TUFFLEY Family

Tuffley family. Tuffley family. Tuffley family. Tuffley family.

TUFFLEY
Leo & Fay, Stephen & Megan

TUFFLEY
Arthur & Daisy, Charlie & Pat

1934 to 1981

By Lynnell Belli (nee Tuffley) – (Some information supplied by Christopher Tuffley)

This is a brief outline of how the Tuffley’s came to be farming in Nyabing. To follow is a snapshot of the Tuffley family tree followed by a description of my family’s time spent on the land. My Father, Charles Tuffley, is the son of Arthur Edwin Tuffley (born 26 August 1895 who was the son of William Tuffley born in 1855 and Sophia Tuffley, nee Santer, born in 1859).

Arthur attended Waldron Road School in London up until 1909 and migrated to Australia in 1912. Before leaving England, Arthur worked at Buller & Co LTD as a goldsmith, manufacturing pearls and precious stone into fine jewellery. He got a good character reference which helped him to settle into the convict settlement of Perth, Western Australia. Arthur left behind his brother Albert and sisters Rose and Doris. He never saw his siblings or parents again.

Arthur met Agnes Daisy McEnroe Reilly (Daisy) and they were married on 16^th June 1927 in Leederville, Perth, Western Australia. They had four children, one daughter (whom was sadly stillborn) and three sons. John Arthur Tuffley was born on 13/6/1929 (died 21/9/2010). Charles William Tuffley was born on the 15/06/1931 (died 10/12/2010). Leo Joseph Tuffley was born on the 27/2/1933 and is still farming at Nyabing (2012) with his family.

The sons all farmed together in Nyabing, farming in partnership from 1952 until approximately 1960. There is a partnership agreement dated 23 July 1952 between Arthur and his three sons. It is unlikely there was an earlier partnership because Leo turned 18 in February in 1952 and would have been unable to have legally entered a partnership prior.

Jack married Judy Bungert in 1956 and they had two children, a son and a daughter; Christopher and Carolyn. Charlie (my dad) married Patricia Margaret Shore on 11^th February 1956.  They had seven children, two daughters and five sons; Lynnell, Daryl, Debbie, Robert, Gary, Graeme and Bevan. Leo married Faith Rosemary Rinari (known as Faye, born 25.7.1931 died 9.10.2004). They had three children, two sons and a daughter; Stephen, Leonie and Wayne.

Here are some memories that my Dad shared with me….

Charlie did not know much about his Dad’s (Arthur’s) early days in England nor much of his time before purchasing the property on Warren Road, East Katanning. Arthur went shares in this property with his good friend Ned Gleeson. Together they cleared the farm by axe and they produced good new land crops. Charlie said that in the sixties/seventies you could see the remains, an old stone chimney, of where Arthur and Ned used to live on Warren Road. At Katanning cemetery Ned’s grave reads: “GLEESON, Edmund (Ned). 4 June 1939 aged 78. Friend of A F Tuffley”

Arthur with some of his rams.

Arthur purchased new land, ‘Bonnie Doone’ located towards the end of Warren Road, East Katanning, about six miles from Boongadoo Hall and seven miles from Nyabing.  Arthur married Daisy and they enjoyed life on the farm. This farm later belonged to Jack Tuffley.

Side verandah of the homestead at “Bonnie Doone”, Nyabing 1947.

Boongadoo Hall along the Nyabing-Dumbleyung Road was used for church services, school, dances and social occasions. The Tuffley children attended the school with approximately ten other students in mixed grades with one teacher, Edie Ramm.

Molly and Cath Ashcroft, neighbours to the Tuffley’s, would take their horse and sulky past the farm gate so, for a few years, the girls would collect the Tuffley boys and they would go to school together. Charlie thinks he was about eight or nine when he started riding his push-bike to school. Pushing skinny wheel push-bikes over sandy unmaintained roads to get to Boongadoo School was very hard work.

Boongadoo School Teacher Eddie Ramm
Students included Patterson’s Ashcroft’s Phillips and Tuffley’s

The school uniform was a shirt and shorts for summer and the same for winter plus a jumper. The jumper was often a size or two too big or a size or two too small. No matter what the weather, they would leave early in the morning with heavy leather bags riding their bikes. Sometimes falling off or getting punctures in the tyres. They would study all day and then ride home to do the chores; getting the wood for the stove, open fire, and copper, carrying hot water to help their mother with the evening meals and dishes. Jack, Charles and Leo attended Boongadoo School grade 1 to grade 5.

