Shep's Place Family Tree

Although Lance's son, Allen, did not hear his father mention his attendance at Way College, Edith said that he was there for a time. This school at Greenhill Road, Wayville, specialised in agricultural subjects. It was later to become the site of the Methodist Ladies College ‎(now Annesley College)‎. During this time Lance boarded with various friends and relatives. Briefly with the Lakemans at Woodville, with the Oscar Wilsons at Evandale, with his Lines relatives, the Fullers at St. Peters and at the townhouse of ‎(later Sir)‎ Richard Butler ‎(Premier of S.A. 1905)‎. The son, Richard Layton Butler ‎(also later Sir, and premier 1927 - 1930)‎ was a special friend of Lance and attended both Mallala and the Adelaide Agricultural School with him. They were the same age.

Before returning to Mallala Lance gained farming experience at a Government experimental farm at Kybybolite, 13 miles east of Naracoorte, S.A. From there Lance returned to farm with his father at Mallala followed by Balaklava in the 1907/09 period. As was seen in his father's story Lance was given a section of land at Balaklava on 6 Apr 1916 which he farmed on his own account until the sale to C.A. Nankevill of Brentwood on 2 Sep 1919. By this time Lance was in his 35th year and no doubt considered himself to be a confirmed bachelor.

Lance's next farming venture was at Pinnaroo, bordering Victoria. His interest in this area had been roused in 1914 when Balaklava people took a number of horses there and left them to graze. Two years later when the owners ‎(and Lance)‎ went to investigate the fate of these animals all were very pleased to discover how well they had fared and were more than satisfied with the result. This led to Lance's Pinnaroo purchase of 1053 acres, in the Hundred of Pinnaroo, County of Chandos, Section 18, from Marie Elizabeth Glynn and Dr. Robert McMahon Glynn, medical practitioner of Riverton, S.A. on 24 Mar 1921. They held the mortgage for 16 months, then he paid them in full. The wheat crop was so profitable in his one season there, that Lance was offered an exceptionally high price by Norman Hunt of Pinnaroo and Hectorville he accepted, and the transfer is dated 6 Jun 1922.

As part payment ‎(transfer dated 4 Aug 1922)‎ Lance accepted 2 acres at what is now the suburb of Hectorville. Allotments numbered 77/78/79 and 80 bordered by South and East Streets, so a corner lot. At this time Lance held mortgages on "other land", details not given, for Francis Hurtle England. On 9 Mar 1920 Lance had financed his cousin Eunice Lakeman when she purchased a house at First Avenue, Royston Park. This she paid back on 26 Feb 1923 when she took out a Savings Bank mortgage.

He next went to Kimba ‎(named from the aboriginal Kimbar meaning a bark hut)‎ 300 miles from Adelaide, on Eyre Peninsula. Much of this area was taken for Soldier Settlement following WW1. The details of Lance's occupation have vanished from Lands Titles although the index shows the transfer of Crown Land in the Hundred of Curtinye ‎(Kimba)‎ to him, There was originally a station on a pastoral lease named Curtinye taken out in 1872 by J. Sinclair. Lease no. 2181. Similarly details have vanished of Crown Land leased by Allen F. who had 77 acres in the County of Eyre ‎(adjoining Murray Lands)‎ and held another lease at Minlacowie ‎(now Minlaton)‎ and these were reabsorbed and eventually sold so that, like Kimba, one cannot trace names and dates.

Lance was still farming at Kimba when he married, aged 42 in 1924.

He was a fine looking man, very tall and lean. He spoke with a characteristic drawl that never altered and he had the same dry sense of humour as his sister Mabel. This was not altogether appreciated by his bride who was a little lacking in this department. She was his first cousin, Edith Mary Lakeman, by then aged 35. but still retaining the fair beauty for which she had been noted in her youth. This was said to have been inherited from her great, great grandmother Charlotte Kemp ‎(nee Fuller)‎, mother of her great-grandmother Mrs. Samuel Reeves, and Charlotte in her day, 18th century, was known as a "Toast of Kent".

