In the South East of South Australia
In 1936 Mary was appointed to Burnbrae in the South East.
Burnbrae was another one teacher school , a few miles north of Naracoorte.
This was a very different experience for Mary.
There is one photo of the school but none of the school children in Mary’s box of memoirs. There are just enough letters to know that Mary was restless and wanting to be posted to either the West Coast or the mid north.
I remember her pointing out the school to me when we were travelling to visit Aunty Nell in Victoria. As we neared Naracoorte she would point to the tree hiding the school on the eastern side of the main road. There was no emotion. Just an acknowledgment of “That’s the school where I used to teach.”
I have a letter which Mid wrote to her father on March 1st 1936.
I will quote a few lines which help to draw the picture of her new life at Burnbrae.
Burnbrae was another one teacher school, a few miles north of Naracoorte.
This was a very different experience for Mary.
She loved teaching always, but she was restless for the first time..
There are just enough letters to know that Mary was hoping to be posted to either the West Coast or the mid north.
I remember her pointing out the school to me when we were travelling to visit Aunty Nell in Victoria. As we neared Naracoorte she would point to the tree hiding the school on the eastern side of the main road. There was no emotion. Just an acknowledgment of “That’s the school where I used to teach.”
We could have got out of the car and walked around the school but she was in a hurry to get to Victoria in order to see Aunty Nell and I guess I wasn’t particularly interested at that stage.
I have a letter which Mid wrote to her father on March 1st 1936.
(I have shown the envelope containing this letter to prove that her excellent writing on any envelope has continued to develop. I reckon she could still win an envelope addressing competition at the local show! )
It is also interesting to note Mid’s mature handwriting style. It was expected in those days of writing with pen and ink, that your writing style was to be distinctive , fluent and easy to read.
I tried to copy this style in my late adolescence and never got further then the M in my name.
I will quote a few lines from the letter which help to draw the picture of her new life at Burnbrae. It is a private letter so I haven’t included the whole transcript…just some interesting thoughts and episodes.
“The people here are very conservative. Still I’m getting used to it now and am quite content . There are no arguments or fuss or ill feeling here and the school days fly, but weekends drag a bit. The girls dress up and go off to tennis but they don’t include me. Compare this with the Coast!
It’s good country here. It’s mainly grazing country but they reap quite a few hundred acres of wheat – very little of barley. They use an auto header and have a couple of tractors. They were reaping after I came down – no fear of dust-storms here so they take a couple of days off to go to the races – such a thing wouldn’t be considered on the Peninsula.
There are 8 cows and there’s a butter factory in Naracoorte.
It’s quite a drought for these parts at the moment. The family have been using well water for the kitchen and the bathroom for weeks.
They told me today that for a well on the plains around here you strike water 5ft 6 inches down!”
Mid took a while to get the response she wanted from the children but she comments in this letter:
“After our combined frequent singing of “Swim Sam Swim” and a few such lively tunes their faces are beginning to smile.
One girl made me smile. The other day I asked some questions out of the Grade 7 Geography book “How do captains of ships off the West Coast of Australia let the Govt meteorologist know what kind of weather they’re having?” …A year 7 girl said “Throw a bottle over”. Never mind. Any answer is better than none.”
Eddie Heinrich had been visiting. And she wanted to share some of this information with her Dad He was suffering from hives and had visited a local herbalist. He apparently commented that she wasn’t a “clairvoyant” and Mid commented “I don’t know what that is!!”
Another note was added about Eddie’s trip home. Apparently some friend in Lockleys gave him a joey to take home to the Peninsula. Mid thought it was quite amusing to imagine this joey sitting up next to him in the front seat.
She comments in her letter to her Dad about the house improvements happening at The Sheoaks.
“The old home will be quite a mansion if you keep up with all the improvements. That bathroom idea is a great one and I’ll save up 5 pounds to help you on with it Dad. We may as well have a decent job of it while we’re about it.”
“You’ll have to get used to your teeth before the wedding or you’ll be like Gran and put them in your handkerchief!!”
“I have left this before finishing to have a game of ping pong. – 5 sets all and very even! They’re all pretty good at it and I think I’ll be able to ‘cane’ you all next holidays. They have a special pingpong table – green with white lines. “
“Please write again soon Dad. As there’s little likelihood of me making friends down here and I rely on letters from home.”
Love to all
Mid
PS When you write would you give me Auntie Charlie’s address so I’ll write her a letter – or Beryl.
She stayed at Burnbrae for 2 terms only and was then posted to Hill River.
The inspector never visited her there, so there are no official comments recorded for Burnbrae.
She would have been happy to have been posted to the mid-north.
Hill River is close to Clare and not very far from Watervale.
Moyle Family History 