Section 13: 'Kooringal' after the war

Part Five

KOORINGAL – After the War

Towards the end of the war, in early 1945, Colin Lamont was 30 years old and decided it was time to come home. ‘Kooringal’ had been leased to Os Reardon for 3 years in June 1942, and the lease was due to expire.

Colin was stationed in New Britain at the time, as ADC to General Robertson (Red Robbie) with the rank of lieutenant.

His request for early discharge was granted and he came home to ‘Kooringal’ at the end of July 1945.

‘Kooringal’ was certainly in need of good stewardship following the leased period due to the ravages of drought and rabbits.

Colin’s mother, Ina, had had a nervous breakdown on Christmas Day 1942 and went to Melbourne for treatment. She lived out the rest of the war years at 105 Balaclava Road, Caulfield, with her mother, her brother, Col, and the Cox family.

‘Kooringal’ was thus unsupervised after Os Reardon’s lease expired in June 1945.

Whilst stationed in Perth during the war, Colin had met the girl with whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life.  Joan Balston was not yet 20 years old, more than 10 years his junior, and born and raised on the other side of the continent, but marriage plans were in place for 30^th June 1946. The only entry for January in Colin’s 1945 diary was “Joan and I engaged” on the 18^th!

Colin had 12 months to get ‘Kooringal’ ship-shape, ready for his new wife.

Colin’s mother and the Cox family returned to ‘Kooringal’ from Melbourne in September 1945. Bill Cox was discharged from the Air Force in December, but they didn’t take back control of ‘Kurrambee’ until March 1946 and so were living at ‘Kooringal’ up until that time.

In June 1946, Colin headed for Katanning, WA, and came home on July 17^th with his new wife, Joan Elizabeth Lamont.

What a difficult transition it must have been for the young Joan, moving in to ‘Kooringal’ with her new husband, and his mother!  Joan also knew no-one at all in this new district.

Better seasons provided reasonable returns in the late 1940s, despite the imposition of rationing still persisting.  Colin was growing cereal crops as well as raising lambs (Southdown cross).  By the end of 1948, he had assets of 27,000 pounds and liabilities of 13,000 pounds (gearing of about 50%).

Colin was not afraid to try new methods.  In 1948 he even had a go at direct drilling with stubble retention! He had a disc drill behind the disc plough and was sowing straight into the stubble, much to the consternation of his sharefarmer, Ted Cartwright, who was very reluctant to finish the paddock!  Some stubble was incorporated, and some left on top. Yields from this paddock were only about half those of the other paddocks (about 4 bags/acre compared with 8 bags/acre). It was still not a bad effort for those days when herbicides had not even been dreamed of.

In 1950, Colin investigated putting ‘Kooringal’ on the market and spent a couple of weeks in WA looking at farms to buy over there, but decided against buying ‘Foggathorpe’ at Toodjay, and came back home.

The early fifties were busy years, getting a feel for farming as well as starting a family. Colin and Joan had four children. David was born early 1948, Ian in late 1949, Pamela in 1953 and Stuart in 1956. Running a farm with one employee and looking after four young children certainly kept them both busy.

Social life revolved very much around the family. Most Sundays were spent with the Coxes and/or with Dock and Peg, usually involving tennis.  Ina was also still living at ‘Kooringal’, so it was a three generation household.  During the week there were also frequent visits amongst the family circle.

This diminished a little in 1954 when Ina moved into 138 Gurwood Street in Wagga. This became a sort of town house for the family.

Another significant social milestone was the arrival of the Patey family at Harefield Park in 1952. The Patey, Cox and Lamont families spent much of their social time together.

One thing the Patey, Cox and Lamont men had in common was horse racing.

In 1951 Bill Cox and Colin bought their first “picnicker”. Young Micawber was sent to Percy Stephen to be trained for the Wagga Picnics at a cost of £5 a week.  He managed 3^rd the first day (“with young O. Cox up”) and then 4^th of 5 on the second day with Stan Graham up.  Young Micawber came straight home and was put to mustering duties.

He was brought back in for the 1952 Picnic meeting, but raced very badly both days (with Ken Kelsall in the saddle) and was promptly sold for £50.

Their next purchase was Myobb for £60.  He was a tried horse and had a few starts in 1953 for a number of placings.  He was back for the picnic season in 1954 and ran second in the maiden at Cootamundra Picnics and second in the maiden at Holbrook Picnics (as even money favourite).  He then won the last race at Holbrook at 7 to 1!  This was his only race win.  The 1955 picnics were not a success for him.

Despite these uninspiring results, they were not put off.  In July 1955, Bill and Colin attended the brood mare sale in Sydney.  Colin came home with 3 mares (2 with foals at foot) and Bill bought 2 mares with his brother, Geoff.

Colin’s new mares (Chalain, Dialogue and Marland) were sent to Crown Gem, standing at Thompson’s stud.  So began the horse breeding activities at ‘Kooringal’.

In 1956 another mare, Judica, was purchased. Also in 1956 the 2 foals purchased the previous year (subsequently named Monologue and Achiever) were broken in at Kooringal by Dick Wishart.  Dick rode Monologue in to Wagga to go to George Stephen for training!  He had a few starts as a young 2-year-old and showed some promise.

The next stage of the racehorse breeding enterprise started in 1957 with the purchase of stallion Kerry Piper.  Kerry Piper was already 16 years old and he was able to teach Colin a lot about managing a breeding operation! Kerry Piper served 18 mares in his first year at ‘Kooringal’.

