JENKINS (nee DRUMMOND) Betty Jenkins Remembers

Betty Jenkins is the eldest child of Aloysius ("Wish") and Ada Drummond who purchased Stamford Park from John Murray in 1933. Betty was a young child at the time and her earliest recollections were of growing up at Stamford House on the 388 acre property that Wish turned into a prosperous dairy farm to supply the milk for his dairy business in East Malvern.

Betty remembered her father as a man of enormous energy. He transported the milk from his large herd twice a day, seven days a week, to East Malvern and while there was involved in the delivery of the milk as well as attending to all the business side of the enterprise. He had to buy and transport all the materials needed for the Rowville farm as well as the food and necessities for his family and four men employed there as hand milkers. These employees lived in what had been the servants quarters located to the south of the main house. Betty recalled carrying morning tea down the driveway in the dark to the milkers on cold winter mornings.

Wish could exist on four or five hours sleep each day and it was nothing for him to be up at 5.00am to start the milking after sitting up playing cards with friends till after 1 o'clock in the morning. He was a tough man too. Once during the war he was winching up an engine using a rope looped over the branch of a tree. The weight of the engine was too much for the branch and it broke off, crashing down onto his head and knocking him unconscious. Members of the family had to get him into the only vehicle available, the farm truck, and drive him to Dandenong Hospital where fortunately he made a rapid recovery.

His love of parties was legendary. He would have a party "at the drop of a hat" and Betty remembered great parties during the war years when Stamford House was a popular place with the American Marines stationed at the Rowville Army Base.

General Douglas MacArthur

The Marines had arrived in late 1942 from Guadacanal and had seen action against the Japanese. They were frequently on the property in their camouflage gear making simulated attacks on the farm buildings. When they finally "captured" the house they would then go into the kitchen for refreshments.

On one memorable day a large platform was constructed on the property and from it General Douglas MacArthur, the supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific and his staff viewed the manoeuvres of the troops. (This story was confirmed with Alf Taylor who at that time owned the land to the west of where the Stamford Hotel is now. Alf said that the General and his staff drove from Wellington Road through his paddock to Wish's property. The boundary between the two farms was where the back fences of the houses on the south side of Avalon Road are now. Apparently the fence there was cut to allow access for MacArthur's party. The following day, Alf and Wish had to round up their stray cattle then repair the fence.)

Betty, like other Rowville people in the 1940s, remembered the Italian prisoners of war as being pleasant men. One of them who became a family friend was Edwardo Pizzi who had been captured in the North African war zone in 1942 by Australian forces. He was aged 18 at the time. His father was the last surviving member of Mussolini's Cabinet.

Betty's husband, Chris Jenkins, remembered acting as a barman with a friend at Wish's 50th birthday party to which Wish had invited about 100 of his mates. Chris and his friend made the mistake of trying to match it with these practised drinkers and as a result both of them had to be put to bed well before the party was over.

On another occasion Chris recalled with a laugh Wish's dismay at the 21st birthday party of a neighbour's child where the strongest drink served was creamy soda.

Wish was also an enterprising man, a big thinker who was prepared to take risks to get ventures started. In 1936, despite the depressed economic situation, he built a model dairy beside Stud Road (where the Rowville Green House Garden Centre is now located). The dairy was of the latest design and used stainless steel equipment throughout. Betty recalled that there was a painting of a cow above the front doors and she found that her father had taken the eyes out of one of her old dolls and used them as eyes for the cow.

Betty's mother Ada was a keen horsewoman and one of her horses, Spearer, had been a winner of two Ballarat Cups and an Adelaide Cup.

Betty also became an accomplished rider and she and her mother often rode into East Malvern and back to Stamford Park during school holidays. Betty also rode to Scoresby to collect the mail from "Dobby" (Mr Dobson), the postmaster.

"Dobby" also ran the Scoresby telephone exchange so he knew everything that was going on in the district. One evening Chris rang to speak to Betty but "Dobby" told him there was no point in putting the call through because another fellow had rung up earlier and organised a date with Betty. (To show how sparsely populated the area was in the 1940s, Stamford House's phone number was Scoresby 6.)

Anyway, Chris eventually won Betty's hand and they were married in the small Catholic Church at Ferntree Gully on the 1st February 1950 and then returned to Stamford House for the reception. Betty and Chris made their home at East Malvern but returned regularly for weekends to Stamford House. Their children loved going there and Wish and Ada were very indulgent grandparents.

Wish's Major Projects in Rowville

The buoyant economy of the 1950s assisted Wish to carry through two of his biggest schemes: the residential development of the "Stamford Heights" Estate and the construction of the Stamford Hotel.

The housing blocks, priced between 395 and 875 pounds, sold quickly.

The Stamford Hotel was designed by the architect Bernard Evans (later Sir Bernard Evans, Lord Mayor of Melbourne) and constructed by Wish's own building company. The hotel was officially opened on the 22nd October 1959 by the minister of Local Government, Murray Porter.

In 1954 Wish sold Stamford House together with 118 acres to Joshua McClelland, owner of the Kozminski's Gallery and Decorations Auction Room in Little Collins Street. A friend of McClelland's, Alfred Stevens, came to live at Stamford House. People can remember him driving around Rowville in his Rolls Royce.

Wish and the family moved to a new home he had built on the west bank of Lake Drummond. The lake was another example of Wish's boundless energy. Wish, his son John and an employee named Jack Collins excavated the bed for the five acre lake in 1948. Unfortunately the lake was filled in when the area was developed for housing.

The only scheme that Wish didn't bring to fruition was his plan for a million dollar drive-in shopping centre between the Hotel and the Stamford Estate.

Wish passed away in January 1976 aged 77.

Ada died two years late aged 75.

This article cannot be concluded without paying tribute to Wish's generosity. He was a great supporter of local clubs and organisations and quietly helped many individuals and families who needed assistance.

Interviewed by Bryan Power

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