Shep's Place Family Tree

She was to have been baptised Marion McLeod Wilson, but even that did not transpire as she does not seem to have had the ceremony performed for her. As has been already stated in her Reeves grandparents history, she had no education at all by the time she was eleven and then only two years at the Misses Dumas school at Mt. Barker, as she was needed to work ‎(very hard)‎ at home. Her sister Nell, so much older married in 1867 so that ended all lessons. The second sister Maria had died so young and 5 boys followed - as 8th of 15 children she was "pig in the middle", with 5 brothers and 2 sisters younger she was kept busy from morning to night. She grew very tall in contrast to the small Reeves women, had soft light brown hair. grey-blue eyes and such a brilliant complexion, and was so very thin that heads were shaken and tuberculosis prognosticated, fortunately in error.

Her slightness was a disadvantage as when she was drawing water up from the well the weight of the bucket sent her in and down to the bottom. Somehow she got herself up to the top again, with the aid of the rope and a brother passing by on seeing her soaked state, asked in mild surprise where had she been. "To the bottom of the well of course. where else", she retorted, but was not believed.

In spite of Marion's limited education she spoke well, and read whenever opportunity permitted. The Misses Dumas taught her to make tatted lace, which she did "by the mile" and thread and a shuttle reposed in a pocket, always, up to the time of her death. She had a placid nature and never fussed and was generous to a fault. As has been said earlier, her white bulldog was her close and much loved companion. Once when visiting a neighbour, whose house she entered by the back door, leaving Venus to wait there for her, she was escorted to the front door to leave for home. That Venus had gone hunting was her thought until the annoyed neighbour arrived from across the hills to demand that she return and remove her animal, still guarding the back door and refusing to allow any of the inhabitants to leave that way. One thing Ellen, her mother, insisted on, was what she had endured herself - the back board - which kept Marion's spine so straight and her carriage so graceful, that domestic, cook and nurse maid, unpaid that she was, to the end of her life she was comfortable in a chair only when sitting on its edge, bolt upright, spin stiff and straight. As the years passed and the brothers and sisters grew up, gradually leaving home, Marion's hard life eased sufficiently for some social activities as her Birthday Book with many entries of in-laws and friends gives evidence. The wealthy Quaker family of Mt. Barker named May, sent two daughters to England to further their education and offered to pay all expenses for Marion to accompany them. This was refused by Allen who had no love or sympathy for daughters and by Ellen, unwilling to lose such a hard working and useful helper. That was in Marion's mid teens.

As has been said in other sections Marion was housekeeper at the Monarto/Callington farm of her older brothers until Allen Frederick married in 1872. Later, in the 70's and into the 80's several of the family rented a house at Edward Street, Norwood. These were the non- farming brothers, Oscar, Sam, Arthur and Osmond, and the two youngest girls, Maude and Ada, at Hardwick finishing school, came when permitted, and there, once more, Marion was the cook/housekeeper until all had gone elsewhere. She then joined brother Ernest at Carrieton ‎(Eurilpa)‎ in the same capacity. By this time Marion was past 30, planned marriages by Allen and friend Oscar Lines for her were refused, the Kerr son, another possibility died, and doubtless she considered marriage was unlikely, though still a handsome woman.

Towards the end of 1886 she injured one hand quite badly with an axe while chopping wood, abscesses formed and the hand became infected. Ernest took little interest in such matters and they were far from medical aid. During the Carrieton years an Englishman, representative of an Adelaide drapery warehouse had become known to them when he called with his van and team of two horses, his name was Charles Percy Lakeman and, indeed, the earliest contact had been when he was teaching at Hawker, a one teacher school "in the middle of nowhere".

Marriage: When Charles arrived and found Marion's predicament really serious, he helped her pack her belongings and drove her the many miles to the city. They reached Adelaide late at night and he handed Marion over to his landlady at his Hindley Street lodging. This was to lead to gossip as Charles had to occupy his own room in the same house. Next day he took her to a doctor, then to her brother Oscar and his wife Louis at Opie Street, Evandale while Charles set about arranging their marriage which took place at St. Bartholomew's at Norwood. I have no knowledge of their first house, rented of course as Charles had no interest in owning one, but daughter Violet knew of 15 rented premises over the years. A lease for 12 months must have meant a hasty hunt for the next.

