Don Roulston Buzzard

12.3
Memories of Toodyay

When at Henry Street, Teresa and Brian Jnr. were involved in an accident that Teresa still bears the scars from. Don, Brian Jnr. and Teresa were grinding lamb, for a shepherd’s pie, through a hand mincer screwed to the kitchen table. The phone rang and Don told the children not to touch the mincer. Brian and Teresa took no heed of the warning and Teresa was picking meat out of it when Brain turned the handle, catching Teresa’s finger in the mincer. They could only staunch the flow of blood and dress the wound and Teresa was rushed to Northam hospital by Don, who was in tears. The end of Teresa’s index finger is now shorter than it should be.

Before Toodyay was connected to the state power grid in 1955, the local generator only supplied power between 4pm and 12.00am. Not all babies timed their arrival conveniently before midnight. One night, a local doctor, Dr. O’Reilly, found himself tending to a birth at his surgery in the dark while frantic efforts were being made elsewhere to restart the generator down at Connor’s Mill. [65]

A serious accident occurred in 1952, caused the near severing of a 14 month old boys finger. The Buzzard home was used as an “operating theatre” as there was no power at that time of day. [Dr. O’Reilly was Toodyay’s longest serving resident doctor from 1952 to 1977.]

The “Operating Theatre” at 3 Henry Street

The former “Newcastle” hospital with its two wards of 8 and 3 beds was situated across the road from the Henry Street property but due to rising costs was closed in 1940. It was used as a convalescent home when the Buzzard family moved in across the road. From 1940 the town was serviced by a medical practitioner and St. John’s Ambulance, with more severe cases transported to the Northam Hospital.

Brian remembers Don going over to the home to assist the staff or just comfort the patients and on occasions he went too. But his memories of it are, as a three or four year old, that it was “scary and smelled of disinfectant”. Brian said “there was also a lot virgin bush over the road and Don kept strict rules about venturing into that area” – probably because snakes would inhabit the bush.

Newcastle Hospital c. 1895

Toodyay Hospital c.2020

On 19th June 1952, the Buzzard family moved from the asbestos house in Henry Street to a substantial brick home at 15 Telegraph Road.

On 3rd January 1953, the last of Don and Brian’s children, Philip John Buzzard was born.

Philip John Buzzard Birth Certificate

Soon after Philip was born, the family went on another holiday to Cottesloe, a beach side suburb of Perth. The home they stayed in was owned by good friends of Brian and Don, Ernest (later to become Sir Ernest) and Jessica Lee-Steere.

Holiday at Cottesloe Beach

Teresa has vivid memories of the scenery at Cottesloe, which was so different to Toodyay. She recalls, “the beach was magical, the white sand so soft and clean”. This would have been a great contrast to the orange coloured gravel she had underfoot in Toodyay. She also remembers losing her “precious” ruby toy ring in the sand. “I was heart-broken, as it was the only pretty thing I owned.”

By 1953 Don was very busy as a mother of five children under the age of eight years of age. Besides some of them going to school, there were many social events for the children to attend and Don, who was a very creative person, was called upon to make many different types of apparel. Teresa remembers being at a fancy dress ball dressed as “Mary had a Little Lamb” and she towed a toy lamb on wheels as part of her costume. David’s fancy dress costume at the Convents Children’s Ball of 1948 even won a prize.

David’s Costume at Children’s Fancy Dress Ball

Brian and Teresa remember being at kindergarten in Toodyay. Brian remembers his first day there and although Don may have had mixed emotions, Brian was very eager to get inside. Teresa also remembers her time at kindergarten and being taught by a Sister Koska (who later changed her name to Sister Irena), who would have been a teenager at that time. Teresa recalls, “I remember her from those early days as she was so beautiful and very gentle and softly spoken in her broken English”.

David, Brian, and later Teresa, also attended the Catholic primary school in Toodyay. Several buildings make up Catholic Precinct and comprises St. John The Baptist Church, St. Aloysius Convent of Mercy, St. Aloysius Convent of Mercy Classrooms, Boys Boarding House and Girls Boarding House. The first building was erected in 1903 with further buildings added between 1905 and 1929.

