-PN-

¹ For his early life, see the entry for his mother

Trained as a teacher

First teaching post

at Carnamah

Then Bridgetown

Marriage to

Wendy Smithard

Writing a set of

Manual Arts textbooks

Higher Qualifications

enneth, the only child of Erwin Westover and Jean Rumble, was born in Perth, Western Australia on 16 February 1943. His father was an American serviceman stationed in Perth, Western Australia during World War II. Jean and Erwin divorced, and Kenneth was brought up by his mother. Jean went to live at Bruce Rock when he was five, so he started school there¹. In 1949 when he was six his mother remarried.

At the age of ten Kenneth went to school, first at Baandee and then at Merredin. When his mother returned to Perth, he completed his Junior Certificate at Perth Boys' School and then his Leaving Certificate at Perth Modern School. His first thoughts were to become an architect, but poor eyesight prevented this. So, he trained as a teacher.

In 1963, when he was twenty years of age, his first posting as a teacher was to Carnamah where, because of a housing shortage, he lived on the verandah of a restaurant. When his mother and step-father came to Carnamah, he lived with them until, after three years, he was posted to Bridgetown.

During his two years at Bridgetown he took a crash-course in teaching manual arts and also met Wendy Smithard, whom he later married at West Perth in 1968. Transferred back to Perth, he spent nine years at Mirrabooka school. During some of this time he was seconded to the Nedlands Teacher's College to write a manual-arts textbook for the Education Department. With a colleague from England he embarked on a more ambitious project of writing a set of three textbooks. In 1974 he completed these by himself, his colleague having returned to England.

Studying at the West Australian College of Advanced Education he obtained his degree and his higher teacher's certificate. He then spent twelve months lecturing student teachers at the Nedlands campus before being posted to Wanneroo Senior High School. As he could not gain further promotion without another country stint, he took a posting at Kalgoorlie.

In 1972 he and Wendy had a daughter, Lisa. By the time he had spent two years at Kalgoorlie, Lisa was ready to enter high school. He was fortunate to secure a transfer back to the metropolitan area. Kenneth was posted first to Girraween for three years, and then he secured the position of Senior Master at Woodvale Senior High School.

Ken is happy with this last posting and expects to stay in this position until he retires.

Early life

Work in New Zealand

in radio

Marriage in Perth

Forming his own advertising

company

Interest in marketing boats

evin, the first child of Bob Rumble and Marjorie Stott, was born at Tresillian hospital in Tyrell Street, Nedlands, Western Australia on 16 February 1948. When his parents moved to a War Service home in Floreat, he went to Jolimont Primary School. His two younger brothers later attended the same school.

Kevin and his brothers became very lively lads, up to all manner of activities. Reflecting on this in 1991, his father Bob said:

Sometimes I'd get a knock on the door at night, and a police sergeant would be standing there, and I'd say, <Come in. Which one are we going to talk about tonight?'

On leaving school Kevin tried several jobs before settling to work in Perth for radio station 6KY on Cadet Sales. Then he went to New Zealand, taking with him Jan Taylor with whom he had formed a relationship. He and Jan had a flat in Auckland, and he worked for Radio I.

Eventually Kevin returned to Perth and he and Jan married on 26 March 1977. For a while he worked with television station Channel 9 in the marketing area, but was not very happy there. He moved to an independent advertising group and then formed his own company, Rumble's Advertising and Marketing, with business premises in Colin Street, West Perth.

During the late 1980s, when many businesses collapsed, Kevin had his own share of problems through the bad debts of advertising clients. Nonetheless he and his business survived and by the 1990s matters had improved.

Kevin's brother Trevor had become a boat builder, so Kevin and he joined forces to market boats. This was not entirely successful. The two brothers made a trip to Japan but sold only one boat. Kevin returned to his advertising marketing business.

Kevin and Jan have two sons, Jeremy - born 10 December 1979, and Beau -born 28 May 1982.

Interest in Boat Building

Apprenticeship

Work

Forming his own

company

Trading with Japan

Working in Aluminium

rather than fibre-glass

Relationship with

Dominique Mulder

revor, the second child of Bob Rumble and Marjorie Stott, was born at Nedlands, Western Australia on 7 August 1949. Like his older brother Kevin he went to Jolimont Primary School. When he completed his schooling he knew that he wanted to become a boat builder. He became an apprentice to Stewart Ward, a boat builder in Cottesloe, but he and Stewart could not work together

so his apprenticeship was transferred to Drago Sambrollo of Fremantle. Drago was an old-fashioned builder, wedded to timber, not to modern synthetic materials, and he built boats for cray-fishermen.

Having learnt his trade with Drago, Trevor then worked with a Peter Kemp who was building very popular North-Shore 37 footers. From there he decided to work for himself intending to buy hulls and finish them to customer's specifications. His father helped him to register a company called Commercial Hulls WA. Soon Trevor was building a variety of boats: The Nordon, a 51 footer used up in the North Cape, and bought by business man Don Rogers; The Manta, a 47 foot boat used as a charter boat in Fremantle.

His mother often helped him with the book-keeping. While Trevor was a fine boat builder, he was unorganised on the business side, sometimes buying equipment that, whilst desirable, could not be justified economically. He fell into debt and his parents did what they could to extricate him from this. Finally he wound up the business.

He made another unsuccessful business venture, this time with his brother Kevin. Trading under the name Keywest he built a series of boats, two of which he and Kevin took to Japan for sale. Finally he had success working for himself by building in aluminium rather than in fibre-glass or timber. He received orders from owners of large fishing fleets for dinghies and service boats, and is now doing well at Fremantle.

Trevor formed a de facto relationship with Dominique Mulder. Later, they married on 12 October 1991. They have two children, Sharney (b.1986), and Todd (b.1989).

Early interest in

Farming

Training as a motor

mechanic

Working in the transport business

Building Oil Rigs

Working in Singapore

Marriage and

family

ayne, the third child of Bob Rumble and Marjorie Stott, was born on 14 October 1951. Like his brothers he went to Jolimont Primary School in Perth but suffered from dyslexia, and this hampered his schooling. He moved to a school run by the Marist Brothers, but schooling did not suit him.

As a young teenager he went farming, becoming a farm-hand at Gutha, an area east of Geraldton and a little north of Morawa. He loved it: it was nothing to be on the tractor for an all-night shift putting in a crop. He lived in a little bedroom in a tin shed adjacent to the house and he ate with the family. Unfortunately he twisted his ankle in an accident, did not see a doctor, and his employer made little of the problem. He became homesick and returned to his parents in Floreat Park.

Having enjoyed tinkering with the tractor, Wayne decided he would like to be a mechanic but, at his age, and without three years of secondary schooling behind him, there was difficulty in taking up an apprenticeship. Finally Bill Cusack, the owner of the Shell motor garage on the corner of Jersey Street and Cambridge street, Jolimont took him on. Under the tutelage of someone who got on well with young people, Wayne did well and became a motor mechanic, completing his apprenticeship in three years instead of the normal five years.

