Annie Martha Goldman Brett (my mother)
My mother was one of a family of thirteen children belonging to William and Mary Goldman. She was a young lady who finished her education at the Barraba convent. The nuns took the girls that lived far out to give them a finishing off and taught them painting and piano playing. Previous to that mum, with her eight brothers and four sisters walked the four miles each way to Gulf Creek school. They were fairly wild and did not have horses.
William Goldman was a shepherd boy who attended the flock. Just around the bend in the river where William tended his flock there was a small log cabin with mud floors. In the cabin lived a family called Porter. Mrs Porter gave birth to a little girl calls Mary and a few days after the birth William called in to see the baby, carrying with him a small bouquet of wild flowers. When he knelt by the bed to look at the baby, Mrs Porter asked him to keep an eye on the baby when she grew up. Bill at this time was thirteen years old. Time went by and when Mary grew up, Bill took her for his wife and then came thirteen children out of this union.
(Lyall Munro Snr told me that Mrs Porter was Aboriginal and that she was my great great grandmother – Tony disputed this however, mum told me Mrs Porter was ‘as black as the ace of spades”. PP)
The Goldman family came to Barraba and took up selection of land four miles from Gulf Creek. They built a slab bark hut which had mud floors. Grandfather was of German descent and Mary was Irish. Mary could do no wrong in Bills eyes and she was a most lovable grandmother. I always loved her and you could always have a good laugh with her.
Mum tells the story that when the children started to grow up Bill would take Mary around the fences with him. She had a little pony that didn’t even need steering. When Bill stopped his horse to fix a post or loose wire, the little pony would also stop and Mary would slide off the horse and lay down under a tree, take out her book and read until Bill finished. He would say “Come on Mary” and she would hop back on the horse and read while the horse ambled on.
One of grandma’s favorite spots was down on the stock route, lying in the little creek wearing just a pair of Milanese pants and a singlet. She would just float around reading her novel. She didn't mind the leeches all over her – she just pulled them off when they started to hurt. The water was always beautiful, clean and cold, and it was a good spot except for the leeches.
Grandfather died the day my brother Bill was born – about 1931. Grandma died in about 1947. She came to town and lived with my mother a few years before she died.
Mum was a tomboy, but with all the boys in the family she couldn't be anything else. There were a few brothers that led her into trouble. At the Gulf Creek school all the kids walked and when one of my uncles did anything wrong there was usually a note home to grandma. But, as all the brothers and sisters stuck together like mud on a boot, no one could be depended on to deliver the note One story we were told, and it was true, about our grandparents, my favorite aunt, her husband and two baby daughters. It was a very hot night and the family had been to what was either the first ‘talkies’ or the pictures. When they came home they decided to have supper so they put the little girl in a bed on the front verandah and the baby in a cot, also on the verandah. Grandfather also went to bed. Grandma, aunt and uncle went to the kitchen to eat.
After a while all was quiet and grandfather was nearly asleep when he heard a noise; a gentle step. He sat up quietly and saw a man on the verandah. The man walked up to the bed and looked at the little girl, and then he went quietly down to the other end of the verandah, then back again to the little girl. He then went back to the baby and gently lifted the covers and began to pick her up. He was about to straighten up and walk away when grandfather called out. Of course the intruder dropped the baby and ran. They gave chase but never caught him. They did not find out any more about that man, but thank goodness grandfather did not want his cup of tea that night; it either got lost or the wind blew it out of their hands.
When the teacher woke up that no note was going to be delivered, the teacher decided that he note could be taken and given to grandma by a neighbouring child, but the teacher made one mistake; he told the class in general that Ollie was to take the note to Goldman’s. After a hasty discussion the Goldman kids came up with the idea (the Goldman boys were too big) that it had to be Annie to ask for the note from Ollie or he would get bashed up by a girl. This with the Goldman boys to back Annie up was not a good proposition – he always handed over the note.
The little store at Gulf Creek was a busy little place and usually had produce sitting in big bags outside the door. One of my uncles decided that a bag of potatoes would be just the thing to take home to grandma. Each day he dragged the potatoes part of the way home. It took three weeks to get the potatoes home and by this time the bag was just about worn through and the potatoes were going rotten. Uncle triumphantly pulled the potatoes to the door and on being told where he got the potatoes from, grandfather immediately gave my uncle a good hiding and ordered him to take the potatoes back to the store. I don’t think he ever took another thing that did not belong to him again.
One of my other uncles was a very wild man. He was one of the first men in Barraba to own a car. When driving home from town he never let a little thing like gates worry him, he just drove through the wooden gates and broke them up like matches. He at this particular time, had a truck and it being around Christmas time he had to go to town and do the Christmas shopping and pick up a new take for the new house.
