Christian family. Christian family. Christian family. Christian family.
1960 – Current
Written by Libby Garlick (nee Christian)
My mum Betty met my dad Norm Christian in Port Lincoln, South Australia when she went on a holiday with some friends. Dad’s family were farmers, but times where tough for Grandpa, trying to farm in the Yaninee area.
Libby & Frank Christian
It was love at first sight for Dad and Mum so they married in 1950 and tried share farming near Cleve. They stayed in SA for ten years and in that time Peter, Linda and twins, Frank and myself (Elizabeth) were born. Life was not easy and Mum missed her own family. They had no comforts and even lived in a tent for a short time.
Dad had heard that new land was being opened up for clearing in the west and they decided to move over here in 1960. Frank and I were four years old. My first memories are of Bill Toll’s farm at Kojonup where Dad first got work in WA. After we had been there a year, Lloyd and Hilda Garlick offered Dad work on their farm, “Morialta” and a house at Nyabing.
1971 The Christian Family
Frank, Little Rodney, Dad Norm, Oldest Peter, Mum Betty, Young Gwen, Lindy & Libby (right)
Dad accepted and we moved to an old house on Shaw Rd, Badgebup, next door to where Kevin and Leanne Barret live now. We had a great life as kids running around the bush together, riding our bikes and swimming in the dams. Our little sister, Gwen was born while we were here and then a little brother Rodney three years later.
I attended Katanning School for the first five years of my education and by then Dad had bought some land out at Nyabing. In 1966 the family moved to a farm south of Nyabing previously owned by Neil Hewitt. Dad also bought another CP block south of Nyabing.
We children started going to Nyabing School in 1966. I remember being very shy and nervous about changing schools and making new friends. But we soon settled in and I liked being in the same class as my siblings. We were there for five years and we twins completed years 8 and 9 of high school by correspondence. There were other children doing correspondence lessons with the help of the year 7 teacher and we did quite well. Although I do remember some wild behavior from the students and the poor teachers were hardly able to cope!
I have wonderful memories of fun times on the Nyabing farm. Frank used to make cubby houses and tree houses with all the trimmings of a real house! One afternoon the headmaster and his family came to visit. Mr. Carmody was a cousin to our Mum so we tried to behave! We took their little girl Jane up into the tree house by the creek and suddenly the whole branch holding the tree house broke off and collapsed to the ground. We all landed with a thump and ran home with a few bruises and scratches and a screaming little Jane.
We did not have good years on the farm and dad was finding it hard to cope with the debt. He was offered a job managing a company farm at Hyden so he sold the Nyabing farm to Roy Dolan and we moved to Hyden in 1971.
Frank and I completed our education by correspondence at the Hyden School and then Frank worked on the farm with our older brother Peter. Linda got a job at the local kindergarten and I found an office job with a local machinery agency in Hyden.
1975 – Chris Garlick & Libby Christian married at Hyden
We kept a close friendship with the Garlick family and Chris used to come and visit my brothers. I was strictly forbidden from going out with boys at such a young age but somehow that didn’t stop Chris and I from falling in love. We were married at the Hyden farm in 1975 when I was 19 and Chris was 23. Chris had lost his mother and was living at Morialta, Nyabing with his dad, Lloyd. His dad remarried and they moved to Katanning in the same year.
It was a big change for us both but I was happy to come back to Nyabing. We settled into the house and gradually redecorated it, built an office, ensuite, and added bull nosed verandahs and a bit more living space. We had the four children in the space of seven years so it was a very busy time. Chris was more interested in cropping than cattle so he sold the Hereford stud and put in a few more acres of wheat.
Now my story overlaps with Chris’s so the rest has been told. Our son Regan and his wife Angela are farming with us and, despite the ups and downs of farming, we watch with interest as a new generation rises up. They are enthusiastic and have amazing technology to help them so let’s not discourage them with pessimistic outlooks.
Our four children went to Nyabing School and appreciated the intimacy of a school so small that they “knew all the kids second names”! They had a secure life here on the farm and enjoyed their pets and the freedom to roam and ride their bikes where they liked. Now they are mature and leading independent lives but they are always keen to come home to Nyabing and see their old home, friends and family.
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