​In the late 1950s I purchased a black Morris Minor 1000 sedan.
 
As a single person it suited my requirements excellently.  However, as it was a small 4-seater vehicle, there wasn’t a lot of room to cater for bulky golf sticks.  Nevertheless, my brother and I managed and went regularly to Elsternwick and Yarra Bend golf courses.  However, its main use was for domestic and personal purposes.
 
In November 1962 I invited some friends from Wodonga to visit me in Prahran for the purpose of attending the Melbourne Cup.  I drove out to the Flemington racecourse and my friends and I had a very enjoyable day.
 
In the evening, after the races were over, we adjourned to the Federal Hotel in the city where my friends had booked accommodation.  The Federal was well known to country people and had a good reputation for meals and entertainment.  At the entertainment, two of my friends befriended a couple of nurses and I loaned them my car to take the nurses home to their hospital.
 
The entertainment concluded and one friend and I waited n their room until the boys returned.  I don’t remember how long we waited, but it was some reasonable time.  On their eventual return I set off to drive home to Prahran.  As I worked in the city, I knew the road well and often travelled by car to work, which was nearby.  As was usual I drove down Spencer Street and Clarendon Street, South Melbourne.  For whatever reason I missed a veer in the road and collided with an electricity pole.  This caused considerable damage to the car and I didn’t fare too well either.
 
I woke up in the Prince Henry Hospital with nurses flitting around everywhere.  I had sustained a fractured skull, a punctured lung, a fractured sternum, 12 fractured ribs and brain damage.  It was a serious situation.  I stayed in the hospital for about 10 days.  My brother Basil visited me daily.  Eventually I returned home and did not go back to work for about 2 months.  My main concern was my frequent brain “slides”.  I don’t know how else to describe them.  I was placed on “dilantin” medication for “the rest of your life”.
 
During my rehabilitation I lost my sense of taste and my sense of smell went haywire.  I could not bear to be in the kitchen while a meal was cooking.  Eventually I returned to work and life carried on normally.  Some 6 or 8 months later was transferred from my auditing position at work back to administration in the Benalla office.
 
The car!  What happened to the car?  I visited a wrecker’s yard and there it was, sitting neglected with a massive crunch dead centre in the bonnet.  I noted that the internal rear vision mirror was shattered.  It had penetrated my forehead.  The car was a write-off.
 
Footnote:  The medication “for the rest of your life” was terminated in May 1988.
 
Ray O’Shannessy
July 2020

My lifetime – I’m 88 years of age – includes memories and stories from the Great Depression of 1932 to the current Corona Virus pandemic of 2020.
 
In 1932, many jobless males walked the countryside looking for work, any type of work, if only to obtain a meal.  Farms were routinely visited by these desperate men.  Indian hawkers and their horse-drawn vehicles were regular visitors selling their wares.
 
In the 1930’s polio was termed infantile paralysis as there was then an epidemic to which my brother Basil (two years older than me) succumbed, but fortunately recovered from.
 
At my school in the late 1930’s we were regularly visited by men known as “swaggies” or swagmen because they normally carried a bag (swag).  They were prepared to cut wood, tend the garden, milk the cows, or do any job that may be available.  We had one regular who was affectionately called “Billy Butterfly”.
 
In September 1939 we saw the commencement of World War II.  Our school was adjacent to the main Melbourne railway line.  In the early 1940’s America joined the war and their troops came to Australia.  We saw many “Yanks” and their tanks, jeeps and other warfare on the never-ending trains that went by.
 
One of my school mates left school and the next year, at age 14 years, came back to visit in an Army uniform.  He was later deployed to Darwin where bombs were being dropped.
 
During the war years, and for a long time afterwards, we had to get used to the “ration tickets” which were required for practically every commodity, food, clothes, petrol.  This saw the introduction to gas burners attached to the rear end of cars.  It also saw the introduction of the popular, illegal practice of using kerosene to propel motor vehicles.
 
May and August of 1945 treated us to the termination of warfare in the Pacific and Europe.  There were great celebrations by way of processions in the streets of every town in the country.  My brother Pat returned from Tobruk.
 
1950 saw me entering the workforce.  There was also the beginning of the Korean War and later on, National Service.  I was too young to go to Korea and, believe it or not, too old for National Service.  I had completed my registration form for National Service and went to the Post Office to mail it.  At the entrance was a notice telling all eligible males to register and on re-reading it I became aware that I was one month too old.  With some regret I destroyed my registration form and returned to my somewhat mundane job.
 
Work continued and I transferred to St. Arnaud, then Wodonga, and Melbourne in the early 1960s.  At that time the Vietnam War was current, and my niece’s fiancé was drafted for service.
I then got married, completed my accounting qualifications, and had a successful business career.

I retired in 2000 and all was well in the world.
 
Then, in early 2020, the Corona Virus struck, and we now find ourselves in lockdown.

So, there you have it, “As Time Goes By”, reflections on historical events across a lifetime spanning 88 years (to date!).
 
 
Ray O’Shannessy
7 July 2020
 

On 26th July 1956, a public meeting, initiated by the Benalla Chamber of Commerce and chaired by Mr, Jack Lester, was held at the Benalla Memorial Hall for the purpose of proposing the formation of a co-operative housing society.

The society was eventually formed on 23rd August 1956 and the first directors were Messrs Noel Brown, Ray Davidson, Hugh Fogg, Norm Vanner and Martin Warmbrunn.  The secretary was Jim Smith.  Over the term of the society Ivor Brown, Colin Ford, Barry Harris, Gavin Harrison and Pat McDonald were also directors, elected on the decease of prior directors.

The purpose of the society was to provide low cost housing finance for persons in the low to middle income brackets.

The society was to be the first of 15 similar societies in the Benalla comunity, all within the one group.  12 of these societies were funded by the State Government and three by trading banks.  In all a total of some 525 homes within the Benalla precinct were funded over a life span of approximately 50 years.

In the early stages the maximum loan ranged from $6000 to $8400 or 80% of the cost of the house (whichever was the lower).  This limit was raised with the passing of time and in acord with rising costs and considerably increased inflation rates.  The term of the loans was set to be 30 years, but with good management a society was generally wound up after 26 to 28 years.

Funds were provided for the erection of new homes and for the purchase of existing homes within a radius of 25 miles from Benalla.

In order to become a member of a society, borrowers had to purchase, over the period, shares to the value of $100 each for every $100 borrowed.  Payment for the shares represented repayment of the loan.

The interest rate on Government funded loans was 3.75% and on bank funded loans the current commercial rate.  There was an income limit on Government funded societies to ensure that all borrowers were eligible..  This restriction did not apply to bank funded societies.

On entering into Jim Smith's accountancy practice in 1968, Ray O'Shannessy became a joint Secretary and administrator of the group.  Tony Smith became his assistant in approximately 1986.

The Number 1 society was wound up in March 1984 and the others progressively thereafter, into the 2000's.

There were difficulties along the way. A number of members occasionally experienced difficulty with keeping up with repayments.  However, eventually, all bar one member, managed successfully.  The unfortunate one was regrettably sold up, but at no financial loss to the society.

In early 1985 the secretaries' office manager fraudulently appropriated a significant amount of society funds ($142,000) for his own use.  Due to strict internal control procedures, the misappropriation was discovered within three months, and the secretaries wee able to recoup the shortfall from their insurance company.  Of concern was the fact that the insurance company dallied for a period of three years before paying the claim.  The secretaries' office manager served a prison term in Dhurringile prison.  

However overall, the Cooperative housing group was a boon to Benalla residential ownership, providing finance to borrowers who otherwise would have gone without.

