Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family
Rocky Valley Farm, Nyabing
Written by Albert (Bert) Guelfi.
The family migrated from Italy in 1908 and consisted of mother, father, three daughters and three sons. Our father, who was always known as Jock, was born in Perth a few months later in July 1908. Our mother Grace (Nee Bradly) who was of English and Irish Descent was also born in Perth in 1909. They married in 1927.
The three older brothers (were twenty years older) worked their own market gardens on swamp land in Osborne Park and employed our dad, Jock. They decided to buy the farm “Rocky Valley”, situated seven miles south east of Nyabing on the Nyabing-Pingrup Road, one mile east of Holland’s Tank or Soak which was backed up by a government dam (and they are still there). They sent Jock up to work and manage it.
The property was bought from Ernest Quartermaine, who in turn had bought a property in Kuringup and later sold that one to Percy Johnston for his son Cliff. His family still own and work it today. Percy acquired a lot more vacant land in that area and eventually split the original property and new land in two halves and set up one half each for younger sons Geoff and Donald. Those two properties are now owned, I believe by Noonan’s and Davies.
I helped with the shearing and general farm work on these properties, and so did my brother Kevin. Back in the days when we were all hard working, but carefree bachelors! I could write a book on that story but I had better get back to Rocky Valley Farm.
My father (Jock) officially arrived in Nyabing in July 1928. Mother waited in Perth for me to be born on 26th August 1928. And after spending another couple of weeks to settle down with her first born, joined Jock on the farm. ‘What a shock that must have been!’ Only 19 years old, coming from the city with a newborn first baby to a small weatherboard shack, lined only with bags dipped in lime commonly known as white-washed.
Only 250 or 300 acres cleared and the rest of the 2,400 acres still bush. The nearest homestead was Manuel’s about 1 ½ miles through mainly bush. The only way to contact with neighbours was to walk, ride a horse or take a horse and cart. No phones, radio, wireless or motorcars!
The few sheep we owned had to be yarded every night to keep the dingoes and foxes at bay. Dingoes used to howl most of the night and the harmless birds known as curlews had the most mournful call you could imagine, enough to make anyone’s blood curdle, let alone people from the city!
Dad, being born in Perth, was the youngest of the family (in fact, 20 years younger than the rest) and he had nephews older than himself. He was able to speak both languages fluently. For that reason, the brothers would send him mostly Italian labourers when help was needed on Rocky Valley Farm.
I remember on one occasion, they had sent up a 20 year old Italian on Thursday’s train. Obviously he did not like what he saw when he arrived, and that night the Dingoes howled most of that night and he was scared stiff. The next morning he walked the seven miles back to Nyabing and caught the train on its way back from Pingrup.
Kangaroos’ used to feed a few metres from our shack. Dad had a ‘roo dog which used to catch a couple of them every week; they were our main meat supply. We had no fridges in those days, only evaporative coolers, mainly to keep dairy products cool. The meat used to hang from the rafters and when mother wanted some, she would cut the top layer and feed to the dogs. Then, she would use the next layer which had not been open to the dust and flies, for our next meal. Most of it was thrown to the dogs, hence the reason for at least two a week!
We only had one 1000 gallon tank of rain water for drinking and cooking; we could not afford another tank, and probably would not have caught much more off our small roof anyway. Bathing, washing, dishes etc. was done with water hauled up by horse and cart from Holland’s tank, which was situated one mile down the road.
Bathing, except for special reasons was only allowed on Saturdays. Even then, only one tub of water would be allowed for Mother and our two sisters, Maxine and Rona, who had been born into the family by this time. Dad would get a fresh tub full when he came in, and Kevin and myself would bath after him. Not very hygienic but that’s how it was at the time.
A few more years down the track and the family had gained two more; Florence and Robert had arrived. Dad, with the help of Mr Capararo an Italian Friend, sank a 10,000 gallon underground tank, and installed two 2,000 gallon corrugated iron tanks and filled them with piped water from a new shearing and machinery shed. Water problem solved!
