RAYMOND Harry and Rose Raymond Remember

Harry and Rose Raymond came to Rowville in 1944 and their home "Twin Views" on the corner of Taylors Lane and McKay Road is the last of the original old homes that stood along that road - or as Rose described it in those days - "that dirt track".

They bought the house and the 60 acres on which it was located from people called Crawford. On the land to the south where St Simons Primary School now is, the Nicholsons had a farm. The house on the corner which is now St Simon's Presbytery was not the Nicholson home but one which was built later by the Smoulder family. To the north along Taylors Lane their neighbour was Granny Taylor who lived to be 90 years of age. The Seebeck family had the property opposite them on the other side of Taylors Lane.

When they first moved to the farm the cypress trees around the house were as big as they are now. They had the trees lopped back at the time but they have since grown back to the size they were in 1944.

The search for a dream

Owning a farm was the realisation of a dream for both Harry and Rose who had had to battle hard to raise a young family during the Depression. In their search for a farm they had visited a number of areas in Victoria. Rose remembered an agent showing them over a farm in Drouin while extolling the lovely view. "You can't live off the view!" she told him straight. She knew that in those hard times every penny counted and therefore good soil and rainfall were far greater considerations than the beauty of the scenery.

From England to Australia

Rose came from a farming background. She was born in Saxmundham, Suffolk in England and when she was very young her father set out by himself to Australia to see if it would be a suitable place to raise his young family. He sent back encouraging reports so in 1914 Rose's mother packed up their possessions and with Rose and the other three children she boarded the S.S. Ballarat for the long voyage. World War 1 had started and there was a great fear of German U-Boats, so the ship was completely blacked out at night. Worse than that was the rough weather and Rose remembered her mother suffering terribly with seasickness as the ship battled its way through the Bay of Biscay. However, they survived to be reunited safely with their father in Melbourne and after two weeks they headed off to Tongala. (Sadly, the S.S. Ballarat was sunk on its return voyage to England.)

The country was in the grip of a severe drought so it was a "real culture shock" to arrive at this desolate farm with the cattle dying around them after growing up in the cool, damp climate of England.

The family later moved to Murchison for two or three years and then to Wandong where Rose's father grew vegetables and raised fowls and later started a butcher's shop.

When Rose grew up a girlfriend got her a job as a housemaid at a girls' boarding school in Malvern. Later she went to live with friends at Brunswick and it was there that she met young Harry Raymond at a function at the Brunswick Football Club. They started going out together, romance blossomed and they were married at St John's Church of England in West Brunswick in 1928.

The Depression

Harry was a worker with the Brunswick Council but was put off as the Depression started to bite. He went to Wandong for a while to work as a wood cutter with Rose's brother but was re-employed by the Council to supervise a large gang of "sussos" - the name used in those days for the unemployed who were required to do civic work for the dole money. This group of men constructed a park on the east side of the Moonee Valley Race Course. Harry got on well with them but had to keep an eye on a few who would drop tools and start a game of two-up whenever his back was turned.

Harry had grown up in Brunswick and was the youngest of six. His father was a New Zealander who had served for a number of years as a sailor in the American Navy before returning to civilian life and settling in Australia.

At Springvale

As World War II loomed closer Harry got a job at Essendon Aerodrome but after a year he and Rose decided it was time to look for a farm.. They thought it best to rent a place as a trial and followed up an ad put in the paper by a Dandenong Agent, Tom Carroll. The advertisement was for a 60 acre farm in Police Road, North Springvale but what attracted Rose was the fact that it was close to Springvale North Primary School as she was determined that their five children, Harry, Elaine, Ron, Jan and John should have access to education.

They bought the equipment and a herd of about 20 cows and began their lives as dairy farmers. They hand-milked there for four years but then the owner wanted to close the lease so they were forced to search for another place. Harry met a chap in Dandenong who told him about a good farm on a dirt track in Rowville and soon after it became theirs.

Guernsey Stud

Although they were still milking by hand Harry decided his first priority should be to improve the quality of his herd and so he bought two Guernsey stud bulls, Osmanie Tarzan and later Myrtle Grove Winston (which won second prize at the Royal Melbourne Show), and was registered as a Guernsey breeder. As the herd developed they exhibited at shows throughout the district from Ferntree Gully to Warragul with good success.

Harry decided it was time to buy a milking machine but there was the problem of insufficient water for the cooling tank so he set to and dug by hand a 12 foot deep well, bricked it and installed a pump on it. It is still in the backyard of "Twin Views". The milk was bought by Philpotts' Dairy in Malvern and their eldest son Harry got a job with them driving the milk truck. Their second son Ron was always interested in farming and later became an auctioneer with Godfreys in Dandenong.

Harry bought a Plymouth - a heavy American car - which unfortunately would not always start. If there were enough hands about, the car would be pushed out on to Taylors Lane and jump-started as it rolled down the hill towards Wellington Road. If Harry was alone, however, he'd have to harness up old Tom, the Clydesdale, to give the car a pull.

Harry and Rose involved themselves in community affairs from the time they arrived in Rowville. They were both with Red Cross and Harry was the President of the Progress Association that worked hard for improvements in Rowville. The members used to run stalls on election days at the Rowville polling booth which was at the little post office run by Miss Elizabeth Bergin.

A Plane Crash in Rowville

One hot summer's day in the 1950s a light plane with an instructor and trainee pilot aboard crashed in their paddock - about where Norris Road now is - and burst into flames. Harry was away at the time but his youngest son John (who later became a Knox councillor and mayor of the city) rang the fire brigade, then ran outside to cut the fence wires to allow the fire trucks quick access. He then rounded up the cows safely away from the grass fire that was moving across the paddock. Unfortunately, the two occupants of the plane could not be saved. When John grew up he became an active member and later the Captain of Rowville Fire Brigade. Harry too had served his time with the Brigade and was honoured with Life Membership.

In 1961 the first of the subdivisions were occurring in Rowville and Harry and Rose sold the farm to a Dandenong agent, Gordon Norris (hence Norris Road). However, Council would not permit subdivision of less than one acre so the Twin View's Estate will probably be unique in Rowville as the only large block subdivision, particularly now that the Government has adopted a policy of greater density housing.

Harry, now (1991) in his 85th year, is not as mobile as he once was but Rose, at 83, is still as active as ever in her large garden.

Harry and Rose have been married for 63 years and their five children, 15 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren are a great source of pride for them both.

Interviewed by Bryan Power

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