The horse stud was as much a hobby as a business initially, but as the years went by and the stud expanded, so did the work, and also the returns.  Gradual development of the infrastructure for the horse operation followed and continues today.

Colin’s interest in racing also extended to its administration.  In 1952, he stood for the committee of the Wagga Wagga Amateur Picnic Race Club, but was beaten in the ballot by Ted Wilson.  He stood again in 1954 and was elected.  He served two years as President in 1962 and 1963 and remained on the committee until 1970, when he resigned due to his commitments with the Murrumbidgee Turf Club.

Colin joined the committee of the MTC in 1960 and became Chairman in 1970, a position he held for 15 years until his retirement in 1985.  Stuart joined him on the committee in 1983 and he himself became Chairman in 2005, and remains so today.

The other enterprises on the farm initially provided the means for the expansion of the thoroughbred stud.  Various enterprises came and went, but the backbone was always a mixed sheep and cropping operation.

In the early 50’s both merino and crossbred ewes were run with Southdown rams and later Polworths.  Later on, the breeding side was discontinued in favour of merino wethers.

Crops grown were mainly wheat and oats and occasionally barley.  This changed in 1969 when quotas were imposed on wheat production and Colin investigated alternative crops.  Rapeseed (later to be called canola) was thus planted in 1969 and has been an integral part of the cropping rotation ever since.  Other crops tried were linseed and later lupins, field peas and chickpeas.

An opportunity for expansion occurred in 1962 when the McPherson family decided to retire from ‘Glenmoira’, next door to ‘Kooringal’.  Colin bought ‘Glenmoira’ for £40,000, 1150 acres at £35 ($70) per acre.  ‘Kooringal’ was L-shaped and the addition of ‘Glenmoira’ filled in the L to make it rectangular and also gave direct access to Harefield siding and silos.

The increased land area meant an increase in cropping area as well as opportunity for more stock.  The horse stud was also expanding, with two and later three stallions standing. ‘Kooringal’ had been run with just one employee up to this time, but now an extra set of hands was needed and the house on ‘Glenmoira’ provided accommodation for this purpose.

Colin and Joan’s family were now starting to grow up.  Eldest son, David, started university in 1966, studying Rural Science at the University of New England for 4 years.  He worked for the Soil Conservation Service for 4 years after graduation and then spent 3 years as an Australian Volunteer Abroad in Malaysia before coming back to the farm in 1976.

Ian came home to the farm for a year in 1967 before spending two years on cattle stations in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.  He then worked on ‘Kooringal’ from 1970 and in 1972 married Julie Chapman.

Pam came home to Wagga in 1971 and did an interior design course.  From 1972 to 1975 she worked as a laboratory technician in the pathology section of Wagga Base Hospital.  In 1974 she married Grahame Morris.  In 1975 they moved to Sydney, where their son, Jordan, was born in 1977.  In 1978 they moved to Canberra and their daughter, Alysia, was born in 1980.

In 1994, Pam married Terry Vincent and they, and their combined four teenagers, moved to Oxford UK for two years.  Pam now runs a gallery from their home in Canberra.

Stuart was always going to be a home boy and came straight to ‘Kooringal’ after leaving school at the end of 1974.  He has been here since, apart from stints at various horse studs around the world.

In 1977, he spent the breeding season at Trelawney Stud in New Zealand, and in 1980 at Coolmore Stud in Ireland.  In 1983 he managed a horse stud on the Isle of Man, with his new wife, Penny.

In 1976, Murdoch and Peg Lamont decided to retire to Point Lonsdale and offered Colin and family the opportunity to buy ‘Kooringal West’ next door.  Ian, probably very wisely, thought that the prospect of three brothers working closely together was unlikely to be sustainable, and so looked around for something a little further away.

‘Kooringal West’ was sold to the Gollasch family.  Colin and Joan and family bought ‘East Brookong’, just west of Lockhart, 1600 acres of crown lease at $110 per acre.

Ian and Julie and family had recently moved into ‘Glenmoira’ and had done major refurbishments, and now they were on the move again to make ‘East Brookong’ their family home, where they brought up their three children, Emily, Jaime and Duncan.  Cropping was the major enterprise, with merino wethers run on the side.

‘East Brookong’ was run as part of the family partnership until 1985, when Ian and Julie went out on their own.  They subsequently sold ‘East Brookong’ in 1998 and bought the National Bank building in Lockhart.

Subsequently, from 1976 ‘Kooringal’ was run by Colin and Joan, with David and Stuart. David looked after the crops and pastures and Stuart the horses.  This arrangement worked well for over 30 years and continued after Colin died in 1990.  The partnership was finally dissolved in 2007, as the next generation started to become involved.

David married Annette Olding in 1978 and they moved in to ‘Glenmoira’ after a 12 month “honeymoon” spent working in the Yemen Arab Republic on an agricultural development project. Their daughter, Zoë was born in 1983 and their son, Andrew in 1985.

Stuart married Penny Chisholm in 1983.  Colin and Joan built a new home, known as ‘The Lodge’ in the garden of ‘Kooringal’ so that Stuart and Penny could live in the main homestead. Stuart and Penny have four children: Angus born in 1986, James born in 1988, Richard born in 1992 and Georgina born in 1993.                                                                                             END

Section 11: Reference of names used in the history from 1945

Reference of names used in the more recent history since 1945

Ina                   Christina Annie Lamont (nee Sinclair) 1886-1968 

‘Maam’                        m. John Duncan [Jack] Lamont 1908

                       

Dock               Murdoch John Lamont 1909-1988, eldest son of Jack and Ina Lamont

Peg                  His wife, Margaret Lewis Lamont (nee Scott) 1911- 1999.            