After having smashed too many gates in his day, the people a few miles up the road, on seeing a Goldman going to town, decided on there being no chance of him coming home again for two or three days.
(That seems to be the end of that! PP)
William Goldman was a shepherd boy who attended the flock. Just around the bend in the river where William tended his flock there was a small log cabin with mud floors. In the cabin lived a family called Porter. Mrs Porter gave birth to a little girl calls Mary and a few days after the birth William called in to see the baby, carrying with him a small bouquet of wild flowers. When he knelt by the bed to look at the baby, Mrs Porter asked him to keep an eye on the baby when she grew up. Bill at this time was thirteen years old. Time went by and when Mary grew up, Bill took her for his wife and then came thirteen children out of this union.
(Lyall Munro Snr told me that Mrs Porter was Aboriginal and that she was my great great grandmother – Tony disputed this however, mum told me Mrs Porter was ‘as black as the ace of spades”. PP)
The Goldman family came to Barraba and took up selection of land four miles from Gulf Creek. They built a slab bark hut which had mud floors. Grandfather was of German descent and Mary was Irish. Mary could do no wrong in Bills eyes and she was a most lovable grandmother. I always loved her and you could always have a good laugh with her.
Mum tells the story that when the children started to grow up Bill would take Mary around the fences with him. She had a little pony that didn’t even need steering. When Bill stopped his horse to fix a post or loose wire, the little pony would also stop and Mary would slide off the horse and lay down under a tree, take out her book and read until Bill finished. He would say “Come on Mary” and she would hop back on the horse and read while the horse ambled on.
One of grandma’s favorite spots was down on the stock route, lying in the little creek wearing just a pair of Milanese pants and a singlet. She would just float around reading her novel. She didn't mind the leeches all over her – she just pulled them off when they started to hurt. The water was always beautiful, clean and cold, and it was a good spot except for the leeches.
Grandfather died the day my brother Bill was born – about 1931. Grandma died in about 1947. She came to town and lived with my mother a few years before she died.
Mum was a tomboy, but with all the boys in the family she couldn't be anything else. There were a few brothers that led her into trouble. At the Gulf Creek school all the kids walked and when one of my uncles did anything wrong there was usually a note home to grandma. But, as all the brothers and sisters stuck together like mud on a boot, no one could be depended on to deliver the note One story we were told, and it was true, about our grandparents, my favorite aunt, her husband and two baby daughters. It was a very hot night and the family had been to what was either the first ‘talkies’ or the pictures. When they came home they decided to have supper so they put the little girl in a bed on the front verandah and the baby in a cot, also on the verandah. Grandfather also went to bed. Grandma, aunt and uncle went to the kitchen to eat.
After a while all was quiet and grandfather was nearly asleep when he heard a noise; a gentle step. He sat up quietly and saw a man on the verandah. The man walked up to the bed and looked at the little girl, and then he went quietly down to the other end of the verandah, then back again to the little girl. He then went back to the baby and gently lifted the covers and began to pick her up. He was about to straighten up and walk away when grandfather called out. Of course the intruder dropped the baby and ran. They gave chase but never caught him. They did not find out any more about that man, but thank goodness grandfather did not want his cup of tea that night; it either got lost or the wind blew it out of their hands.
When the teacher woke up that no note was going to be delivered, the teacher decided that he note could be taken and given to grandma by a neighbouring child, but the teacher made one mistake; he told the class in general that Ollie was to take the note to Goldman’s. After a hasty discussion the Goldman kids came up with the idea (the Goldman boys were too big) that it had to be Annie to ask for the note from Ollie or he would get bashed up by a girl. This with the Goldman boys to back Annie up was not a good proposition – he always handed over the note.
The little store at Gulf Creek was a busy little place and usually had produce sitting in big bags outside the door. One of my uncles decided that a bag of potatoes would be just the thing to take home to grandma. Each day he dragged the potatoes part of the way home. It took three weeks to get the potatoes home and by this time the bag was just about worn through and the potatoes were going rotten. Uncle triumphantly pulled the potatoes to the door and on being told where he got the potatoes from, grandfather immediately gave my uncle a good hiding and ordered him to take the potatoes back to the store. I don’t think he ever took another thing that did not belong to him again.
One of my other uncles was a very wild man. He was one of the first men in Barraba to own a car. When driving home from town he never let a little thing like gates worry him, he just drove through the wooden gates and broke them up like matches. He at this particular time, had a truck and it being around Christmas time he had to go to town and do the Christmas shopping and pick up a new take for the new house.
After having smashed too many gates in his day, the people a few miles up the road, on seeing a Goldman going to town, decided on there being no chance of him coming home again for two or three days.
(That seems to be the end of that! PP)