Ray O'Shannessy
June 2020 

It is an understandable fact that my wife Bernadette has been, for over fifty years, the most influential person on my life.  I just do not have the words to verify that statement.  Her very existence is simple proof.

My children, undoubtedly, are the next in line.

Having not personally experienced a family upbringing, it is difficult to express the gratitude that I feel in having a family.

Outside of family, I would say that Norm Matthews was, perhaps, my greatest influence.  I don't recall when I first met him, but would venture to say that it was on the bowling green.  Norm skippered me in the number one Benalla pennant team which was then known as the "Whites".  This situation continued for a number of years while each of us was also involved in the mechanics of the administration of the Benalla Bowls Club.  We both served on the Board of Management and other sub-committees.  We also successfully played bowls in the Victorian Country Week competition for many years.  In 1986 we created a corporation titled River Gums Estate, and with a group of other men, we purchased and commenced to develop, forty five acres of land on the south eastern boundary of Benalla.  We ultimately developed one hundred and fifty residential blocks, and at the present date, development has been completed and we have just two blocks left to sell.  The financial reward has helped sustain me in my retirement.  Regrettably, Norm passed away in 2004, just prior to being recognised as a life member of the Benalla Bowls Club and having his name appended to a wing of Benalla's Cooinda Retirement Village.  I served with Norm for nine years on the Cooinda finance committee.  During our long association, in business and friendship, never once did we have a cross word.

The next person to have a significant influence on my life was the late Rolfe Mann.  Rolfe worked in a building beside my office, in his role of manager of the Benalla branch of the State Electricity Commission.  In 1969 he became chairman of the Benalla Rose Committee.  I was his treasurer.  This was a very demanding committee, meeting often twice per week in the nine months prior to the Rose Festival.  In that term, as a proud to-be father, I confided to Rolfe that Bernadette was expecting our first child.  Not to be outdone, Rolfe confided that his wife Shirley was, too, expecting.  It was to be their fourth child.  In due course, our son Anthony was born hale and hearty.  Christine was born to Shirley and Rolfe, but there were complications.  Christine was born suddenly and unexpectedly while Shirley was showing.  The dramatic result was that Christine endured brain damage.  As the children grew, there was a movement within Benalla to establish a Centre to cater for people with intellectual disabilities.  Rolfe became treasurer of the establishment committee.  After the secretary of that committee was transferred in his employment some four months after its formation, Rolfe asked me to become Secretary.  And so began an association which saw the building of the Ballandella learning centre, and the ultimate Ballandella residential building.  Ballandella was then the registered name of the Benalla and District Mentally Retarded Peoples' Welfare Association.  It has in recent years been taken over by Yooralla.  I was secretary for nine years, then, when Rolfe became president and we appointed a paid Secretary/manager, I took over as treasurer for a further three years.  Being on the committee was an arduous task and Rolfe and I worked well together.  In his other life, Rolfe decided to stand for Council.  He was successful and held office for many years, including something like three terms as Mayor,  At each election I was his scrutineer.  Regrettably Rolfe developed cancer and died at the young age of fifty five years.  The end of a very powerful friendship!

It would be remiss of me not to mention my business partner, Jim Smith.  I believe we met when we were both members of the Lions Club of Benalla.  Jim asked me to work with him in his accounting practice in June 1967.  He encouraged me to study Accounting and when I graduated we went into partnership.  For many years we conducted a successful and respected business. We endured a fraudulent office manager who absconded with a serious, significant amount of funds.  We experienced the 1993 floods, which went through our office at desk height.   As one would expect we had our differences, and at times there were strains on our relationship.  Jim was by nature a devoted family man, and at some time or another we employed each of his six children.  I found them all to be friendly, hardworking, intelligent persons and had a respectful relationship with them all.  Even now, some decades after retiring, I consider Tim's son Tony to be one of my closest friends.  I still have, and still treasure, a letter of appreciation which Colleen gave me on her retirement to purse an alternate career.  Jim and I sold our business interests to his son Brendan in 1995.  At a later date Tony, when he qualified, joined him.  I continued working in the practice until 1998,  Jim stayed on some years until he retired to Yarrawonga.  He passed away in 2013.

In my early days, as a youth in Benalla, I had a wonderful friendship with Bill Keenan and Kevin Hernan.  I renewed this friendship when I returned to Benalla in 1963.  Regrettably they both died at an early age: Bill in 1970 and Kevin in 1979.  I have fond memories of them both and have often wished, in later life, that they were still around to be my friends.  This friendship was responsible for my involvement with the Hernan family, who gave me the home that I had never before experienced.  The Hernan's kindness and generosity was outstanding, marking the beginning of a relationship which has lasted a lifetime.  For too many years to remember, I acted as Santa Claus at their Christmas Day festivities  I also proposed the toast at each of their twenty first birthdays.  I don't have the words to describe what this family meant to me.

Whilst in Wodonga, I formed a strong relationship with Tim and Mick Flanagan.  We had many outings together.  Unlike the Hernans, I did not have an association with their family.  Nevertheless, I also have fond memories of these two friends.


Ray O'Shannessy,
June 2020




​

​Having lost my mother to cancer when I was 4 1/2 ­­ years old I was sent, with my brother, to Villa Maria in Ballarat East.  Villa was a primary boarding school for boys run by the Catholic order of the Sisters of Mercy.  The nuns would be appalled if they knew that I referred to it as institutional, but frankly that is the way I always imagined Villa to be.  The nuns, while taking on the daunting task of mothering and educating 25 boys aged from 5 to 14 years, were to my mind, sometimes lacking in consideration of the expectations of their charges, making my thoughts understandable.  As a consequence, I experienced a somewhat unhappy childhood.

How did I fit into this environment?  I was the son of a farmer who, because of his aging mother’s Alzheimer’s disease and his own alcoholism, lost the farm to the bank.  Consequently, he became a pauper and was unable to afford my schooling.  However, his sister was a “reverend mother: in the convent, also in Ballarat East.  This fact was obviously to my advantage in gaining admission to Villa.

My term of 7 1/2 years at Villa was a mixed one, with numerous ups and downs,  yet at its conclusion I passed my Merit Certificate,  I also obtained a scholarship which provided me with secondary education and accommodation at St Patrick’s College, a boy’s boarding school, also in Ballarat.

Happy memories of Villa do not come readily, although of a weekend we would often go on walks in the beautiful surrounds of the Ballarat countryside.  I recall having fires into which we would throw potatoes and roast them, splurging them with the ever-available butter.  Ever available because the nuns ran a farm ion conjunction with the school.  The farm provided milk, butter, potatoes, fruit and vegetables and was a distraction from more mundane doings.

On the darker side, as a tiny slip of a kid I rarely ate my meals.  As a result, I would regularly be forced to stay behind in the dining room while other kids had gone out to play.  I did, however, have a stroke of luck in that some how a packet of envelopes came into my possession.  Yes, I would wait until all the other kids had gone out to play and surreptitiously fill an envelope with my uneaten meal.  The envelope would eventually find its way into the incinerator.  All very good until I was caught out!

The nuns placed large import on their straps as a means of punishment.  Sister Brendan claimed to have a strap 6 feet in length.  Or it was until she broke it on me!

Sister Brendan also possessed a nasty streak in her character.  She took a disliking to my brother, Basil.  She took it out on the “horse”.  Remember the “springboard” and the “horse” gymnastics!  Well, Basil did not shine in gymnastics, and she chose to show him up in front of the whole school.  I was quite adept at this sport and she decided to pit him against me.  As was to be expected, he performed very poorly and I was in good form.  I won’t say I did it deliberately, but I managed, as I hurdled the horse, to kick her fair and square in the mouth.  I can still see the imprint of my wet sand shoe on her face.  Poetic justice!