John                John Scott Lamont b.1939, elder son of Peg and Dock Lamont

Ann                  Ann Murdoch  b.1943, only daughter of Peg and Dock Lamont

Robert             Robert Randall b.1945, younger son of Peg and Dock Lamont

Jean                Jean Eliza Lamont 1911-1972.  Daughter of Jack and Ina Lamont

Bill                   Her husband, William [Bill] Ronald Cox 1910-1995.

Geoffrey         Geoffrey John Cox b.1937, elder son of Jean and Bill Cox

Jenny              Jennifer Ruth Cox (now Prince) b.1940, daughter of Jean and Bill Cox

Bruce              Bruce William Cox b.1949, younger son of Jean and Bill Cox

Colin                Colin William Lamont. 1915-1990, younger son of Jack and Ina

Joan                His wife, Joan Elizabeth Lamont (nee Balston) b.1925

David               David Colin Lamont b.1948, eldest son of Joan and Colin Lamont

Ian                   Ian Duncan Lamont b.1949, second son of Joan and Colin Lamont

Pam                Pamela May Lamont (now Vincent) b.1953, only daughter

                        of Joan and Colin Lamont

Stuart              Stuart Sinclair Lamont b.1956, youngest son of Joan and Colin Lamont

The Patey family comprised Iva and Norma and their six children, Heather, twins Megan and Leigh, Frank, Dougal and Julie.  They lived at ‘Harefield Park’ Harefield from 1952 to 1974.

Section 10: The war years 1939 to 1946

Part Four

THE WAR YEARS        1939 to 1946

This period was marked by great uncertainty as the world slowly plunged into a global war once again.  Not a great deal of farming was done in the war years due to shortages of manpower, fuel and the generally dry times that occurred over this period.  New farm machinery was virtually unobtainable. The active farmers were the men too old to enlist.  WW I veterans like CC Moss and those classed as medically unfit for active service like my father, Dock.  The diaries tell us that they all helped each other out with various jobs that had to be done.  One example is the story about Phil Harper who owned land across road from ‘Kooringal West’.  He had a new tractor and it was commandeered by the authorities to build airfields etc..  He went with the tractor, so it would not be abused.  The neighbours did the harvest and helped his wife run the farm.  In the case of ‘Kooringal’, it appears that sheep became the backbone of the operation during this time.

The seasons were mixed, after a very wet 1939 (990 mm) dry times were experienced.  In 1940 only 350 mm fell with 184 mm during the growing season.  In 1944 the annual total was 209 mm with 158 mm in the growing season.  The average for the period is 425mm.  Extremely dry conditions were experienced in the far west of NSW and huge dust storms were the order of the day as diary entries of November 1944 note:  12/11:  ‘Huge dust storm, by 3pm like night time.’  Similar comments occurred in the diary on the 13^th and 16^th of the month.

After Dock married in 1937 and established his new home on the western end of ‘Kooringal’, discussions about a change in the structure of the family business ensued.  Dock purchased about 315 ha and a further 60 ha in about 1946.  The diary entry for January 10 1939 notes:  ‘Colin met Mr Chisholm at station.  Drove around to get valuation.  Morning tea at West,  Lunch at Kooringal.  Discussed selling K West  470 ha and sent letter to bank.  Peg and Jean came up later, Bill came out from Wagga.  Bill and I went to Harefield in truck to tow Ford home.  Hot day 109F’.

It appears that an extended family discussion took place and in the end, 470 ha must have been too much for Dock to handle.  Further discussion occurred in February.  Mr Hore and

Mr Williamson agreed that maximum value under the present conditions was eight pounds ten shillings acre, so it can only be presumed that was the final price.  A property at The Rock ‘Avondale’ sold at this time for nine pounds per acre.  There was no date of sale in diaries but guess it must have been some time late 1939.

It is difficult to work out in any detail what happened at ‘Kooringal’ until June 1942 when ‘Os’ Reardon leased it for three years, with some type of option for extension.  No references to    farming are apparent, so it’s assumed Ina ran it primarily as a grazing operation during these two and a half years.  Colin went to the Light Horse camp in Wagga in October 1939 then to an NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) course in Sydney in January 1940.  He was only home on and off over the next few months as he was in camps at Puckapunyal, Greta, Cowra, Tamworth and Dungog.  After mid 1941, he was only home for a few days leave every month or so.

There is mention of a couple of men working at ‘Kooringal’ and Dock seemed to be up there a fair bit.  Col Sinclair also appears to have been there a few times. The business was run as

CA Lamont and Sons.

What of Ina during these difficult years?  Until the end of 1942 she lived at ‘Kooringal’.  Her mother was also there most of the time.  There was certainly not much travelling around or chasing the golf tournaments.  Compared to the active life she led during the 20’s and 30’s it must have been a significant adjustment.  There was no petrol, not much money, her eldest son and her daughter were married and busy with their own families and her younger son was enlisted and only home irregularly, a few days at a time.  

The farm was then leased out in June 1942.  I always thought the Reardons lived at ‘Kooringal’ but Bill Cox states in his book [1995] that the lease was exclusive of the house and the diary entries indicate Jean and the children were still at ‘Kooringal’ until the end of 1942.  The Reardons may well have moved into the home later on when the family all moved to a house in Melbourne. 