He went into the transport business, working with big, heavy diesels. For a while he managed Dowland's transport company, which trucked goods from the East to the West coast. Next he became involved in building oil rigs.

By 1991, he was well established in Singapore making rigs for an American company. He works long hours, seven days a week for five weeks at a time, and then has five weeks home leave.

Wayne married Margaret Berryman on 26 May 1973. They have three children, Sarah (b.1974), Amy (b.1976) and Robert (b.1982). He has a four wheel drive vehicle and one of the large Keywest boats built by his brother.

Independent from an early age

usan, the first child of Peter Rumble and Joyce Graham, was born on 25 October 1949. Young Susan was a good baby: she ate well, slept well, and was placid. By the time she became of school age her parents were living in Wembley. Peter recalled her starting school:

Susan did not go to kindy, she went straight to Wandarra Primary School. That was a new school in the district, down near the north-west corner of Lake Monger in the Wembley area. Of course, first day, she was taken down there by her mother and, after school, met by her mother and safely brought home, but immediately Susan wanted to be quite independent. `I can come home by myself, Mum. Don't you come and pick me up.' She was a very independent child, even though she was only very young.

Involved in sport: basketball

After primary school she went to Churchlands High School. She carried on the Rumble tradition of being a great talker. She mixed well, was good at sport and became involved in girls' basketball - now known as netball. She also greatly enjoyed watching football matches. This clashed with her basketball so that, although she had the skill, she did not go on to play at State level.

Trained as a mothercraft nurse.

Met and married Mike Flower

After leaving school Susan trained as a mothercraft nurse at Ngala home. She met her husband Mike Flower at the North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving club. Since her marriage on 25 March 1972, she and her whole family have continued their close association with the club. Her first child, Kate, was born in 1975. Then followed Simon in 1977, and Thomas in 1981.

Worked for a crisis care centre, then for Tresillian Community Centre.

When her family became established Susan worked for a period in a crisis care centre. This, although stimulating, sometimes made heavy out-of-hours demands on her time. In 1991 she took a position with the Tresillian Community Centre at Nedlands as a trained mothercraft nurse in charge of their day-care centre. In this new position she can spend more consistent time with her children.

¹ 1991

Interest in sport

at school

After school: office work

then became a Nursing Aide

Marriage to Eric Tasker

Family

hristine, the second child of Peter Rumble and Joyce Graham, was born on 2 January 1952. She married Eric Tasker on 7 January 1972 and they now¹ have three children Richard, Paul and James.

By the time Christine was born, her parents were living at Wembley so, like her older sister Susan, she went to Wandarra Primary School. Chris put much emphasis on sport. Although a small person, she was a good runner and her one ambition was to be champion girl in athletics. She achieved this ambition in her final primary school year. She then followed her sister to Churchlands High School.

Chris was always a very well organised person, but she neither enjoyed school, nor was she a scholar. When she missed one subject in her Junior Certificate exam she enrolled herself in night school to gain two extra subjects. After school she worked for a short period in a city office, but this did not appeal to her, so she became a nursing aide at Hollywood Repatriation Hospital, where she gained the reputation as being a "marvellous little nurse."

Chris met Eric Tasker through a teacher who taught Jane, her younger sister. Eric was a science teacher and, after they married, Eric was posted to country towns. Chris worked at King Edward Memorial hospital for Women, and she also nursed at Collie.

The first of Chris and Eric's boys, Richard, was born in 1975. Then followed Paul in 1977 and James in 1980. Chris became a first-class home-maker, capable of turning her hand to anything. She centred her life on her home and her family. She encouraged her boys, and became very proud of them.

As her family grew, Chris gave up working in a hospital. For some years she has been working as a nurse/receptionist. In 1991 she worked three or four days a week in this capacity for Dr Margaret Smith, a gynaecologist. Chris's mother, Joyce, helped her by looking after some of her children when they returned from school.

In 1991 Chris and her family were living at 14 Radbourne Street, Marmion, Western Australia.

¹ 1991

Training as a Civil Engineer

Marriage and Overseas Travel

Family

Separation

aul, the son of Maurie and Joan Bridgwood, was born on 28 November. He married Jane Rumble on 4 September 1982. They have¹ two children Matthew and Louise. Eventually Paul and Jane separated.

Paul was educated at Aquinas College and then studied for, and became, a Civil Engineer. Soon after he and Jane married they decided to travel. They went to Britain, acquired a vehicle, and camped around Europe. They had some exciting times: in Morocco drug runners tried to plant drugs on them, and they were very scared for a time until they extricated themselves from their predicament.

Returning to Western Australia Paul settled into work as a Civil Engineer and had a son Matthew in 1985 and a daughter Louise in 1986. But life did not work out well for them. Sometimes Paul led the life of a single man, drinking with his mates, and his relationship with Jane deteriorated. They drifted apart, and finally separated.

¹ 1991

Early difficulties

School

Her desire to become a

Primary School Teacher

Interests at school

and in Adult Life

Marriage

ane, the third child of Peter Rumble and Joyce Graham, was born on 12 May 1960. She married Paul Bridgwood on 4 September 1982 and they have¹ two children Matthew and Louise. Eventually she and Paul separated.

When Jane was five week's old she gave her parents a nasty scare. She suddenly took ill. There was a delay in being able to see a paediatrician. Jane became limp and Peter and Joyce thought they might lose her. She was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and tested for meningitis and other possible causes. With cortisone treatment she slowly recovered, and it was thought that a virus had entered her brain. After her discharge from hospital she recovered rapidly. There was no brain damage, and she proved to be a very bright and sharp little girl.

Jane sailed through primary school. School did not stretch her to capacity, so the school moved her up a class - and she was still top of her new class. Her mother, Joyce, having had a convent education, and having much regard for the nuns, decided that Jane should take her secondary education at a convent. She went to Brigidine College at Floreat. This was later combined with Newman College. Jane excelled both in sport and school-work. In her Achievement certificate she gained top marks for the school.

Jane was interested in teaching, but wanted to be a primary rather than a secondary teacher. When family and friends urged her to enter secondary teaching, she was adamant.

No! I can remember that when I was at primary school there were many teachers who could not care less about us kids. That was because they couldn't become secondary school teachers. They were forced to be primary school teachers, and so they had little desire to help the kids on their way. I want to be a primary school teacher because I want to help those kids at primary school.

So she trained as a primary school teacher. In 1991 she was still teaching grade two, and enjoying it.

During her own school days Jane played netball. She enjoyed swimming and, with other members of her family, often went to football matches, usually to see Claremont. At school she joined the debating team. She took part in the "Quiz Kid" show on television, and her team became the runners-up in the competition.

In adult life she continued her interest in debating and speaking. She became a member of the local branch of the Jaycees. She can think quickly on her feet, and when she speaks, she talks quickly.

Jane became interested in John Bridgwood, a football player, but he was some years older than she. Then she met John's younger brother and they eventually married. After an exciting period of overseas travel, they settled back in Perth and first had Matthew in 1985 and then Louise in 1986. Unfortunately the marriage did not work, they drifted apart, separated and were finally divorced.

