Wollongbar Update

 Back in 2019, the Wollongbar Institute celebrated 125 years of service to primary industry. That service included the training of Dreadnought Boys from 1913 to 1929. In the blog post of 8 September 2019, we highlighted the registers which had details of Dreadnought Boys who were trained at Wollongbar, as farm apprentices. Those books and the information in them, were accessible there at Wollongbar.

                         

However, things have changed at Wollongbar!

Due to New South Wales State Government cut backs, the laboratory and library were closed earlier this year. The documents, including the Dreadnought material were catalogued and sent to the archives of State Records. The registers are not now accessible locally.

The building involved, ''F Block'', has been renovated, and one of its rooms is now named the ''Dreadnought Room''.

Negotiations are underway to have a digital copy of the Dreadnought material, especially the registers, available at the Alstonville Plateau Historical Society (as well as at the Institute). We will let you know when this has been resolved.

Wollongbar Open Day

On 24 August 2019 the Wollongbar Primary Industries Institute celebrated 125 years of operation, with an open day. There was a good public response to the displays showcasing the Institute’s many activities. Laboratory and farm tours, fishing clinic, demonstrations such as the working dog, and the heavy-lift hexacopter highlighting the use of drone technology.

For many years this place was known as the Wollongbar Experiment Farm, and what we saw was very different from what the Dreadnought Boys who came here, would have known 100 years ago.

The Farm was involved in training of farm apprentices soon after it was established in 1894. Within 20 years, the strong association with the Dreadnought Scheme had begun. This relationship was on display in the Library, which showed the Farm history through books, documents, photographs and other memorabilia.

                                                       Living quarters and offices in 1913

The Dreadnought display centred on the original registers, where members of the public could look up details of a forbear who was trained at Wollongbar. It was great to see the enthusiasm as enquirers read details shown for their particular relative - even when the comments noted about his conduct were confronting.

The Registers showed that 502 Dreadnought boys were sent there for training. The first boy arrived at the Farm on 27 December 1913. Geoffrey Kingston Shaw (19) who came from Surrey in England on the Ballarat, stayed at the farm for seven months before going to work at a store in nearby Alstonville.

The last Dreadnoughts to train at Wollongbar were Edward Uriah Griffiths (18) and his brother Charles Stanley Griffiths (16) who arrived on the Oronsay on 21 November 1929 from Swansea in Wales.

                                                           The Dreadnought Register

The normal stay at the Farm was for three months of training. A select few went on to work at the Farm, but the shortest stay was 11 days! This was one Bruce Cruickshank (19) who reached Sydney on the Jervis Bay on 12 March 1923, arrived at the farm on the 15th and left on the 26th. The register notes say Cleared out probably went to Sydney. There is a subsequent note giving his address as C/o Gus McNaughton, The Tivoli.

Gus McNaughton, a comedian and actor from the music halls of London, was in Australia and performing at the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney at that time. Cruickshank had given his previous occupation as Music Hall Artist and probably knew McNaughton in London. We know that McNaughton returned to UK and went on to be a film actor in 72 films, including two with director Alfred Hitchcock. We don’t know what became of young Mr Cruickshank!

Jack Simpson

John (“Jack”) Simpson was one of the quiet ones. In a taped interview called How I spent my first £12, he talked about his coming to this country, and the following has been put together from the transcript of that interview……….

Unemployed in Liverpool, and after wasting time tramping up and down the wharves looking for work, along the main street Jack saw a sign “Join the Army”. He tried, but being still only 17 years of age, he was knocked back. Then further along the main street there was another sign, from the Liverpool Education Committee, “Join the World – Go to Canada or See Australia.” As Jack puts it ‘I went and saw the Liverpool education people……….I passed my medical……we got in…..they told me we were going to Australia – Your choice, OK? They sent me to a hostel where we used to go out every day to a farm, and learn the rudiments of farm life. Then all of a sudden we are going to Australia, cost £12. We are going on Christmas Eve……..from Southampton.’

Jack Simpson left England on 24 December 1928 on the Largs Bay, one of the Aberdeen Commonwealth Line ships. ‘I made friends with other boys on the boat and we had a wonderful trip! We sailed across the Bay of Biscay…..it was like a pancake. Down the Mediterranean into the Suez Canal to Colombo and down the Indian Ocean to Aussie. But the Great Australian Bight was rough as bags, the boys were nearly all sea-sick.’ For much of the trip, Jack was plagued with tooth-ache, but found it was useful to have his bible (his deck of cards) with him. Prior to reaching Fremantle the boys were each paid £2 landing money. 

The Largs Bay arrived in Sydney at 9pm on 4^th March 1929, and the next morning they disembarked. ‘We landed and had to climb up and over the approach to the new Harbour Bridge, and then went to the Department of Labour and Industry. We went in there, we were all sat around and introduced to a big brass boss…… He said Where does everyone want to go? That was where the fun started because nobody knew where they were going!’

Then Jack spoke up ‘I have information that my father was married to a girl, his second wife, who came from Cardiff, and her brothers lived at place called Cedar Point.’ The response was immediate, Wonderful information, that’s the kind of thing we want. Now we will get the map out and find out where Cedar Point is. This was done and showed that Wollongbar was the nearest training place, and another seven boys were picked to go with Jack.

Jack says ‘We didn’t know we were blessed, we went up North and got a wonderful place at Wollongbar Experimental Farm.’

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After training, Jack Simpson was placed on a farm out between Lismore and Cedar Point. He lived in Tweed and Gold Coast areas for many years, and passed away on 5^th January 2009, aged 97 years.

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