Ina’s mental health deteriorated over this period and she had a ‘nervous breakdown’ on Christmas Day 1942.  She was admitted into Lewisham Private Hospital in Wagga on Boxing Day.  On the 17^th January, Dock procured an extra petrol ration of 40 gallons to take Ina to Melbourne as she had not made any improvement.  Jean went down with them and Bill Cox and Col Sinclair met them there.  Ina went into Kahlyn, presumably some sort of mental hospital.  We know no more about this until December 21^st when Dock states:  ‘Mother came home Adelaide. Arch went to meet her.’  I recall being told she had “shock treatment” when I was a little boy.  

Sometime after Bill Cox enlisted in the RAAF in 1942, a house was leased at 105 Balaclava Road, Caulfield.  Ina and her mother, Col Sinclair and the Cox family, Jean, Geoff and Jenny, lived there for the rest of the war.

Notable occurrences gleaned from the diaries during this period:

1939:  February 28^th :  3” rain, all dams filled. Bill and Jean bought a Chevrolet car. By August the international situation was very grave. September:  war declared. October:  Colin to Light Horse camp in Wagga for a month.  Sucker lambs selling for 18/-.  Dock leaves CA Lamont and Sons. December: John Sinclair Lamont born.

1940:  Colin seemed to be having a lot of visits to Humula.  Who was he courting?  Jenny Cox was born in July.  Old Roley won the cup at 100/1.  All crops cut for hay this year.  Bush fires at Eric Booth’s property and at Bennet’s property, ‘Kooroogong’.

1941:  Col Sinclair at ‘Kooringal’ for a while.  Wool price 12 ½ d per lb.  Sheep cut 6.5 lbs/ head. December:  Japan and USA at war.  Jack James who lived at Harefield, began working at ‘Kooringal’.

1942:  No petrol.  Dock and Peg to Geelong by train for holiday.  Local Volunteer Defence Corp formed in March.  It was a sort of “Dads Army”.   Dock always said he and Charlie Moss had the job of defending the Wallacetown bridge if the Japs came!  Bill joined the RAAF. ‘Kooringal’ was leased in June.  Dock put in a plunge sheep dip and Jack James dug the hole in three days.  Jack was a Welshman who lived in a now demolished house at Harefield with his large family.  He was a great worker and at different times must have worked for everyone in the district.  Prior to the construction of the dip, the sheep had to be driven to Harefield to be dipped at Kennedy’s farm ‘Harefield Park’ (later owned by the Patey family and currently by Jack and Lola Lloyd).  The first run with the new dip resulted in 637 sheep dipped in forty minutes.  I can well remember the local farmers bringing their sheep over to ‘Kooringal West’ to be dipped.  The dip had to be filled up the night before and the Cooper’s arsenic powder mixed up and poured in.  It was ‘all hands on deck' at daylight and the object seemed to be - to dip the sheep in the shortest possible time so they would dry before walking home in the afternoon.  It was a very exciting time for a little boy.  There was a district meeting about getting Phil Harper’s crop off then, as mentioned earlier, Ina had a nervous breakdown on Christmas Day.

1943:  Ina went to Melbourne and Arch returned home to Australia from the Middle East.  He was with the 9^th Division.  All Bill Cox’s sheep were sold.  Moss bought 280 acres from Lehmann for 9 pounds per acre.   Ann Murdoch Lamont was born on 19^th April 1942.  A concrete meat house was built at ‘Kooringal West’.  All the ‘Kooringal’ records were boxed up and put in the cellar.  From my memories, a lot were found to be seriously water damaged when they were taken out at the end of the forties.   An Italian POW, Angelo Franciosi, arrived at ‘Kooringal West’.  Nearly everyone had an Italian POW and big places like ‘Overdale’ had several.  They were attired in maroon clothes and I can just remember the army trucks that came around with the maroon clothed POWs in the back.  Sometimes they seemed to be a bit battered about.  Dock said ‘too much wine’.  Sucker lambs were selling for 17/-.  Dock took them to Wagga in a trailer pulled by two horses.  It was a four wheel trailer made from one of the ‘Kooringal’ Dodge Whippit trucks and was known as ‘Old Roley’ as it was made up when Old  Roley won the Melbourne Cup.  A plane made a forced landing at ‘Kooringal West’.  My first real memory of anything in my childhood.   The sheep cut 7 ¾ lbs and made 14d lb.

1944:  ‘The big drought year’ with only 210 mm of annual rainfall.  All the local farms were pumping from the creek at Wallacetown.  The Italian POWs worked the hand pumps filling furphy water carts at a rate of 100 gallons in five minutes.

Babette visited ‘Kooringal West’.  Jean, Geoff and Jenny visited in May.  It seems no crop was planted this year.  Rome was liberated by the allies in June.  Farmers were buying wheat from Harefield @ 2/10 bushel.  There was a big storm in October that filled all the dams and put an end to the water carting.  Wool yielded 6.6 lbs/head and sold for 16d/lb.

1945:  The big dam at ‘Kooringal West’ was finished.  It was 3,160 cu. yards, 55,000 gallons and it cost 184 pounds.  It was built by Alexander.  A big storm occurred east of the railway line the day after it was finished but there was no rain at ‘Kooringal West’.  As a result, a huge flood came down the creek and covered all the paddocks with rubbish.  Angelo was months cleaning it all up.  They used a very primitive sort of a hay rake called a dump rake to windrow the rubbish and then burnt it. 