Jane has continued her primary school teaching and enjoys it. Sometimes she has asked her father, Peter, to visit the school and talk about the "olden days." Peter said,

One year I took along some old family photos. I had the old photo of Grandpa Rumble and Grandma Rumble in their motorbike and sidecar - the old cane sidecar, and granny in her big hat, with a big scarf.

I would give a half hour talk on why things are so different now, compared with those days. No refrigerators. We had ice chests. How the ice man went around in his cart. Horses and carts. No aeroplanes, but occasionally one aeroplane was a treat, and all the kids would rush out and see it. . . The little kids think this is great.

Marriage and

House-building

Diabetes: a forced but successful career change.

Children

When I left school I decided to become a Town Planning Draftsman, however, cadetships were not available that year. As jobs were plentiful I worked at O.P.S.M. and at Kings Park Board, drawing tourist maps and botanical plans. I went on to qualify as a draftsman whilst working at the Town Planning Department. By that stage our family had moved to a new home at North Beach.

In 1970 I met Rhonda; four years later we married and moved into our first house at Como, which needed extensive renovations. Once this was completed, we designed and built a house to suit a block we had at Karrinyup. Karrinyup Shopping Centre had just been completed. During this time I developed diabetes, which forced me to seek a more physically demanding job. As a result, I set up my own lawn-mowing and landscaping business, which was a brave but, as it turned out, a smart career change.

In 1980, after the sale of our Karrinyup house, we did a world trip, taking three and a half months. On our return, we designed, and owner-built a house again, this time in Carine. Shortly after moving in, our first child, Johanne Lauren, was born on 21 October 1982. Christopher Ashley was born two years later on 19 December 1984. In 1987 we went looking for a riverfront block and were lucky enough to find one at Waterford. We designed and owner-built a house there, and in which we now live.

¹ 1992

Early Interests

Business College

Work for the AMP Society

² Now Edith Cowan University

honda, the youngest of four daughters of Leslie Allen and Linda Penfold, was born on 5 June, 1952 at Mt. Lawley, Western Australia. During her childhood she lived in Mt.Pleasant and attended Mt.Pleasant Primary School and Applecross High School. As a young girl she and her sisters played tennis in the street outside their home in Reynolds road. Today¹ this is a busy, main thoroughfare.

She spent many holidays with relatives in the country at Cowaramup. Her interests included playing cards, horse-riding, listening to records (the old-style 78 rpm records, and pop music), girl guides, and water skiing. It was in the 1960s that water skiing became popular, and Rhonda's family often skied at Deep Water Point near their home both on weekends, and after school.

Upon completion of her High School Certificate, she went to Business College for six months before commencing work at AMP Society, where she became secretary to the Personnel Manager. When she and her husband Raymond moved to a house in Karrinyup, Rhonda sought employment closer to home and out of the city. She obtained a position at Churchlands College² where she worked as a typist to the Principal Librarian. She gave up this position in 1980 when she and her husband went on an overseas trip.

Rhonda and Raymond have two children, Johanne Lauren (b.1982) and Christopher Ashley (b.1984)

an, the second son of Jim Rumble and Joan Davey, was born in Perth, Western Australia on 22 April 1952. On 30 March 1973 he married Sharon Esplan and they have three children, Livia, Tegan and Emily.

Interested in Radio at School, Ian became an Electronics & Computer engineer.

¹ Now Curtin University

He worked for

Pepperl & Fuchs

and later joined

ERG

When Ian was at Modern school he became president of the school radio club and, at one time, was interested in becoming a licensed amateur operator like his father. However, this never eventuated, as he was deflected into engineering and electronics studies at the W.A.Institue of Technology¹, where he took out his B.Sc and B.E. degrees. Ian married before completing his studies. Since graduation, he has been employed in the computer and communications industries in Perth. He established himself, working under contract for the European company Pepperl and Fuchs who market electronic equipment. As their top engineer working on the technical side with sales teams, he was sent to Europe and USA in 1989 - and took his wife with him. That year he also visited New Zealand. In 1990 he went to Sydney and Melbourne to conduct symposiums on equipment being marketed. He has subsequently joined ERG Pty Ltd as their senior hardware engineer, at Balcatta, a suburb of Perth.

He was active in

the Army Reserve

Ever since leaving school Ian has had an interest in the Australian Army Reserve in the signals section. He retired from the army in 1992 after nearly twenty years of service. Any spare time he has now is given to family activities.

Early life

University Biochemistry

Marriage to

Sabine Leitmann

Marriage breakup

London Neurochemistry

Studies

Work at

Royal Perth Hospital

Fremantle Hospital

University of

Western Australia

aden, the son of Ross Rumble and Beryl Osborn, was born in Perth, Western Australia on 31 May 1947. Most members of Ross and Beryl's family are known by family nicknames. Beryl explained how Baden acquired his name, and his nickname of `Buzz':

Sometimes Ross would be called `Bay Rum', so we called our son `Baden', thinking that, if it was shortened, people would call him `Bay'. When Baden went to Hale school he was given the nickname `Buzz'. No one knew that his father Ross had been called `Buzzy' when he was a little boy.

As a boy, Baden was interested in the piano, and also in surfing at the beach. He completed his education at Hale School in Perth and, in 1965, commenced studies in Biochemistry at the University of Western Australia. When still an undergraduate, he met fellow-student Sabine Leitmann and they married on 30 January 1971, before he gained his bachelor's degree with honours in that same year. After about five years the marriage broke up.

After his initial graduation, Baden continued his studies taking out a Master of Science in Neurochemistry from the University of London Institute of Psychiatry in 1973.

In 1970-71 Baden gained his initial training in the biochemistry department of the 1,000 bed Royal Perth Hospital. As a Medical Laboratory Technologist he ran the emergency service during the weekends. The following year found him at Fremantle Hospital in the biochemistry laboratory during which time he trained in emergency techniques in haematology and microbiology.

Between 1973 and 1978 he worked as a Scientific Officer in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Western Australia, holding a middle management position in a 450 bed hospital and being directly responsible for a specialist unit in neurochemical techniques.

Marriage to

Feroza Surtie

Repatriation Hospital, Perth

Melbourne University

Mental Health Institute, Victoria: Study of

Alzheimer's disease

Professional Associations

Personal interests

aden's second marriage was to Feroza Surtie, and they had two children (1980 and 1981). In 1978 he became Biochemist-In-Charge in the Pathology Department of the Repatriation Hospital in Perth and held this position for eight years. He then changed to a more research oriented position, becoming Visiting Scientist at the Pathology Department of the University of Western Australia (1986-88). In January 1989 he became Visiting Scholar in the Melbourne University Pathology Department and then obtained the post of Senior Scientist at the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria. In collaboration with others he wrote a series of research papers related to Alzheimer's disease, culminating in a Doctorate of Philosophy award in Pathology from the University of Melbourne in 1991.

Baden has been active in professional bodies, having held office in the Australian Association of Clinical Biochemists. While associated with the Universities of Western Australia and Melbourne he developed courses, gave lectures and held tutorials with various groups.