The above are a couple of poorer examples over my term at Villa.  There were many other incidents, both good and otherwise, but I must admit that the nuns, obviously, despite all their faults, gave me a sound grounding for what has turned out to be a fulfilling life.
​
Ray O’Shannessy
25 May, 2020

In late 1959 or early 1960 I had occasion to visit a neurologist because I was suffering ‘nervous debility’.  I was working extremely long hours for Victorian Producers Co-op at Wodonga.  We were having markets every Monday (Pig & Calf Markets), Tuesday (Cattle Market), Wednesday (Sheep Market Albury).  Market days were generally long, but the nights were the concern.  Bookwork involved working after tea until approximately 11.30 pm every Monday till Thursday.  This was constant.  My days began at 7-7.30 am, knock off for a beer at 5.30 pm; have tea at the pub where I was boarding; return to work at 7.30 pm and consistently work until 11.30 pm Monday to Thursday, Friday was my night off.  I would go with Tom & Mick Flanagan to an Albury pub every Friday night. 
 
I experienced a persistent rash on my arms, was waking up intermittently at night as if in fright and not really sleeping. Dr. Grant of Wodonga made an appointment for me with a specialist in Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga.  I do not recall his name.  Tom and Mick, my two mates, took the day off work and drove me to Wagga.  The Specialist put me through a thorough gruelling and told me I was over-working.  His verdict – “nervous debility”.  His advice – “study accountancy and work for yourself”.
 
My employer was considerate and realised the seriousness of my condition.  I was transferred to Head Office in Melbourne and took on the role of assistant internal auditor.  This involved routine daily work, 8.45 am till 5.15 pm and regular in-hour visits to the company’s 14 country branches.  I registered with the Australian Society of Accountants to do a correspondence course but admit that I was an ordinary student.  I was easily distracted.  I boarded with my brother John’s family in Prahran and really enjoyed life for the next two years.
 
Out of the blue management offered me a transfer to the Benalla Branch of the VPC.  It was experiencing some difficulties and the manager, Mr Kevin Donnelly, with whom I had previously worked, asked that I be transferred to take charge of the office administration.
 
I must admit that in my 15 years with the company I had never found any real satisfaction with my job.  I could never see any future.  I continued in Benalla until 1966 and changed jobs.  On being married, I again changed jobs and worked for Jim Smith in his accounting practice.
 
Here was the dormant opportunity.  Study Accountancy and work for yourself.  In 1968 I renewed my interest in studying accountancy in earnest.   The Australian Society of Accountants was phasing out its examination.  To comply with its requirements, I would need to study 100 hours per subject to ensure a pass.  This necessitated 20 hours per week which I strictly adhered to.
 
November 1972 came around.  I had one subject to pass to qualify as an accountant.  By chance it was the termination of the Society’s exams.
 
In all my study years I had not known one student who had passed Auditing on first try.  The pressure was on!
 
The date for the examination came around!  I sat for Auditing for the first time!  60% pass mark!  58% was not good enough!  I failed! The Society was not conducting any more examinations.  I was in Limbo!
 
Then fate smiled.  The Society compromised with the Bendigo Institute of Technology, now La Trobe University, and it was agreed that I could do a 12-month course with the Institute.  This involved travelling three times per week from Benalla to Bendigo for the year, and then doing their final examination.  A strenuous year.  Fortunately, the examination was a breeze after my tutored year.  I passed with 87%.
 
“Study accountancy!”  Accomplished.
 
“Work for yourself!”  Still to come!
 
Then came the toughest year of all.  Qualify as a Chartered Accountant to become eligible for partnership.  With hard work this was achieved.  I borrowed money to enable the purchase of a 1/3rd interest in James H. Smith & Co., thence Smith O’Shannessy & Co.  I was working for myself.
 
Subsequently I was awarded a Fellowship of the Chartered Institute and increased my interest in the partnership to 50%.
 
Thanks to Neurologist Specialist (name unknown), Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga.   I had followed your advice!
 
“STUDY ACCOUNTANCY, AND WORK FOR YOURSELF”
 
 
Ray O’Shannessy, FCA., CPA
19 April 2020

Having lost my mother to cancer when I was four and a half years old I have never, in my 87 years, been able to find words to describe the emptiness of a childhood, or for that matter a life, without a mother.

Ever time I hear a person talking about a happy childhood I am prone to a feeling of envy.  I did not grow up with a father and mother and siblings.  Actually, I knew only one of my grandparents, also until I was four years of age.

I attended Villa Maria with my brother Basil, two years older than me, and 24 other children until I was ten.  After that, another two years on my own.  It can't be said that we grew up together because we rarely related.  He mixed with an older group of kids, I with the younger ones.  I recall that, in about 1939, when Infantile Paralysis was an epidemic, Basil was a victim.  He was sitting down eating his dinner one day and when he went to move, his legs wouldn't function.  A couple of the senior kids had to lift hims from his chair and carry him back to the class room.  Thence forward he was carried everywhere - to the toilet, to the dining room, to the class room, to bed.  How long this went on I don't know.  From memory he was well again at school holiday time, so this procedure didn't have to be followed at Swanwater.  To the best of my knowledge Basil never suffered any later ill effects.

In 1947, ten years after my mother's death, all the siblings met at brother John's house in Prahran.  Apart from Basil, they were all married and so had their own lives to lead.  We met infrequently and never afterwards functioned as a family.

In my late 20's I boarded with my brother John and his family for two years.  These were two of the happiest years of my live.

Thank God I now have a family of my own.  I try to make up for what I have missed.  My family are not as close by as I would wish but I am in contact with all of them at least once a week.
​

Ray O'Shannessy
April 2020

Before going into business as a Chartered Accountant I held a position  as a senior clerical officer with a stock and station agency branch at Wodonga. My duties included recording financial affairs and involved authorising cheques. There were also outside salesmen whose job it was to  organise livestock sales with other agents, farmers, butchers, abattoirs and so on. There were opportunities for these salesmen to help themselves by dealing in livestock, using the employer’s funds. Such practices were frowned upon and forbidden.

As was usual in our branch office there was considerable trading negotiated by our salesmen. On one occasion there were several deals going through  and one of our salesmen, as a matter of convenience, in his own right and in his own name, negotiated a deal which  presented him with a handy profit and had the sanction of the branch manager.

This deal placed me in a predicament.

The manager approached me  to sign the cheque.  What should I do?  The deal was contrary to regulations and was expressly  forbidden.  Should I sign the cheque or should I make waves and refuse to sign?

As a conscientious and  responsible employee I refused to sign.

The manager could have approached another employee for a signature but to his credit he did not take this easy way out. He communicated with the managing director of the company and confessed to an unauthorised deal. This action certainly did make waves!  Never the less my manager was able to sway the hierarchy and obtained permission to complete the contract.

Where did that place me?

Despite my refusal to sign the cheque my manager acknowledged that I had acted prudently and our otherwise good relationship did not suffer.

I subsequently received instructions from Head Office to sign the cheque and the matter was resolved.  The waves had subsided!

Just to write “closed” to this situation, I was eventually promoted to the position of assistant internal auditor,  concentrating on the company’s fourteen country branches.

Making waves sometimes pays off!
 
Ray O’Shannessy  
1st March 2020.     ​

“Music can have a powerful effect on our emotions and create a lasting impact.”

I  have been asked to describe an experience when I got lost in a single piece of music, and what made it so unforgettable. What I am about to describe is not what you expected, but here goes.