Colin was to go to New Britain with the 5^th. Div. HQ staff.  Laurie Lord was sharefarming at ‘Kooringal  West’.  Gran Sinclair died in April in Melbourne, aged 82, and was buried at Rupanyrup.  Peg’s mother, Mrs Scott, died in Geelong in May.  VE Day Holiday on May 9^th. Robert Randell Lamont was born on 20^th February 1945.

In January 1945, all the POWs left.  Albert Goldsworthy was fallowing at ‘Kooringal’.  Reardon left about the end of July.  Alexander called about building a dam at ‘Kooringal’.

October 5^th 1945 THE WAR WAS OVER.  All went to Wagga to celebrate.  Jean Cox and her children returned to ‘Kooringal’ in September.  A garage and sleep out were built at ‘Kooringal West’.  Ted Cartwight was scarifying at ‘Kooringal’.  John was bitten by a dog called ‘Bruce’ and spent eleven days in hospital.  Colin bought 300 XB ewes for 32/9.  Bill Cox was discharged from the services on December 1^st.   On November 24^th, Ina, Jean, Jenny, Colin, Peg and Dock all drove to Albury for Babette’s wedding to Fred Booker.   It must have been a bit of a squeeze in the Chev!  Wool this year yielded 6.25 lbs and averaged 15d/lb.

1946:  Bill and Jean stayed at ‘Kooringal West’ for a month while Peg and Dock went on holidays.  John started school at Harefield with R L Turnbull as the teacher.  RL Turnbull also taught Dock, Jean and Colin.  He came out from Wagga each day on the mail train.  The Cox family returned to ‘Kurambee’ in March.  Peg and John came down with scarlet fever.  There was a welcome home party for the returned servicemen at Harefield.  The woolshed at ‘Kooringal West’ was being built.  

Colin flew to Perth en route to Katanning.  Joan Elizabeth Balston and Colin William Lamont were married in the chapel at Joan’s school, Kobelya, in Katanning on 29 June 1946.   They arrived back at ‘Kooringal’ on July 17^th.  Ina had a week at Tumbarumba with her Sinclair cousins.  On the 31^st August a big party was held for Joan to ‘meet the district’ at ‘Kooringal West’ (42 guests).  The next day, another party was held at ‘Kooringal’ for Joan’s 21^st  birthday. 

Eric and Grace visited ‘Kooringal West’ and this is my only memory of this big man who was a stretcher bearer on the Western Front during WW 1.  He was awarded a DCM for his efforts.  Wool this year was 18d/lb, an improvement on the previous year but significantly better than 12d in 1940.                        END

Section 9: The Depression Times 1929 to 1938

Part Three 

THE DEPRESSION TIMES           1929 to 1938   

To start this section and gain closer perspective the ages of some of the family were as follows:  Ina was 43, Dock 20 in June, Jean 18 in September, Colin 14 in January and Arch Sinclair about 30 years old.

1929 started with a report that Dock and Colin were cementing the garage floor.  Dock then went off to Country Week in Sydney where it seems he took delivery of the Chrysler 65 Roadster.  In February, Ina went to Sydney and Honolulu.  Colin and Jean went back to school and Dock to Longerenong Agricultural College.  They sold wheat for 4/- bushel and had good February rains.

For the rest of the year there is very little about ‘Kooringal’. Dock was home for the mid-year where it was ‘dry’ at Kooringal, feeding sheep and the crops not doing too well.  Very good rain was reported however, while he was home and the year actually ended up with good spring rain.  

Despite the very detailed diary Dock kept for his year at Longerenong there was no mention at all of the onset of the Great Depression when the New York stock market crashed in October. He was apparently far too busy helping organise the annual athletic sports and winning the 440, high jump and hop, step and jump.  Dock stayed at Longerenong until the end of January 1930, when the college year ended and the new intake of students arrived.                                            

February 1930 is Dock’s start at serious work on ‘Kooringal’.  Col Sinclair was at ‘Kooringal’ too.  From hearsay, he was there to tutor Dock but I gather it did not work too well. They did not ‘get on’.                                                                                                       

Colin back to College in February and it appears that Jean had left school.  Sharefarmers were working fallow (Hamiltons) and classic manure ‘single super’ was £4/15 ton plus freight of 9/-.  In April, the Harefield Tennis Club was re-activated and the Junee Golf Club was opened.  In May, there was the opening of the Wagga Country Club.  There was a lot of golf and tennis with bridge in the evenings.  Ina won many golf trophies and also pranged the car into a fence in July!   Cyril Terry started share farming that month at ‘Kooringal’.           

It snowed on August 14^th 1930 and roller skating in the Harefield Hall was ‘the new craze’.  Mention was also made that they bought the Gibbons’ wool press and started building the woolshed.

                                                                                                       

1126 sheep were shorn in September for 26 bales wool (average 6 lbs) and they topped the market with hoggets at 10/6 and cemented the stable floor.  ‘Woodside’ was put up for sale by the mortgagee this month.  Arch must have fallen victim to the Depression. Hay cutting finished on November 21^st and  a binder driver was employed on 12/6 a day with the hay selling for £1/7/6 ton and wheat for 2/- bushel at silo.  Phar Lap won the Cup at odds of 11/8 on.                                             

In December 1930, Col Sinclair went to Egypt.  I recall a story that he went to Egypt just after the war to sell hay and I think they actually sent the hay off but there was some problem getting the money from the Egyptians as the hay had become wet.  Can’t blame the Egyptians for not paying!  It appears that this is when it happened but there’s no mention in Dock’s diary of an outcome from the trip to Egypt.  Harvest was wet with oats going seven bags to the acre and wheat going eight bags.

