Section 2: Foreword by John S Lamont

An history of ‘KOORINGAL’ 

Foreword by John S Lamont  (b.1939)

With the centenary of the Lamont family tenure of ‘Kooringal’ in 2010, it is appropriate a history of the farm and family should be written.  Originally it was to be just a history of ‘Kooringal’ but this, by necessity, must include a lot of family history.  For better or for worse,

I have tackled the first forty five years and David Lamont will carry on from 1946 when his father, Colin, came back from service during the war and started what I will call the ‘modern era’ of ‘Kooringal’.

While I have always had a general interest in history, this is the first time I have actually done any serious research and attempted to put it in writing.  The first thing I have realised is how much history has been lost over this relatively short period of forty odd years.  The diaries have been the main source of information but if I had read them before Colin and Dock died, they would have been so much more valuable as an historical source.  They could have answered hundreds of questions that we will never know the answer to.

So where to start?  I decided to transcribe all the early diaries of John Duncan [Jack] Lamont and also the diary of his wife, Ina, written in 1917.  The most valuable one would be 1910 when they moved.  Alas it has not survived.  They are pretty mundane reading but I felt it was important to have a record other than the actual diaries themselves. I have included them at the end of the general history and if you have the time to read through them they certainly give an insight into those early days when Jack and Ina settled at ‘Kooringal’.

The early part of the story is divided up into four parts:

Part One         The early days           1911 to 1917

                        from John Duncan Lamont’s diaries and Christina Annie Lamont’s diary of 1917

Part Two         Less documented years       1918 to 1928

                        from very poor resources

Part Three       The Depression times          1929 to 1938

                        from Murdoch John Lamont’s diaries

Part Four         The war years           1939 to 1946

                        from Murdoch John Lamont’s diaries

A list of the key people referred to in this history is included as a convenient reference.

An overview of the Lamont and Sinclair genealogy is also included to ‘set the scene’.

The summaries of the diaries are included as appendices as are Jack’s letter and Ina’s letter.

The ‘modern era’ of ‘Kooringal’ is covered in Part Five.

                                                                                                            John S Lamont

                                                                                                            September 2010