Pittwater Life November 2018 Issue

Times Past
Study of women in community
Women of all ages are
a vital component
of any community.
Avalon Beach has seen many
remarkable women contribute
to its fabric and over many
years. To illustrate, this month
we look at three women
from different eras with very
different experiences…
Catherine Collins and her
husband Jeremiah sailed
from County Cork, Ireland, on
board the ‘Elphinstone’ with
their nine children in 1839.
The Collins family
established a large dairy farm
covering the whole of North
Avalon, on land rented from
the Reverend Father Therry at
35 pounds per year. Therry,
who had also come from Cork,
had received grants in the area
totalling 1380 acres.
In the ‘wilds of Pittwater’
Catherine helped establish and
run the farm, educated the
children, and grew vegetables
and crops for the family and
animals. According to one
caller in 1861, the interior
of the cottage, which had an
earthen floor, “was the very
beau ideal of cleanliness and
care”. With little opportunity
to take Mass at Careel Bay,
she once walked (via Lane
Cove Road) to Sydney for Mass
because she didn’t like riding.
Grace Wickham came with
her husband Stan and their
two young children, Lois
and ‘Mac’ in 1924 to take up
the tenancy of Mr Small’s
‘new general store’. After a
disagreement, the Wickham’s
ERAS APART: Local achievers Brenda Kable, Catherine Collins and Grace Wickham.
built their own store in 1934
on the diagonally opposite
corner (now Chambers
Cellars). While Stan was out
delivering orders, Grace
ran the store, as well as the
post office within the store,
redirected phone calls to
locals, sold groceries, handled
holiday lettings, was the agent
for the Bank of NSW, raised
and educated her children and
as a nurse, acted as the interim
GP until Dr Sanders arrived
in the 1950s. Grace was also a
keen bowler and a foundation
member of the Avalon Beach
Women’s Bowling Club.
Tragically, while on duty
in the shop, she took the
telegram which notified her
of the death of her son while
flying in France for the RAF
in 1939.
Brenda Kable was one of
those many women who, with
their family, settled in Avalon
Beach post-WWII. Brenda had
previously found it necessary
to spend much of her time in
ships. Her husband Garvon
was a Sargeant Navigator in
the RAAF and then in the
Naval Fleet Air Arm. Trips
to England, Melbourne and
the USA with two of her
later four children, required
many school changes,
understanding their needs
and without forming any
lasting friendships. However
she turned travels into
exciting adventures, making
the most of sightseeing and
educational opportunities.
After settling into Avalon
Beach in 1955 she supported
her husband in his work with
the APT and then started the
Avalon Community Library in
1983. In 1998 she was awarded
an OAM for her work with the
Pangloss Circle, settling new
migrants into Australia.
TIMES PAST is supplied
by local historian
and President of the
Avalon Beach Historical
Society GEOFF SEARL.
Visit the Society’s
showroom in Bowling
Green Lane, Avalon
Beach.
Times Past
The Local Voice Since 1991
NOVEMBER 2018 71