Catholic Precinct Toodyay [66]

Don was still an Anglican at this stage (she converted to Catholicism later) however she never missed taking and staying with the children at the church service every Sunday.

The shops in Toodyay offered a wide variety of goods but Don would buy somethings from a catalogue and she used to pack her five children (and maybe a few of their friends) into the now vintage grey FJ Holden car and pick up the catalogue parcel from the Post Office.

Post Office built c. 1897 [67]

The Memorial Hall was built in 1899 and was originally known as the Toodyay Town Hall. Electricity was installed in 1920 and the hall served as a gathering place for many functions. It also served as a picture theatre until the 1960s.

Brian remembers seeing “Gone with the Wind”, at the hall, in 1954, but as a 6 year old wasn’t impressed with the movie except for the scenery and scenes of destruction.

Another building Brian remembers was the Fire Station. On a Sunday, after the brigade had practiced its drills, if you drove past the station after the morning church service, the volunteer firemen would turn their hoses on and wash down your car.

Toodyay’s Art Deco Fire Station c. 1939 [68]

Many visitors stayed with Don and Brian after they’d moved to Telegraph Road. Besides Don’s mother-in-law, Brian’s brother came to visit, as did his cousin.

Brian’s brother Millar (not Miller) Buzzard visits Toodyay

Frank McKnight, another visitor to Toodyay

In the October of 1953, Don decided to have a holiday on her own to the Eastern States to see her family.

Don departs Toodyay for holiday

She arrived back in Toodyay in November.

Don arrives back in Toodyay after her holiday

Don, according to those who knew her, had a great sense of “style”, fashion sense, and with it a sense of humour that was so charming. She was an accomplished, self-taught dress maker and could turn a few fragments of cloth into some wonderful garments. Her niece Jacquie still remembers (after 65 years), when she was fourteen or fifteen years old, Don made her a three-tiered petticoat, embroidered with flowers, which Jacquie still remembers was the most beautiful item of clothing she had at the time. Jacquie’s mother gave it away to someone and she was devastated.

Don didn’t have any close friends, probably because her roots were in the Eastern States and what friends she made in the air force were left behind when she moved to W.A. In Toodyay, when she became ill, this would not have helped her create lasting friendships. However, saying this, in Dowerin and Toodyay, she went to dinners and formal occasions and had acquaintances who cared for her, but she never developed a close relationship with the women she came in contact with.

They didn’t stop her being the ideal mother when it came to her children’s friends. The home was always filled with children from other families, and in Jacquie’s own words, “doesn’t that say something about Don”. Jacquie always felt welcome and loved when she went over to Don’s home, as would many other children.

Don suffered a “nervous breakdown” (probably brought on by post-natal depression) in 1953 or 1954 and over successive years, and after many visits to Perth to get the proper care, Don was no better.

All the children of the family boarded at the convent boarding schools when our mother was ill. Teresa remembers when Philip or Patrick woke in their cot, next to her bed, in the middle of the night, calling to be with their brothers, a nun came in and with a soothing voice took the young one to sleep with their brother.

Brian’s sister Alice Margaret Mary (Marjorie) and her second husband Gordon Stewart Cuming were farmers at Doodenanning, near Balkuling, W.A. When called upon by Brian, they took in the Buzzard children and David and Teresa remember going to school in Balkuling with Jacquie.

Teresa at Doodenanning

Brian decided the only way that Don was going to get the care required for her condition was to move to Perth near specialist help. The family moved to Perth in 1955.

Although Don and Brian moved to South Perth in 1955, in 1957 the business in Toodyay was still operating as a 50/50 partnership with Pat Loeper, with Don and Brian later to become silent partners and eventually to sell their half to Pat. Pat also bought the Buzzard family home at 15 Telegraph Road on 9th March 1955.

Buzzard and Loeper in Partnership 1957

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[65] https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/community-visitors/museums/digital-museum-exhibitions/hurting-and-healing.aspx
[66] - [68] https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/visit-toodyay/trip-ideas/toodyay-bucket-list/step-back-in-time-in-toodyay.aspx