In January 1931, the Harefield silos filled as did White Bay grain terminal in Sydney.  Wheat prices were down to 1/5 bushel.  They bought a second hand chaffcutter for £12.  Harvest finished on 28^th January after a lot of breakdowns, mostly caused by the skeleton weed.  There was no chemical control possible in those days and in a wet season the skeleton weed virtually choked the wheat out.  It must have put a great load on the old machines as it went through with the straw and I can certainly remember pulling out ‘skelo’ chokes when I started farming in the late 50’s.  It was very hard work and I can imagine it being far worse in the 30’s.  A lot of crops were unable to be harvested.  The silos closed on 30^th and many farmers still had up to 1000 bags to deliver.  ‘Will all have to be stacked in bags.’   In February, there was a cable from Col Sinclair about sale of oats, chaff and pressed hay but there is no record of the outcome.   Carting (cypress) poles and furniture from Woodside was noted so they must have been cleaning it out before the mortgagee took over. 

On 28^th January 1931, a ‘monster meeting of citizens of the Riverina’ was held to discuss the right of self government and issue an ultimatum to the Lang Government to reduce expenditure.  The next day, the family went to Narooma for two weeks holiday.  Ina stayed in a boarding house and Dock and his mate Stewart Read, camped.  The Chrysler averaged 33 mph and did 18.5 mpg (53 kph and 16 litre/100 km).  

In March, Noel Wettenhall started as a jackeroo on £1 week and 65 mm rain was recorded for month.  Reads inspected the Moloney’s farm, ‘Glenmoira’.   I think ‘Kooringal’ also had a tractor at this stage.  Flies were apparently bad and another 90mm of rain was recorded for April.  Arch and his team of horses moved to ‘Kooringal’ and May was wet with another 150mm.  A typical May day in the diaries records:  ‘Started Arch’s team in our combine in No16.  Noel still going on skim plow.  Did 15 acres for day.  Mum went to Wagga and Jean came home from Hardys.  Colin shifted wethers, 200 to No13 and lambs to No15.  Arch fixing up sulky.’  Colin must have left College at end of the first term.

June diaries report more rain, polo and rodeo practice on steers!  Trucking sheep to Melbourne was also mentioned and the wethers made 17/6.  Wagga had a 33 foot flood and at ‘Kooringal’ they were still sowing and trying to fallow.  The rainfall was 154 mm for the month and 445 for the half year.  July was similar and the diary reports: ‘cars and wagons bogged, 4300 sheep and 200 cattle on agistment to eat out No 12.  Finished sowing on the 31^st.‘   The rest of the year seemed comparatively uneventful with reference to fallowing, rabbitting, Stanley Beresford coming for harvest and Ina winning the Lockhart golf.  The oats yielded 4/5 bags and wheat up to 10 bags. It was a dry month for harvest.

The valuations at end of 1931 were as follows:  bore £400, dams totalling 9,500 cubic yards £600, residence £3200 and sheds/stables etc £960.

In 1932 the proposed cropping for the year was 740 acres and a further 270 acres on shares. Hayes was the share farmer.  1700 sheep, 13 horses, 5 cattle, 280 tons hay, 400 bags oats, 4400 bushels of wheat was on hand.  Harvest finished on January 14^th.

There is also an interesting diary entry about Captain Pitt and Bill Dunn landing in No 4 in ‘a moth’.  It was Bill Dunn’s Gypsy Moth.  There is a story that Ina was not pleased as he flew so low trying to impress Jean that he nearly hit the chimney on ‘Kooringal’ homestead!  It’s also reported that Noel Wettenhall left for Colac on a horse.  He cannot have been too well paid!  Hector had moved to Gidginbung, near Barmedman, and about this time Ina was visiting there. Col Sinclair returned from Egypt in March but still no mention of the results of his trip.  There was a bit of machinery being bought at sales etc. and in November a new Robinson Big E harvester was purchased. They had three harvesters this year and three wagons for the harvest.  Over 600 tons wheat and 250 tons hay were produced. The wheat averaged 20 bushels/acre.

The most notable event in 1933 was the leasing of ‘Glenmoira’ by Bill Cox and Bandy Coote, Bill’s friend from their days at Hawkesbury Agricultural College. This of course eventually led to Jean Lamont and Bill Cox’s marriage.  Bill and Bandy were regular visitors to ‘Kooringal’ and by October “Jean to pictures with Bill” was the start of the romance that led to their marriage.  Romance was in the air for Dock as well.  While visiting Victoria he “Took Peg to Boat Race Ball”.  All the normal farming activities continued over this time; desilting dams, killing rabbits etc.  There was plenty of tennis and golf with Colin winning the Harefield tennis championship. The Yathella rifle club was formed with Dock as President. A couple of typical diary entries in Dock’s diary reflect the scene.  Sat 22/4: “Jack on Mitchell in stony sowing Algerian oats.  Colin on drill and I on Gibbons.  Put shaft and cog in drill. Tennis at Harefield up to second on ladder, defeated Cox 6/1 and lost Colin1/6”.  Tues 18/7:  ”Colin, Bob and I on ploughs.  Had two sets tennis, won 6/5 and 5/5 all.  Bowler and Captain still not too good, Captain improving.  Bridge party Helen, Doreen, Tissie, John, Len, Arthur and Helen, Red and Isobel and Bandy and Bill.”    August Sat 5^th and Sun 6^th:  “Mother, Bill, Colin and I to Wagga.  Saw Mr Colquhoun and Dr Martin.  Bob and John on teams for morning, Colin, Bill and Jean playing in August tennis tournaments.  Margaret and Stuart Read over for lunch and tea.  Bandy and Bill also over.”

