Bet and Jess were actually friends of my mother. We lived in Hobart – three little girls and a mountain of steps to the front door.
Jess, who came from Queensland, was visiting her sister when my father met her. Within days she was living with us and helping my mother with the family. Jess studied at night, got a job, but still lived with us until we moved to Launceston. We loved her.
Betty came from Penguin and was a trainee teacher in Grade 1 at Elizabeth Street State School. I was very unsure of myself, so much so that I regularly bit the corners off my collars! The teacher didn’t have time to show me any special attention, but Betty encouraged me and gave me confidence. Meanwhile the Penguin Methodist minister got in touch with my Dad to ask him to look out for Betty. She became best friends with Jess and was at our place more often than not.
‘Auntie Elsie’ lived with us in Launceston. Her real name was Elsie Kemp whose father made Kempo soap. I’m not sure why she lived with us except that she was a member of Moral Rearmament as was my mother. One memory of Elsie was after the family had arrived home from church one Sunday. She said to Mother, “Beth, the Lord has told me I’m to have pineapple for lunch.” My mother’s reply, “Well Else, the Lord has told me that you are to have custard and stewed apple like everyone else”. When a new baby was due, Auntie Elsie said, “I’ll look after Dorothy and Thais but I won’t have Carmyl!” I might say the feeling was quite mutual.
So dear Bet took me up to Penguin for a fortnight with her family, which consisted of her mother, her white-bearded grandfather and Murray, her 16 year-old brother. Murray only had one arm as he’d been run over by a train when young. I was about six and my only memory was of Murray showing me a mouse trap and telling me to put my finger in it – and of course I did. Murray later became a Baptist minister and his claim to fame was that when the bridge broke in Hobart, his was the car dangling over the edge.
We moved to a small town near Beaconsfield while Dad was in the army. Bet came to visit and needed to see a doctor. Dr. Suerth was an Austrian Jew, who had escaped to Italy, converted to Catholicism and ended up in Beaconsfield. The long and the short of it was that Betty ended up as Mrs. Suerth. They married at the Ulverstone Catholic church, with broad steps up to the front door. Some Penguin Methodists stood on the steps as Bet entered the church calling out, “It’s not too late to change your mind Betty!”
The Suerths later moved to Hobart and Jess and Bet were reunited. Both visited us on occasions. Jess came to our wedding and wrote it up for the Geelong Advertiser. She had the knack of describing the fabrics of the dresses in terms only used by a modelling agency!
We visited them both in Hobart a couple of times. These wonderful women died only recently, both well into their 90s. They were pretty special people.
Jess, who came from Queensland, was visiting her sister when my father met her. Within days she was living with us and helping my mother with the family. Jess studied at night, got a job, but still lived with us until we moved to Launceston. We loved her.
Betty came from Penguin and was a trainee teacher in Grade 1 at Elizabeth Street State School. I was very unsure of myself, so much so that I regularly bit the corners off my collars! The teacher didn’t have time to show me any special attention, but Betty encouraged me and gave me confidence. Meanwhile the Penguin Methodist minister got in touch with my Dad to ask him to look out for Betty. She became best friends with Jess and was at our place more often than not.
‘Auntie Elsie’ lived with us in Launceston. Her real name was Elsie Kemp whose father made Kempo soap. I’m not sure why she lived with us except that she was a member of Moral Rearmament as was my mother. One memory of Elsie was after the family had arrived home from church one Sunday. She said to Mother, “Beth, the Lord has told me I’m to have pineapple for lunch.” My mother’s reply, “Well Else, the Lord has told me that you are to have custard and stewed apple like everyone else”. When a new baby was due, Auntie Elsie said, “I’ll look after Dorothy and Thais but I won’t have Carmyl!” I might say the feeling was quite mutual.
So dear Bet took me up to Penguin for a fortnight with her family, which consisted of her mother, her white-bearded grandfather and Murray, her 16 year-old brother. Murray only had one arm as he’d been run over by a train when young. I was about six and my only memory was of Murray showing me a mouse trap and telling me to put my finger in it – and of course I did. Murray later became a Baptist minister and his claim to fame was that when the bridge broke in Hobart, his was the car dangling over the edge.
We moved to a small town near Beaconsfield while Dad was in the army. Bet came to visit and needed to see a doctor. Dr. Suerth was an Austrian Jew, who had escaped to Italy, converted to Catholicism and ended up in Beaconsfield. The long and the short of it was that Betty ended up as Mrs. Suerth. They married at the Ulverstone Catholic church, with broad steps up to the front door. Some Penguin Methodists stood on the steps as Bet entered the church calling out, “It’s not too late to change your mind Betty!”
The Suerths later moved to Hobart and Jess and Bet were reunited. Both visited us on occasions. Jess came to our wedding and wrote it up for the Geelong Advertiser. She had the knack of describing the fabrics of the dresses in terms only used by a modelling agency!
We visited them both in Hobart a couple of times. These wonderful women died only recently, both well into their 90s. They were pretty special people.
Jess, Carmyl, Betty
Carmyl Winkler
March 29, 2023
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