In his private life, Baden has had a number of interests including investment, especially on the stock-market; playing the piano, and dining out. In the 1980s he ran in several marathons; most mornings he goes for a run; for eleven years he played competition squash; he enjoys riding his bicycle both to and from work and with his children on weekends. He likes to explore the State of Victoria and enjoys snow-skiing. He is also treasurer on the children's primary school council.

Birth in Holland

Family migration to

Australia

Migrant camp:

Northam Western Australia

Leaving school

Classes in Lettering,

Drawing, ticket writing

Marriage to Rosemary Rumble: Travel in Europe

Building their home at

Chidlow

Establishing himself as

a Sculptor

ans, the son of Dirk Arkveld, was born on 28 August 1942 in the Hague in Holland. This was during the German occupation of the Second World War, and Hans retains very vivid memories of sirens, tanks, German Soldiers, famine and of living for months at a time in a basement without light, with only sugar beet to eat. He had a subconscious notion of fear.

After the war, his family migrated to Australia in 1951 with the promise of a better life. Although very young at the time, Hans has rich memories of the eight-week voyage to Australia by ship, the terrifyingly rough seas and the fascination of ship board life. His father was a bricklayer by trade and they first went to Wodonga on the Murray river in New South Wales in 1952. After about a year they moved to a migrant camp at Northam in Western Australia. From there they went to Collie but eventually settled in Morley, a suburb of Perth. His family was very much "family" oriented and tended to stay within the Dutch community.

Hans left school at the age of thirteen and for a time worked for Syd Murdoch, a bee-keeper in Bayswater. He attended lettering classes at Perth Technical College as well as taking correspondence classes in sign-writing, drawing and ticket-writing. Eventually he studied Fine Art at University and met Rosemary Rumble. They travelled together around Europe and married, their first child, Skye, being born on 12 August 1972 in Holland. Returning to Perth, they built a home at Chidlow with their own hands, lived frugally, and had their second child, Emanuel, on 15 August 1975.

By 1992, Hans had become a very well-known sculptor having had many exhibitions, and completed numerous commissions. He is considered the leading Sculptor in Perth and his work is sought after by many private collectors. Some of his work is in Galleries in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. He works in many different types of materials such as wood, welded steel, stone, brick and bronze.

Hans also works with students of anatomy at the University of Western Australia and lectures to architects.

Early Memories

Love of nature

Teenage years

The decision to become

an artist.

Practical secretarial training

Fine Art studies at

Curtin University

Marriage to Hans Arkeveld

Family & Travel

Establishing a home in the

country at Chidlow.

Combining Motherhood,

Arts and Crafts

osemary, the daughter of Ross Rumble and Beryl Osborn, was born in Perth, Western Australia on 9 March 1950. She married Hans Arkeveld and had two children, Skye, born in Holland, and Emanuel, born in Perth.

In 1992 she wrote an account of her life as follows:

My Earliest memories go right back to our Waverley Street, South Perth house: the swings, our backyard, sitting with the gardener in the shade house, rolling tins of food down the lino floor in the kitchen, sitting under the jacaranda tree out the back, my early days at primary school, buying jubes with Mary and Ann Ryan from the shop and visiting all our friends up and down Waverley Street; those carefree and uncomplicated days of a 1950's childhood.

I recall our move to Floreat Park, the excitement of a two-storey house, the making of new friends, settling into a new school and a beautiful big bedroom shared with my sister Pam. How she put up with all my creative untidiness I shall never know. There was always a cubby being built in the wardrobe or a stage setting being created under the piano stool, sewing, painting, playing school on the sundeck, many children roaming in and out and of course the bush over the road and a fascinating swamp just a short walk away fully stocked with leeches.

Perhaps this was the basis for my love of nature and sensitivity for all living creatures and the bush. I can never remember uttering the words `I'm bored'. The world appeared through my eyes as one great adventure playground: the beach in summer and picnics up the quarry in the winter, lot of friends and, of course, school, tree cubbies, ballet on Saturday afternoons and music with John Christmas. My fortunate childhood.

Things move on, I guess, and I must have put Mum through hell during my teenage years, although she is great at denying this. I was a bit of a larrikin and must have caused many moments of anguish as to what I was getting up to next. I think that in desperation, to make a "young lady" out of me, it was decided that I should attend St. Hilda's Church of England Girls' School. I became an expert forger of letters to the Principal about orthodontist appointments, seemed to spend hours standing in the corridor for inappropriate behaviour and generally well and truly wasted what could have been a very productive learning period for myself. I baulked the system well and truly.

However, I believe this was the time when I really made the decision to follow my heart and become an artist. This was nurtured along at St. Hilda's with an eccentric art teacher who had a fascination with Japanese brush work, painting, watercolours and still life. I loved this time. I had found a little niche that just felt right for me. Of course there was a lot of encouragement from Mum and Dad at this time, too.

It was decided that I should leave St. Hilda's at fifteen years of age and move on to a secretarial college to give me some practical training in preparation for my venturing out into the big wide world of adulthood, although deep in my heart I always knew that my future would be in a creative field somewhere.

This has always proved a godsend because when times have been bleak during our marriage, and many times we have been "on the bones of our bum", so to speak, there was always a secretarial-type job that pulled us through. Hans coped with the child minding whilst I went off to work. We have always shared the parenting job, and because Hans has always worked from home, he has grown to have a very fulfilling relationship with the children.

I completed my school Leaving Certificate and then went on to the West Australian Institute of Technology, which is now Curtin University. I studied Fine Art, graduating in 1970, and also collected a husband along the way. I married Hans Arkeveld in 1972, just prior to the birth of our first child Skye. Skye was born on 12 August 1972 in Holland whilst Hans and I were travelling around Europe. We spent approximately twelve months hiking around England, Holland, France, Germany, Spain and then decided we were missing the warm sun and the comforts of a home base, and returned to Perth late 1972.

We returned to our little place in Chidlow, and proceeded to have a little friend for Skye, and that was Emanuel, born 15 August 1975. Art was well and truly pushed into the background as we began our married life. The country life that I had always yearned for was there for the taking. We had fruit trees, vegies, chooks, a pet pig at one stage and a menagerie of animals to look after. Our life-style was very primitive but very industrious. We built our own house out of stone and many salvaged materials. There was no electricity and rainwater was collected from the roof. Hans was a struggling artist at this stage with a small income from some part-time teaching, so we lived very frugally - "from the smell of an oily rag" as Mum used to say. I remember Mum and Dad slipping me the occasional twenty dollars at this stage - which often used to pull us through.

My art career has been well and truly overwhelmed by children and motherhood. I have had periods where I have been involved in all types of crafts such as ceramics, spinning, and sojourns away on drawing expeditions into the country and little snippets that keep the creative fires burning. I have built fantastic wood-burning kilns and taught kids a lot of exciting things about pottery and the processes from the beginning to the end product, so I always keep things turning over. It has only been put on the back-burner, I keep telling myself. I only hope that in the near future when time permits, and I get some peace and tranquillity, my art will again blossom. I am presently working as a court audio-typist transcribing proceedings in the District Court. This I find stimulating and fascinating.

