THE TRARALGON & DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC |
Missen, Mrs. Elsie - (Ruth and Peter Missen) |
| Elsie Missen, born Elsie Adelaide Gale, on 25th January,
1898, passed away on 21st December 1986. She was the eldest of five girls; her
father, Bill Gale, was an expert bullocky, a bush man, a farmer, and a champion axeman who
competed in woodchopping carnivals in Tasmania and Victoria. Her maternal grandmother was
the first white child born west of the Glenelg River in Victoria. As a young child, in 1901, Elsie came to Victoria from Tasmania, we think in the ship "Oona", landing at Port Albert. The family bought land at Carrajung Lower and also selected a block there, of approximately 50 acres. Mrs. Ernie Turpin now lives there. From there Elsie went to school, 2 days a week at Carrajung South and 3 days at Carrajung, the one teacher teaching at both schools. While living at Carrajung Lower, the Gales occasionally went to Daylesford fro holidays. They would drive to Traralgon in the buggy, feed the horse, stay the night and before boarding the train, give the horse a slap on the rump and send it home. The harness and buggy were left at the hotel in Traralgon. When it was time for the family to return, someone would ride the horse to Traralgon, ready to be harnessed to the family buggy. The family moved to Daylesford to live for a short period (we think only for a year or so) before returning to Tasmania. They were back in Carrajung again in 1910 or 1912 to sharefarm for Mr. John Tuckey, where the Dunkly family now live. While there, Bill Gale did a lot of bush clearing with the bullock team. In the early hours one March morning in 1914, a fire swept through the Carrajung area and Bill Gale alerted the neighbours with the cracking of his bullock whip. (Incidentally he never whipped his team or swore at them - he was never known to swear.) All of the bedding, etc was taken out of the house and put in the lucerne paddock which was green at the time, and although falling sparks set it alight several times, both it and the house were saved. The bullock team consisted of 10 bullocks, the names of some of them being Ranger, Rattler, Drummer, Spot, Major and Roan. Shortly after the fires, Bill Gale took the team to Rosedale to buy chaff as all the pastures had been burnt. On the return journey, the bullocks were thirsty and when they smelled water at Timbs Crossing he couldn't control them the two leaders went either side of a stump or post, resulting in the broken neck of one. Elsie and her sisters were excellent horsewomen and thought nothing of riding to dances at Carrajung South, Carrajung, Kjergaard and Rosedale, returning home in time to milk the cows in the morning. When the weather was too wet or cold to ride, they would "con" Mr. Pat O"Connor into taking them in his buggy or jinker. He would sit in the weather while they huddled under rugs, in their "finery". Pat's parents owned the Carrajung Hotel at that time and he was like a brother to the Gale girls. 1915 or 1916 saw yet another move for the Gales, this time to sharefarm for Mr. E.O. Missen, at Hiamdale. There, Elsie met Fred Missen whom she married on August 14th 1919. Fred and Elsie continued to live and sharefarm at Hiamdale. They had 7 children. In the early days life was hard, as it was for most rural people. The stove was on the veranda and in wet windy weather cooking had to be done wearing an overcoat. Usually on Mondays, the weekly laundry was done by lighting up the copper for boiling water; the clothes were then washed by hand in a tin tub on a box under the apple tree. The only aids were a scrubbing brush and a washboard, using, of course, home made soap. All water had to be carried out to the apple tree. At about the time Elsie and Fred were married, here parents moved back once more to Tasmania where, some time later, Mrs. Gale died. A few years later, her father returned to live with Elsie who, although she had a large family to look after, cared for him for the rest of his life, nursing him through severe illnesses. She often related how Lal Khan, the well known Indian Hawker, on his regular round, arrived at her home when she and all the family were ill with the 'flu, and he promptly set to work to cook a meal for the family and helped with the milking. Fred Missen was not a well man, suffering from eczema and a stomach ulcer. Often she would drive the horse and jinker to Traralgon to do the shopping on her own when her husband was too ill to go with her. He died at the age of 57 after suffering a stroke. As a result Elsie quite often had to run the farm with the help of a young family and a farm hand. Her two eldest sons were away serving in the second World War. Elsie joined the Gormandale Anglican Women's Fellowship and the Anglican Mothers' Union. In time, she became the oldest serving member in Victoria. In the late 1970's, she was selected as the Traralgon delegate to attend a worldwide Delegation of Anglican Mothers' Union, in England. While there she had the honour of shaking hands with the Queen Mother. She travelled through Scotland and Europe. At the age of 17, she joined the Red Cross and spent many hours serving in that organization at Gormandale, Sale, and Traralgon, cooking for stalls, hospital visiting at Sale and doing duty at Central Gippsland Hospital in the kiosk and library. She was presented with a Long Service Medal at Government House and later qualified for a Bar on it. Elsie joined the Gormandale East Mothers' Club when it was formed in 1929 and when the club celebrated its 1st birthday she made and iced a beautiful fruit cake which, with its 1 candle, held pride of place in the centre of the supper table at the evening entertainment attended by all the district residents and their children. She continued as an active member all the years her 7 children attended that school. After her third son, Harold, married and took over the farm, Elsie moved to Kilmany so that her youngest son, Keith, could attend the Sale Technical School. When he left school in 1952 she bought a home in Traralgon where she remained until a few weeks before her death. She had a beautiful flower garden, and grew many vegetables, mainly to give to friends and for various stalls. She was a renowned cook, always freshly baking for visitors, and made a great variety of jams and jellies, again, to be given away. She also taught Sunday School, at St. James for some time, and was a collector for the annual Red Cross Appeal. She preferred to walk everywhere, outpacing people half her age, and would often refuse rides from friends. She was a member of the Traralgon and District Historical Society for many years, and was always willing to supply any information sought by members. The large congregation at her funeral service at St. James' was a fitting tribute to her long and useful life, and offer sincerest sympathy to her family:
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