Edna Hazel Palin - A life cut short.

Roy and Hazel Herbert

I have found it difficult to write about the last part of Hazel's life .  How do you write about someone who's life was cut short.  After puzzling over how to conclude Hazel's story, I decided to call my mother, Hazel's eldest daughter (who is now 80 years old) and see what other stories she could remember. I quizzed her on the family activities that they all enjoyed.  She recalled that Hazel loved to dance and when the children were in their teens they all went with Hazel and Roy to the local hall for dances on Friday nights.

On the weekends, a very popular past time for the locals was to go out into the bush, bike riding and picnicking with their families. Roy and Hazel would join their friends on the weekend, with their youngest daughter riding on the front of the bike.  While researching life in Broken Hill, I recently came across a blog (NSW2880.com), which has an interesting article on Motorcycle Mania in Broken Hill.  This article talks about the social side of motorcycle riding in Broken Hill:

Roy, Hazel and members of their family - weekend  family picnic

"The family and social side of events was also evident in the number of gymkhanas and picnics held in those times, with the wife or girl friend in the then –popular sidecar (no doubt, handy to help mend a puncture or push through the sand) .Enthusiasts used to make their way to one of the popular picnic Spots of the time to enjoy an afternoon of flag – races, musical chairs, etc."*


My mother remembers the family returning home from the Sunday family picnics and her Mum would cook up a huge pile of pancakes for Sunday night dinner!!!

After the birth of their last child Faye in 1939, Hazel's health began to deteriorate and in the following years she was diagnosed with kidney disease.  There were many trips to doctors, and long stints in hospital.  My mother recalls extended periods of times when she and her sisters were at home with Roy (their father) while Hazel was in Adelaide seeking treatment from specialists.On these visits Hazel would stay with her parents Charles and Eliza Palin who had moved from Broken Hill to Adelaide.

In the mid 1940's the family moved from their home in Brazil Street to a new house in McGowan Street. The children, finished high school and joined the workforce.  They all led busy social lifes, attending dances, playing tennis, swimming and bike riding on the weekends.

With her health failing Hazel found that she needed to rest more often.  However in early 1951, both Hazel and Roy travelled all the way to the south coast of NSW for a rare holiday.  The trip was to meet the parents of their future son-in-law Malcolm Shepherd, Christina and Lionel Carriage, the trip which was over 1000kms, the longest trip they had ever made.  I have shared a wonderful photo taken on this trip of Hazel and Christina on Family Stories: Photographs and Memories.

Photo of Hazel (front left hand side) visiting family.

 Between 1950-1955 all of her children married and grand children were soon on the way.  Hazel and Roy doted on their grand children and enjoyed visiting them when they could. Hazel and Roy travelled to visit their daughter Moreen and her husband Malcolm who were living on Nuntherungie Station about 180 kms from Broken Hill.  This photo (about 1956) was taken in front of their home at Nuntherungie Station.  Hazel is in the front row on the left hand side, behind her her son-in-law Malcolm Shepherd (my father) and third from the left her daughter Moreen holding me. This trip was the last  she made away from her home in Broken Hill, as her illness meant she needed to pay regular visits to the Hospital. She regretted not being able to spend more time with her family and her grandchildren.


In a letter dated 11 September 1957, she writes to her daughter, sharing her concerns about Moreen's sisters, their marriages and her grandchildren.
 " I still can't help feeling scared of a number of things.  Faye was over this afternoon for some of her things.  Poor kid looks really worn out.  I would give the world to be able to help her along."
  She has sent small gifts to Moreen for the children and signs off.

"I must sign off now and get some badly needed rest, so with lots of love to you all, we remain your loving Mum and Dad".  At the end of the letter is a little PPS:
 "Anxiously awaiting your arrival, Love Mother".

Just after this letter was written, Moreen, moved back to her parent's home in Broken Hill with her toddler, Diane (me) and twin babies (Larraine and Nancy) to look after her mother and father.  Hazel, at the age of 47,  passed away on the 30 October 1957 a little over 5 weeks after this letter was written.

_____________________
* Motor Cycle Mania, http://westyunited.com/blog/1983/01/01/motor-cycle-mania/, viewed 1/9/12

A Short Story of Life as a Wife and Mother in Broken Hill - Edna Hazel Palin

Marriage of Roy Herbert and Edna Hazel Palin  24 July 1929

The first part of Edna Hazel Palin's (Hazel as she liked to be called) story finished with her marriage to Roy Clarence Herbert on 24 July 1929 (NSW BDM). Once married, Hazel took on the role of wife and mother, giving up her position as a clerk.

As I mentioned earlier, conditions in Broken Hill post WWI were very tough with many strikes and unions demanding better working conditions for  the miners.  The longest and harshest strike was in 1919-1920 and lasted for 18 months.  However, this prolonged strike brought about change and the unions succeeded in obtaining better conditions and shorter working hours for their members.  The unions joined forces under one organisation, the Barrier Industrial Council (BIC) *. This council became a powerful body which had a great impact on the lives of the people of Broken Hill.  The formation of the BIC also had a historical influence on the life of married women in Broken Hill, including Hazel.  In order to diminish unemployment  the BIC introduced a resolution banning married women from working.  