[1991 Address: Lot 57, Victoria Road, Hovea, Western Australia.]

¹Beatles = Four young Liverpool men who formed a vocal group with a style that dominated popular music throughout the world.

Their first long-playing record was released in 1963

School days

Dislike of competitiveness

²Junior Certificate = Public examinations taken at the end of third year high school.

Overseas travel: absorbing the culture of Nepal and India

As a girl I learned ballet and piano but enjoyed my roller skates and bicycle even more. My main interests included cycling to the beach with my brother and sister, playing with friends, watching TV, dancing to the Beatles¹, recording plays on an old reel-to-reel tape, catching tadpoles at the swamp and spending a lot of my time in the bush making cubbies. We had a wonderful relationship with the children next door. The four girls were always sleeping and bathing and eating at each other's houses. I had several "aunties" - my mother's dearest friends - whom I would visit after school. Auntie Bobs made the best apple pie in the world, whereas Auntie Hilda had the worst chocolate biscuits and we could watch television for hours and hours on end, drink coke, and eat unlimited junk food.

School was okay whilst I was teacher's pet, but once I reached grade six or seven, things got too serious and boys would tease me about my pigtails. I became terribly self-conscious. I would blush at anything and I remember many days home from school pretending to be ill because I couldn't fend for myself.

College was better because it was all girls, although I remember getting into a lot of trouble when I carved my name into a very large old tree in the school grounds. Perhaps that led me to my interest in conservation! I loathed school sports with all its competitiveness, and I lost most tennis games and swimming races because my heart wasn't really into winning.

I left school after my Junior Certificate² at the age of fifteen and went to secretarial college for seven months. My first job was with an insurance company. I always had fantastic jobs and was well-liked by everybody. I became a very good secretary and used my skills to save money and travel overseas when I was twenty-one. I went to Bali for six months and then on to Nepal where I went on a 300 mile trek across the Himalayas to Darjeeling. I then spent a year in India studying Sanskrit, meditation, philosophy and religion.

I was very adventurous, and spent time in the Eastern States with my sister Rosemary for holidays. In my late teens I lived down in the south of Western Australia in an old farm house and learned to bake bread and weave with scraps of material on hand-made looms. I loved the beach and spent many hours surfing and sunbaking with friends.

Meeting Paul Llewellyn

a relationship formed

Son, Tsepo, born 24 October 1986

Plans to live an alternative lifestyle in Denmark on the south coast.

I had met Paul in 1979 when I was living in a house with two yoga teachers in Fremantle. He was on his way to cycle around India with a friend. I was pregnant at the time with Amanda and he used to come to my house and chat. When he returned from India a year later, he came to visit again and it was then that we became good friends.

When Amanda was two years old we travelled to Tasmania to protest about the damming of the Franklin River. This was the beginning of my political awareness.

We would often go into the forest and camp and ride our bikes and canoe down rivers with back packs. We have one child, Tsepo, born on 24 October 1986.

In January 1992 we are off to Denmark on the south coast to build a mud house and live an alternative lifestyle with friends. This has been one of my dreams all my life and the skills I have learned will make this one of the most interesting times in my life.I hope to make a living from running workshops on Conflict Resolution and to carry on my work to create a better, cleaner world in which to live.

Pamela's wide range of interests:

Alternative medicine

Music: Piano and singing

Voluntary community work

Political involvement with the Greens political movement.

Over the years, Pamela has developed a wide range of interests. Before she moved to Denmark, she described these, as follows:

I am interested in alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, naturopathy and Bach Flower Remedies, and prefer to use practitioners who look at the prevention and cause of illnesses rather than the symptoms. I have studied nutrition, and eat and insist on vegetarian food for myself and family.

I also like to play classical music and from 1983 to 1985 sat for Grades 4, 5 and 6 piano and passed with excellent results. I love to sing and am preparing to join an A Capella singing group in Denmark in 1992. I still like to ride my bike and walk whenever I can rather than use the car. I also believe in the Gandhian philosophy, and live nonviolence as a way of life in my home and in society. I live a spiritual life and have studied religion and eastern philosophy.

I do voluntary community work and have recently set up The Village Green Learning Centre, a place where people can come and share skills, where we run workshops for women on self-help, healing, dance and meditation. I am particularly interested in women's issues and have studied feminism and the theory of power. I am a member of a women's consciousness-raising group that meets fortnightly. I have also set up other women's groups in my local area, mainly for those who have just had children, and for women who don't have support from their families.

I am involved politically in the Greens W.A. and run workshops for the Local Electoral Groups on meeting procedure, facilitation and consensus decision-making. I have been a workshop leader since 1989 after doing my training with a local group called Groundswell.

It is hard to put a label on what I do, but I suppose Political and Social Change Activist, Revolutionary, Gandhian, Community Worker, Nonviolence Trainer, Mother, Musician, Organic Gardener and Masseur would all describe me adequately.

When Pamela and Paul moved to Denmark with Amanda and Tsepo they found a block of land about one and a half kilometres off the main highway in Lapkos Road, five miles west of the township. For the first six months, whilst living in a caravan, they built a shed with their own hands, as a temporary dwelling. By February 1993 they had established themselves and were drawing up plans for a rammed-earth house. Pamela joined a small A Capella Denmark choir, formed a relationship with some women living eight kilometres away in a community settlement of thirteen households known as The Wolery. She is working with these people in consciousness-raising activities. She has enrolled in an Albany TAFE course in Textiles, and is associated with the Albany Rainbow Neighbourhood centre. She runs a program entitled Women, Power and Peace, aimed at skill learning: developing a sense of community and of discovering oneself; conflict resolution, and resolving traumas by discovering what stands in the way of women feeling good about themselves.

[Address in 1993: RMB 1016, Lapkos Road, Denmark, 6333]

SUMMARY

School days

Work

Moving around

in the country

Entering the Hotel business

Marriage

The move to

Mukinbudin

ames, the first child of Peter Matthews and Elsa Rumble, was born on 17 March 1954 at Kununoppin, Western Australia. He married Pauline Southern on 10 August, 1985 at Belmont, W.A. They have two children of their own: Felicity Maree and Stephanie Lee.

They now (1993) live in Mukinbudin, Western Australia along with Brenda, Pauline's daughter by an earlier relationship. In Mukinbudin they own and operate the general store.

As a young boy James had reading difficulty and had an operation for a "lazy eye". From that time he always wore glasses. He completed his primary school years at Bencubbin and then became a boarder at St Louis College, Claremont. When his parents bought a house at Swanbourne, he became a day scholar.

At sixteen years of age James left school and took a job in Bairds, a large department store in central Perth. One day he came home from work and announced to his mother that he and a friend were heading down south to look for a job. Elsa rang her husband Peter on the farm, who said, `You tell James to stay right where he is. I'll be down tomorrow to pick him up.' So James was taken up to Bencubbin to work on the farm.