In my young days I would have dearly loved to learn to play the piano. The opportunity never arose.

Later on, in my late life parenthood, Bernadette and I went to the Benalla Show and encountered an Organ retailer.  At this stage in our life we had four children and were soon convinced that it would be a good idea to involve them in music. It didn’t take the organ retailer long to convince us that his “easy to play” organ would be just the thing. So $1200 lighter we took delivery.

The two boys, being approximately aged 10 and 12 at this stage, showed enthusiasm so we arranged with a music teacher, Mrs.Schulz, to tutor them. I would take them down to her McIvor Street home of an evening to get their lessons. I told her of my earlier desire to learn to play the piano and she convinced me that she could teach me to play the organ. So,…at age 50 years…I commenced lessons.

The three of us would go, weekly, for lessons, and …….for a 50 year old…….I slowly learned my chords. Nowhere near as easy as the man at the show ground had told us, so I struggled on.. Our eldest son Anthony took to learning, but to Peter it was a chore.

Mrs Schulz moved house to a farm a number of kilometres out on the Yarrawonga Road. So we would travel of a Tuesday evening out to her farm.  She had a number of students and at years end she arranged for all her students , with their parents in attendance, to give a recital. This applied also to the “old stager” …me!

The children all played to the delight of their parents, showing their talent….Then it was my turn!

After two years I had learned a number of elementary tunes and Mrs.Schulz had fine tuned me  for my performance and so, apprehensively, I commenced to play… Then the worst possible thing happened! All of my fingers became thumbs! Consequently I gave the worst performance of my life. The parents, good naturedly applauded me……but I knew!.... I was no musician.

Here was my experience with a single piece of music. What made it so unforgettable?

In real life I am not a quitter. But this embarrassment was more than I could bear. I quit!

I have not sat on an organ stool since.
 
 
Ray O’Shannessy.
28/11/17.

Right here I am at my 1960’s residence in Clarke Street Benalla.  We built the residence during the year of 1967 when houses were affordable and the interest rate was 3.75%. Our home was considered to be large, 12.2 squares!  Right now it is an insignificant size.

Right now I am in my 86th year.  I am fit, content, comfortable and satisfied with my life. I accept my own mortality  and consider every day a blessing.  I rise at 7.00 a.m. daily and exercise at the Benalla Hydrotherapy Pool for 40 minutes.

My wife is a whiz in the garden and, to  the envy of others, is quite content to mow the lawn.

I am easily occupied with reading,  crosswords  and my involvement in 2 Probus clubs, Rotary and U3A.  I am also chairman of the Cemetery Trust  and still perform a number of honorary audits.

I keep saying that I will go back to playing bowls, but I cannot find the enthusiasm.  Strange, after being an ardent bowler since 1957.

Our land development interest has reached the stage where only two blocks remain unsold. We will shortly  be obliged to depend on our dwindling superannuation funded allocated pensions, and the Centrelink pension, for survival. Nevertheless our financial adviser  has just produced a chart which shows that we are financial  at least until  I reach the age of one hundred and one.

After having had a number of cruising holidays which I always enjoyed thoroughly, I made the mistake of saying that I was ‘cruised out’.  Consequently cruises no longer seem to be on our agenda. We have however, seemingly, resolved to do car trips  of several days duration, around Victoria, and have also booked  a trip to Kangaroo Island through Lakeside Probus  early in the new year.  We will have to reconsider future travel; our daughter-in-law, who is a mobile travel agent, is always ready to assist.

The U3A organisation  continues to stimulate me  as it does with so many other seniors.  I am not as involved as I was early in my retirement and hold no executive position. The ‘winery walkabout’ and ‘armchair-travelling’ sections provide me with relaxation, while ‘singing for fun’ and the ‘writing workshop’ stimulate me.  We have two ‘singing for fun’ concerts coming up next month  and the ‘writing workshop’ always provides a challenge.  I sometimes wonder if the other contributors to the workshop  consider me to be self- centred, but I take the opportunity  to write personal experiences, the writing of which I expect to be able to hand down to my children and grand children.

As an ‘elder’ of the Rotary Club I find my membership very relaxing.  I also feel at ease  in the role of Chairman of the Rotary Paul Harris Fellow committee.

In home life the devotion of  my family gives me  great satisfaction. As one who never had a family life in my youth, the absence of sibling  contact  has made me adamant  that it won’t happen again. Ever since my children left  home  I have made a practice of phoning each one of them every Sunday evening.  There may, at times, be nothing to talk about, but I am, at least, making contact.

Right Here! and Right Now! I am a very fulfilled person.
 
 
Ray O’Shannessy
24th October, 2017.

As I ponder this title, I acknowledge that “Right now” I am 85 years old,  and that “Right here”  I should recognise some of my inner feelings.

Alright!... I am 85 years old; I am healthy; I have come to grips with my own mortality; I am content! I have a wonderful supportive wife; 4 top children; and 10 loving grandchildren.
In a life, which, at times, has been daunting, I have succeeded!

I have learned that every person has good points: that one should accept everyone at face value: and one should be wary of the “holier than thou” person as there are, too often, undertones of hypocrisy.

In my writings for this group, I have, possibly, stressed too much, that my mother died when I was 4 years old,  and, perhaps, understated my father’s alcoholism which caused him to lose his farm , and to his own employee, at that.

After Mum’s death I did not live with my father and consequently, at school became a “loner”. Once I commenced work, I was, for a number of years, a beer drinking “lost soul”. I followed a career with a  stock and station agency business in three different country branches for 16 years. I had no confidence in myself, or fondness for my job.

I had little, or no, contact with my siblings. They had all married very young  and, spread around the countryside, had their own families to care for, and lives to live.

After my adolescent  years had passed  I became a self taught mature age student and eventually  obtained two accounting degrees and then a fellowship. I went into a business accounting partnership in Benalla until retirement  in 1998. My wife and I operated the Benalla Coin Laundrette for seventeen years, and I have been a senior  member of a land development corporation for over thirty years. Before breakfast each morning I do a series of exercises at the Benalla  Hydrotherapy Pool.

Over a lifetime  I have found myself involved in many community service organisations, from the Lions Club to Rotary,  Ballandella to the Cemetry Trust,  U3A to two Probus Clubs,  the Bowls Club to Cooinda, and so on; approximately thirty organisations in total. I have held executive positions in all.

My sporting interests have been confined to table tennis (in my youth) and to lawn bowls for sixty years. In my early days I was recognised as a relatively good lawn bowler, but age caught up and my standard lessened, to the extent  that  my pride now dictates that I retire.

I believe that, despite a slow start, I have defied the odds and led a very fulfilling life. I have succeeded in family life; in business life;  and in community life. I am a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Life Member of the Benalla Bowls Club, a Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary, and, above all, an Order of Australia Medalist.

As a motherless child, and the son of an alcoholic, and being somebody who ‘never belonged’, I believe that  in the words of the late Teddy Whitten, I have ‘stuck it right up ‘em’.

Ray O’Shannessy
​October 24, 2017                    .
 

I used to be a mature aged student... back in my earlier life.

Some time back in the late 1950s I was working in Wodonga. My working hours were long and, after working all day, I would be back at the office again each evening – Monday to Thursday . I would work at least till 11.30 p.m., sometimes later.

As can be imagined, these long hours produced pressure and had a bad effect on my mental health. The local doctor sent me to a specialist in Wagga Wagga. He diagnosed “nervous debility”. Because of the long hours I was prepared to work , he suggested to me that I should “study accountancy and work for yourself”.

