by Rhonda McKinnonzel by Rhonda McKinnon nee Hazel by Rhonda McKinnon nee Hazel Growing up in the suburb of Dolls Point between 1946-1966 – some of the history, people and places. Maree – Rhonda – Bluey © Rhonda McKinnon 2017 [email protected] Front Cover: My Home, 16 McMillan Avenue, Dolls Point NSW, Australia 2003 Back Cover: 16 McMillan Avenue, Dolls Point NSW, Australia 2008 Contents Chapter Page Preface Illustrations 1 Early History 1 2 Dolls Point 2 Dolls Point Soldier 3 Transport 4 McMillan Avenue 6 3 Local Identities Arthur Thomas Davies – Clarence the Clocker 12 William Henry Minton 12 Simon 'Peter' Depena 13 Percy Cyril Cunningham 14 Harry Lindsay Eden 14 Sister Dulcie Lois Oldfield 15 Herman Burton Primrose 16 Edmund William Reynolds McMillan 16 The Dunny Man 17 4 Places of Interest Aqua Flora Park 18 Baths and Beaches 18 Dolls Point Baths 19 Pilgrim's Boatshed and Baths 19 Pemberton's Ramsgate Baths 20 Churches St Andrews Church of England 21 St Finbars Church 21 Ramsgate Methodist Church 22 Sans Souci Baptist Church 22 Clubs St George Sailing Club 23 Georges River Sailing Club 23 Dolls Point Sporting Clubs 25 Dolls Point Park 25 Hotels Prince of Wales 26 Scarborough Hotel 28 Primrose House 28 Schools Sans Souci Public School 29 St Finbars School 31 Sans Souci Pre-School Kindergarten 32 St Laurences College 32 Theatres Ramsgate Odeon Theatre 32 Caringbah Drive-In 33 5 News Sans Souci-Sandringham-Dolls Point 1869 - 1899 34 1900 - 1919 43 1920 - 1939 57 1940 - 1959 85 Clareville Avenue 98 Dicken Avenue 100 Gannon Avenue 102 Ida Street 102 Malua Street 104 McMillan Avenue 104 Minton Avenue 109 Norman Avenue 110 Primrose Avenue 110 Russell Avenue 115 Sanoni Avenue 123 Vanstone Parade 126 Waldron Street 127 Dolls Point Village Newspaper 128 Sans Souci Busy Bees 128 6 Barton Electorate 129 Frederick Albert McDonald 129 Thomas John Ley 130 Leonard James Reynolds 130 Herbert Vere Evatt 131 Endnotes 132 7 Dolls Point Electoral Rolls 1930 – 1963 Sources Index Preface The question has often been asked What is your earliest recollection in life? Over the years I have tried to recall that moment and the same picture always comes to mind. I was standing at the front gate of my home at 16 McMillan Avenue, Dolls Point in 1948, waiting for my sister to come home from school. I would have been 4 years old and my sister Maree, 6 years of age. Reginald and Emily (nee Cairncross) Hazel my parents, had purchased this home in 1946, after my father returned from naval service in the Mediterranean. Many servicemen began buying or building houses at Dolls Point in the years following World War Two. A baby boom began in the area and the village of Dolls Point grew rapidly over the next decade. I grew up in this era and enjoyed the pleasures of living in this beautiful seaside suburb. We took a short trolley bus ride to school each week day and weekends were spent in our playground at Dolls Point Park. We were never short of a friend as the streets of Dolls Point were lined with children of the same age. Some of these friendships have lasted a lifetime. I thank my parents for choosing Dolls Point as the place to raise their children. The wonderful memories I have of Growing up at Dolls Point needed to be told. Rhonda McKinnon July 2017 Illustrations Dolls Point Aboriginals 1 John Betts Land 1 Russell Avenue – Joseph Brokenshire Collection 2 Dolls Point Shopping Centre 3 Dolls Point Soldier 4 Steam Tram – Sandringham 5 Trolley Buses at Dolls Point 5 Trolley Bus Timetable 5 Diesel Bus – Circular Quay to Dolls Point No 302 & No 303 5 Aerial view of Sans Souci peninsular 1937 6 Home Units 11-15 McMillan Avenue, Dolls Point 11 Arthur Thomas Davies – Clarence the Clocker 12 William Henry Minton 12 Simon 'Peter' Depena 13 Percy Cyril Cunningham 14 Harry Lindsay Eden 14 Sister Dulcie Lois Oldfield 15 Herman Burton Primrose 16 Edmund William Reynolds McMillan 16 The Dunny Man 17 Postcards of Aqua Flora Park 18 Dolls Point Baths – Rockdale Library Collection 19 Pemberton's Ramsgate Baths 20 Coles New World Supermarket 20 St Andrews Weatherboard Church Hall – Joseph Brokenshire Collection 21 St Finbars Church and School at Sans Souci 22 Sans Souci Baptist Church 22 George's River Sailing Club Event 1972 24 G.R.S.C. Board of Directors 1972 24 Dolls Point Athletic Club Swimming Champions 25 Kiosk and Refreshment Room at Dolls Point Park 26 Prince of Wales Hotel – Joseph Brokenshire Collection 27 Scarborough House – Dolls Point 28 Primrose House 2016 29 Sans Souci Primary School c1925 30 Sans Souci School 1926 – McKinley Family Collection 30 Sans Souci School