The Tuffley’s were strict Catholics. In grade 6, 7, and his first year of junior high school, Charlie and his brothers were teased about attending church and prayer times as they were the only Catholic family in Nyabing. To finish off his education his parents sent him off to a Catholic Christian Brothers School in New Norcia. This was a place of extreme discipline. The Christian Brothers would flog the boys very cruelly. Charlie told his children that they never knew how lucky they were not to have been sent away to school or to be in an orphanage.

Jack’s son Christopher says;
Jack also went to New Norcia for two years. I think it was 1942 and 1943. Dad talked once of regularly getting the cane for not getting his sums and reading tasks right, which was cruel and unfair because he had dyslexia and couldn’t read or write properly. However, apart from that, he apparently liked New Norcia. He left school at either 13 or 14 and went straight to work on the farm with his father (Arthur).

Charlie’s first job was as a storeman at the Nyabing General Store. With things in bulk supplies in shops these were the days where shop assistants would weigh and wrap everything for the customers. Nyabing had a train delivery of supplies twice a week. Charlie had to go to the siding in a small truck, something like a Dodge Ute, and pick up the supplies. This included milk, flour, butter, household kerosene etc., offloading these into the back-room of the shop the dividing the bulk supplies into more manageable sizes. For example, flour into paper bags weighing one pound each. How times have changed. One of Charlie’s jobs was to get the recycled beer bottles and refill them with kerosene. After some time, Charlie was responsible for the mail run, taking the truck around delivering mail, paper and supplies to the farmer’s gates.

The Tuffley family travelled by truck (with the boys and the camping gear on the back) to Busselton for holidays.

Bill Collins taught Charlie and Leo how to shear properly. At the age of nineteen Charlie joined a shearing team which included Harry Phillips, Mick Kennedy and later his brother Leo joined the team too. Mick and Charlie became the best of friends. They had a lot in common; shearing, religion, beer and the same sense of humour. Mick was older and had more experience at shearing, so the competition was on. Charlie became a great clean shearer doing an average 100 sheep a day. This was good money for hard work and he did this until he was about 33 years old. Jack enjoyed welding and tinkering with machinery. So together they were a great asset to the family partnership. The Tuffley boys were best mates, working together, clearing the land, shearing, playing sports and travelling together for holidays.

The following is some information from the partnership agreement;
“The farming land in the partnership was: Arthur (Kojonup locations 8212, 8161 and 8165), Jack (Kojonup location 8829), Charlie and Leo jointly (Kojonup location 8516).  The livestock, plant and machinery was owned by Arthur.  The livestock consisted of: 800 sheep – mixed rams, ewes, wethers and lambs, two cows, two calves. The plant and machinery consisted of: one 10’ Mackay Harvester, one 14’ Disc Seeder, one 10’ Disc Plough Sundercut, one 6’ Furrough Plough M.B., one 20’ Run Mackay Combine, one Bedford 3 Ton Truck, one Holden Sedan, 3 Tractors (2 Fordsons, one Massey Diesel), tools valued at 500 pounds.“

The Tuffley family travelled by truck (with the boys and the camping gear on the back) to Busselton for holidays.

Arthur and Daisy retired to Albany in the early sixties. The Tuffley boys, with their wives, continued farming the land. In 1964 Jack purchased a farm in the Albany area and moved there at the end of that year. Jack and Judy farmed in Albany before selling the farm and retiring in early 1981 to Kalamunda and later to Shenton Park. A few years before retiring, Jack and Judy had become interested in gem collecting and gem cutting. After retiring, they both became heavily involved in these hobbies. Jack soon became a highly skilled gem cutter and placed highly in international competitions, even coming second in 1992. Judy became very involved in the administration of the WA branch of the Australian Facetors Guild.

Arthur and Daisy outside their Albany retirement house.

Charlie moved to Perth in 1969 to educate his children. Meanwhile Leo share cropped Charlie’s farm and Charlie kept his sheep, travelling to and from Perth and Nyabing, checking his sheep until 1977. In 1977 he sold his farm “Fern Hill” to his brother Leo. Charlie became a very successful businessman owning a hotel in Ravensthorpe (1977-1987) and a caravan park in Geraldton (1987-1994). They retired to Innaloo, Perth in 1994. Charlie and Pat travelled a lot throughout their working days and early retirement.

Leo currently lives in Nyabing and is semi-retired. Both Charlie and Leo’s share of the original farm is still been farmed by Steven and Megan Tuffley and family. We all share very fond memories of our days spent growing up on the farm at Nyabing.