They made a handsome couple. E.M.S. who was then aged 4 remembers the wedding clearly. She had been asked to be a flower girl, but for a reason now forgotten was denied this pleasure. Due to the crush of people throwing confetti outside the church door ‎(St. Peter's Presbyterian)‎, E.M.S. was prevented from scattering her own handful so clutched it firmly all the way to First Avenue, Royston Park, where the catered for reception was being held. Edith obligingly stood on the verandah by the front door, to save a mess in the entrance hall, while father of E.M.S. lifted her up to carefully drop the by now sticky handful of confetti on her aunts's head. There was a wreath of silver leaves holding the filmy veil and matching leaves outlined the dropped waistline of the silk and lace wedding gown. What impressed E.M.S. most at the ‎(evening)‎ breakfast was the red jelly set in a wine glass at each place at the table, and the hired waiter attending to the guests, and then the newly-marrieds driving away in a car with chauffeur and an old shoe or two thrown after.

A few days later they set out for Kimba, a grain and sheep area, travelling in the second hand car Lance had purchased. Cars were still a novelty and the dirt roads were dusty and rutted, if not quagmires, and it was a long, uncomfortable journey to a rather primitive house in the middle of nowhere. Kangaroos and emus were still a feature of the landscape and passed by Edith's kitchen window.

On the night of their arrival their much needed rest was soon disturbed by a noisy "tin kettling" which was then a traditional welcome to newly weds. The very new Mrs. Wilson was much annoyed. "But Edith", drawled Lance, "they are only amusing themselves". "But not at my expense". snapped Edith, and refused to leave her bed to supply the expected late supper. The invading party with sticks rattling washing boards, tin buckets as drums, horns and bell had to depart unfed, and more seriously, without quenching their ‎(alcoholic)‎ thirsts. Edith was most indignant at this introduction to her married life on a farm. She described the event to E.M.S. some 30 years later and was still "not amused".

She stayed as Malvern with Mabel and Allen F. for some weeks leading up to the birth at nearby Unley of her only child, Allen Lancelot, in October 1925, then returned to Kimba. Country life did not really please her, particularly on the day that the baby's pram, well draped with netting against flies and mosquitoes, was invaded by a curious goanna.

When Lance decided that the Kimba property was not going to he a viable one he sold about 1926 and held a mortgage for some years to help the buyer, even providing seed wheat. Even so, the new owner was not successful and the land apparently returned to the Crown. No history of it could be traced by E.M.S.

He next purchased 480 acres at Giles Flat, 8 miles from Strathalbyn, called "Karalee". This was rich country with good rainfall and a big contrast to Kimba. The house was again small and primitive and termites were making inroads, but the surrounding bush was thick with blue wrens and native robins, so amazingly unafraid, that they gathered at the feet of any dispenser of crumbs, as E.M.S. remembers from the September holidays of 1926. Lance was already negotiating for a house and the acreage about it right in the village of Ashbourne. This he was able to buy and called it "Westbrooke". The final "e" then matched that of "Westbroke", the Manor of Lydd in Kent. Whether or not Lance was aware of this manor is not known.

"Karalee" was reached by what appeared then as an immensely steep hill and whether by car or buggy it seemed an achievement to gain the summit. Besides the horse and buggy, Lance had acquired an "Overland" car with canvas hood and mica windows in the canvas side curtains, and this vehicle after years of excellent service was turned into a buckboard for farm use after having been traded in on a new car and re-purchased at a low cost. E.M.S. recalls Edith driving the horse and buggy, very nervously, with teeth gritted and fashionable hat askew. She learned to drive the car, even more nervously.

The new property into which the Wilsons moved in January 1927 ‎(from H.R. Meyer)‎ was not far from "Karalee". The hand written contract is still extant. Here is a copy:-

"An agreement made 14 Oct 1926 ‎(in words)‎ between Henry Robert Meyer of Ashbourne, Apiarist, hereafter called the Vendor, of the one part and Purchaser of the same place who hereby agrees to purchase all the land comprised and described in certificates of Title Register Book Volume 851 folio 68 volume 266 folio 213 volume 1253 folio 80 volume 227 folio 180 volume 145 folio 236. and together with the dwelling house thereon and all other fixed improvements including a bath, windmill, and piping and for the price of 800 pounds Sterling of which the sum of 25 pounds Sterling shall be paid as a deposit and in part payment of 475 pounds Sterling shall be paid by the purchaser to the vendor on 15 Nov 1926 and the balance of 300 pounds Sterling shall be payable and paid on 1 Mar 1927 ‎(in words)‎. The vendor shall execute a transfer of the said land upon receipt of the said sum of 475 pounds and the certificate of title when registered in the name of the purchaser shall be deposited with the vendor for security for the due payment of the said balance of 300 pounds Sterling which shall be at percent term interest at the rate of 6 pounds Sterling per annum to be computed from 15 Nov 1926. Possession of the said land shall be given and taken when the said installment of 475 pounds Sterling is paid to the vendor on 15 Nov 1926. All rates and taxes shall be adjusted to the date of possession. The vendor shall pay all stamp duty and fees and all expenses payable in connection with the transfer and other documents relating to the transaction. Upon payment of all purchase money and interest under the agreement the purchaser shall be entitled to receive the said certificate of Title registered in his name as the owner of the Fee Simple of the land free from all encumbrance.

