Shep's Place Family Tree

Photographs are of a solemn baby with off the shoulder gown, much embroidered, and as a fairy with star tipped wand at 9 or 10 and as a slim young woman, fair, blue eyed, still solemn. She was a Sunday School teacher and a Rechabite having signed the pledge at the age of 7 and which she religiously kept to the end of her life. "Lips that touch wine shall never touch mine" was the saying.

She must have been at John Martins a number of years as she was 25 when she entered the employ of the Government P.M.G. Department ‎(now Australia Post and Telstra, two separate departments)‎. In an old note book in which she noted a history of various telephone exchanges is the date 13 Jun 1913. Then followed Assistant 9 Jun 1916 and Senior Assistant 1 Jul1924. Her exact work has not been defined but she was in the basement below the Central Exchange housed in the General Post Office building in King William Street, Adelaide, among the engineers and technicians where detailed records of the fate of telephone cables were kept by her.

As has already been said she was able to buy the house at 147 First Avenue, Royston Park, early in 1920 to give her aging parents and two unmarried sisters a settled home. It was of expanded metal, with a surface of cream coloured rough cast of a post W.W.1 type hurriedly built during a housing shortage and it did not wear well. It was on a small hill which sloped away sharply at the back so that a quite steep ramp was needed to reach the back garden. It had open land on two sides for many years so a back gate gave access to a quick short cut to the tram stop on Payneham Road. There was a noisy chaff cutting mill adjoining that unused land, but all was built over in the coming years and the chaff cutting ceased with the vanishing of horse transport.

Although in reasonable health Marion needed care and some one to housekeep. Daughter Edith did this for a time. Olive married in 1922 and Edith in 1924. Eunice earned the income but had then to add to her tasks. She was a staunch member of the Presbyterian Church and worked for its various causes at St. Peters. To ensure that her mother was safe, she went home in her 45 minute lunch time by tram.

Eunice had a number of friends, maiden ladies like herself. They arrived for afternoon tea on Sunday afternoons. Their hostess was of the Victorian belief that no work must be done at all on Sundays, and Marion oblivious as to the day would commence her endless tatting to the annoyance of Eunice. One was permitted to read a Good Book or the Bible if staying in the house. So the years passed. There were some interstate holiday to the numerous cousins when Marion was looked after by one or other of the sisters. E.M.S. was away during the war years, ‎(Marion died in 1942)‎ and had no knowledge of what Eunice did outside of her work during that time.

She retired at 60 in 1947 and received a great many gifts in farewell from her G.P.O. fellow workers. She inherited the house at Reade Park, rented it to a niece, refusing to remove there herself although it was in much better condition than hers at Royston Park, so one could not number it 16, but a 16th there was. She purchased at Black Forest and moved there on 14 Feb 1966, decimal currency day. She was 79. Her thought was to be nearer two of her sister,. at Clarence Park and Brighton respectively, but 9 Grey Street was the most awkward spot she could have chosen There was no close transport and a long walk to the railway for Brighton or to Violet's house to which there was no through road.

However Eunice was happy. Pleasant and helpful neighbours took her to the nearest Methodist Church ‎(now Uniting)‎ as the Presbyterian was several miles away, but increasing arthritis was beginning to take its toll. On her 80th birthday in 1967 Violet and E.M.S. gave her a garden party with some relatives and a great many lady friends, in fact all the guests were ladies. After a week of storm the day was superb. Violet had spent the previous two weeks tidying the garden to perfection, and E.M.S. had cooked endlessly. The tables with umbrellas were set out, a waitress employed, the ladies reminisced, Eunice looked bewildered rather than pleased. The next day the storm resumed undoing all Violets's intensive work, but the birthday entertainment had been a success.

At 88 came her last port of call, to a private nursing home. All sisters having died she was watched over by her two nieces. She survived double pneumonia at 91 and was well into her 93rd year in 1980 when she died in her sleep, released at last from crippling arthritis. Her estate which greatly exceeded that of Charles Percy's was a surprising $62,000 which was divided up between charities, two nephews, two nieces and five great nieces and the Presbyterian Church ‎(which no longer existed)‎.