Shep's Place Family Tree

With three dressmaking sisters she was always most beautifully dressed as a child and young girl and wore her hair drawn back and tied with an outsize ribbon bow. As an adult she was small and slight and her long brown hair was worn in "shells" over her ears which was fashionable before the days of the Eton crop. She adopted that style in the 1920s. There is a snapshot taken of her in 1926 on the rooftop of the Shell building, Adelaide, where she was employed. At one time she worked for Elder Smith, Blaine's firm, but there is no record of the years with either business house. She enjoyed a busy social life and was particularly fond of the races and the theatre. The piano which graced Maria's parlour, was originally obtained for Jean's benefit, but EMS has no memory of her playing in adulthood.

It was at the theatre one night in 1931, so her mother firmly believed, that Jean caught a chill from wearing a backless evening gown ‎(of beige lace)‎ on a cold winter night after working all day in a heated office. There had been pleas from both Maria and Ada to go out more warmly clad, pleas that were brushed aside. The "chill" proved to be Bright's Disease ‎(nephritis)‎. Eventually there was complete kidney failure. Dialysis was then unknown and the only known treatment was "tapping" by a doctor to release vast amounts of fluid from the tortured body. At first both day and night nurses cared for Jean at home but Maria's finances were insufficient to cope with this expense indefinitely, so she and Ada took it upon themselves to care for her and were meticulous in everything with bedding changes twice daily and every care taken. It proved to be a long illness and exhausting for them all. The heavier burden fell on Ada, the younger and stronger nurse.

Jean endured with fortitude and seldom complained. She would be bloated to a great size before the tapping process which then reduced her to skeletal thinness. She once said wryly to EMS, "What an ugly old aunty you have now". She had always taken such care of her appearance. For the last six weeks she was totally blind but pretended that her sight was normal. Ada guessed but made no comment and helped the situation with careful clues for Jean's benefit, such as when her friend Thelma in full bridal array with a bevy of bridesmaids came after the ceremony on the way to the reception, to present the bouquets to her and show themselves off. Jean duly admired all their finery and in particular the green gowns of the maids and the friend never knew she could see nothing.

The last few days there was a professional nurse again. Keith, on night watch to let the nurse sleep, was with Jean when she died on July 5, 1933. She was aged 36 years and was buried in the family plot at West Terrace Cemetery.