chest problem which turned out to be an aggressive lung cancer. In all, he lasted only about six weeks until his death on 28 th November 1966. The lung cancer, in retrospect, was not surprising as he smoked heavily, well over 60 cigarettes a day and his hands were yellow. The particles from the wire rope drawing perhaps also contributed. Merle Parfitt: at 11 Hubbard Street, Islington, And I have often wondered aged about 9,10 (left), 14, 15 (right) whether, with all the home building in those days with asbestos, that it might have been mesothelioma. Belle survived him by some twenty years, passing away in the early 1980s.

Leslie Keith (Uncle Les to us) was an entirely different character, quiet, kindly, reserved and abstemious. I think that he was a considerate, gentle man but certainly not outgoing. Les was born on 20 th May, 1905 and married Ellenor Ethel (Nell) Milton in 1933. In our childhood, we saw him more often than Bill and Belle, particularly at Swansea and partially because we were of similar ages to his children. There was also the double relationship, Nell, his wife, being Bert’s sister while he was Merle’s brother. But looking back, I did not know him as well as I knew Bill. However, he was certainly the more financially successful of the brothers. He originally trained at the Commonwealth Steel

92 Corporation as a patternmaker but left either due to having an electric shock or redundancy due to the Great Depression of the 1930s, (information acquired on these anecdotally) but perhaps both having an influence. Jan Brown (previously Parfitt, Geoff’s wife) informs me that he then went to Leonora Glass Works where he learnt metal spinning and wood turning. He worked independently from the home at Islington making furniture amongst other things and eventually set up the family business at his home in Werribi St., Mayfield West where they made light fittings which they sold back to Leonora as well as to other outlets. They were also well known for their kettles and tea pots.

Newcastle High School where all three Parfitt children attended. Merle is second from the left (first standing row). Photo probably about 1921 or 1922

Although we saw them moderately frequently, I know little of their day to day life. Somewhere around 1950, they bought a block of land on the waterfront at Fishing Point on the western side of Lake Macquarie where they built a house to which they later retired. Nell died from stomach cancer in about 1979. Les survived until 1985 when he also succumbed to cancer.

They had two children, Geoffery born August 1936 and Robert born August, 1939. Again, there was a noticeable difference in personalities between these boys. Geoff was a lively conversationalist and very outgoing, Robert was quieter although certainly not introverted, being an avid car trial and water skiing enthusiast until he had a severe car accident in his 20s that probably restricted him for the rest of his life. However, he maintained a strong interest in water sports. Apparently he also liked a beer and a lively argument, a family trait.

93

Wedding: Geoff Parfitt and Jan Wedding: Robert Parfitt and Joan Milne, 1958 Hinch, 1962, From left: Les, Jan, Geoff, Nell Parfitt From left: Joan, Robert

Geoff started learning the metal spinning trade from around the age of 12 and he worked regularly with his father at this. After leaving Newcastle Technical High school at age 15, he worked with Les until 1962. Needing a change, he then started work with Upjohn, an American Drug Company, this position requiring him to call on Doctors and Pharmacists throughout the extended Newcastle From left: Nell Parfitt (nee Milton), district. In 1963, he was head hunted by Letitia Parfitt, Merle Milton (nee another drug company called Hoechst, a Parfitt), children Grant and Brett Parfitt, sons of Geoff and Jan ~ 1966 German Company to do much the same work as with Upjohn.

In 1958 he married Jan Milne and they had three children, Brett Geoffrey born August 1959, Grant David May 1962 and Shane Evan born Dec 1963 8. In 1964, he and his family were moved to Adelaide where he became the Ethical Sales Manager. In 1965 he was appointed State Manager of Western Australia, Northern Territory & South Australia where he continued until his unfortunate death, on the 28th December, 1974. This was a tragic accident as he was electrocuted from a faulty caravan in which he and his family were staying while on holidays. He left a wife, Jan and three boys

Robert started in the family business at age 16 and continued until 1975 when Les sold the business to Phillips Electrical in Sydney. He stayed with them until he took early retirement after inheriting his parents’ estate. He married Joan Hincks in 1962 but they remained childless. He was an enthusiastic car rally driver in his VW Beetle but had a severe accident which, although he recovered, affected him for the rest of his life. In Sydney, he lived in the Pittwater area near to us for many years but unfortunately, we saw little of him, all of us being too busy. Robert died of heart problems in about 2005.

8 Note that it is not my intention here to follow the families further than my own generation but, as this document is a Word file, it can be added to by any family member who so desires.