Some  time later I registered as a student  with the Australian Society of Accountants.  At that time I wasn’t familiar with any other accounting body. I was initially very casual in my commitment to study.  The Society conducted its own examinations every six months.  It wasn’t until 1968 after I had worked  for twelve months in Jim Smith’s accounting practice, that I commenced study in earnest.  There were approximately 20 subjects to be studied and the Society was phasing exams out until 1972 when they would terminate them.

After some research,  I decided that I needed to  study one hundred hours per subject to be assured of a pass, and that I needed  to study, and pass, four subjects per year.

So I settled into studying twenty hours per week, rising at 6 a.m. to meet these requirements.
​
I had earlier registered with a correspondence school  to do my studies, and to keep up with its program required many hours.  My memory is not clear, but I believe  I abandoned  its schedule early on , and pursued my own avenues of study.  Wal Pfeiffer, who worked at another local Accounting office, was also studying, but he was twelve months ahead of me.  I used to regularly confer with him, and we developed a friendship which exists to this day.

I took the opportunity to study two maths courses with an accounting  tutorial service in Melbourne, travelling down every Monday afternoon.  I did this for six months and found it very helpful, and a welcome break from studying alone.  I used to tape every lesson, and replay them in the car on my way home of a night after the lessons.

Come November 1972 I had progressed to the stage that I was facing my final exam, Auditing. Over the years I had conferred with many self-educated accountants, and was advised that not one of them had passed auditing on their first attempt.  So, with some trepidation, I sat my first, and Yes! I failed.

Worse still, it was the Society’s final examination. There I was – one subject to go to qualify, and I was in Limbo!­

Then fortune smiled!

The Society brokered a deal with the Bendigo Institute of Technology, (now Latrobe University). I could travel to Bendigo to study Auditing and the Society would give me credit for a pass.  Three study periods a week for twelve months - Monday afternoon, (stayed at Bernadette’s Aunty Hilda in Flora Hill Monday night) Tuesday morning and Friday afternoon.  I purchased a new second-hand XW Falcon Sedan for travel.  My auditing text-book  provided a  written summary to each chapter.  I read and  taped each summary and played them on my travels.  After twelve months of this I passed and became a qualified accountant.

But wait!  There’s more. To enter into partnership with my then boss I was asked to become a Chartered Accountant.  In his view Chartered Accountants were “the Elite”.    SHIT!

After another harrowing year of study, assisted by my regular conferences with Norm Kenny of Wangaratta (another student),  the frequent study meetings in Albury and a  stressful conference in Sydney, I graduated as a Chartered Accountant with an 87% pass mark.

And so, we set up the professional business of Smith and O’Shannessy in July 1975.

It hadn’t been  an easy path, but in the end it was worth all the effort.

​
Ray O'Shannessy
October 2017

“You’ll do no such thing …. You are staying here!”

With these words in my ears I commenced two of the happiest years of my life. Good Vibrations ensued.

The year was approximately 1960 and I had been transferred in my employment from a Victorian country branch to the Head Office in Melbourne.

I was staying for a short time with my brother John in Prahran. I had purchased the Age newspaper to find an advertisement for permanent accommodation, and my sister-in-law had asked what I was looking for.  I explained, and received the response above… ”You are staying here!”

On our mother’s death in 1937, John, aged 14, went to live with our married sister in the small railway hamlet of Maroona.  How long he lived there I do not know.  Still a boy, he moved to Birchip and took up a job as a drover.

In time he moved to Melbourne; somehow qualified as a cabinet maker and went into business on his own account. 

He boarded with a dignified English widow who had a daughter, Marg, some months older than him. They, mother and daughter, had previously been living in poor circumstances in Rupanyup, but then obtained rental accommodation in Prahran.

At age 18, John married Marg and then continued to live in the same residence, where they raised their family of five children.

Then in 1960, I came on the scene, and for the first time in my life, I lived with family. Although they were family, they were really strangers. I had to get to know them.

John was of small stature, like me.  He had wavy, sandy coloured hair and was a friendly, hard- working, hard drinking, racist, Irish family man, with a larrikin streak. He had a quick wit and the ability to quickly make strangers comfortable in his company. Despite being like chalk and cheese, we bonded as family.  He was my idol.  He was my brother.  I’m sure that he regretted, as I did, not having spent our boyhood together.

Marg and I also bonded.  From a strict English background, Marg was a dignified, refined lady with a strong sense of purpose.

In my early life I had only two women who showed me any affection – my Aunty Kath and Marg. Yet for reasons known only to themselves, they never had a friendly relationship.

I adored John and Marg’s children and they responded. They affectionately call me UNK.

I am pleased to be able to say that I brought something advantageous into their lives. I introduced them to golf, a game they both enjoyed until their deaths.  In fact, from the time of John’s early death at the age of 55yrs, Marg gained much enjoyment from golf until her death at age 83.

The good vibrations I experienced over my involvement with John and Marg and their family will for ever be memorable to me.

​
Ray O’Shannessy
October, 1917     

Dear Mr.O’Shannessy,
             
I am writing on behalf of the Governor-General to inform you that you are being considered for the award of the  Medal of the Order of Australia……….

These were the words which hit me after I opened the letter from the Governor-General’s office in April 2013.   I was to go from “anticipation vibes” to “good vibes” in a matter of seconds.

Towards the conclusion  of the letter were the words …”After the Governor-General has considered all the proposed awards, I shall advise you of the outcome….” 

The anticipation vibes returned.

On May 28th  my   worries disappeared with the advice  “your award… ..has been approved by the Governor- General.”.. There was great jubilation. Very “good vibrations”.

The award was announced in the Queen’s  Birthday honors list on 10th June, and I was the subject of many phone calls, cards, and personal well wishes. Letters were received from the Victorian Governor, the Premier and more politicians than I knew existed, from the north-eastern area of the state. I even received a congratulatory letter from Latrobe University who were claiming me as an alumni after having studied one solitary subject at it’s Bendigo campus.

Friday 1st November was to be the investiture date at the Victorian Government house, with Governor Eric Churnov officiating. I was allotted “three Entrée Cards for yourself  and two guests.” The letter added  .. “we are unable to meet any requests for additional guests”. 

Bad vibes.  I have a wife and four children and only two tickets. Who do I invite? How  could I not offend someone? Fortunately the boys were not interested in formalities and so weren’t phased about  attending . However, the girls, in their own little way, made it obvious that each of them expected to attend.  Problems!

In desperation I phoned Government House and spoke to a very understanding lady, (Wendy). She advised me to put my problem in writing to the Governor, which I did. Several days later I received unobstrusively in the mail, a third Entrée Card with only a handwritten note “herewith an extra Entrée Card”.             How grateful I was!  Family harmony had been saved!

Investiture day was a lovely sunny day. Guests were to be seated in the main hall, while recipients were to assemble in an adjourning dining room, prior to investiture.  We were seated in alphabetical order, and I had the privilege to be seated beside Ross Oakley, former CEO of the prior VFL and then AFL. He also played football with the St.Kilda football club.  As I am a St.Kilda fan we chatted.

The Investiture went swimmingly and everyone gathered in the main hall afterwards, prior to  nibblies and a drink, and an inspection of the Government House surrounds.

We met Cadel Evans, Tour de France winner and OAM recipient and obtained his autograph on replicas of his riding shirts, which son Anthony, and son-in-law Heath had provided in anticipation.

In the evening, the whole O’Shannessy clan, grandchildren and all, celebrated at a restaurant in Springvale Road.


Ray O’Shannessy OAM
September 2017.                        
 

I always have good vibes, or good vibrations, when I am with my family.

