Today's Golden Age portrait is of the gorgeous Heather. Her family put a lot of time & effort into sending me such a comprehensive story to share. So this is a long post.. but definitely worth the read, to see what life was like for her. To relive these memories to share with us all, was quite emotional for Heather. I am so grateful she entrusted me with her story.
Heather was born November 1937. Turning 86 this year.
She was born in The Woman’s Hospital, Sydney to Heather Gibbins née Munro and Ross Codrington Gibbins.
She was the second child, Ross her brother being the eldest.
She was born during the WW2 offensive with Australia getting involved in 1939.
Twin sisters arrived when Heather was 3 - 1940.
Her earliest memory is of her mother picking up her little sister and running into the street screaming for help.
Her sister had a locked jaw and her mum was frantic.
Her sister had tetanus and she was one of the first saved by penicillin. It was a miracle she survived.
Heather remembers going to the hospital and red flags lining the corridor which meant she had to be very, very quiet.
She has no idea how her mother was able to provide food and clothing and shoes but knows her mother worked hard when she could find work to provide for the family. When available they were entitled to coupons.
She has no idea where her father was but he was around, coming and going.
Australia was in depression during her childhood and she remembers one Christmas when she woke and went into the kitchen and there were some dolls sitting on a chair. She didn’t dare touch them. Her mum said, don’t you want your dolls?
She couldn’t believe they were hers, she had never had a doll before and she was so excited. Her mother had hand stitched them and hand stitched clothes for them with embroidery.
Hawkers, men with horse drawn carts would walk around the lanes behind the houses calling out Clothes Props. These were bought by families to hold lines for laundry. Other families made ends meet by selling home grown vegetables.
She remembers visiting her nanna in Kiama. They used to travel by steam train and they loved putting their heads out the window but had to be careful of the soot and sparks. In the train cubicle there was a water bottle suspended in a frame with one glass and everyone drank from the one glass.
Her mother made her clothing from tea towels and she had one pretty dress that had been made from a parachute (silk) and her mum had embroidered on it for her. Her mother was a beautiful seamstress. Everything done by hand.
The family moved to Coogee and at that time there were large coils of barbed wire all along the beach to slow down an impending invasion. Her mother grew more concerned about invasion and took the kids to Brewarrina. They packed up the furniture and then caught a train. She has no idea how her mother afforded the train fares.
The family lived in a big old weatherboard house with land that went down to the river.
One night she heard a great thundering sound, she had no idea what is was. She was in the kitchen and looked out the window and all these horses thundered by. It was very loud and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had never seen a horse in real life before galloping hard let alone many horses thundering past the kitchen window.
The man who owned the horses was resting them on the land with access to the river for water.
Clothes were washed in coppers in the yard using wood to heat and boil the clothes.
When they left Brewarrina to go back to Sydney they settled in Stanmore.
Her mum was a smoker and she remembers going around gutters locally finding cigarette stubs for her mother. She thought she had done a great job collecting stubs but her mother was mortified and she got into trouble for that and never did it again.
The Stanmore house had little furniture. They all had beds and coverings and there was a table and chairs but nothing else furniture wise.
They lived there till her mum had enough Key Money to get a place in Petersham.
One bedroom, one living room an add on kitchen with no cupboards.
It had an ice chest and she remembers the ice man coming with a block of ice on his shoulder and dropping it into the chest.
Cooking, personal washing and laundry was all done in the same room.
Bathing was once a week, all using the same bath water after lighting the wood chip heater. Her hair was long and thick all the way to her bottom and it took nearly two days to dry after being washed with sunlight soap.
Her brother slept in the living room, the three sisters slept in the attic. There were no wardrobes for clothing. But they had a radiogram and listened to the wireless.
Heather worked hard at school to get results to attend Home Science High School. It was a real ‘feather in her cap’. She learnt typing, cooking, how to make a bed, follow recipes, iron, sew, embroider and darn.
She loved the uniform which included a velour hat, gloves and Lyle stockings. For three years she wore the same pair of Lyle stockings. Darning and redarning the ladders. She was desperate for a new pair but her mother couldn’t afford them.
The school went swimming at a local pool and she remembers hiding till all the other girls were changed and out of the room because she was so embarrassed about her underclothes.
Swimming was a pastime done very frequently because it was free. They had nothing except their towels.
To have fun the sisters would ring Peters Ice Cream from a pay phone and order an ice cream cake. They thought this was very funny.
Heather attended night classes at Burrows College, Williams Street, Sydney studying to become a Comptometrist.
Her first job at 16 years was at Bonds Industries, Camperdown.
She was a comptometrist. This factory made hosiery and underwear which is ironic as she had worn the same pair of stockings to school for three years.
She met Gerard Worrad and married him at St Bridgid’s Church, Brook Street, Coogee on Saturday 6th December, 1958 at 10am with a reception held at The Celebrity Room in the Coogee Bay Hotel.
Heather and Gerard travelled to London seperately in 1960. Gerard with his brother in law Pal flew and Heather travelled by ship with her sister Judy.
Gerard had a job with Columbus Dixon in London.
Their first child Dale Ellen was born in Middlesex, London. It was a time when woman were taken away for birthing. No family or support from their husband. It was a frightening and very sterile experience.
Heather, Gerard and Dale departed England in February 1962 for South Africa. They flew London to Rome, Rome to Johannesburg, Johannesburg to Capetown.
Gerard worked in South Africa for a few years and Heather was caring for Dale with the support of a local woman who was known as Maid Miriam.
They left South Africa for Australia when Dale was three. Gerard flew and Heather again followed by ship with a young toddler on her own on The Northern Star.
They resettled in Clovelly.
Grant Gerard was born 1964.
Fiona Heather was born 1967.
Gerard died 1976.
Grant died 2018.
Heather has 4 grandchildren Nicholas, Christopher, Samuel and Oliver.
One great grandson Cove Nicholas, with two more grandchildren due this year, one in July and one in August.