Junior Red Cross 1952 31 St Finbars School Sans Souci 31 St Laurence College, Dolls Point (Advertisment) 32 Ramsgate Theatre Programme 1931 33 Ramsgate Odeon 33 Drive-In Theatre 33 Opening of new road from Ramsgate to Sans Souci 68 Rev. Frank Wilde 80 H.E. Coles and son Max 92 Sans Souci Busy Bees 128 Frederick Albert McDonald 129 Thomas John Ley 130 Leonard James Reynolds 130 Herbert Vere Evatt 131 Early History Dolls Point is a beachside suburb, seventeen kilometers south of Sydney on the shores of Botany Bay. It is also called Sandringham and is bound by Sans Souci and Ramsgate. It was in the Municipality of Rockdale until the amalgamation with Botany Bay Council on 9 September 2016 and they are now known as Bayside Council. Development of the area dates originally from the late 1800s, although little growth occurred until the 1920s. The origin of the name is unclear but legend has it that it was named for an escaped convict who took shelter in the grim landscape to hide from the authorities. Another legend is that it was named after an old fashioned surveyor’s term. The third theory is that the area was named after Lady Dorothy ‘Doll’ Robinson, the wife of the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Hercules Robinson. The area was originally a deserted landscape of saltbush and sheoak trees and considered uninhabitable although Aboriginals were known to gather on the reserves. As European settlement increased and the hunting grounds decreased, they retreated further up Georges River. Dolls Point Aboriginals In April 1840 John Betts acquired 140 acres of land bound by Waldron and Sandringham Streets and the foreshore of Georges River.i This parcel of land had previously been granted to George Pashley, a former convict, by Sir Richard Bourke in 1837. Pashley had failed to take up the grant, known as Honeysuckle Beach and he died in 1838. John Betts was a free settler, who had arrived in 1828,ii resided with his wife Mary, the daughter of Rev Samuel Marsden, at The Vineyards, Parramatta. He was a public servant, horticulturalist and a land owner. John Betts bought up land in the land boom of the 1840s and died in 1852. John Betts Land 1 Dolls Point Russell Avenue – Joseph Brokenshire Collection The centre of our little village was a triangle junction at the corner of Russell Avenue and Clareville Avenue, with a bus shelter on the bend of Clareville Avenue. These were the days of corner stores and we were lucky enough to have a newsagent run by Roy and Kathleen Jolly. This was the shop we went to for our daily paper, all school needs including Clag glue then later Perkins paste, sheets of coloured cardboard for projects, ink, pencils, rubbers, sharpeners and even crepe paper and balloons for parties. My sister Maree and I had the job to go to this newsagent to buy the Sunday papers. Kathleen died in 1955 and Roy then married Nancy Taylor. Roy died in 1984. On the opposite corner was a grocery store run by Cecil and Joan O’Brien. O’Brien’s store in later years become a doctor’s surgery. Next to the grocery store was Elsie Black nee Heiden's hairdressing salon. Elsie died in 1992 Across the road from these stores was a milk bar run by Aubrey and Eileen Wall. They sold fruit and vegetables and a small range of groceries on one side of the shop. A couple of café type tables in the middle of the shop and milk shakes, drinks, lollies and ice creams were sold on the other side. Sue Trivett and I had a treat on the weekend when we acted like adults and had an ice cream sundae at the café tables. This shop had a residence at the back and upstairs was used for ballet classes. Around the corner in Russell Avenue beside the milk bar was a panel beating shop, later owned by Whitbreads. When we walked past this factory the smell of spraypaint was always very strong. On the other side of Wall's shop in Clareville Avenue lived the Loveridge family. Bert Loveridge was a fireman and he also sailed in the 16ft skiffs at George’s River Sailing Club. At the Dolls Point junction there was an island in the middle with a water bubbler. The council always kept the trees and shrubs in this area very neat. A few blocks down from Mr Wall’s milk bar was a vacant block, which housed a statue of a soldier. 2 Dolls Point Soldier This statue was made, circa 1917 by Richard Taylor Snr, a stonemason, who lived in Sandringham Street, near Clareville Avenue. He had two sons Richard and William Taylor, who served in the Great War of 1914-1918. The Dolls Point soldier was originally placed at the junction but was later removed to No.30 Clareville Avenue.