"For women, the formation of the Barrier Industrial Council had one particularly direct consequence. In 1930, the president of the Council passed a resolution to ban married women from working in Broken Hill. The policy was intended to diminish unemployment by holding clerical and retail jobs open for young, single women, encouraging them to stay in the city. It was felt that a miners' wage was sufficient to keep his wife and family." **

Hazel and Roy Herbert and family about 1937

Hazel and Roy's first son Charles John (Jack) was born in 1930.  Roy was employed with the Zinc Corporation, one of the main mining companies in Broken Hill. In the following years Hazel was fully occupied with the raising the family of two boys and three girls, Jack, Maureen, Joan, Brian and Faye. 

As her daughter Maureen recalls, she was an accomplished seamstress, making all the children's clothes, and often sewing for her friends. 

The young Herbert family on a picnic with their grandparents.

Family entertainment included family picnics on the weekend at favorite picnic spots on the outskirts of Broken Hill.  They would all pile into cars or many would go on motorbikes. Maureen remembers her parents (Hazel and Roy) going to picnics with her younger sister Faye on Roy's motor bike and the rest of the family traveling in the car with her grandparents.

The local swimming pool was also a vital part of the social life of the Herbert family, providing hours of entertainment, fun and relief from the searing summer heat.  Maureen recalls with amusement, Mum (Hazel) could not swim at all "it was a joke  for all the family, how she could not get the arms and legs to work in unison and we all kidded her that she would sink to the bottom.    Down she would go.".

Herbert family with their Cousins in Adelaide

In 1937, the family was to mourn the loss of their son and brother Brian, when he passed away at the age of eighteen months from pneumonia (NSW BDM 12217/1937). The other four children attended the local primary school and then once they were teenagers were students at Broken Hill High School.

 Life for the Herbert children was happy and content, with a house that was always full of friends and family. During the Christmas holidays, the family would travel to Adelaide to visit Hazel's sister Thelma and brother Alf and their families. Hazel really enjoyed these times in the milder climate of Adelaide, catching up with family and sharing her love of music with her older brother Alf who played violin in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.  Hazel's health was beginning to become a serious problem, and there many visits to specialists, where she was diagnosed as suffering from serious kidney disease. 

_________________
* Barrier Industrial Council, http://www.barrierindustrialcouncil.com/history.htm. viewed 20.8.12

** Unbroken Spirit: Women in Broken Hill, http://www.womenaustralia.info/exhib/bh/intro.html., viewed 20.8.12

Edna Hazel Palin 1910-1957, Life in the Mining Town of Broken Hill

Edna Hazel Palin

 My maternal grandmother Edna Hazel Palin was born on the 14 April 1910 in the mining town of Broken Hill. At the turn of the twentieth century Broken Hill had a population of around 27,500 people and was one of the largest commercial centres in New South Wales.

A thriving mining town, Broken Hill, "achieving notoriety for two reasons - strikes and dust storms". In a typical dust storm, the town would be enveloped in dense clouds of choking red sand which penetrated almost every building. Machines became clogged, canvas blinds shredded  and outhouses knocked flat. In one severe storm it was reported that ‘some lanes were blocked by outhouses which had blown across the roadway’.

My grandmother's  parents were Charles Henry Palin (1851-1957) and Eliza Golding (1872-1951). Hazel's parents and their young daughter Thelma moved from Port Pirie, South Australia sometime between 1905 and 1907.

It is quite possible their decision to come to Broken Hill was to provide for support the wife and children of Thomas Palin (Charles's elder brother) who was killed in an accident when he was caught between two rail trucks in 1905. Charles was a carpenter by trade, he was also a strong supporter of the unions and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, (masonic fellowship).

Broken Hill 1905

Life for the miners in Broken Hill was difficult and they worked long hours. 1909, the year before Hazel was born, saw the unions set up picket lines in their quest for better working conditions.  This was a violent time in Broken Hill with clashes between the companies and miners. However after several months of striking the miners went back to work on the same pay rate and hours (48 hours a week).

After the family moved to Broken Hill Hazel's (as she was known) elder brother Alfred was born in 1907, and followed by Hazel in 1910. Thelma, Alfred and Hazel went to school North Commercial Public School. Hazel and her brother, Alfred, (or Alf) enjoyed music, Hazel studying piano and Alf the violin at the Convent of Mercy. In later years, Alf went on to play violin with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

 An article in the Barrier Miner, Thursday 28 April 1921 describes Hazel Palin as part of a group of 6C girls who performed admirably the operetta "Soot and the Fairies".  Hazel had the part of "Lady Hairbrush". (One has to wonder, what this part involved).

When Hazel finished primary school, she continued with her music lessons and studied shorthand, typing and english at the Convent Commercial School. At the age of 17 she completed her education at the commercial school and used her skills in typing and shorthand  to take up the position as a clerk in one of the local businesses. 

Hazel's daughter Maureen remembers her mother as being  "a very good pianist who could play classical pieces very well.  She often played for friends and family gatherings and many singsongs when the family gathered around the piano lounge room."  The 1930 NSW census shows that Hazel and her parents were living at 137 Brazil Street, Broken Hill. 

Three years later Hazel, who was described as a petite young lady, who was just over 5 foot tall with dark wavy hair, met and married Roy Clarence Herbert.  Roy was a young laborer who had moved to Broken Hill from the copper mining town of Burra, SA and they were married at the Methodist Manse on 24 July 1929. The young couple started married life living with Hazel's parents, Charles and Eliza in Brazil Street (1930 NSW Census).