Marion's sister-in-law, Louisa, her temporary hostess, had lost no time in acquainting Ellen at Mt. Barker of the wedding and described it as "a hasty affair". Ellen took this as Louisa may have intended, and it caused a rift between mother and daughter until the first child was born 13 months later. Sighs of relief from Ellen, all was forgiven. The Lakemans were then at Yorke Street, suburban Maylands. In 1888 they were at Robsart Street, Parkside and the following year at Enterprise Street, Hyde Park following on from a shorter term at Edgeware Road, Hyde Park. In June 1891 when the third daughter made her appearance the address was "Mabel Cottage", Yorke Street, Kensington, and the fourth and last child, Violet, was born at the 6th house at Rose Street ‎(later to be renamed Palmerston Road)‎ North Unley. At Alfred Street, Parkside, the 7th, Marion's health broke down. Four children in five and a half years, too many small suburban cottages in narrow streets that were claustrophobic and restricting to a country woman who for 32 years had known only wide open spaces was just too much. There also was the constant hunting for yet another house to rent, the all too frequent packing and unpacking of goods and chattels.

There is still extant a faded photograph taken at Hyde Park, with a thin gaunt Marion holding a baby, a toddler at her side and a neighbour's older child also present, just inside the picket fence and gate to the street opposite the front door of a row of joined houses. Greatly alarmed, Charles decided, in the English fashion, that only a holiday by the sea would cure her, and was able to rent "Lily Cottage" at sea side Grange with only sand hills between it and the beach. The cottage was taken for three weeks. Marion improved so rapidly that Charles managed to convince the owners of this holiday house in what was later to become Sturt Street, to let the family remain indefinitely. So that was the 8th ‎(perhaps 9th)‎ abode.

Charles had been so startled from his complacency that he undertook the task of packing all they owned at Alfred Street, Parkside, unaided and reached "Lily Cottage" with a wagon piled so high that the children including 4 year old Violet, were fearful that the load would topple as the horses strained up the hill that has long since vanished on the Grange Road. Marion, happy again, purchased a Jersey cow, Pansy on account of her velvety eyes, made a garden which flourished in the sandy soil as she was born with the proverbial green thumb, procured ducks and hens, sent the older girls to Grange School to a much respected master, Mr. Graham Muirhead who had a profoundly deaf daughter he managed to teach. This allowed them to run bare footed over the sand hills to the deserted beach to shell collect, to bathe in nightdresses, but not when father wished to swim as he scorned bathing costumes, and all was well for a long time.

Then came the disaster of Easter 1901. Charles had held a good position as head of the wholesale drapery section at the city store of John Martins to which he travelled daily by train. There was a large fire that Easter which gutted the whole section over which Charles ruled, and it was the end of his employment as the owners decided to discontinue that section of the store. It would have been an extremely difficult time for Marion but for the regular hampers sent by train from Mt. Barker and Ellen. The cow, poultry, and garden also contributed, so no one went hungry.

Charles had spent about 16 years with John Martins, his loss was a bitter blow. He had received a belated 300 pounds from his father's estate, but soon lost it by injudiciously playing the Stock Market at Adelaide. He now had the bright idea of looking for a gold mine to recoup his fortune. He set off with a few items in a sugar bag over his shoulder for the north of S.A. He had wearied walking from the Grange to the city, about six miles. Others were also job hunting as there was recession in progress and positions scarce ‎(and gold mines more so)‎, Charles Percy didn't "hump his bluey" much further and called on his brother-in-law Arthur Wilson at Knightsbridge ‎(now part of Leabrook)‎ where he was persuaded to spend the night, then another and another until he gave up his project and returned home.

At the Grange he took on an agency for a mixture supposed to increase egg laying in pullets, the substance to be incorporated with bran and pollard. Needless to say it was not remunerative. There were two or three years without a fixed income which took every bit of Marion's ingenuity and contriving to keep her family fed and in good health. A legacy from her mother who had died in 1901 helped eke out the situation, for the welcome and regular hampers had ceased with Ellen's death.

Eventually Charles found work in the country at Nenke's Store, Kapunda and sent his laundry home by rail for Marion to see to and stiffly starch his high collars and removable cuffs, so fashionable then, and all must be returned by train. Then he was employed by D. & W. Murray, Adelaide. and travelled in the Tanunda-Lyndoch districts, did stock taking for the occasional bankrupt country store, but was in the main, back in his own line of warehouse drapery work. C.P. was not an alcoholic as was his brother Alfred, nor a money grubber like George and he certainly lacked his father's knack of prosperity. One small glass of port wine and he would commence to warble "Willow, tit willow, tit willow", popular then as were all Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics. This would cause excruciating embarrassment to his offspring.