His mother recalled his early working life:

He wasn't terribly interested in manual work, although he spent several years with the Mt. Marshall Shire as a plant operator. During this time he worked casually at the local Club as a barman. James enjoyed this work and decided to pursue it as a career. After a brief stint as a Licensed-Club manager in Narembeen he joined Swan Hotels as a trainee hotel manager. In 1979 he went to Derby in the far-north of the State and was later transferred to the Continental Hotel in Broome.

In 1981 James returned to Perth to help his father run a delicatessen. However, it was not long before he missed the hotel lifestyle, and he rejoined Swan Hotels. After his marriage to Pauline Southern he settled in Perth and managed a liquor store for Action Food Barns. Then, he again developed itchy feet and sold their house to help purchase the store in Mukinbudin.

In 1991 his mother recalled:

Although James was not a good sports-person, he spent many hours coaching children to play badminton, basketball and hockey. He and his younger brother, Kim, have a boat and they spend spare time water skiing together on the lakes in the area - when, that is, they have water in them.

Early life on a farm

Boarding school in Perth

² Elsa's comment:

He did complete Year 12 at school.

³ute = Utility truck = a small truck with an enclosed cabin and a rectangular tray which has sides, sometimes covered by a tarpaulin.

⁴C.B.H. = Co-operative Bulk Handling (for wheat)

⁵ Elsa's comment:

Bob had a leg of lamb, and Kate had the oven!

Raised on the farm - machinery to climb on and plenty of space to wander.

Off to school - I can read and write. I also spent at least 2,400 hours on that slow old school bus - woman driver tipped it over on us once - she never drove it again, so guess she was sacked. Milking cows, feeding chooks, driving tractors and cars. Helping eat the morning tea at shearing time - and once a year a holiday by the sea, with water skiing and snorkelling and sunburn.

Boarding school - St. Louis (I wouldn't recommend it). It has been knocked down, shifted, rebuilt and renamed. The only incentive to learn that they knew was the strap - a thin strip of lead encased in leather, up to two feet long and two inches wide and half an inch thick - So I passed.

Swanbourne High School was a much more relaxed place. I ate beef and pickle sandwiches every day for two years. Once I swapped lunch boxes with a friend's (his was a slightly darker shade of green) to see if our mothers would notice - they didn't . . .

Basketball three nights a week at the local Police Boys' Club, plus T.V. - hot dog!!!! Exam results - forget it². Exams one day and farm work the next. Straight on to the harvester - minimal pay and all the dust you can eat. There were plenty of tasks to do - most of them pretty monotonous. Thrashing the farm utes³ was probably our main relief - no brakes, bald tyres - and let's see how fast we can get around this corner.

But what farm could support nine boys? All out-of-season farm jobs. I don't miss any of them. The farm is slowly sold over two years.

C.B.H.⁴ - Drove a front-end loader and became a receival point officer.

Rouseabouting for a shearing team - held the floor for six shearers.

Front-end loader operator at Windarra.

Delivery-driver for a dripping-distributor to fish and chips shops.

Straw carting.

A run at lawn-mowing in Dalkeith and City Beach where I met Kate, who was a prospective customer⁵, and quickly off to S.E.Asia, Nepal and India for a quiet holiday. Since then have worked seasonal farmwork, apple picking and traffic coordinator for a road surfacing team (lollipop man), while leaving Kate to raise the family.

However, since the birth of our third son, have managed to be operating business from home as a lawn-mowing contractor.

Would like to establish a "perma-culture garden" and play guitar.

Nursing training

Motorcycle accident

Meeting Robert Matthews

Touring Malaysia,

Nepal, India

Birth of Beren

Life at Northcliffe

Move to Perth

Three months in

Tasmania

Birth of Dylan

Interests

Parkerville

Birth of Rasa

Maylands

Birth of Kalyana

Birth of Ariel

ate was born at Doncaster, England on 30 November, 1958 and emigrated to Western Australia with her parents when she was eleven years of age. Her family arrived at Fremantle on 14 December 1969.

From 1972 until 1976 she attended Mercedes College in Perth and then in 1977 enrolled for General Nursing training at the W.A. School of Nursing, affiliated to Royal Perth Hospital. After three months training, a motorcycle accident put her off work for nine months with a shattered right leg. In 1978, she recommenced her nursing training and worked for three years in Perth, with several secondments to Geraldton. It was during her final six months of training that, in October 1980, she met Robert Matthews.

In April of the following year she received a compensation payment for her injury. She and Robert used this to tour Malaysia, Nepal and India for nine months from 28 July. In April 1982 they returned to Australia and moved to Northcliffe in July where they lived for two and a half years, growing their own food and rearing their first son, Beren Earendil, who was born on 23 March 1983.

During their time at Northcliffe Kate became involved in Alternative Medicines and in Astrological studies. They grew an extensive herbal garden and worked with vegetarian diet and herbal remedies, keeping the family healthy.

In 1984 they moved to Perth and Kate began working with flower essences and the area of healing the Subtle Bodies: easing disharmonies of the system that create disease.

In the following year she, Bob and Beren travelled to Tasmania for three months, where they conceived a second child. Returning to Perth at the end of 1985, Dylan Ivare was born on 21 January 1986.

Kate now extended her work into the field of crystals and gems for integrating the Subtle Bodies into the physical body. They moved to Parkerville in the Darling range and their third child, Rasa Suruli, was born on 26 May 1988.

Kate and her family moved to Maylands, by the Swan River, in January 1989. There, her only daughter, Kalyana Sundaram, was conceived, and was born on 21 December 1989. This was a water birth. It was in this year that her work expanded once more, now into the field of Spiritual Midwifery, dealing with pre-natal patterning and cellular memory. In 1990 she met and worked with Igor Charkovski, the Russian "waterbirth" pioneer. Kate and Bob's fourth son, Ariel T'ai was born on 8 October 1992 - also a waterbirth.

In 1993 Kate, Bob and their family were still living in Maylands. She works from home with the Astrological Medicine Wheel, Spiritual Midwifery and Women's Issues.

¹ 1991

School days

Working as a shearer

Marriage and family

revor, the third child of Peter Matthews and Elsa Rumble, was born on 4 October 1956 at Kununoppin, Western Australia. He married Ronnie Forrester on 12 March, 1976 at Merredin, W.A. and they have¹ two children Jodie and Anthony. Trevor is a sheep shearer (and his mother, in 1989, said he was still shearing, `as long as his back holds out.').

Trevor spent one year at St.Louis College, Claremont before his parents bought a house in Swanbourne. He then became a day scholar at Swanbourne High School. He endured school, and did not believe in working hard. His mother said:

He came home from school one week and he said `I've been put up a grade in English. Just imagine what I could have done if I'd tried!'

But, like most other members of the family, school did not appeal to him, and he left after year ten. He went up to his father's farm but he wanted to become a shearer, and went to whatever farm was shearing at the time.

