My earliest failure of note was an academic failure.
 
My secondary education was available due to a scholarship which entitled me to four years schooling at St. Patrick’s College in Ballarat. This was to cover the classes of Sub-Intermediate, Intermediate, Leaving and Matriculation.
 
Over the time I was a little more than an average student, ranking in the top 5 of a class of approximately 50 students each year.
 
My failure came in the Leaving Certificate year of 1948. In an external examination I unexpectedly failed dismally. Being an external examination, held at the Ballarat Town Hall, I put the failure down to nerves, or stage fright, and set my mind to a second year in the Leaving Certificate class.
 
The results were published in early January 1949.
 
Uncle Ned Caine, my carer, was losing the fight against cancer (he died later that month), so my failure was not a significant issue with my carers. I remained at their place for the balance of the holidays, but that was the end of my tenure there.
 
The real issue, of course, was back at St. Pat’s, where I had let the school down and suffered the indignity of being a ‘second term Leaving Certificate student’.
 
I took it in my stride and, with no fanfare, spent 1949 redoing Leaving, passing as I should have in 1948.
 
The problem? This had taken up the fourth year of my scholarship.  To Matriculate would require another year’s study, for which there were no funds. And so, I had to forego Matriculation. Shame!!
 
Much later in my life, in 1973 as a mature aged accountancy student, I experienced another academic failure. I failed my final accounting subject and examinations had terminated. There was, however, a reprieve. The Australian Society of Accountants gained me entry to the Bendigo Institute of Technology (now La Trobe University), where I had to study the Auditing class. This was to take three trips per week for 12 months before qualification.
 
On qualifying, I approached my boss with a request for partnership. He heard me out but stipulated that I must be a Chartered Accountant!  I was only a C.P.A.!  Curses!
 
Undaunted, however, I pursued this idea and registered for the Chartered Institute’s ‘Professional Year’. This was successful and I then purchased a 1/3rd share in the business (on monthly instalments. I had no money). Having paid this off, I increased this purchase to a 50% share, again in instalments.
 
The firm then became Smith O’Shannessy and guaranteed my security. My failures were behind me.
 
 
Ray O’Shannessy
March 2025

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.

Failure can be devasting! Depends on how you accept  it. But failure can also be motivating, and bring eventual success.

Failure was prominent in my life. Not only my own failures, but those of others.

The most significant failure in my life was that of my father, who, on my mother’s death when I was 4 years old, failed to prove to his sisters that he could look after his young family. The devasting result was that  my 6 year old brother and I were taken from him and placed in the care of nuns at Villa Maria in Ballarat East. This led to a somewhat unhappy childhood for both of us.

Notwithstanding, I had some success in winning a scholarship which provided me with 4 years secondary education at St.Patrick’s boarding college in Ballarat.

During that education, although an achieving student throughout the school year, the external examinations at year end proved to be my undoing. Arguably, because of nerves, I consistently failed these, with the result that I never studied for matriculation.

On entering the work force as a clerk with a stock and station agent, I diligently applied myself to the job in hand, to the extent that while in Wodonga I was in the habit of working until 11.30 at night for 4 days per week. I suffered from nervous debility and a neurologist in Wagga Wagga advised me to study to be an accountant and to work for myself.

I was promoted to be assistant auditor and worked in the Head Office of the company in joint charge of the company’s 14 branches’ accounts.

However, I was not happy in my job and felt that if I had been given a talent, I had buried it.
I left the firm and commenced working in a public accounting office, as the Wagga neurologist had suggested. I commenced, at age 36, studying, by correspondence, to be an accountant. This was to be a very daunting experience, over a period of 5 years and 20 subjects, (4 per year).

I experienced my failure in subject number 20, Auditing.

Consequences were dire! The Australian Society of Accountants who conducted their own exams, with a pass mark of 60% , would do so no more. I was in Limbo. One subject away from qualifying and nowhere to go!

With the aid of the Society, I was able to negotiate a deal with the Bendigo Institute of Technology, now LaTrobe University, to study Auditing for 1 year to secure my qualification. Travelling to Bendigo 3 days a week over a period of 12months, I found the course, with a pass mark of 50%, relatively easy and so passed, and obtained my accounting qualification.

However my next failure was in applying to be entered into partnership. ASA qualification was not high enough to be accepted. I had to be a “Chartered” accountant!

So began the most difficult year of study. But there was motivation and I passed, qualified, and purchased a 50% interest in the Accounting firm which became Smith O’Shannessy & Co.


Ray O'Shannessy
April 2017