94 Merle Parfitt was born on 18 th October, 1908. She often remarked that she may not have existed had Thelma, her elder sister, lived, as her mother wanted a daughter. From conversations with her, I believe that she attended a primary school at Wickham (why not Islington which was open then?) after the family returned from Gresford, at which time she would have been about seven or eight years old. She then attended Newcastle High School as did her brothers. She left school to care for her mother when the latter nearly died of double pneumonia in about 1921 or 1922 so she would have been about 14 at the time. I always had the impression that she did not like school particularly although as a child she was an avid reader and enjoyed poetry. She had extra-curricular elocution lessons although this may have been more due to her mother’s than her own wishes. My belief is that she was very shy. I can remember her telling me that, in her teenage years, she ventured over to a tennis court in Islington but was too shy to approach the participants and returned home.

She started work at Winns, a large Newcastle drapery store in the main shopping area in Hunter Street in about 1924 and worked there until her marriage many years later. She had a number of female friends from there with whom she remained in contact for the rest of her (or their) life. What of her romantic life? Things were very restricted in those days, perhaps more so than in her parents’ time. Not long before she passed away in 1995, I can remember her telling me a story about a young man who used to park his car not far from her work place. After walking past him many times, she at length, on his invitation, spoke to him. He asked her out and, she said, she was tempted but reluctantly refused. Only a week or so later, she saw Bert Milton, her brother Les’s friend with him in the lane behind the house in Islington and was very attracted to him. Shortly after, they started going out together.

They became engaged in about 1928 when she was about 20. It was a long engagement which Merle put down to the fact that the Depression had arrived and Bert had obligations to his family, his father, according to Merle, being unemployed during that time. She was always somewhat resentful of Bert’s younger sisters as she claimed they made no effort to find employment themselves to help the family. Of course, there is always another side to a story but that was her version. However, she and Bert were eventually married on 7 th December 1935 at Tighes Hill, Newcastle.

They had three children, Janice, born 2nd November 1936, Brian, 27 th July 1938 and Barry 26 th May 1943. In 1937, Bert was transferred to Lithgow with the Railways Department. Merle, with a young child and much attached to Newcastle, hated it. They were there for one year before Bert was again transferred, this time to Sydney. Here they lived in Northbridge with their first two children. Sometime in Milton House: taken ~ 1960 1939, he was again transferred back 13 Hubbard Street, Islington to Newcastle, much to Merle’s delight.

95 In Newcastle, with World War II underway, they lived in a rented house in Cram Street, Merewether. In 1942, they moved to a rented, semi-detached house in Becket Street (now called Kemp Street), Hamilton but spent perhaps nearly a year at her parents’ house from before Barry’s birth until the years end. This may have been for most of the rest of May 1943 onwards as Janice started in first class at the beginning of that year and I began kindergarten some months later. This was at Islington School a few doors away in about August 1943 and we completed the year at that school. The following year, our family moved back to Hamilton, Janice and I attending Hamilton School which was about half a mile away. In about April, 1947, they purchased the house at 13 Hubbard Street, Islington and so we again moved and attended school there. This school encompassed kindergarten, infants and primary years. Barry also attended Islington Public School.

The next few years were spent on extensive modifications to the house. An internal wall was demolished, fire places changed and a new laundry- toilet room added at the back. Garden modifications included the removal of a number of trees. However, these ceased temporarily on Bert Milton’s sudden death in August 1950 (dealt with in the Milton document, Book 1) but were resumed with financial help from Letitia after she sold 11 Hubbard Street and moved into number 13 which was straight across the side street (called Hooker Street, named after an early family there being no association with the world’s oldest profession).

This was a difficult period with Merle who was, I am convinced, somewhat depressed for quite a long period. She did not return to paid employment as she Merle (right) and her felt it was her duty to stay at home for the children. mother , Letty: 1960s She began driving again not having done much for years and her highlight was a weekly Sunday drive. This was fine for a while but over the years it became a little onerous on us as children as it limited our freedom at weekends. Holidays also consisted of tours up the coast to Brisbane or down to Melbourne, sometimes camping and sometimes with a caravan. The relationship with Letitia was often strained as she could be quite demanding, irascible and self-centred.

In about 1965, Merle developed a friendship with the next door neighbour, Fred Dwyer who was a year or so younger and a bachelor. They were married in 1967, immediately following Barry’s marriage. Fred had developed what was probably a minor heart ailment which he focused on from then onwards. He died in May, 1993. In the last year before she died (October 1995), Merle was suffering from some dementia and was becoming a major worry as she locked herself into the house which had always been like a fortification. In 1994, we persuaded her to sell the house and move into a retirement home but she was never happy there. The house at Islington had been too much of her life.