After eight years there the family moved from the Grange on 15 Jun 1905, the 12th birthday of Violet, to Woodville and she travelled by train daily back to the Grange School. The family had attended an Anglican Church while there, but the vicar when preaching had the annoying habit of using his tongue to lick widely around his mouth, earning him the nickname of Licky So and So. At St. Margaret's, Woodville, to Charles horror the incumbent was this same Licky so he promptly removed them all to the Presbyterian Church, a move which was to change the lives of two daughters in later years. They occupied three different houses at Woodville, the 10th, 11th and 12th. One of them was in Hughes Street.

Before they left the Grange, their tenancy having expired, Marion's brother Arthur Wilson who owned a large property and house at suburban Paradise offered her the use of this place rent free, to act as caretaker as he was moving to Bordertown in the south east as Town Clerk and taking most of his eleven children with him. Marion accepted joyfully, and packed her belongings. All unknown to Marion, Arthur had been offered a very good cash sale. He accepted but did not trouble to inform his sister. The Jersey cow, Pansy, was sold so the days of rich milk, cream and the butter Marion made were at an end. She had used the proceeds to purchase needed items so there was no money to replace this useful friend.

At Woodville she nursed Violet through a severe illness, a fever of some kind, which left the plump 12 year old pale, thin and devitalized so she was dispatched to Naracoorte to Will and Maude and remained for the whole of 1906 and part of 1907 and attended Miss Sharpley's school close by. At Woodville, Marion, an ardent gardener, would work miracles in neglected gardens, so that the owners happily sold and gave the Lakeman's notice and Marion would again have to wearily tramp the rounds of finding new accommodation. Violet was 14 when she returned home to the current Woodville house to find her mother had been desperately ill with a burst appendix. At once Violet became nurse and housekeeper though so young. The wound had been purposely left open by the surgeon and every day Violet had to pour hydrogen peroxide into it. The shock to Marion's system caused a breakdown from which she never fully recovered though she lived to a great age, her short term memory became permanently affected. She was 53. Violet remained at home until she 19, as Marion took a long time to recover her health.

One other anecdote of Woodville. At the second house they were next door neighbours of thieves. No eggs, no fruit, few flowers and once, when the girls had all made themselves sets of embroidered and belaced underwear and put them into the open laundry ready to be softened by washing as the new cotton material was rather stiff, the whole lot vanished overnight. One Sunday morning, the second daughter Edith watched as a small girl pulled a fence paling aside, squeezed through and denuded the violet bed of blossoms. When the child could hold no more Edith stepped out and said sweetly "thank you for saving me the trouble", and plucked the bunch away from her. The girl was like lightening in her disappearance through the loose paling which was promptly hammered up, but still the things vanished. After this came the 12th house in 1908.

This time the Lakemans were at Arthur Street, Unley where there were a number of Chinese gardens. "John Chinaman" came regularly to the Lakeman house with high quality fruits and vegetables which Marion gladly bought, but house 13 was soon to be occupied at 62 Rose Terrace, Wayville, its name "Argentville". Charles was acquainted with the Rev. Morton who in turn was a friend of the then political Premier of South Australia, Archibald Henry Peake, who owned and lived in a large villa called "Wyoming" at Rose Street and also the smaller though still sizeable "Argentville" of eight stone rooms with a vacant allotment between. It was available for a rent of 27 shillings and 6 pence per week, a high rental for the time when 10 shillings or less was more usual. Recommend-ation from parson to premier secured the house for the Lakeman family. All four daughters were employed and C.P. had rejoined John Martins as head floor walker, He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the famous store ‎(now alas no more)‎ which had been in business since 1865; he saw to the assistants doing their work well and the welfare of customers was his prime concern, and he conducted them back to their waiting carriages if such were owned. He was the stately English gentleman, dressed in black swallow tail frock coat, striped grey trousers and impeccable linen. By coincidence a rival department store, Miller Andersons of Hindley Street, had a head floor walker named Lakeman, a bachelor, There were no others with that surname in the state. Each received the other's correspondence now and then.

In spite of suffering less than robust health this was perhaps the happiest part of Marion's married life. A large garden ‎(with the popular palm trees)‎ for her enjoyment, no money worries, a houseful of cheerful girls and their friends. Sunday lunches after church with crowded table of all the good things the daughters had concocted on Saturday afternoon, and always the famous apple pie with lemon icing that visitors found so enticing.