I was not raised in a traditional family environment, and honestly, I have always envied those who have been. I have sorely missed contact with my parents and with my siblings.

I now have a family of my own, a wife, 2 sons, and 2 daughters. I love them all unreservedly and indeed am very proud of them and I like to skite about them and their achievements. Doing so always gives me good vibrations.

So here goes.

My wife has been a marvellous company and  mother who has attended to all the children’s requirements from the baby years to their adulthood.  She was affectionately  known as a legend at FCJ College for her numerous years’  service in the uniform shop and as co-ordinator of the Debutante  Ball.  She was awarded the Sandhurst Diocesan Community Service Award for her  service at Galen College Wangaratta. She has been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship at Rotary.

My children all graduated at university and have done remarkably well in their careers.

I am proud to say that Anthony, our eldest boy, was sent to Switzerland for two years in his employment with ABB Engineering, and now  holds the position of Chief Financial Officer with a large  Victorian Corporation, the Melbourne Water Board. In his youth he excelled in football and squash, and still plays squash.

Peter, our second child holds the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Cranbourne Racing Club and Trio’s Restaurant and gaming organisation, also in the Cranbourne complex. He played, for many years, football and basketball.

Our eldest daughter Jacki, married a wool grower and attends to all the farm accounts and acts as a farmwife. She and her husband Heath won the “Best Fleece” award in the lamb’s section of the 2017 Victorian Wool Show. Jacki also works as office manager for the Royal Hotel in Benalla. She is a netball and basketball enthusiast.

Cathy, our youngest, was awarded the Galen College Award for Excellence in her last year of secondary education. After spending two years in a managerial role for Brown. Brothers Winery in London, she has now settled in as senior marketing director for  the Charles Sturt University in Albury. She, too, concentrated on netball and basketball.

We have now been blessed with ten grandchildren, five girls and five boys, and the good vibrations become even better at Christmas, when the whole O’Shannessy family gathers at our home for special celebrations.

It is great to see  our children all accept parental roles in their own children’s sporting and other activities, and I sincerely trust that they all have long and happy family associations.

Good vibrations mean different things to different people, and I hope I have indicated how they mean so much to me  in my family life.
 
Ray O’Shannessy.
September 2017.                                                        

​I used to be an ardent lawn bowler back in the days before I became an octogenarian.

In September 1957, whilst boarding at The Carriers’ Arms Hotel in Wodonga, I was encouraged to join the Wodonga Bowls Club. Surprisingly, I learned early, that I had potential to become a relatively good bowler. In my first year I was selected, occasionally, as a member in the club’s top pennant team in the Ovens and Murray Association.

As the youngest member of the club, (I was  25 years of age, while other members were in their fifties, sixties and seventies, some even older) the coach and my skipper took me under their wings. They took me with them regularly to tournaments in the surrounding districts of a Sunday, after having played pennant on Saturdays. We were often successful in winning the tournament.

I particularly recall one tournament at Gerogery, a small country club which did not have overhead lights. Our rink was playing off in the finals at dusk. We progressed to the grand final and it became so dark that the skipper had to strike a match to show players the location of the “kitty”. What an experience! Our side won!

On joining the Benalla Bowls Club in 1963 I was a regular player in their top Ovens and Murray team. I held my place for some fifteen to twenty years. We never won a premiership but played off in the grand final on three occasions.

Benalla, because of doubt of our future in the Ovens and Murray Association , entered a team in the Goulburn Valley Association. I was selected and we were runners-up in our one and only year.

On returning from the Goulburn Valley Association I was relegated and played the rest of my bowling career in a lower grade. We won three premierships and played in several finals. In the lower grade there were only three rinks in a team.  1984/85 was a memorable year. We were playing in the grand final at Corowa on a very hot Sunday afternoon. The other two rinks in our team were defeated. Our rink, having been down zero to seven after 2 ends went on to win 48 to 13. A big enough victory to claim the premiership!

For many  years  I played Country-week bowls  in Melbourne with mixed success. I have played finals in the  “pairs” and “fours”. Our best effort was to be in the final four of the state. On that occasion the finals were to be played at Drouin  some two weeks later. Unfortunately on that date our skipper had a non-negotiable business commitment  and had to withdraw. The rest is history.

In January 2014 I sustained a fractured pelvis in a fall doing “meals on wheels”, and I use that as an excuse for retiring from bowls. To be truly honest, my pride won’t accept the fact that I can no longer bowl as well as I used to.
​
Over many years I have been diligent in the administration of the club, and have been awarded a Club “life membership” for my efforts. I have also received RVBA recognition for” Fifty Years Continuous Membership.”
 
Ray O’Shannessy
October 2017g

I used to own and operate the Benalla Coin Laundrette.

Back in  1971  my wife and I purchased, as an adjunct to our other business activities, the Benalla  Coin Laundrette. At that time it featured  a diesel operated hot water service, four washing machines, and two clothes driers. The opening hours were 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.

After some years’ activities we converted the hot water system to gas, and purchased eight up-grade Maytag washing machines and four driers. The business was not overly profitable, but it did enable us to pay for two new cars and provide the children with pocket money.

We engaged the Benalla Security Service to open and close the shop at these times. When we would go on holidays it was our practice to engage my bowls skipper, Bill Bryce, to attend to the cleaning and collection of the takings.

The duties involved an early morning rise, so that we could wash the floor and clean up all the equipment after the previous day’s activities. This would take up to an hour per morning. Because of Bernadette’s child minding responsibilities, I would generally do this work. One night a week we would collect the takings. Usually the premises would be quite dirty. The main problem being the activity of youth vandalism. The premises were next door to a fish and ship shop and, after school of a day time, school children would assemble and sit on the seats of the laundrette. It would amuse them to sprinkle soap powder (readily available) in the machines and the coin functions of the machines. Sometimes, after some school kid frolicking, we would find girl’s knickers dangling from the ceiling rafters. Because of this activity it was occasionally necessary to clean up the shop of a late evening.

It was often necessary to engage tradesmen to maintain the equipment. Although not technically minded, I found that I became  quite adept at the maintenance of the coin machines.

The busiest time of the year would be  Benalla Show days, when   show people would back up their utes to the front door and unload what seemed like tons of soiled attire, sheets and so on.
Because the machines were coin operated we had a mutually satisfactory arrangement with the fish shop next door to provide the necessary coins.

It came to our notice, not long into our occupancy, that the night watchman shirked his responsibilities by not locking the premises of a night, but by merely turning the light off. This meant that he did not have to open the premises again in the morning. We thought better of taking him to task.

After operating the laundrette for a number of years we decided that the daily commitment was too much of a bind. We had a good relationship with our machine maintenance man, and, after seventeen years of operation, we sold the business to him for a very reasonable (to him) price.
 
Ray O’Shannessy.                       
​499 words.

“Fish out of Water” means to me  “out of one’s depth”.

Many people at some stage in their lives find themselves in this situation.

It is a matter of how one handles it.

I believe that in acting positively one can generally escape the situation, and I think that, in my own many such occasions, I have tried to do so
.
Except that in one set of circumstances, I am completely overwhelmed. That is I.T.  Information Technology!  And that is where I am a “fish out of water”!

In my early stage of business, my partner and I followed the trend and purchased a computer. It was really an advanced bookkeeping machine which in the early 1970s cost us $24,000. RThere were no providers in Benalla  so we went to Shepparton. There had been a lot of rain , and coming home, the Shepparton road was flooded, so we had to take the Dookie detour. It was also flooded,  but we drove through the flood waters, with the water lapping the door handles.