Trevor met Ronnie Forrester and they decided to marry, but had to delay the wedding until after their first child was born in February, 1976. They married in the following month. In 1991 he and Ronnie were still living in Bencubbin. He continues to enjoy shearing and joining in harvesting and other farm work. Their second child was born in 1979.

Family moves from

England to South Africa

After school, apprenticed

as a fitter and turner

Work and travel

Migration to Western

Australia

Becoming a born-again

Christian

desire to enter

missionary work

Marriage to Margaret Buesnel ended in divorce

Work in the North-West

Industrial problems

Working in Geraldton

Marriage to Anne Matthews

ubert Brian (Bert), the son of the Rev. C.J. and Grace Arney, was born in the small village of Prickwillow, Cambridgeshire, England on 8 January 1941. In 1952 his family moved to South Africa, and Bert always remembered the day the Stirling Castle docked in Cape Town, as it was his eleventh birthday.

In South Africa his father pursued his calling with the Methodist Church. When Bert was fifteen he left Germiston Boys' High School and completed a five year apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner. His apprenticeship was spread over three different companies as his father was transferred from place to place in his Ministry.

Bert began employment with the South African Marine Corporation Limited and, as a Junior Engineer, took three trips: One to Europe, one to Japan, and another from Liverpool to Cape Town. He recalled that on the trip to Japan they encountered such a severe storm that all the sailors thought that the ship "wasn't going to make it."

On 6 May 1963 he started work for the City of Cape Town in the Electricity Department. He resigned on 7 February in the following year as his mother wished to move to Australia. That month, they arrived in Fremantle on the Northern Star.

In August 1964 Bert became a born-again Christian and, along with his mother and younger brother, Clifford, he fellowshipped at the Wattle Grove Baptist Church. Then, in 1966, he started a two-year course at the then Perth Bible Institute. He wanted to gain a deeper understanding of God's Word, with the view to entering into full-time missionary work.

Nothing came from this and, in 1973, he married Margaret Buesnel at the Claremont Baptist Church on 30 June. Prior to the marriage, two people who knew Margaret well had strongly advised him not to marry her. He did not heed this advice and, after the birth of two children, the marriage ended. The divorce was finalised in January 1979.

From 17 August 1978 until 21 April 1987 Bert was employed in his trade by Robe River Iron Associates. He lived in Pannawonica, Wickham and Roebourne. During a 1986 strike, he crossed a picket line after finding that the strike was both illegal and immoral. After the strike some of his fellow workers went out of their way to put his life in danger, so he resigned.

Seeking missionary-type work, he applied for the job of assistant manager of Camelier's Guest House, Geraldton, run by Fusion Australia - a Christian organisation. He was there from June 1987 to February 1988 during which time he met and married Anne Matthews.

Marriage to Anne Matthews

Working for Midland Brick

Christian work at

Beverley

Return to Geraldton

Death

ert and his second wife, Anne, had a child, Hannah, on 12 October 1988.

He and Anne returned to Perth from Geraldton and, as a temporary

measure, lived for a period in a caravan in the grounds of Anne's mother's

home at Chidlow. Eventually they rented a house in Wellaton Street, Midland, and Bert worked for Midland Brick. Because he was diabetic, Bert found this work too demanding physically.

Wishing to work in an area that had a Christian purpose, Bert took a job on a farm near Beverley, helping people brain-damaged through accidents. Although the work appealed to him, there were several difficulties. The low wage paid for this Christian work, made it difficult to make maintenance payments to his first wife.

Eventually he gave up this job and he and Anne returned to Geraldton.

Bert died suddenly on 18 May 1993.

¹On the day the house burnt down Anne was in the school library. When a boy told her that she was wanted in the school office, she thought it an April Fool's joke.

Interest in horses

Confirmation of her

religious faith

Leaving home:

A move to Geraldton

Meeting and marrying

Bert Arney

Birth of Hannah

After her parents' home burnt down on 1 April 1974¹, they moved to Chidlow. This appealed to Anne since, from an early age, she was fascinated with horses, and the move gave her opportunity to become more involved with them.

In March 1977, after some earlier work with horses, she became stable hand, looking after horses owned by David and Jenny Malcolm. David Malcolm was the Chief Justice in the State. She worked for them both full-time and part-time for almost six years. She enjoyed this work greatly and, even on her day off, would sometimes help Jenny take horses to Ascot to be shod. During January 1979 Anne was kicked in the face by one of her horses and needed thirty-four stitches to repair the damage around her right eye. This was the only serious injury she sustained while working with horses.

When Anne took a three week holiday at the end of 1978, Jenny Malcolm gave her a few books to read. One was Trinity by Leon Uris. A tragic incident in this book set her asking God how events like this could occur, if he existed.

Anne's mother recalled that Anne had stopped attending Church at the age of fourteen when her best friend said that, if she went to church, she would no longer be her friend. Although Anne did not recall this ultimatum, she had not given much thought to God for many years. The incident in the book made her think deeply. She felt that God gave her an answer and she started going to Mass again.

Towards the end of 1982, Anne developed a pain in her left shoulder while mucking-out the stables. It became so intense that she resigned early in 1983 and spent a year or so reading, pottering around with her own horses, and dish-washing at her father's Belmont coffee lounge to earn a little pocket money.

In 1985 Trevor and Felicity Pexton asked Anne to help at their agistment centre, and she worked there part-time for two years. Then, becoming increasingly annoyed with the behaviour of her younger brothers at home, she left in April 1987 to become a companion/housekeeper for an elderly, blind lady, for three months. Following this, having earlier stayed several times with a pen-friend in Geraldton, she decided to live there.

In July 1987 she moved to Cameliers Guest House in Geraldton. There she met Bert Arney who was the assistant manager and they married at the Geraldton Courthouse on 9 December 1987. Their daughter, Hannah, was born in October 1988.

School days

Fitting and Turning

Farming

Shearing

eter, known as "Chip", the eighth child of Peter Matthews and Elsa Rumble, was born on 16 January 1964 at Cottesloe, Western Australia. He started school at the Eric Street Primary School, Cottesloe, and completed high school when the family moved to Chidlow.

At this time there was a large two-storey shed beside the house. When the boys reached high-school age they were allowed to sleep in the upstairs part of the shed - provided that they got themselves up for breakfast in time to get to school.

Chip did not always believe in going to school and one of his school reports showed an excessive number of days absence. His mother counted these and realised that he was not sick that number of times: he was wagging school.

He left school in 1979 and for a period took up fitting and turning at Osborne Park. Eventually he gave this up and went to work on a farm near Bencubbin.

Chip met Debbie Lisle late in 1982 and, while she continued her job, they spent weekends at the Chidlow home.

Chip finally became a shearer and bought eighty-six acres of land near Bencubbin. By 1993 he had some of this under crop, and had about sixty sheep. Slowly, he is establishing himself.

He and Debbie have three children, Daniel, Corey and Rowan.

School days

Working in the South of

the state

Seeding and Harvesting

Marriage to Dannielle Lisle

Landscaping a big property

Marriage break-up

hilip, the ninth child of Peter Matthews and Elsa Rumble, was born on 7 July 1965 at Kununoppin, Western Australia. As a young boy, and up to seventh grade at school, he remained very close to his mother, and did not easily venture out for himself. He started school at Eric Street, Cottesloe and went to high school after his mother settled in Chidlow.