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TUFFLEY. Leo & Fay, Stephen & Megan

1934 – Current

Written by Megan Tuffley

The Tuffley Family has been a part of the Kent Shire, particularly the Nyabing area, since the early years of the Sandalwood cutters when young Arthur, fresh from England, came out to Western Australia to earn a living.

Arthur Edwin Tuffley was born in 1895 in the ward of Tuffley in the city of Gloucester. I have no information about his family. Arthur married Agnes Daisy McEnroe Reilly and was able to make enough from his days as a Sandalwood cutter to buy a small farm east of Katanning. He subsequently bought and sold farming land and continued to move eastwards until he ended up with a farm near the town of Nyabing, which his youngest son Leo and grandson Stephen still farm together.

Arthur and Daisy married relatively late in life and their first child, Carmel, was tragically stillborn. They went on to have three sons, Jack, Charlie and Leo. Jack married Judith Bungert and adopted two children, Christopher and Carolyn. Charlie married Patricia Shore in 1956. Charlie and Pat had seven children, Lynnell, Daryl, Debra, Robert, Gary, Graeme and Bevan. Both families farmed for some time in the Nyabing area.

Jack, Charlie & Leo Tuffley 1951

Leo Joseph married Faith Rosemary Raneri, from Kalgoorlie in 1956 in Perth. Western Australia. They farmed with Leo’s parents and two older brothers, Jack and Charlie in Nyabing. Jack sold his share of the farm and moved away. Leo and Charlie continued to farm their father’s land. Charlie eventually decided to leave farming and sold out to Leo, who continued to farm the land with his eldest son, Stephen once Arthur retired and moved to Albany.

Leo and Faye, as she became known, had three children. Stephen Joseph, Leonie Gail and Wayne Arthur. They lived on a part of the farm, now known as Tuffley Road while Arthur and Daisy resided on the farm now owned by the Ferry family on the Warren Road.

Tuffley Family c1960 – Leo, Leonie, Faye holding Wayne & Stephen

Leonie married Rick Gornall from Katanning and is now living in Albany. Their first child, Joshua is married to Amy Willott and they have a daughter, Ella. Their second child, Nicole, has two children, Charlie and Patrick, to partner Malcolm House.

Wayne married Julie Serescini, who had a child, Nicole, from a previous marriage, whom Wayne has adopted. They subsequently had two children together, Amanda and Bradley. Amanda has two children, Dana-Lee and a baby due to be born any time now (Dec 2011).

Wayne has since married Toni Franchi, daughter of prior publicans of the Nyabing Inn, Tony and Chrissie Franchi, both of whom still reside in the town of Nyabing. Toni has two children from a previous relationship, Roxanne and Dustie-Lee. Wayne and Toni and their family live in Perth.

Stephen married Megan Jane Brannelly, from Perth in August 1981. Megan had been transferred to Nyabing by the Education Department in 1979 to become a teacher at Nyabing Primary School. The school’s numbers had grown to such an extent, well over 100, that a fourth teacher was required.

Leo and Faye both worked at the school to earn a little extra to help out with the farm income which was lean in those years. Leo was the gardener and Faye the cleaner. When she retired, she was the longest serving cleaner in the state.

Megan’s father, John Desmond, worked in the finance branch at Elders Goldsborough Mort, as the company was then known, in Perth. He’d previously been a ‘stockie’ and had worked all over the state. Megan’s mother, Roualleyn Hilary Cameron was born of a French mother and Scottish father and had grown up in an upper-class environment complete with servants in Horsham, Victoria. Imagine the cultural shock as she moved to the town of Port Hedland with her husband in the mid 1950’s!

Hilary was working as a Probate Clerk in a Law Firm in Melbourne when she met Megan’s father who was training for the Air Force and about to be sent away to war. They married only a week before his departure. Megan is the youngest of three girls.

Megan met Steve at a basketball match in Nyabing in 1979. She was particularly entranced with his long legs, being a little on the short side herself. They eventually got together after a couple of false starts. She would ring him at his home at around 8.30 in the evening (using the public phone in the main street) and most often find he was already in bed, having spent his day shearing.  Once he invited her to a mate’s going away party, telling her to be at the pub at 5.30. Megan was used to working on city time and arrived a little after the scheduled time. Stephen, a stickler for time, left without her. No one had ever done that to her before and she was hooked!!

When Steve was introduced to Megan, he immediately gave her a male nickname. He could never remember names of any new females who came to town, so Megan became “Bill”.  This must have been extremely confusing for other farmers on the two-way channel hearing him talking to Bill and signing off with ‘Thanks love.”