A small problem presented while building the underground tank. They had to blast some rock so used small charges each time so as not to lift rocks and soil on to or through the house. The last bit of rock needed a bigger charge, so to hold the charge down they covered it with heavy bags of soil, and then headed us all into the kitchen where we were supposed to be safe. The next thing was one hell of an explosion, followed by a bag of soil coming through the kitchen roof and landing on the table which Mother was about to set for lunch!
School days – I started in August 1934. I boarded with Les and Hilda Blundy and daughters Winifred and Rae. Mr Blundy drove us to Chinocup School each morning, and we walked the three kms home after school. From February 1935, I rode a bike to Nyabing School, seven miles, about 23 kilometres round trip. When I started at Chinocup, I was amazed at seeing so many kids at once….12 of them! To see 30 kids at Nyabing, just blew me away! The numbers stayed fairly consistent for the rest of my school years.
Kevin started the following year and I had to “Dink” him for a few months. Hard work for a seven year old on a sandy road. Hard on Kevin too, sitting on the cross bar for seven miles twice a day. A couple of years later, Maxine started school, dinkying her was a breeze because I had a bigger new bike with a carrier on the back, even had foot rests for her, and the road had been formed and gravelled.
The tachometer on my bike showed 43,500 kilometres when I was 18 and bought my first car. 27,600 clocked up going to school and the rest, nearly 16,000, riding around the farm and between farms to work. Plus many more to dances, football, cricket and tennis. Kevin, Maxine and Rona would have also done about 18 or 20,000 each. The other three, Robert, Florence and Peter (who I have not yet mentioned) were lucky enough to have a school bus take them to school. Peter, the seventh and last, was born after I left home, he is twenty years younger and I have seen very little of him throughout our lives.
We had to go to school rain, hail or hot weather, sometimes wet through. One day the bank of the dam at Holland’s Tank had burst and water was gushing across the road about 2 ½ feet deep. Kevin got through okay, but soaking wet. Maxine and I were swept off the bike and luckily were caught up in netting wire fence, otherwise we may have drowned. Neither could swim and the water pressure was too strong. However, we got to Nyabing and Mrs Atkinson, a very good friend of the family, dried us off and gave us a cup of hot chocolate and sent us off to school.
We had to milk eight cows, and put the mil through the separator, feed about 70 or 80 pigs, and clean out the stables before breakfast and riding to school. Then repeat the same chores when we got home after a day at school, no wonder the first four of us were not great scholars. The last three were a little luckier. They had the school bus and also went onto secondary school. They also had not so many chores to do.
Being of Italian descent, we first four were bullied a bit when the war broke out. But it all settled down after the first few months. I think playing sport helped in that respect. I probably felt the hurt a bit more because I was forever trying to shield my three siblings. I left school the day I turned 13 in August 1941. Most of the labourers had been called up or volunteered for war service, including Herbert Atkinson and Harold Gaby, who were our farm labourers at the time.
My main job was driving six, eight or ten horse teams, sitting or standing in the middle of whatever machine we were using. A very tough and responsible job for a kid. Hot, dry and dusty in summer, and wet, cold, frosty and windy in winter. I used to walk them to work sometimes up to two miles, and then let them run home individually, but holding one back to ride home. They each had their own stall and knew they were in trouble if caught in another horses stall. This saved us from having to sort out harness every day because the harness and horse were always matched in the same stall.
Jock Guelfi’s truck – Inter-school Sports Day 1939
1938 – 39 School Sports
Lorna Addis, Lorna Gerhardy, Maxine Guelfi, Beryle Manuel, Jean Ryder, Esma Quartermaine, Charlie Ryder, Rona Guelfi, Fay Quartermaine, Alan Gerhardy, Clem Gerhardy, Keith Hobley, Albert Guelfi, Colin Manuel, Ron Sargent, Kevin Guelfi, Ken Hobley, Bill Quartermaine, Max Langley, Cliff Langley.