After leaving school Philip and his older brother, Kim, sought work for a few months in the south of the state. His parents joined them at one time; together they helped clear land, picking and burning stumps. For a period Philip worked with his father at the Floreat delicatessen before taking casual work for six years seeding and harvesting on farms.

During this period he met Dannielle Lisle. For a time they moved to Northcliffe and then married at Mandurah on 5 December, 1987. At Mandurah he became involved in landscaping a large property owned by Ralph Sarich - a successful entrepreneur who had made a fortune by developing an orbital combustion engine.

Philip recalled:

It was a hobby farm of five hundred acres at Whitehills, about twenty-five kilometres south of Mandurah, and right on the coast. We landscaped it. He spent heaps of money on the place: billabongs were dug out, a creek was made to run through the property. We dug out a big gully, and filled that with palm trees. There was heaps and heaps of money, because he was a rich guy. It was fun.

After that, Philip worked with Daniel Oxenburgh on his lawn-mowing and gardening round. From this he obtained a lawn-mowing job with the Mundaring Shire, but later graduated to the back-hoe. Philip has three children Harmony, Emilee and Tahlia, but his marriage with Dannielle came to an end and, in 1991, Philip was living at home with his mother.

Unsettled School days

due to moving from place

to place

Early interest in becoming

a pilot

University:

Computer Science

Work

Marriage

tephen, the first child of Robert Furphy and Robin Rumble, was born in Brisbane on Saturday, 25 February 1961. Because his father served in the Air-Force and often moved from one station to another, Stephen attended several schools in succession. He started school at Penrith, New South Wales. After his family moved to South Australia and Western Australia, he completed his secondary education at Carine Senior High School in Western Australia.

Stephen was the oldest of four closely-spaced children; as a child, he was quiet, and played mainly within his own family. The move from one State to another made it relatively difficult to form, and retain, long-term friends. At school he played football and then, after the family had built a home at Kallaroo, a northern Suburb of Perth, he joined a local surf club. He had a passing interest in radio, and wanted to become a pilot. Unfortunately, there were practical difficulties in this. Training involved attending theory courses at Midland, while practical training was undertaken at Jandakot airport, far to the South of the city. The logistics in arranging transport to and from home were too great, so he had to abandon this career objective.

After matriculating into the University of Western Australia, Stephen took a while to settle into his course. Enrolled in the faculty of Science, he completed his degree majoring in Computer Science. After graduation he initially worked for the Department of Mines for several years and then took up an appointment with the BMA - the Building Management Authority.

On 6 December 1989, when he was twenty-eight years of age, Stephen married Mei Lin Khoo. Her earlier marriage to Arvid Linde had broken up and Stephen found himself with an instant family with step-children: Hamid (17), Amina (15) and Farida (13). He found that he related very well to the children, especially as there was little more than eleven years difference between his age and that of Hamid.

In 1993, Stephen, Mei Lin and family lived in Nedlands, a Perth suburb.

Education

Health Problems

¹ 1993

Teacher training:

Home Economics

Armadale Senior High School

Overseas travel

alerie, the second child of Robert Furphy and Robin Rumble, was born in Ipswich, Queensland, on 2 March 1962. She started School while her father was stationed at the Edinborough Air-Force base in South Australia, but later moved with her family to Western Australia. Moves from state to state caused problems for both Valerie and her siblings as there was never an exact match between the different State education systems.

She was unfortunate to suffer several health problems. When she was nine years of age she developed Systemic Lupis Erythematosis disease (known as SLE) and developed symptoms not unlike arthritis. Following an operation, she was prescribed medication, but this had some undesirable side-effects. As a child she had more than her fair share of visits to the doctor, medical tests, and dental problems. She now¹ has this under control.

For one year her mother taught her to play the piano following which she took lessons. She also enjoyed playing the guitar, swimming and tennis.

Valerie completed her secondary education at Carine Senior High School in Western Australia. She then went to the Nedlands campus of the Western Australian College of Advanced Education (now, Edith Cowan University), undertook a teacher's training course, and became a Home Economics teacher. In 1991 she was appointed head mistress of the Home Economics Department of Armadale Senior High School and was still in this position at the end of 1993.

Overseas travel always appealed to Valerie. She took extra work, tutoring and waitressing to save so that she could take a year's leave from teaching. In 1990 she made an extensive journey around the world, and spent about six months with her youngest sister, Brenda, who was at Oxford, England.

Valerie owns a duplex house at Hillarys and another house at East Victoria Park in which she has placed tenants.

School days

Meeting Wayne Hewitt

Working in New South Wales

Marriage

rlene, third child of Robert Furphy and Robin Rumble, was born at home at Brassall, Queensland on 7 January 1964. She started school at the age of five when her parents were in South Australia. Shortly afterwards they were transferred to Western Australia. Because she was not yet six years of age, she had to drop out of school in that State and start school again after she had reached that age. She stayed at school until the end of year 12 at Craigie Senior High School and then took a job, initially on a part-time basis, in the haberdashery department of the large department store Boans at Karrinyup.

This shop was later taken over by the national Myer group.

When Arlene became bridesmaid to her best friend, the best man was Wayne Hewitt. Wayne and Arlene became close friends and saw much of each other. Wayne returned to New South Wales and Arlene joined him for a holiday, and then transferred her employment to Myer at the Sydney suburb of Miranda.

She formed a de facto relationship with Wayne, and stayed in New South Wales. There she undertook training in bookkeeping and worked her way up in Myer until she had several departments under her control. Wayne worked for BHP at Wollongong, so when Myer built a store in that city, she transferred to it.

On 9 November 1990 Arlene and Wayne married. She became tired of the work at Myer, where there was both weekend work and late night trading on Thursday and Fridays. She changed jobs, and now works for Systime, a company that deals in computer hardware and software for vehicle distributors.

[Written in 1994]

University Chemistry

Marriage

Oxford

Interest in family history

¹ 16021M

renda, the fourth child of Robert Furphy and Robin Rumble, was born in Ipswich, Queensland, on 18 March 1965. After moving frequently through Airforce postings, her family finally settled in Perth, W.A.

Brenda attended Craigie Senior High School, and then studied Chemistry at the University of Western Australia, residing at Currie Hall, a university student residence.

On December 31st, 1988, Brenda married Andrew Rohl at the Sunken Gardens, UWA. She currently lives in Oxford, England.

In 1990, her mother's cousin, John Fall¹, contacted her to ask if she would explore one item of information connected with a Chinese ancestor, Ho Chee. Brenda became very interested in his Rumble Family Register project and did much research for him over the next two years. She visited records offices in Britain, obtaining copies of many birth, marriage and death certificates and Wills of ancestors. She obtained census records and visited cemeteries. She made contact with members of both the Rumble and Knight branches of the family who were interested in family history, and obtained invaluable data to add to the register.