The year 1919 was their last at this comfortable house as it was required for a member of the Peake family. An excellent house at a suitable price was for sale at suburban Dulwich and Marion had high hopes for securing it on a mortgage. A down payment of 30 pounds was required so she asked Charles to give it to her from money received from England. He refused. Once more it was a rented house at Camden, west of the city but only for 9 months as the eldest daughter Eunice, having taken part in so many shifts was determined a house must be purchased. Her cousin Lancelot Wilson helped out until a bank mortgage could be raised and the family left for No. 15 on February 1st 1920 at 147 First Avenue Royston Park. E.M.S. was born that day so her mother, by then Violet Stevenson, took no part in the removal.

Charles had left John Martins and was with Macrows of Hindley Street in 1921 where he remained until two weeks before his death. There was no forcible retirement age then. His death certificate states: Date, 23 Jun 1921; Name, Charles Percy Lakeman; Residence, First Avenue Royston Park; Birthplace, Plymouth, England; Residence in Australia, 45 years; Age at marriage, 34 ‎(he was 40)‎; Number of issue living, 4 females; Cause of death, Morbus Cordis duration unknown and Thrombosis of Saphena vein 2 weeks; Place where death occurred, First Avenue, Royston Park; Undertaker, P.M.LeCornu, Prospect Road, Prospect and then the signature of the Registrar on the 23rd.

Marion was to outlive Charles by 21 years, comfortably secure in the 15th house, endlessly tatting and quite late in her life taking up coloured embroidery. Incidentally the receipt for Charles burial has survived as has hers. There is a surprising amount of paper work for his estate which was so minute. For 2 pounds 10 shillings Mrs. Marion Lakeman took out a lease at the Payneham Cemetery, number 411. C. 1/3 allotment, Southern extension. 9 feet on the east, 3 feet 4 inches on the south, the same on the west, the term being for 99 years.

The account of P. LeCornu, Furnishing Undertaker came to 18 pounds 1 shilling and 6 pence, for a Best Polished Coffin and trimmed and mounted with S.P. Furniture. Providing Hearse and Coach and Waggonette. to purchase ground at Payneham, opening, 1 foot extra depth, advertising in two papers, death and funeral dates which is rather different from the $5000 of today.

Probate of Charles Will was granted on 22 Nov 1922 and Marion received 29 pounds 6 shillings and 3 pence. On 21 Feb 1924 there was an account for Marion of 19 pounds 14 shillings and 6 pence from John Tillett, Monumental Mason for the scroll, the marble chips, the marble kerb, the cut and lead letters on scroll, 5 dozen at 6 shillings per dozen and a cemetery fee for the erection of 4 shillings and 6 pence. Marion's legacy from her husband did not cover the expenses but she had four daughters to help her out.

At 80 she decided she needed a lemon tree. The family laughed and said she'd never benefit from it. The lemon tree flourished and Marion picked many a lemon. Age curtailed her gardening, but she still pottered. Like most of us in age, she reminisced about the long ago days and E.M.S who was often with her used to think "that old stuff" and forgot most of it. When commencing this history she realised that her disinterest at 15 and 16 was a grave error, so much would now be of interest. Marion had many quaint sayings. Concerning her grandfather Samuel Reeves, she replaced Dan with Sam in the old ditty - "Sam, Sam, the dirty man, washed his face in a frying pan. Combed his hair with the leg of a chair, cleaned his teeth with a piece of beef" - and a great many verses now forgotten. She sang Moody and Sankey ‎(American hymns)‎ such as "Shall we gather at the River", and many another, which was surprising that she knew words and tunes having been brought up strictly in the Anglican faith.

She always smelt of Cashmere bouquet soap as did her bedroom as she preferred washstand and basin and ewer to gas heater and bathroom down the hallway. She never understood modern inventions. Of a Tiger Moth plane overhead in the 30's she said not to be ridiculous, how could a man get in that tiny thing? Of wireless when my father was attempting to get Paris on his set, and she enquired about the "row" and had it explained - she said "Thank goodness, I thought it was the people next door fighting". She was staying with us at Clarence Park trying to recover from a severe attack of shingles and was with us for six weeks, but she never fully recovered.

Perhaps in marrying somewhat unstable Charles she had in mind another old quote:

Come deaf, or come blind, or come cripple,
O come anyone O' ye all!
Better be married to something
Than not to be married at all.

Being unused to modern amenities the gas stove at Royston Park troubled her. Once in preparing for Eunice to return to lunch, she lit the top burner under a kettle, turned on the oven in error and wandered out to the garden where she heard " a bit of a bang" - the stove was blown to pieces and part of the kitchen wrecked.

Marion's last days were peaceful and contented. There is still a half finished piece of tatted lace on the shuttle she was using the day before she died, in her 89th year on 16 Aug 1942.