Shep's Place Family Tree

In the December of that year, 1897 the family moved to "Lily Cottage", Grange from Alfred Street, Parkside as recorded earlier. Olive and her sisters walked over sandhills and paddocks to attend Grange School. Olive had received her name because her colouring was so much darker than the blond older sisters. The Muriel remained a mystery.

At Grange School the headmaster, Graham David Muirhead took a special interest in Olive and encouraged her exceptional scholastic ability. She was 12 1/2 when she gained her school certificate and she did a further year of study in Latin, Algebra and other subjects under the tuition of Mr. Muirhead, public high school courses were not then available, only private tuition or education at a church run college fitted a pupil for university.

A newspaper article in 1905:
GRANGE PUBLIC SCHOOL.
Friday, November 17, was visiting day at this school, and a. large number of parents and friends were present. Mr. A. W. Ralph ‎(Chairman)‎ and Mr. C. Mackie represented the Board of Advice, and complimented the teachers and children on the excellence of the work done during the year. Canon Pollitt also addressed the children. There was a good display of sewing, fancy work, and woodwork, which met with favourable criticism. The head teacher ‎(Mr. G. D. Muirhead)‎ stated in his report that the standard of the school had been well maintained, the classification obtained at the annual examination having been "Very good." The attendance had increased considerably. Olive Lakeman, a pupil of the school, had won a scholarship, value 12 guineas, offered by the A.S. and B.T. Academy. This made the fifth scholarship won by the school. Songs, recitatiOns, and various exercises were rendered by the children, and a pleasant morning was spent. In the afternoon. the annual sports were held, and were a great success. There was a large gathering of visitors, Who appreciated the amusements provided. The school championship fell to H. Jenkins, while the fancy costume race, which caused roars of laughter, was won by W. Marston. Afternoon tea was provided for the visitors by the senior girls, and the children also came in for their share of refreshments. The prizes, which were the gift of Mr. C. Mackie and Mrs. Mackintosh, were presented by the latter.

Olive became a very young articled pupil ‎(a form of apprenticeship)‎ at Hogg's Business Academy at Adelaide where shorthand and business training was available. She took the Commercial Examination, equivalent to the Intermediate High School year of later years, at 14 and was second on the state list. The top achiever won a bursary to the University of Adelaide. This girl accepted, shortly withdrew, and thus foiled any possibility of Olive gaining the scholarship. In any case she was too young to have accepted, the other girl was 17. Olive therefore stayed on at the Academy as a pupil teacher and keeper of the Academy's books with a miniscule stipend of 7 shillings and 6 pence ‎(75 cents)‎ a week, until she was 17, and it was in that year she met Christopher Gibson at St. Andrew's Church, Unley.

With the family she had moved from Grange, to Church Street and Hugh Street, Woodville, then to Arthur Street, Unley. The Gibsons resided at Unley. Until then she had travelled to Adelaide by train, the fare being one penny. During 1908 Olive left the Academy for the International Harvester Company at North Terrace, opposite the Adelaide Railway Station. Twelve months later she secured a Commonwealth Government position at the General Post Office that put her skills at shorthand, typing and accounting to good use and in due course became secretary to Mr. Francis, the Chief Inspector of Posts and Telegraph and remained with him until her marriage in December 1922. The silver service the staff then presented now belongs to E.M.S.

Chris Gibson was a boarder with the Lakemans at Creslin Terrace, Camden Park for the 9 months prior to the move to Royston Park and it from there that Olive went to her wedding. Edith was her bridesmaid and Sidney Gordan Brindal, a friend, best man for Christopher. They went directly to the house they had just built at 79 Victoria Terrace, Lower Mitcham. The address ‎(next to Eynesbury College)‎ would now be Belair Road, Kingswood.

Olive was a woman of many skills, besides doing incredible things on an almost invisible income during the difficult depression years, she sewed, gardened, did fine leather work, kept her very bright intellect sharp with reading and discussion with her academic son and husband, and did a variety of crafts. Always generous, always most kind. She nursed Chris through his severe war induced illness of 1931 and again in the late years when he was dying. She never fully recovered from this stressful period. She had been a victim in 1919 of the world wide pneumonic flu which killed millions. The weakness left became at the last, lung cancer from which she died five days after her 73rd birthday in 1964 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.