The computer was a great adjunct to our business and we had girls specialising in the operation of it, so that until the end of my working days I had a secretary operating mine. I gained no experience. This was so even though computers became much smaller and almost everybody in the office had their own. I had always been a reasonable typist so I could handle the “word” program, but that is my limit.

Since retiring I have attended short courses at TAFE but between lessons I never practised, so all I learnt was soon forgotten.
​
Only today I was typing “my career went bung”. Had reached more than 200 words, and yes! I lost the lot.  After a number of expletives  and  numerous  attempts  at retrieval, I gave up, deeming that it was providence.

While I am writing this essay, the mobile phone rings. It is my wife’s phone but she is not in. I shuffle and swipe the face of it, but I cannot answer it. It stops ringing. I have missed the call!  I have been to U3A Tech-Savvy courses and have been taught how to handle a mobile phone, but still it is beyond me.

An e-mail comes to hand which requires a reply and two attachments.  I can handle the e-mail, but the attachments??...I need help!  Not only can’t I do the attachments, I can’t get out of the damn program!

This computer, only two years old, is not user friendly, and is possibly my worst ever purchase. I have had occasion to call in a computer expert  on a couple of occasions but find that he talks too fast and his words go right over my head.

The computer is my nemesis.


Ray O'Shannessy
September 2017

In 1966, after being in the workforce for 16 years, I decided on an employment change. I could see no chance for promotion in the company where I was, and believed there would be opportunities elsewhere. And so, I ventured into the life assurance field, as I had been encouraged to do.

My first mistake was to enlist with a fairly obscure life assurance company. But it was a subsidiary company of the employer with whom I had 16 years involvement, and so I had the opportunity to have numerous contacts.

My information was that one of the main attributes of being successful was to have plenty of contacts, and so I had covered this facet.  What hadn’t been explained to me was that there was a special technique in closing, or finalising sales. As a relatively quiet and unassuming type of person, I discovered that I did not possess this talent. That’s where the problem lay.

In the early stages of my employment, I was accompanied, in my search for customers, by a very outgoing and charming official of my employment company with whom I became quite friendly. He was able to procure sales which were credited to me, and we proceeded satisfactorily.

I did much research and self training, including  reading many sales motivational books. I followed up all the birth and death notices, but to no avail! I could not, on my own, clinch a sale. Potential customers were very polite, asking questions and agreeing with the benefits of life assurance. But I could not get them to sign on the dotted line.

In absolute frustration , after a period of 12 months, and although I had no other job to go to, I resigned.. My career had gone bung.

As I write/read this essay I hurt; I cringe at the memory of the anguish that I had endured, as I told my wife that I was a failure ;  ….I had no job!

As was my career in this field, this essay  is a flop; no chance of writing 500 words!
 
Ray O’Shannessy.

 

I wouldn’t describe my career as brilliant , but am proud to write that it was very fulfilling.

After spending 17 & ½ years in the workforce I changed jobs and went to a public accounting practice in Benalla on 30th June 1967. This action went the way to fulfilling  the advice given to me  by a specialist several years earlier, when he advised me to “study accounting and work for yourself”.

My first twelve months were spent familiarising myself  with the accounting practice and particularly the requirements of the Australian Taxation Office. On 1st July 1968, in pursuit of this  objective, I commenced, by correspondence, the study of accountancy.

Subsequently  I graduated as an accountant, and in  February 1974, at the age of almost 42 years, I was admitted as an Associate of the Australian Society of Accountants . At this stage, as a qualified accountant, I deemed it appropriate  to approach my boss  to become a partner in the business. He considered my approach favourably and agreed to invite me to become a partner with 33 1/3rd  % interest I in the practice, but…….wait for it…….. on the condition that I become a chartered accountant.

At that time, many people in the accounting profession  considered, rightly or wrongly, that chartered accountants were a superior race.

Anxious to fulfil my destiny, I agreed, and after the most arduous year of study, I was granted admission to the  Institute of Chartered Accountants in July 1975.

I had therefore fulfilled the condition  placed on me, and purchased, on terms,  a 33 1/3rd % of the business. In 1979, having paid off the terms, I increased this share to 50%, again needing to borrow funds to do so.

Business progressed well, and within a short space of time  we opened a branch office in Yarrawonga.

Our number one client was the Co-Operative Housing Society Group for which my partner and I were the joint secretaries/administrators.

Over the lifetime of the Group we managed 15 societies and financed in excess of 500 homes in the Benalla district. I was in charge of the administration.

Other clients were businesses, farmers and taxpayers. We also conducted a number of audits, including the Benalla Hospital and  the Cooinda Retirement Village.

The practice prospered.

We employed 7 or 8 staff with an efficient office manager. However, in 1985 he became over zealous and defrauded us of a significant amount of money, principally Housing Society funds.
Fortunately, our insurance company came to the party and repaid the default, but not until three years had passed. I took responsibility over the litigation and, with the burden of the time factor and this responsibility, I experienced a major break-down. This limited my contribution to the future operations of the practice.

Business continued satisfactorily until 1993 when we were hit by a flood, with water going through our premises at desk height. This caused a significant financial loss and the office was closed for three weeks. Insurance did not cover a large portion of this loss, due to the debatable definition of “flood water”.

Subsequently we continued to  operate satisfactorily  until 1995, when, thanks to  succession planning, we sold out to my partner’s eldest son.

I continued as a consultant until the year 2000 when I eventually retired.

I am very proud to have been part of a successful business in Benalla, but again would say that it wasn’t a brilliant career.

 
Ray O’Shannessy. 
​30/8/2017.

​Ever since my mother’s death, from cancer, when I was 4 years old, I have been the “odd one out”.  My father’s sisters’ decision that he could not adequately look after his young family meant that I was to live the life of an orphan, and I lived with the inevitable feeling that “I don’t belong”.
 
Because one of my aunts, on my father’s side, was one of the hierarchy of nuns at the Mercy Convent in Ballarat, I was to be accommodated at its subsidiary boys’ boarding school ”Villa Maria” also at Ballarat East.
 
Other students were the sons of solicitors , doctors, accountants, publicans, and farmers whose properties were too far from schools. (There were no school buses in those days). I was “the odd one out”.
 
At Easter, all the kids went home for holidays – all except me and my brother, who was 2 years older than me.  We were “the odd ones out”.
 
On finishing primary school I was awarded a scholarship which entitled me to tutorial and accommodation at St.Patrick’s College also in Ballarat.
 
At St.Pat’s I found that, because I was such a small child, ( at age 14, I was 5 stone in weight) I played football with kids much younger than me.  Again “the odd one out”! To make matters worse, unlike the others, I wore a football guernsey knitted by my aunt. You may well imagine that this differed significantly from the “bought” guernseys the other kids wore. I was a stand out in the field, not because of my ability but because of that damned Guernsey.
 
On leaving school, I obtained a job in Benalla and, as a youth, I was very shy in the company of girls. While  many of my mates had girl friends, I was a loner. Again. The “odd one out”.
 
Much later in my life, after being married at age 34, (an “odd one out”) I commenced studying and found myself as a “mature aged student” studying with , at one stage, teenagers, and later with 20 year olds. There was a notable difference  in our attitudes to study.
 
As a young man I commenced playing lawn bowls at Wodonga. I was aged 26 years, while the other bowlers were men in their sixties, seventees and over. This was an education for which I am very grateful. As a result of this venture I have now been playing bowls for nearly sixty years, and  am in receipt of  a certificate to indicate my fifty years bowling. “Odd one out”.
 
After many years as a member of the Benalla bowls club I received a “life membership”.  ”Odd one out”.
 