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From left: Merle, Fred, with a local Merle: at Islington, ~ 1980 friend (on right) In Tasmania, in 1970s

Merle and Fred led a quiet life after marriage interspersed with tours in the second hand 1965 Mercedes Benz that they bought and also some short overseas trips to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. Fred died of his heart ailment in May, 1993 with Merle slipping into what appeared to be depression and passing away quietly in October, 1995 just before her 87 th birthday

Merle’s 75 th birthday, at Islington October 1983. Clockwise from left, Denise, Alyssa (baby), Kevin, Fred, Merle (in front), Jan, Barry, Gareth (child between Jan and Barry), Donna, James (child right), Gilbert (child front), Michelle, Evan (child), Janice (right of Evan), Sheree (left of Evan)

97 10 Final Summary

While the generations after our the parents of our Grandparents, William and Letitia Parfitt are better known than most of the others, probably due to the close contact that we had with them in our childhood, the early history of the Parfitt line is the most obscure. In particular, there is no information on how or when the first William Parfitt arrived in Australia; neither are there any clues as to where he was born in Britain other than, so it seems, in the County of Somerset. While the mining areas west of Bath (Clutton, Radstcock, Stoke St. Michael) are most likely candidates, this needs confirmation. It is a line of research for which information should be readily available as he was born as late as 1840 after centralised records had been established. Census records are also available form the UK for 1841 and 1851 and yet I have been unable to find him. It is one of the great challenges remaining in this research. Until that happens, we can go no further into the past. The Butler family in Ireland are also hard to locate. There are many Butlers in Ireland and there are many questions about the birth dates of our ancestors, William Butler in particular seeming to be very young compared with his wife and also perhaps rather young to have died from diabetes. Again more research is needed.

Some further notes:

As previously noted, I intend to follow the descent lines of our generation. I will mention just one of these. Merle’s brother, Lesley Keith Parfitt, born in 1905 married Bert’s sister, Nell, born in 1907. They had two children, Geoffrey, born in 1935 but died tragically in 1974 and Robert, born in 1939, died in or about 2004. Geoffrey had three boys but Robert had no children. Again, I will leave it to more appropriate contributors to complete that line. I am, however, including a photograph for Jan Brown, (her first husband being Geoff Parfitt), who waited patiently for many years for me to bring my research into some coherent form.

Left: Geoff and Robert Parfitt : ~ 1939

Also, on the next two pages I have copied some notes provided to me by William Devonald Parfitt’s children, Bill and Beryle about their reminiscences of their early childhood experiences at Rathmines, on Lake Macquarie. It is of general historical interest as well as them being part of our Parfitt family.

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From William Leslie Parfitt (written 2008)

Property development of RAAF Catalina Flying Boat Base at Rathmines Prior to 1940, the local development of the area known as Rathmines was sparsely developed, mainly because of inaccessibility by road. There were only bush tracks and a ferry available. The 1927/34 depression also contributed to very slow building investment As BHP was the major steel producer, the Federal government considered that protective measures were needed to safeguard this industry, hence the decision to utilize Lake Macquarie for military measures. In 1940, repossession of a large portion of territory on the southern and western promontory adjacent to the known area named Rathmines called “Edendale” brought about many changes to the section. Resumption of properties which were small in number in this area brought about an influx of activity with construction crews and redevelopment. Housing, feeding and leisure became a big issue. My maternal grandparents, due to financial restrictions caused by the depression had re-established this lifestyle at Edendale, west of Rathmines along the southern side of Kilaben Bay where they held property and a large boatshed which was converted into living quarters. Poultry and ducks were bought as a means of existence over a number of years prior to 1940 with pigs a late extension to their income. Thus the grandparents were in a position to cater for the construction crew needs with accommodation and catering facilities. Their property which included a wooden planked carvel built open launch (3HP Acme single cylinder motor) however was confiscated for military security with very little minimal reimbursement from the federal government. This would have been around the late 1941 to early 1942. during the construction stage, the Swamp Creek was filled in and a large tarmac with a launching ramp for the convenience of sea planes was built and a strong timber wharf was installed (as illustrated) for supply/crash boat access - also detailed in the sketch. Naturally our interest in the development of the base waned until the late 1945/1950 period when the federal government closed down the relevant base and handed the area back to the NSW government who promptly, being a Labor government, immediately placed a perimeter from the shoreline to boundary of 75 yards. This ordinance has prevented re-development of the shoreline, in particular, by the original property owners as previously promised. Justice may seem to have been done but the dismal attitude of the state government does not sit well with the disgruntled respective families who received only a pittance for their homes. The grandparents’ launch, when retrieved was found to be seriously holed and no recompense ever found its way into their hands so it was repaired at their own expense.