As witness the hands of the said parties the day and years herein before written. The two parties signed, the witness was their solicitor R.M. Tucker of Strathalbyn. The duty stamp was one shilling ‎(10 cents)‎."

A third page written in pencil set out the exact size of each of the sections in acres, roods and perches. It was not until 1955 and Lance sold on his retirement that it was discovered that the house which he had "owned" for about 29 years was not on any of the 5 sections but on one that was inherited by R.H.D. Myer, son of H.R. Myer resulting in a certain amount of readjustment.

Lance's land was mainly on Section 2339 of Ashbourne which was part of the 1839 GreenHills survey and until 1865 was called Finniss Flat. In that year when allotments were surveyed by the then owner C.S. Keeling he renamed the area Ashbourne after his home in Derbyshire, England. The owners of 2339 who followed were Aleck Lindsay Kirkham, Caleb Gosden, Elizabeth Ophel Port Elliot 1918, Hugh William Desmond Higgins 1919, but the latter must have failed as it reverted to E. Ophel in 1919. She sold to H.R. Myer on 8 Apr 1922. The transfer to L.K. Wilson was registered on 13 Dec 1926.

According to Edith the Wilsons moved from "Karalee" to Westbrooke" in January 1927. Soon after Lance had an addition built in matching stone and brick. This was a 20 ft. long dining room/living room with an open fireplace and a hatch into the kitchen for meals to be handed through. To reach this room one went down one passage and up another. It was not until a later owner that a door was made into the kitchen. The rooms were large but only two bedrooms meant son Allen slept on a side verandah when anyone stayed. The front "parlour" in which no-one ever sat was kept in perfect order for the reception of the occasional caller. There was a splendid dry cellar and it was just the place in midsummer for children to sit on the stone stairs to eat lunch. A gate at the stair head prevented crawling babies and toddlers from premature death.

Bull's Creek ran through the back of the property at the foot of a rise of hills. In those days there were deep pools which never dried out in summer and ensured water for the cows and the windmill. Edith never learned to milk. She remained always an urban lady who just happened to live in the country. Her sister Violet was just the opposite and had spent part of her childhood on a farm and revelled in the country life and kept up her skill at milking whenever on a visit. The house was fenced in on three sides from the cow paddocks and the fourth was the fence dividing them from the Myer apple orchard next door. For a time apple orchards were planted at several places, but Lance was never tempted. He understood crops, sheep and cattle and kept to those. Both he and Edith had the Wilson passion for gardens. She for flowers, he for an equally flourishing vegetable garden.

The village was a misnomer. There were no shops, no public hall. The Post Office moved to which ever house the postmistress occupied. The graveyard ‎(well filled, for it was an early one, and by the 1930's the haunt of many rabbits)‎ was half a mile away and cheek by jowl with the Kirkham property. There was, however a cricket ground and tennis courts and these were the centre of social gatherings and lavish afternoon teas. on Saturday afternoons, as E.M.S. remembers. It also had the largest and most ferocious mosquitoes ever encountered. There was a church and a small schoolroom where the Wilson heir learned to read and write in the care of Miss Alexandrine ‎(May)‎ Matheson ‎(1875-1953)‎ of the Strathalbyn Matheson family. She had other teacher sisters of whom one ‎(Maragaret Ann)‎ lived to be 100 years at her death in 1965.

Only once can E.M.S. recall that her father stayed at Ashbourne. Certain events stand out. A gaol escapee was believed to be lurking in the district. One morning a still unshaven Keith Stevenson took a short cut through the then still thick bush to meet Lance who had gone ahead to inspect sheep. On the way a local female also on the same track encountered him shrieked wildly, turned and ran. Only a chance meeting with Lance to whom she dramatically announced that the wanted man was close by saved a phone call to the Strathalbyn police.