A wet harvest was reported for 1933.  It finished on January 20^th.   Wheat prices were down to 1/11 bushel. The harvest rates are of interest with the 8 foot Gaston doing 80/100 bags a day and the 10 foot Robinson about 45 bags day.

Jean and Bill were engaged in March 1934.  Dock was courting Peg when on holidays in Geelong and Ina attended the CWA conference in Albury.  Ina was interviewed at this time for a  story on her life that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.  Long standing friends of the Lamonts, the Pattersons who owned ‘Gerilgambeth’, sold out in May for £10/11 acre to JS Taylor who owned a deal of land and shops in Junee.  At their farewell at Harefield, Patterson was presented with a wallet with forty pounds in it, so there must have been a bit of money about at that time.  Ina gave an address on Empire Day at the Dart Hill School.  Construction of the shearing shed at ‘Kooringal’ commenced and sheep were shorn in it during September.  Of additional note is lucerne pasture being sown down in No13.  The price of wheat was up to 2/1 per bushel, as a result of very dry conditions in the USA and Canada (the dust bowl years).  The year ended up with a good spring and harvest.  They purchased an IHC 15/30 tractor in October and used it in the Gaston harvester.  They still however, had nineteen working horses up to 25 years old.  A great deal of hay was cut this year. There seemed to be a large number of haystacks and they were still building stacks in January 1935.  

Bill Cox and Jean Lamont were married on April 27^th 1935. Diary entry: ‘cleaned up, scraped and marked tennis court, Colin cleaned car, Jack on grass around court.  Guests arrived for lunch, Bill, Bandy and I to Wagga.  Wedding started at church 7.30 pm.  Helen Weir and Cath Cox bridesmaids, Bandy groomsman and I best man, Patricia and Jan Vickery flower girls. Reception at Grand 8.30 and supper at 9.30.  About 50 telegrams to acknowledge. Guests invited out to ‘Kooringal’ to view gifts. Bill and Jean away safely at midnight.’

Dock’s courtship must have been going well as Peg came up to stay for five weeks in August, no doubt to check out the district and her prospective mother-in-law.  It must have been a bit of an eye opener for her.  I well remember her talking about how surprised she was at how hard everyone worked.  Once again, it was a good year, crops yielding about 9 bags/acre and selling for over 3/- bushel. The Chrysler car was sold for £175 pounds and new Ford V8 Coupe was purchased for £335 pounds.  I suppose the worst of the depression was over by the end of 1935 but I am sure they would have had a very large overdraft as money was still pretty tight.

There was a good wet start to 1936.  It ended up another good season with 650 mm of rain. Notable events for the year included Colin’s 21st birthday in January, Bill and Jean looking at properties and more visits from Peg.  The more usual social activities continued as well.  The old tractor seemed to be forever being repaired and at the Wagga show that year, they bought a Massey 25-40 (the green Massey) for £413. (The old 15-30 traded for £160.)  Other  purchases made this year were a silo for oats, a Whippet 6 truck for £145 and a fertilizer spreader for £7/-.

They had a clearing sale in October 1936 but prices were not so good. Colin spent many hours painting the old machinery for sale and firmly established his place as family painter.  He also became very involved with the scout movement and nearly every week he was off to ‘scouts’. This harvest was the first year they used Dock’s double hitch for the two harvesters - all pulled by the tractor.  It worked well taking off 160 bags a day.  Diary entry for Dec. 23^rd:  ‘Shower during night and didn’t start till after 1. Took off 70 bags, 17 acres.  Colin carted four loads wheat before lunch (on the whippet truck).  Put in gate post near dam in No 13, Had a good run with tractor and harvesters. Colin to scouts’.  They worked on Christmas Day with lunch in the paddock.  

Also of note in late 1936, was the sale of ‘Glenmoira’ to H Weston Davies after the sale to Frank Leahy fell through (and by April 1937, the McPhersons had bought it.).  Woten won the Cup at 100/1.

Harvest finished in mid January 1937 after 24 days.  It’s guessed, they must have had close to 4000 bags wheat.  There is no reference to prices.  There is also little mention of ‘Kooringal’ over this time as Dock appeared very busy organising the house at ‘Kooringal West’ to be built, after he announced his engagement to Peg in January.  It’s unsure who did the work but the costs were as follows:  walls £210, plastering and roof £817 and the rest £700.  Dock Lamont and Peg Scott were married in Geelong on October 5^th 1937 and they moved into ‘Kooringal  West’ on 31^st October 1937.  

The first grandchild of Ina and Jack was Geoffrey John Cox, son of Jean and Bill.  He was born in October 1937, the month before Andrew Lamont, Jack’s youngest brother died.  Harvest finished on 19^th December.  

Reference was also made in the 1937 diary, to the Read’s property, ‘Braehour’ being sold in April to Sir George Tallis for £8/10 per acre. 

