Emily Perry (nee Sandford)
| First name | Emily |
|---|---|
| Last name | Perry (nee Sandford) |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 11/29/1891 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | c1911 |
| Submitted by | Graeme Wickham |
Story
Emily Perry (nee Sandford)
Emily Sandford was born at Dunmow Essex 29 November 1891. Her father, William was a farm labourer at the nearby Gilbey Estate near Elsenham and Emily grew up in a small thatched farm cottage at Mole Hill with her father, mother Emma, her older brother William and several younger siblings.
She worked as housemaid for the ‘Elsenham Hall’ from a very early age in return for board and lodging. It was here that she met Selina Perry, a fellow housemaid, from Takely. It was apparent that the girls had soon became friends as they each were dating with the other\’s brother and the foursome had begun planning ways of breaking loose from their parents\’ cramped subsistence existence. They longed for more space to move, raise a family and to acquire property of their own and were immediately attracted by Australia\’s call for workers and offer of assisted passage. So it was that Emily, her brother William, Selina and her brother Ernest travelled to Australia in 1911.
Not much is known of Emily until 1915 by which time she had settled at Drummoyne close to family member\’s home ‘Elsenham’ in Lyons Road. Both women still worked together – for Doctor Wilfred Vickers a physician and surgeon, also in Lyons Road, where they received not only board and lodging, but a small allowance in return for their labour.
In May 1915 and seemingly with encouragement from Doctor Vickers an army MO, Ernest was recruited to the Australian Medical Corps. Prior to his departure for the war zone on HMAHS Karoola he and Emily were married at Saint Bedes church Drummoyne on 4 July 1915.
While Ernest\’s duties brought him back to Australia throughout the war Emily was not able to establish a home with her new husband until 1918/19 when he was finally discharged from the army. During the early part of the war Emily and her sister-in-law Selina had apparently continued to work in Doctor Vickers\’ household at least until Emily fell pregnant in 1917 and moved away to await the birth of her first child Neville.
Despite the war and the absence of her husband and brother, Emily never forgot the cramped workers cottage in Mole Hill and her dream to provide a secure home for her family. She saved every penny of both William\’s and Ernest\’s army pay so that each could secure their own home after the war.
By 1919 Emily was finally able to settle with Ernest and young son, Neville in North Parramatta where their second child Gladys was born in 1920. Construction of their family home at Grandview Street Parramatta East had started almost immediately and was completed in 1921 so that they took up residence there in that same year. Two more children, Elsie in 1922 and Edward in 1927 were welcomed to this home and complete the next phase of Emily\’s family plan.
Emily and William were joined by their younger brother Albert who had also left the crowded Essex household in 1914 to join the army in France. All three remained resident in Australia and successfully raised families here but were never joined by any other family members all of whom stayed within the immediate Elsenham/ Dunmow/Takely area.
Both Emily and Ernest remained at Grandview Street for the rest of their lives; close to Ernest\’s workplace at Rydalmere Psychiatric Centre and family members William, Selina and Albert. The same home continued in family ownership serving members of three generations for over 70 years until it was sold to make way for urban consolidation.
Emily gave birth to four children but unfortunately her health began to decline after the birth of Edward and she died at Parramatta Hospital from surgical complications on 7 May 1934. She was only 42 years old but during her short life had made a successful transition from rural England to metropolitan Australia and furnished her young children with a stable family environment and life skills to make their homes in a wide range of rural and suburban locations in NSW.
All of her children have survived well into old age in good health, so while she was never able to share her thoughts and dreams personally with her grandchildren, her prowess as home maker, cook, seamstress and gardener have lived on by word of mouth and skills transference from her husband and children, to benefit of all of her successors that now include 7 grandchildren, some 20 great-grandchildren and ever-expanding number of great -great grandchildren.
Her dream is realised!