Rosetta Lees (married name GAYLARD)
| Town/City | Melbourne |
|---|---|
| First name | Rosetta |
| Last name | Lees (married name GAYLARD) |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 21-10-1889 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1913 |
| Submitted by | Jacqueline St. Clair |
Story
ROSETTA (ROSE) LEES (married name, GAYLARD)
BORN 21-10-1899 at Bushbury (near Wolverhampton, England).
DIED 21-2-1992 at Bendigo, Central Victoria, Australia
Around 1912 Rose’s father, Arthur Lees, travelled from England to Australia on the ship “Chemnitz”, 6 months ahead of his family, in order to check out prospects for work. Also, by doing this, he could then nominate the whole family to migrate at the lowly rate of ten pounds. About 6 months later, on 1st April 1913, the rest of the family left England for Australia on the ship, “Port MacQuarie”. This included Rose’s mother, (named Rosetta also), Albert Duncan (known as Duncan), Annie (known as Nancy), Gertrude (Truda), Arthur, Fred, Douglas and Ken, as well as their half-brother Jack (from Arthur’s first marriage).
Prior to leaving England, Rose’s mother worked day and night making clothes for the children. She was concerned that she would not be able to wash clothes on the journey. She made a set of clothes for each child, for each week that they were on the ship; a major task given the number of children. She also brought with her a sewing machine and mattresses.
A few days after arriving in Melbourne, they travelled to Boort where Rose’s father had found work on a farm. The resourcefulness of Rose’s mother became very useful at this stage, as the only furniture her father had managed to obtain was a bed. So her mother pulled the crates apart that had contained the mattresses and sewing machine and used the wood to make furniture.
Rose, on arriving in Australia, found work as a housemaid at a farm at Boort, Victoria. While working at this farm she met Henry (Harry) Gaylard, who had migrated from England in c1909, and was working at the same farm. They later married and settled on a farm of their own in the harsh northern Mallee region of Victoria, at Cocamba, near Manangatang.
Their farmhouse was situated on a hill in the middle of the farm and as Harry did not own a watch, Rose would signal to him that his meal was ready, by raising a flag attached to a large pole. This pole was then secured by wire loops that Harry had put on the four sides of the home’s perimeter fence. In this way Harry could see the raised flag from whatever corner of the farm he was working that day.
The house was made of weatherboard with a tin roof, and the internal walls were made of hessian. This hessian was then covered by Rose and her mother with wallpaper. This not only made it more attractive but it also helped with insulation. However in a mice plague, the mice saw the gum used on the wallpaper as a food source, and would eat the wallpaper!
Rose gave birth to 6 children; 2 died as babies and one at aged 7 years. The three surviving children were Alice, Freda and Duncan.
Their farm produced wheat and sheep. It was a hard life for a woman from England as heat, drought, duststorms, and mice and locust plagues put her to the test.