Over a lifetime I have been deeply involved in community affairs and in the Queen’s birthday  awards of 2013 I received an Order of Australia Medal.  ”Odd one Out”.
 
In summary, being the Odd One Out in my childhood certainly had its drawbacks, but as life went on there were compensations.
 
Ray O’Shannessy.
29 July 2017

As a motherless four year old, I was stolen from my father and older brother by a loveless aunt and a (thankfully), wonderful uncle, and taken to their extensive farm.

My first act of rebellion was to attempt, not once but twice, to run away on my three wheeled trike.  Not once, but twice, my attempt was thwarted before I had even pedalled some hundred yards.

It had probably been pre-arranged, but the next I knew was that I was transported to the care of nuns at Villa, a home/boarding school at Ballarat. Sisters of Mercy!  What crap!

I endured the sisters for just on eight years, until I got my “Merit Cartificate”.

Occasionally we went swimming at Lake Wendouree, and my swimming attire was Aunty Mary’s one piece swimming suit.  How embarrassing!  One day I snuck away and disposed of the dreaded attire in some bushes, claiming to the nuns that I had lost it.  My act of rebellion!  I was so pleased with myself that I don’t recall the consequences.

I then completed my secondary education at St. Pat’s College, also in Ballarat and joined the workforce in Benalla.

I obtained board at the home of a lovely couple who put on  a surprise 21st birthday for me.

Not long after this I learnt to drink beer and, one night, while  the couple were away for a few days, I had some friends around and we had a small party. The neighbours were quick to tell the couple on their return, and I was evicted!

In time I transferred to St.Arnaud, and then Wodonga, where I worked my guts out, working till 11.30 p.m. of a week night.  Although I say it myself, I had developed a wonderful work ethic. At the same time I was boarding at a hotel, and as was common in those days, there was no such thing as 6 o’clock closing. Drink was available until 11 p.m. every day, including Sunday, so I succumbed.

Nevertheless, I retained my work ethic, and one fateful day, when my manager, the “Boss,” arranged with a salesman to do a stock deal which was outside the parameter of the Company’s province, I refused to counter- sign the offending cheque. My act of rebellion! To his credit, the boss didn’t ask another officer for his signature, but referred the issue to the Managing Director in Melbourne. Some tense days! Was I in trouble?

I don’t recall the immediate consequence, but I do recall that the boss and I still got on reasonably well together.  Eventually a letter arrived from the Managing Director authorising me, or instructing me, to append my signature to the cheque.  No comment as to whether or not I was in the bad books.

However, time heals all, and within several months I was appointed to the position of Assistant Internal Auditor for the Company and its 14 country branches.  I believe the decision I had taken had been vindicated!
​
Ray O’Shannessy
June 2017
 
499 words.

​In 2007 our daughter Cathy was promoted to a managerial role in London. After some months, although living in a comfortable flat close to Windsor Castle, she was ‘missing home’ so we decided to visit her.

In the first few days we settled in with her, then she was able to take time off.

We first visited the university town of Oxford and were impressed with all the history and the historic college buildings.

We then went “overseas” to France and settled into a small hotel which was very close to the Arc de Triomphe. Among the many notable buildings we visited were the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, the Hotel des Invalides (where Napoleon’s coffin lies), the Chateau de Versailles, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. On visiting the cathedral, we joined a queue which we believed was to get inside. Our mistake; it was a queue to climb the tower!  And so, after climbing 263 steps, I was exhausted. Nevertheless, it was an outstanding view of Paris. On climbing down again, Cathy shouted me a much deserved beer.

We next flew to Barcelona where we were overwhelmed by the architecture and artwork of Gaudi. The highlight was a visit to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. It had been in the course of erection for many decades and looked like it was still decades from completion.  It is the most magnificent cathedral I have ever seen.

In Barcelona we experienced difficulty with the language and in finding a suitable restaurant. In fact, English was not generally spoken and it just was not possible to read a menu. It was all guesswork. At one café we thought we had ordered cooked potatoes with our meal and were presented with a packet of chips. The imagined meat was a queer presentation of small fishy smelling objects, which on a later interpretation, turned out to be “cockles” as in “Cockles and muscles Ahoy, Ahoy …oh”. They tasted terrible!

The next move was a flight to Ireland. We landed in Dublin and hired a car, which Cathy had difficulty in even getting started. A lady walked past wearing a “Dublin Airport” uniform. When asked a question she gave a typical Irish answer “I’m not in today”. Only in Ireland!

We travelled north to Belfast, then to Londonderry, or “Derry” as it is generally known. We saw the many murals and the monument to “Bloody Sunday”. It was an eerie feeling and I kept looking over my shoulder, fearful of the IRA, as we were encroaching on their territory. We visited many little hamlets and the majestic Giant’s Causeway. We finally settled in a comfy B&B in Portrush.

After dinner we visited a local pub and had a Guinness. We were advised that there would be more activity at another near-by pub where the students visited, so we went there and came up with a surprise for Cathy. Dad didn’t finish a beer! The students were all drinking a beer called Harp, and I’m afraid I couldn’t stomach it.

We then went back to Dublin and flew out to Heathrow, then back to Cathy’s  little flat in Windsor.

All in all, a wonderful sojourn!

In April/May 1988 I experienced a stint of 4 weeks hospitalisation in St.Vincents Hospital, Melbourne and Bethesda Melbourne. On  discharge  I returned to work in my accountancy practice in Bridge Street Benalla and worked from 10.a.m. until 2 p.m. for some time.

When I knocked off at 2 p.m , I would, on my way home, call into St.Joseph’s church for a quick visit. One day I found the cloth on the altar had been set alight.  I was there! The altar was constructed of marble and the surrounds were all tiles, so there was no chance of the fire spreading. I promptly extinguished the fire and went to the Presbytery, or the Parish House as it is now known, to advise the clergy. There were then three priests sharing control of the parish, a change from the old fashioned Monsignor O’Rielly who ruled the parish on his own.  None of the priests were present; Kate McCormack was there voluntarily painting the interior of one of the rooms.  I suggested to her that she should advise the priests, who I expected to contact the  police.

The next day, when I was on my way to the church, I noticed a large black cloud of smoke billowing from the church  in front of me. The arsonist had struck again!  The whole church was alight!  It took some time, but even with the attendance of the town’s volunteer fire brigade, the church was completely gutted. Miraculously, the stained glass window  behind the altar was unharmed, but the church itself was nothing but a shell.

There was great consternation among the clergy and the parishioners, and a restructuring committee was quickly  formed under the guidance of Greg Dore as chairman.  Jim Smith, my business partner, anxious to raise quick funds, suggested an auction of 20 numbered certificates bearing a photo of the church and appropriate wording. The auction was  soon held with John Boyd acting as auctioneer. With a large crowd in attendance the NO 1 certificate was purchased by the St.Joseph’s cricket club for  a handy sum. The  NO 2 certificate was purchased by Bernadette and myself for a sum in excess of $300. A considerable amount was raised.

The insurance company paid for a large part of the restructure, but there was a short fall. Consequently the pipe organ , which had cost many thousand dollars, was not replaced, and the slate tile roof was replaced by colorbond, a fact which riled a number of parishioners. Because of the short fall, there was still need for an appeal, which quickly made up the difference. In times of need parishioners were particularly generous.

The church was unavailable for the conduct of services for many months and the Anglican Church , in a generous euchaminical gesture, allowed the Catholics to use Holy Trinity Church on significant occasions, such as weddings and funerals. For our regular Sunday Masses the St.Joseph’s School  hall was used.
 

Ray O'Shannessy
​May 16, 2017