On the far West Coast of South Australia

EDILILLIE – 1939 &1940

Mary was happy to return to the West Coast. 

Mary worked at the one teacher school in Ediliillie for all of 1939 and two terms of 1940.

Edillilie is a small town on the West Coast. Mary was boarding and the name of the family with whom she boarded I think was Jourdan.

 Koppio is marked boldly because it has a museum which is run by the National Trust and is a tourist attraction.  Wayne and I visited it in 2022 and were surprised and somewhat amused that it has the most extensive barbwire collection in the world.  Closer to our interest was the One Teacher School which had been rebuilt on the museum site.

It is a relatively recent school  built of wood  not stone. I don’t think it was Mary;s school.  I think these transportable classrooms were from the 1950s. But the schoolroom atmosphere is just as Mary had described . I note that the multiplication tables dominate!! And the world map was not the British Empire!!

What is missing is a corner fireplace!

This school would have been closed when rural schools were taken over by regional schools.  Buses were now used to pick up the farming children and return them home after school.

 This is an excellent little museum of rural teaching in this extensive and beautiful Koppio museum. .

Her teaching style was well established by now. Music would always be part of her curriculum and a means of relieving tension, creating focus and simple enjoyment.

 I am not sure that these are the correct photos for Edillilie, but if anyone can enlighten us I would be delighted.

The inspector’s reports were both excellent.  Again Mary scored the top mark for teaching quality. I know these are accurate as we collected them from State Records at Cavan.

If only she had known how well the establishment had judged her teaching.

She knew the students were happy and the parents appreciative but not precisely what the inspectors had said of her teaching.

Unfortunately whilst at Edillilie Mary’s father Walter Lindo Moyle, became critically ill.

Mid realized that she was the only unmarried daughter. Les her brother was very close to their father and he had applied to be enlisted in the war. Aunty Aileen wrote to Mum explaining that her help was needed.

Aunty Kath wrote a lovely letter to Mid expressing real concern that she was considering leaving her teaching world. Here is an excerpt from this sweet letter….written on May 31st.  Mid had already told the sisters that she was intending to come home.

“It is hard for you to have to leave off teaching, but you’ll be closer to all the family and it’s times like these that you need them don’t you? I think it’s corker of you to come home with Dad and I have a good old howl every time I read your letter.”

This letter is in the Moyle Line Miscellaneous section. It describes the love and concern of all the family members and particularly the sweetness of  Aunty Kath..

Dear Dad,

         This is my first letter since I came back and I had great intentions of writing to you at least fortnightly.  However, for the last week I’ve been waiting on a letter from you , but as it is not yet to hand I’ll try to send a page or two by today’s mail.

I wonder if you’ve been to a Doctor yet Dad – I do hope so, as if it it’s necessary for you to go on a diet it will give you a good chance to pick up again and resume your normal “toughness” and it really mightn’t n\be anything very serious.    I’m pleased to heat that jack is progressing and there’s even talk of you and him doing another trip to Gray’s I believe.  That would be goodo for both of you- anytime after Jun 3oth as I hope to be home on that day. 

As you‘ve heard from the girls I have tendered my resignation.

Please don’t attach any blame to any of the family – except me- for acting as I have Dad.  Ever since Kath was married I’ve felt unsettled and yet it seemed that you didn’t really need me – or at least you were managing as well on your own and the others all realized it was a big thing to forego my position if not really necessary.  But now that you’re not well and the winter is here when you really need a few warm meals and the comfort of fires etc I feel it is my duty to be home and I really WANT to go. As soon as I heard that you were not any better than during the holidays I had no hesitation in feeling what I should do. I wrote to the Department to apply for 6 month’s leave, just as a safety valve but am quite pleased that they can’t grant it and that my resignation holds as from June 29^th.  Don’t think that I’m giving up teaching for your sake. – I’m quite looking forward to making a home for myself as well and I can assure you after ten years boarding it will be a treat to feel that I shall be in my own house. Just to switch on the wireless as I wish and not to be bound to a timetable is going to be a welcome change.

Anyhow, I couldn’t settle down to studying and was making no headway in teaching ;  postal tuition is fairly dear and it was hard to settle when I felt so uncertain of the future.

 I guess I’ll make a pretty poor go of housekeeping as I’ve had very little experience, but I shall do my best and I only hope that it will be a bit more company for you to have someone (such as I am) around the place.

It will be great to be near the girls again.  I shall be going overland with Tom Bowman who is going over to enlist.  No doubt you are feeling the same as we all are about Les and Bob enlisting Dad. I can quite understand how Les feels, but had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary for Bob to go, but then whether a man is married or not it seems that once he feels that he must go then he wouldn’t be content to stay at home.  The situation overseas is ghastly isn’t it? However it’s no good pondering gloomily upon it and I’m on my third pair of sox and trying to collect for the School’s Patriotic Fund so that’s my little contribution

         It’s now time for Geometry, so I must keep up to scratch this last fortnight.  I’ve probably made a poor job of this letter but all I want you to feel is that I am pleased to be coming home and am sure that we’ll both be better off.