Today I captured the wonderful Jilda.
When I read her story & found out she loves Jane Austen I incorporated a book & created a setting in that style to make her feel like royalty.
She still has her original birth certificate & some report cards from school which she brought along.
Jilda is quite a remarkable lady, while going through her old photos told me she once had 4 boyfriends on the go at once.. she was exhausted by the social outings she had to keep up with.
She also showed me a picture of her first home that she moved into on her honeymoon with her new husband. She really made me laugh when she recalled the marital expectations she was introduced to on their Wedding night & that she wasn't a fan..
Jilda was born on the 27 January 1935 at the Women’s Hospital in Paddington
Jilda Jaqueline was so named after Jilda, a character in a Noel Coward play “Design for Living” called Gilda, and Jaqueline was after her father Jack. She was to be called Jacqueline but shortened it would be confusing having two Jacks in the house.
Jilda’s brother Ross was born 11 years after. Although more than a decade apart, they have always been close.
Jilda spent the first 12 years living in the Eastern Suburbs before the family moved to the Manly area. Jilda’s mum Elma wanted to be close to her own mother, who lived in Clontarf.
Jilda attended Manly Girls for Years 8 and 9. (Year 7 was completed at Dover Heights High). Leaving after the Intermediate Certificate, Jilda went to work in the library section, of Angus and Robertson Book store in the city, Castlereagh Street.
Fired from her job for attending without permission her future brother in laws graduation from Duntroon, Jilda went on to work for The Methodist Bookstore and had a second job at the Balgowlah cinema as an Usherette.
Married at 24, to Frederick Ross Whiddon, they moved into the house they had built at Fox Valley Road in Wahroonga where they stayed, aside from a short stint in an apartment at Queenscliff, until the birth of their third child. With three children under four, a husband who travelled for work, no driver’s license and no public transport, the next move was to Frenchs Forest. Trigalana Place was a street of young families supporting each other which created valuable and enduring friendships which have lasted a lifetime. As well as raising three children, Jilda sold World Book Encyclopedia door to door so the family could have their own set of Encyclopedias. Jilda was also at one stage employed as a market researcher and was very successful in this role. She recounts a story of being sent by plane, to Coffs Harbour to do market research at a particular company. She said her opening line was “Hello, I’m Jilda, I’m here to make your day”. She always had the confidence to deliver that sentence.
In 1971, the family moved to the new suburb of Davidson and resided there til moving to Hong Kong in 1976. While living in Davidson, Jilda worked at Mimosa Primary school as the auxiliary assistant to the teachers.
In 1977 Jilda, Ross and family moved to Hong Kong that experience she describes as the most wonderful years of her life. Enjoying the luxury of an amah to do the housework, cooking and cleaning, mum spent her time, learning to swim and playing mahjong as well as volunteering to help new arrivals to settle into a Hong Kong experience. She recounts stories of working on the naval dock at Wan Chai, as an information desk volunteer. Meeting sailors and officers from all different countries she received requests of all types. During the years in Hong Kong, many new and valuable friendships were made with expatriates from all over the world. Jiilda got to travel to most of the surrounding Asian countries and purchased homewares and artefacts to furnish our home. As a family we enjoyed a long vacation in England and Paris in 1977 which she loved as she has always loved history.
Returning to Australia in 1983, the family moved to a smaller house in Davidson and mum took up work in David Jones in the hosiery section. She became a grandmother in 1990 and was widowed in 1992. Jilda has eight grandchildren, the eldest now 35 and the youngest 26. There is one great granddaughter at present with two more great grandchildren to be born this year.
In the years since her husband passing away, Jilda has travelled, visiting family and friends overseas. One time travelling to UTAH to research the family tree, at the Morman library. Jilda’s love of history has resulted in assembling over 20 books of family tree research.
To this day, she loves attending the Jane Austen society. The monthly meetings and biannual conferences where the period dress that her daughter-in-law made for her can be adorned with pride. In 2019 Jilda promenaded in Bath at the Jane Austen weekend celebration. She was so excited to share the experience, she called Macca on 702 ABC radio, from London to tell him of the Jane Austen festival. When he asked why do you like Jane Austen books so much, she answered “is there a book more relevant today and that has stood the test of time?”. When Maccas answered “The Bible” to this, she had to agree.
For many years Jilda also attended the Cavalcade of History and Fashion. A society, where she ironed the clothes and if necessary, made the tea, to support the work of the patrons. Anyone she met that showed the slightest interest in either Jane Austen or Cavalcade, would be sent or invited to a meeting or fashion parade.
Jilda also loved the ballet. She subscribed to the Australia Ballet at the Opera House for many years. She was disappointed when the logistics became too much and her attendance at performances are now few and far between,
Jilda has had the best experiences courtesy of her son Glenn. He has included her in overseas jaunts such as 100 ft cruiser around the south of France, sea plane ride from Rushcutters Bay, trips to Perth. One notable occasion was for Glenn and Jane’s 40th birthday. Dressed as maid Marion and accompanied by family member dressed as Robin Hood and the Merry Men, they enjoyed a weekend of fun and family. Jilda does like to dress up.
For over 23 years Jilda has lived with Llewena and family at Ingleside. She has enjoyed and thrived in the family environment they had, including her in their day to day lives. Jilda stayed good humoured even when her granddaughter put a chicken on her bed, and yet at the same time would send the family dog “OUT!!” with feigned annoyance. This is a woman who doesn’t open the curtains in case it fades the carpet and furnishings. It is important to always put your best foot forward.
As a girl she sang and danced on stage at ‘family run’ hotels, as an expatriate woman of teenage children, she thrived with new experiences and in her later years, at home she is the favourite ‘Aunty’ of cousins and their families. She is a favourite of all her doctors’ receptionists, and there is many of those. People her daughter meets in the street often ask after her mum, always remember her as being interested in them, personable and friendly. Jilda’s life has been full of fun, family and friends. Jenny, her sister-in-law, has been a close and caring friend as well as a relative. Jilda has been lucky that most of her immediate family, have resided close by and relatives are more like friends than family.
She loves being the centre of attention.