Steve was a particularly good footballer, using his height (6 foot 5 inches in the old measurement) to his advantage in the ruck. He had trained with Claremont in Perth in 1977 and lived only a few blocks from Megan’s home at the time. They even had the same watering hole, The Karalee Tavern, but just didn’t meet at the time.

Steve and Megan married in 1981 in South Perth. Megan had chosen the date to coincide with Country Week Football as many of the players from Kent Districts Football Club were a part of the Ongerup team that year. In a surprise to all, Ongerup happened to win their way to a Grand Final game, to be held on the Sunday after the wedding! No surprise, though, that they lost. The night’s revelries showed in their missed marks and wayward kicks.

Once back in Nyabing after a brief honeymoon in the city, they moved to a very old and derelict house on the farm. Charlie and wife Pat had lived there years ago while planning to build their proper house. In fact, it was a garage that Charlie kept converting as he and Pat, both devout Catholics, continued to produce more children, seven in total. They didn’t ever get around to building that house, the footings of which can still be seen on Beattie Rd.

Steve and Megan had some wonderful times in “Charlie’s House” and welcomed their first son, Cameron John, born in January 1983, there. Cameron was Megan’s mother’s maiden surname and John was her father’s given name, though he was known as Desmond all his life. Des passed away from lung cancer only six weeks before Cameron was born. It was a terrible time for Megan, only made better with the birth of her precious first son. They were farming with Leo and Faye, and Steve continued to carry on a ‘Cocky Shearing’ run to help make ends meet.

When the next child was imminent, Leo and Faye decided to move into Nyabing. Steve (who had a broken wrist from football) and heavily pregnant Megan managed to paint the farmhouse and put in new ceilings and a flat pack kitchen just in time for their second child, Mitchell Joseph’s arrival in August 1984. Life continued in the much the same way with Steve shearing and helping on the farm. Mitchell was given his second name for his grandfather; Leo and they are great mates today being quite similar in character.

In May 1987, a longed-for daughter, Jessica Leonie was born. The timing wasn’t the best, being the middle of seeding. Steve was working at the Nyabing Pastoral Company at the time and was present for the birth. As the child was born, he said to the midwife, “Another little boy”. She replied indignantly, “Excuse me, this happens to be a little girl!” Since both parents were fully expecting a third boy, the poor little baby was called Baby Tuffley for a full five days while Steve and Megan fought over names! The name Jessica came from Megan’s godmother. We have since found a “Jessie” in the Reilly family (Leo’s mother’s family).

Since Steve was busy, Megan checked out of hospital and drove her baby home, after doing a little shopping at the supermarket in Katanning! On her arrival home, baby Jessica was plonked in a ‘bouncer’ while Megan prepared food for the shearers who were commencing shearing the next day. Jessica was an extremely good baby, fortunately!

When Jessica was five, Megan and Steve purchased Steve’s brother’s home in Nyabing and moved ‘to town’. Life was much less complicated, but just as busy as Steve began a contract spraying business after revamping the old farm sprayer.

Today, Steve and Megan still run a spraying business, along with spreading and hay baling. Faye sadly passed away in 2004 from cancer. She is very much missed by Cam, Mitch and Jess as well as the rest of the family. Nanna Faye was a special person who adored children and would give the shirt off her back to anyone who needed it more than she did. Leo is now a spritely 78-year-old, still helping out on the family farm which Steve and Megan took over in 2005.

Cameron, now 28, has recently returned from an extended overseas trip and plans to return to a mining enterprise in the north of WA where he worked as a Senior Field Technician. He’s extremely clever with his hands and plays guitar as a hobby.

Mitchell, 27, is an agronomist at Elders Limited, based in Jerramungup and lives in Albany with his partner Sallee Tilka. He loves his footy, just like his dad, and plays for North Albany.

Jessica, 24, is administration assistant at the Shire of Kent in Nyabing and is in a relationship with Warrick Brown, son of Sheryle and Gordon. She plays netball for Nyabing and is very active in the community.

Megan still works at Nyabing Primary School as a relief teacher and has been a Local Government Councillor at the Shire of Kent since 2003. Megan is also a Justice of the Peace and runs her own business, manufacturing and marketing skin care products under the brand name ‘Skinflint’. After years of netball and a little hockey, she has just joined the Nyabing Bowling Club.

Steve, nicknamed “Snaggers”, seems to run on the smell of diesel and continues farming and agricultural contracting with a little lawn bowls on the side.

The Tuffley family in Nyabing is still very close, with the children dropping in to the home in Nyabing regularly. They are grateful for their country upbringing and believe there isn’t a better life for a child than to be brought up in the bush. Their mother, a reformed city girl couldn’t agree more.

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