Don Roulston Buzzard

13.0
16 Riverview Street, South Perth

On 4th October 1955, the Buzzard family bought a home at 16 Riverview Street, South Perth. They were to stay in that home for the next 8 years.

Patrick, Teresa, David, Philip and Brian, in South Perth

David and Brian were to attend Aquinas College, at Salter Point, Perth, with David going into grade 4 and Brian into grade 2.

David, Grade 4, Aquinas College

Brian, Grade 2, Aquinas College

Teresa was enrolled in grade 2 at St. Columba’s Catholic Primary school, in South Perth, in the same year.

Teresa, Grade 2, St. Columba’s School

Teresa, after finishing at St. Columba’s School, moved to Loreto Convent. Patrick and Philip were too young to start school and kindergartens were not common in the early 1950’s. They therefore stayed home with Don and “helped” out around the home.

Don would attend just about every football match that her elder sons played in, no matter where the game was being played. She would fill the car boot with lots of “goodies” for the team and was the keenest parent on the boundary. With the younger children, she made fancy dress costumes and took the children to these events.

Everyone who knew Don said she was very keen on spending time with her children at sporting, social events and often would drive a car full of children to “Ampol” beach during the summer. (The beach was near the port of Fremantle W.A. and the name of a petrol company, “Ampol”, was painted on very large petrol tanks situated behind the beach. It is known as Port Beach these days.)

A day at “Ampol Beach”

When Patrick and Philip started at St. Columba’s School, Don was there for the “tuck shop”, school fetes, plays and other school functions.

Even as a non-Catholic, Don seldom missed taking all the children to church every Sunday. We sat in the very rear pews of St. Columba’s Church, ready for a quick exit when the hour long service finished. Don was baptised by Father Dowling and was converted to Catholicism at the same church. It was a private ceremony without the usual fanfare associated with such events.

In these early days in South Perth, Brian Senior was employed by Elders (the stock and station agents he had an agency with in Toodyay). However, his job as a Chief Branch Inspector he found difficult as it involved a lot of country travelling and reprimanding branch managers that were not running their branches correctly.

In the early 1960’s Brian, together with a few other like-minded businessmen, who had experience in the livestock industry and finance, formed a company called Western Livestock. The company had to compete in a market against Elders and Wesfarmers, who dwarfed the fledgling business. However, by concentrating on customer service, the company grew into a sizable operation.

But this had a cost. Brian had invested the entire family assets in the business and the business had to succeed. He spent many many hours away from his family and Don and the children did not have a lot of time with their father. Don was often called upon to entertain Brian’s client “at the drop of a hat” and late into the night. This couldn’t come at a worse time for Don as she was struggling mental health issues at the time.

Her first recorded visit, to a local GP in South Perth about her mental illness, occurred in 1958. Don was admitted as a voluntary patient to Heathcote Hospital, Applecross, Perth in the same year and stayed for three months.