After an evening's entertainment, whilst the Stevensons were still holidaying at Ashbourne, on the journey home the car lights failed. It was the aforementioned "Overland", so a storm lantern was borrowed and Keith had to balance on the car running board beside driver Lance and hold up the lantern with its feeble light to show him the way. His wife in the back seat with the children said in failing accents at intervals, "Keith, oh! Keith, don't fall". The children, including.Allen the 3rd thought it a great adventure. E.M.S. recalls the strange shaped shadow of the car fleeting by and the raucous chorus of frogs at every watercourse or damp area passed.

In 1927 Lance purchased a property at James Street Bideville ‎(now Ascot Park)‎ from Otto Hyalmar Abert, butcher of Plympton. The mortgage was transferred to Edith on 17 Sep 1936 which remained in her name until 21 Aug 1946 when Rita Joan Camp-Smith of New Hindmarsh purchased. Lance held a number of mortgages. Strathalbyn, Bower Road, Port Adelaide, Broadview, Hundred of Kondaparinga, Hundred of Noarlunga and on his late father's house at Malvern. Mortgages on houses paid a higher interest than banks and were widely used as an investment at the time, Allen F, had died on 30 Jun 1933 and his will dated 16 Mar 1916 named Lance and daughter Mabel as beneficiaries and the Malvern house on allotments 34 and 35 at Dover Street became their joint property. They held this either as a leasehold or on mortgage until they sold on 5 Apr 1944 to Sydney Kennett of Frewville

Once established at Ashbourne Lance increased his holdings to "Summer hill" ‎(1932)‎ - 800 acres just south of Strathalbyn, ‎(Ashbourne and Strathalbyn are 8 miles apart)‎; he added "Salt Pool", 800 acres, and once part of Rankine's "Rushmore Estate", and another 700 acres at the combined West End, Finniss and Ashbourne places. Of these only the homestead named "Westbrooke". "Karalee" and "Summerhill" had dwellings. The latter again reached by a steep hill. had four unlined rooms minus ceilings where a manager and his wife lived with a lot of hens that wandered in and out of the back door leaving visiting cards in the kitchen as E.M.S. observed about 1934 during her summer holiday. This house looked down on the attractive little town cupped in the surrounding hills.

It may have been that year, or another when Lance was away fighting a bush fire with other local men, when fire came racing down the hill behind "Westbrooke", a northerly hot wind fanning it to a blaze. By the time Edith had packed some belonging and a basket of food, her son Allen and niece into the car to make an escape, the fence posts near the house were alight. In moments the wind changed and blew the flames back on the blackened earth quenching them, so the car was unpacked again. After nightfall the whole countryside was alive with glowing stumps and partly burned trees against the intense blackness of the moonless night, a multitude of outsize flickering fire flies.

Lance prospered. He was a splendid farmer, sheep being his principle interest, a herd of cows in the home paddock yielded well and the visiting Stevenson cousins took pleasure in turning the handle of the separator, the adults even more pleased at being spared the chore.

At Giles Flat Percy Clark lived with the white ants at "Karalee" and paid his weekly rent of 5 shillings ‎(50 cents)‎ on time and the Wilson sheep grew fat about him. Lance changed but little and still amused with his asides, such as when out in the car on the way to "Karalee" it passed the daughter of a local family with her child born without benefit of married parents - a shocking thing in the 1930s. he said as he drove past, "Ah! there's a .... There are hundreds of them about and nobody knows where they come from!"

In due course the farm became Wilson and Son with Edith a silent partner, and after the marriage in 1950, of Allen Wilson the 3rd, more land was assigned to him, easing down Lance's work load. By 1955, aged 70, he was ready to retire and chose suburban Brighton. "Westbooke" was sold to a local young man, Dean Meyer and the apple orchards increased further. At South Brighton with sister Mabel installed in the adjoining flat and everything in good order, Lance was able to turn to fishing from the local jetty. Only a hill and the width of a few houses separated the house from the sea front. A very convenient hill because it sheltered their house from too salty fierce winds from the sea and protected Edith's garden.

He enjoyed 12 months of comfortable relaxation and if angling was not a huge success he had the fun of trying. He died suddenly of a stroke on June 24th 1956. He was aged 71.