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...do YOUR families link back to first South Australian wheat growers?
Christina and Donald McLEAN from Scotland 1837
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 1906 -
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| Name |
Eileen Lucy HEAD [1] |
| Born |
10 Dec 1906 [1] |
| Gender |
Female |
| Biography Notes |
"My mother (daughter of Hugh and Maryanne) married Edwin Head who died aged 36 in 1919. She had a very sad life, losing her husband, a daughter Jean, three sisters, three brothers and her mother and father before she was 40.
My father had the motor car in the South East - a Sunbeam Talbot. He had a contract to build a bridge and when it was time to inspect the job, and as he pulled up the car burst into flames. After my fathers death my mother carried on the business for a year, but found it hard telling men what to do, so she sold it.
My grandmother (Maryanne McLean) lived with us until her death. I remember it so well - the coffin was in our dining room and the relatives all sitting round the cof I was at home my sister Thelma went to Teachers Training College, and I decided to go to Alice Springs for a six month holiday. I was offered a position as bookkeeper (which I had been doing at Kingston where we lived). I married in 1938 and my daughter Jennifer was born in 1939, my second daughter Susan was bom in 1946. My husband (Norman Lee) was Telegraph Supervisor at the Post Office, and he took the messages in morse code from Darwin on the day of the bombing, Evacuees soon began arriving from Darwin by any available means. Many of them camped on our verandahs. Norm asked it they thought it advisable to send the women and children down south, to which they agreed it was desirable. We travelled on the next goods train out, which had one passenger carriage. It was packed. One poor little pregnant girl sat up straight for four days. There were children and babies sleeping on the floor and the smell of dirty nappies was dreadful. The mothers with bottle fed babies had to go the train engine for hot water.
Every time the train stopped we would all get out to get some fresh air and the were terrible. We went back after a few months down south and I enjoyed Alice Springs both married and single having lived there for nine years.
After leaving the Alice, we spent a short time in Adelaide before moving to Tarcoola which were the hardest five years of my life. In summer we would get months with the temperature over 100 degrees (up to 114). During that time we saw refrigerators using kerosene advertised so we sent for one and that was one of the most exciting things of my post of life.
Following Tarcoola we moved to Cuwamulka, Loxton, Naracoorte and Port Pine. In 1969 our final move was to Glenelg until retirement in 1976."
Background to Mrs. Lee's story:
On the morning of the 19th February, 1942, the Japanese bombed Darwin. Plane spotters from Bathurst Island had signalled ahead but their warnings went unheeded.
The air raid alert was still sounding when the first bombs fell. Mr A. Halls, 49. A returned soldier, and supervisor of Telegraphs at Darwin, who had only arrived in Darwin the previous Saturday, was communicating with Norm Lee, supervisor of Telegraphs, in Alice Springs. He signalled that the raid had begun and that he was heading for a shelter. The shelter for male telegraphists and other Post Office personnel was some distance away. Norm warned him to be quick. Mr Halls signed off with a Morse signal laugh (- - -.) and went to the nearest trench shelter. This shelter had been made for the Post Master, Mr Bald, his wife and daughter and the female telephonists. The Post Office and the shelter took a direct hit.
Two hundred and forty three people died in Darwin and the Harbour that day.
Mr H. Hawke, the postal engineer in charge in Darwin, and Mr W. T. Duke. A telegraphic supervisor who later received a British Empire Medal, had found the broken line and set up equipment south of Darwin.
They sent the tragic news through to Norm and he passed the messages on to the Colonel, later Brigadier, Loutit. When more information about the devastation became available Hawke and Duke transmitted details of the damage through to Mr O'Grady at the G.P.0., Adelaide.
On the 19th of February, 1992, at a Dedication Ceremony, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the bombing of the Darwin Post Office held at the G.P.O. Main Hall, Adelaide. Norm Lee decoded a Morse Code message from the Northern Territory Administrator and handed it to Dame Roma Mitchell, Governor of South Australia. [1] |
| Marriage/Wedding |
1919 |
Kingston SA  |
"My mother (daughter of Hugh and Maryanne) married Edwin Head who died aged 36 in 1919. She had a very sad life, losing her husband, a daughter Jean, three sisters, three brothers and her mother and father before she was 40."
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| Residence |
Alice Springs NT [1] |
| Residence |
Kingston SA [1] |
| Residence |
Tarcoola SA [1] |
| Residence |
1995 |
Hove SA [1] |
| Person ID |
I-2357 |
Christina and Donald McLean | Ewen (Hugh the elder) McLean's descendants |
| Last Modified |
13 Jun 2017 |
| Family |
Norman Alfred LEE, b. 17 Sep 1913, Clare SA , d. 17 Nov 2003, Adelaide SA (Age 90 years) |
| Married |
1938 |
Alice Springs NT [3] |
| Children |
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| Last Modified |
13 Jun 2017 14:41:20 |
| Family ID |
F-778 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Sources |
- [S-3] PUBLICATION BRB 'Donald & Christina McLean & Their Descendants', 1995 copies available, Copies of the BRB available Strathalbyn National Trust Museum & Library, several libraries around Australia including State Library SA, and Western Australian Genealogical Society Bayswater WA Request assistance for locating a copy through 'Contact us' on this website. .
- [S-75] BDM SA, 31 Jan 2017 Researcher Lorna McLean.
MARRIAGE:1906, RegNO;226/580 groom;HEAD Edwin and bride, Mary Christina MCLEAN at Robe SA
Notice to public: ensure before using ANY details from this website that you further research accuracy of our information to limit the effect of misdirection by any compounded human error.
- [TROVE] http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36602379?searchTerm=%22NORMAN%20ALFRED%20LEE%22&searchLimits=, 13 Jun 2017 Researcher Lorna McLean.
MARRIAGES
LEE?HEAD.?On the 20th of December, at
the Methodist Church, Alice Springs, Eileen
Lucy Head, elder daughter of the late Mr.
E. Head and the late Mrs. W. J. Doyle, of
Kingston, S.A., to Norman Alfred Lee, only
son of Mrs. E. M. Lee and the late Mr. F.
W. H. Lee, of Watervale, SA.
PUBLIC NOTICE: Before using, ANY details from this website seek further research in the absence of documentation to limit the effect of misdirection by any compounded human error-send courtesy email to administration in the CONTACT US ENVELOPE.
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