Project Description
His parents, Richard James and Minnie Mary, moved to Cundup near Ravensthorpe in 1914 where his father worked in a mine. They mined copper, silver and gold and there was a crusher out from Ravensthorpe. There was a railway line between Hopetoun, the port, and Ravensthorpe. Ore from the mines was transported along the railway to the port. Dick and his friends went fishing at Hopetoun.
Dick had two brothers, Norman and Vernon. He started school in Ravensthorpe in 1918. The family fell on hard times and left in 1921. Dick’s uncle, Jack Scaddan, who was Minister for Mines at the time, refused to assist them so they moved back to Perth and then Fremantle where Dick and his brothers continued their education.
He recalls good fishing off the railway jetty, and catching prawns at Point Walter. In 1922 they moved to Group Settlement 14 at Tutunup, near Busselton. Dick attended the small Tutunup School and they played sport against other schools in the district. They played cricket against other Settlement Group teams.
The family left Group 14 in 1929 and moved to a place nearer the Nannup railway line. After schooling, Dick worked at Jarrahwood in the mill and he describes what was at Jarrahwood at that time. He moved to Busselton in 1932 and looked after Group farms that had been deserted.
He then worked at Killerby’s store in Busselton from 1942 to 1987 where he met his future wife who came from Collie. They married in 1943 – Dick was in the army at that time. They lost their first baby who was stillborn, but had two sons, Neil and Trevor. Dick talks about their sons’ occupations, their marriages and families.