Rathmines and Kilaben Bay, Lake Macquarie

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From Bettye Heatherington, nee Parfitt (written 2008)

My memories of life at Edendale before the construction of the Catalina RAAF base as seen through the eyes of a young girl. In the early years of the 1927/34 depression, my grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth Woodhams invested in a property, around 20 acres, on the shores of Kilaben bay’s southern side. The area was named “Edendale” and was approximately 1 to 2 kilometres from Rathmines. My parents brought their three young children there to live. The two families managed to exist here by literally living off the land. Thomas Woodhams (grandfather) and William Parfitt (his son-in-law) worked hard and established a vegetable garden, a fruit orchard, a large poultry yard and a smaller one for our 20 khaki Campbell ducks and fish traps to catch fish for eating. Later, pigs were bought and a stye was built, far away from the house. We also had a very healthy cow which gave us plenty of milk. From milk, I learned how to scoop the cream from the top and every second afternoon I churned the cream until it became butter in a big square churn. My grandmother baked all our bread and cooked beautiful meals and made the most wonderful jams from our fruit trees, plum, peach, apricot and gooseberry. When the blackberries were on, we kids would be sent, buckets in hand, to gather as many as we could. When mushrooms were around, we would be sent out again to get as many as we could. By this time, two 1 st cousins joined us to stay and so there was five of us and life was a pleasure to each of us. To make ends meet, and before the egg board existed, my dad would ride his motorbike with its box sidecar into Newcastle and get orders from the corner shops for eggs and dressed poultry. Everyday, the two older girls would clean all the eggs gathered (boys job) and weigh them and pack them into boxes dad had made. Duck eggs were in demand as well. Sunday mornings, grandfather would chop the heads off the chooks and gut them and hang them up to bleed. He would then stoke up the big drum for hot water. Grandma would emerge with two big white aprons for Len and me and when the water boiled, she would tip very hot water over the chooks in the tub and we would pluck them clean, ready for sale. As long as I live, I will never forget the smell of hot water being poured over chook feathers. When all was completed, dad would load the sidecar. He would pack half blown up rubber inner tubes in between each layer of egg boxes to stop jolting. He would then be on his way to deliver his orders. There were no roads into the Rathmines area in those days so dad made his own road and it was used for many years to get in and out. There were only four homes along the bay at first but through the years five more were built. The little community lived a happy existence there and so when the news came that the land was going to be confiscated and all would lose their homes, the happiness turned to distress. Our home was the furthest but one from the base and grandma had helped the family income for years by ferrying people across to the Toronto side of Kilaben Bay for six pence. A white flag told when shoppers were ready to come home. When the construction workers heard of the service, they also took advantage of it as it cut a lot of traveling time for them. We moved back to our home in Newcastle and Grandma got daily orders to cook for the workmen. A large shed was built on our property and some of the men stayed there. We would go out some weekends and so saw a lot of the development of the base. Eventually, all of the homes were gone and the construction was nearing completion, our launch was impounded for security reasons and our grandparents found another waterfront home at Nords Wharf (reluctantly) and so our life at Edendale came to an end. Before this time, we as children had attended the one room school house built just outside the perimeter of the gatehouse for some months before moving back to Newcastle and there was always great activity on the base. A hospital had been built and I actually was a patient there for a few hours when stung by a wasp. I have been back only twice to look at where our home stood and think my thoughts of the wonderful childhood it had given us. It is interesting to note that all the five children who lived there, literally off the land, are stll alive and all but one is over 80 years of age. The youngest will reach that goal in a few months. War is a dreadful thing and I remember clearly the growing lines of seaplanes anchored down the bay and years later I came to understand how essential it was for them to be there for us and to move onto a different lifestyle

100 Some additional photographs

Above: William John Parfitt working at home. Right: Skylarking at Belmont, Lake Macquarie Upper: left Les, top Merle, right Belle, under Bill . Lower: from left, Merle, Letitia, Belle (on top), Bill, Les (on top).

Above and right: Merle Parfitt Left: Early twenties, in garden at home, Centre: Mid twenties, acting a guard, SW Rocks Right: Mid teens, Ready for tennis, at home

Left: Bill and

Belle Parfitt, ~ 1950s

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