Some statistics for 1937 include:  two male and one female employees, 1780 sheep on hand, 5560 kg wool produced, 21 cattle on hand, 3320 litres of milk and 75 kg butter produced. Lambing was 795, wheat production was 203 tons and 100 tons of hay was produced from 700 acres.

‘Kooringal’ was still worked as one place in 1938.  It was a good year despite a very dry start. A lot of fallowing was carried out as Dock’s diary entry for New Year’s Day shows:  ‘Harold took early shift, I went from 8.30 to 1 pm, Harold to 5.30 and I went to 7.30.  210 acres for 3 ½ days’.  The farm next door, (currently Baker’s) was bought by John Moloney for £9/10 acre.  ‘Kooringal’  were trying to lease some of this land themselves, in April.  It was a bad year for accidents.  Colin had a severe cut from the emery and Dock attempted to sever his leg with an adze whilst squaring posts to put around garden at ‘Kooringal West’.  Apart from that, the year passed uneventfully as Peg and Dock settled into their new house.  It must have been a bit of a shock for Peg however, during the dry autumn.  Saturday 16^th April records:  ‘Heavy dust storm from 9am till 8pm. Sky overcast with dust all day and strong north winds. Atmosphere overpowering inside, house filled with fine red dust.’                                                                                                                                                       

So ends this part of the ‘Kooringal’ story.  Having read a bit about farming during the depression years, they were lucky to survive, but it’s difficult to assess without knowing their true financial situation.  There was no shortage of hard work by Dock and Colin and the various staff they employed over this period but the years were generally good leading up to the dry times in the early forties.

Section 8: The less documented years 1918 to 1928

Part Two

THE LESS DOCUMENTED YEARS     1918 to 1928

We know very little of this period.  Col Sinclair spent a lot of time at ‘Kooringal’ and presumably took a lot of the management burden from Ina.  He possibly he spent most of this time there. From my memories of Ina however, she would have still been very much ‘the boss’.

Ina was also a traveller.  A woman travelling on her own during the twenties was almost unthinkable but Ina’s first recorded trip was to New Zealand in March/April 1922.   From some old postcards in the archives, it appears that at some stage she visited Hawaii and probably the west coast of the United States as well. This was possibly the same trip.

Her ‘grand tour’ of Europe was in 1924.  It appears she left in late December 1923 on the

SS Mongolia, and the first postcard is from Ceylon dated 26/12/23.  A series of old postcards that she sent to Colin and Dock who were both at Geelong College at the time, unravel the itinerary.  The tour went like this: Suez, Egypt, Nice, Rome, Milan, Venice, Lucerne, Paris.  Ina then FLEW to London and visited Lands End, Wembley  (The Great Exhibition), Torquay, London Zoo, London, Canterbury and Dover.  It seems she had a trip to Norway during July and then went to Ireland and Scotland before returning home.  Thomas Cook appears to be the organising agent.

With the trips away, a very active golfing life and three children at boarding school, the twenties must have been reasonably prosperous times on ‘Kooringal’ - until the depression struck in 1929.  Dock’s diary of 1928 gives good insight into life at this time, although it does not shed much light on activities at ‘Kooringal’.  

January was a very hot month and a Sinclair reunion was held at the Wagga beach on January 10^th.  In February he visited Burra and on 13^th, Jean went back to PLC and the boys to Geelong College.  Apparently Dock only went back for the first term for rowing.  He was in the first eight.  A lot of rowing and tennis was mentioned including a rowing camp at Barwon Heads at Easter but no mention of schoolwork, except wool classing at the Gordon Technical College.  He visited Captain Pidgeon about a possible career in the navy for Colin.  He also noted that he went up to Melbourne for the Head of the River and then drove home in ‘Eloise’, a T model Ford he owned with Stewart Read.

In June 1928, there was plenty of socialising, gardening, tennis and golf.  ‘Quail shooting on the 28^th with Uncle Don and Col’.  ‘Got five quail and two parrots’. ‘Sharefarmers started fallowing. 800 wethers sold for 29/6d.’  In July, a Mr King installed electricity at ‘Kooringal’ and Hardy’s laid a floor for an engine shed. Ina won the Riverina golf championship at Henty.  There was also a first mention of Uncle Arch and the property, “Woodside” at Illabo.

During August there was much socialising again with tennis, bridge and parties.  ‘A week in Wagga for the show. Fat cow won second prize at show’.  In September Colin home for holidays and Ina won the Murrumbidgee Golf Championship.  Sheep were taken to ‘Hareenya’ for shearing (the old Kurrajong woolshed).  October notes revealed a Chrysler car being tested. They had a Hupmobile at the time and before that, an Oakland.  Dock told me a story about Ina testing out a Stanley Steamer in the early 1920’s and on a very aggressive test drive up Willan’s Hill, she ripped the bottom out of the water tank on a rock.  That was the end of the Stanley Steamer.  Dock wrote about shearing this month at Uncle Don’s but I think he had it wrong as the shearing was at ‘Woodside’, Uncle Arch’s property, at Illabo.  Uncle Don Sinclair could possibly have owned this property however, before Arch Sinclair bought it.  Hay cutting started this month and Dock spent a fair bit of time at ‘Woodside’ in between gardening, tennis and socialising for the rest of the year.

Little did they all know that the good times were soon to come to an end as grain prices collapsed and the Great Depression took hold of the world.