In 1938, Guelfi Bros bought a new International Truck for the farm. It was the talk of the district at the time. Had a cab, doors with wind up windows, dual wheels, a twelve foot tray, shiny red duco paint and could carry 30 bags of wheat. A far cry from the old Chev four with open cab, and could carry only about twenty bags. Not many years later trucks were being bought with two speed diffs, 16 ft. and 18 ft. trays and could carry eighty bags of wheat, ours was suddenly dwarfed.
The boys I remember joining the Armed Forces. Some not much older than me; Bernard Quartermaine, Tom Blundy A.I.F. – Both killed in action. George Hobley, Dick Hobley, Ross Moore, Herbert Atkinson, Alf Blundy, all A.I.F. all returned, though Atkinson was a very sick, under-nourished man and Alf weak and so mutilated by the Japanese, he could not father a family ever. Both were Japanese P.O.W’s.
Ron Quartermaine, Bernard Goodchild, Arnold Larter, Evan Hobley and Howard Jenkinson R.A.A.F. all returned. I believe the latter two both flew many sorties over Germany. Merle and Ronda Jury were both R.A.A.F, but I don’t think they went away. Not sure about their brothers. I think may be one or two joined. Don’t know about the Gaby boys, their family moved to Kalgoorlie during the war. It’s a long time ago (so if I have missed anyone out, my apologies). This was a big drag and a great effort from such a small community.
After the war, Guelfi Bros Osborne Park, sold Rocky Valley farm, which by then was mostly cleared, fenced, watered and stocked for a reasonable price to our father. He was very lucky because soon after he bought it, wool jumped from a few shillings to a pound a pound, and wheat went up 300%. So he was out of debt very quickly. He had me at work till I was 16 for only tucker and clothes, then he gave me ten shillings ($1.00) with keep, and I had to do the shearing and crutching for that.
I left home at 18 and went contract shearing at $2.50 per hundred shorn, $15 a week, all of a sudden I was rich. I worked for Bert Quartermaine, his son-in-law Reg Marfleet, and the Johnston Brothers between seasons. Harry Gillis, who owned and drove the first school bus in the district, broke his leg in 1950 and employed me to drive the bus for 12 months.
My first car rego KT-18
Albert sinking a dam age 16
My younger brother Robert and sister Florence, along with the now leader of the Labour party, Eric Ripper, were among the children I drove to school. In the meantime, Harry Gillis bought the Nyabing Boarding House come deli and billiard room. We built a new front and changed the billiards room into a bar and so the Nyabing Inn was born.
In 1952 I married Rae Blundy, one of the girls I boarded with when I first started school. She had become a nursing sister and midwife in charge of the Mid-wing at Katanning Hospital. Later Kalgoorlie Hospital Mid-Wing, and later again in charge of Armadale-Kelmscott General Ward and 2nd In Charge to Matron.
I moved onto a small property in Katanning farming pigs, share cropping and shearing, later in Ford Sales at Katanning Stock and Trading Co, and later again for Filmer Bros (serving Nyabing and Pingrup areas). Then manager for second hand cars for the Holden dealership in Kalgoorlie.
From there a half shares in a second-hand shop in Gosnells. Rae and I later managed the two St Ives Retirement Villages built in Subiaco and Myaree. We later moved here to Rockingham, where I built up a lawns and reticulation business before selling and retiring in 1991, aged 63 years. We are now both 83. We have four children, eight grandchildren and ten and a half great-grand children!
Kevin has retired in York with an even bigger family. Maxine is widowed and lives in a retirement village in Port Kennedy, has two children and no grandies. Rona retired in Manning and has three children. Robert is semi-retired to Albany and has two children. Florence lost her husband in a fishing accident at Bremer Bay, along with two other well-known boys from Katanning. She lives in Sydney and has three children. Peter married late in life and now lives in Queensland.
Return to PEOPLE A – G Page
Return to HOME Page
Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family. Guelfi Family.