Lawrence Gorman

Albany Advertiser Monday 31 May 1937

Sixty-two Years Married FORMER ALBANY COUPLE'S WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. SOME INTERESTING INCIDENTS. Sixty-two years ago on May 19, at the Church of England, Albany, the Rev. Wardell-Johnson united in holy matrimony a girl of 21, Margaret Cowden, a young man of 22, Lawrence Gorman, both of whom are now living in Victoria-street Bunbury. On this great occasion Mr. and Mrs. Gorman have received widespread con gratuiations on their anniversary, but owing to the inclemency of the weather they did not celebrate the event as has been the custom of years gone by the golden and diamond wedding anniversaries were celebrated in a fitting manner in the Rechabite Hall when numerous friends of the old, couple attended. The life of Mr. and Mrs. Gorman has been as colourful as it has been long. Now aged 84 and 83 years respectively, tliey enjoy moderately good health. Both read the daily paper without glasses. Mrs. Gorman does not enjoy the serene health of a few years ago, but her husband in energy, bodily and mentally, pales the efforts of many men less than half his age. When interviewed at their home Mr. and Mrs. Gorman were sitting in their comfortable lounge facing a glowing fire. Two parrots and a puppy bespoke of their love of pets, and pic tures of trim sailing ships, whaling skiffs, barometers, sea shells and gap ing sharks jaws all told of their as sociation with the maritime develop ment of Western Australia. Mr. Gorman said he was born in Ireland in 1852 and landed in Western Australia in February 1853. His father, after service in the army, was drafted for escort duty on a ship coming to Australia and he brought his! wife and son and daughter with him. Mr. Gorman spent ten years in Fremantle as a young man in the pilot boat service. From here he went South to Albany where he worked at whaling, sealing and trading with American whalers. In 1876 he left Albany with his young wife for Cossack in the North West, for duty as a water policeman, where the young couple remained for 1 three years. Mrs. Gorman implored her husband not to speak of those three years, as it undoubtedly brought , back to her memories that she would best leave unstirred. However, the eyes of Mr. Gorman .brightened as he spoke of the years in the north as a young virile water policeman Here he learned the dialect and habits of the natives and a crafty crowd they were, admitted Mr. Gorman. What pleased them most was to ac company the water police out on to the beach where revolver practice was indulged in. The quick firing of the revolver held them enthralled and they lived in constant fear of this "fire-stick" which never ceased to "spit." The rifle held no fear for them the old man continued. They had learned from the Swan river na tives that a rifle could only fire one shot and then needed reloading. Mr. Gorman well remembers the punitive expedition which was sent out to avenge the murder of several whites. Towards the end of the three years he had occasion to escort two prison ers to Fremantle. He then asked for leave and never went back to the north. He spent a*little time in the] force at Fremantle but when the choice of the North was given him, he conferred with his wife who prevailed upon him to leave the force and came south again to Albany. Mr. Gorman spoke modestly of the apprehension of two counterfeiters at Fre mantle, and the manner in which he led to their downfall. As he admitted the means he adopted were not a credit to his moral code, but he went about seeking information of the workings of the counterfeiters in such a unique way that he can still raise a hearty laugh over the incident. He obtained the desired information, and conveyed it to a superior officer, who confiscated the plant and coins and arrested the two men. "Larry" as he is known to all his friends, said it was a unique sight to see his superior officers walking along one of the Fremantle streets with two galvanised buckets each with counterfeit sovereigns and two shilling pieces in them. Mr. Gorman's share of the episode was to es cort the men from the Supreme Court to Fremantle where they received periods of sentence up to 18 years. The family then went to Albany and in 1881 he obtained a position with A. Muir and Son, which he held for six years. His employer was a trader and as young Larry then knew the work it was long and exacting. No set hours and not much money he stated. When your work was done you could go home. The best money he ever got on this job (and he was one of the best paid hands in Albany ) was 7/6 a day and he had to keep his wife and ll children out of this. He laughed at the thoughts of the modern housewife if she were confronted with such a problem. There were no entertainments like there are to-day, old Larry stated. He later left Albany and worked as a head ganger on the Great Southern Railway for a period of two years. When this work was completed he returned to Muir and Son at Albany and altogether spent sixteen years in their employ. In 1897 Mr. Gorman joined the Gov ernment service in Albany and was engaged in harbour work, jetty repairs and surveying. Prom 1906 to 1909 he visited Bunbury periodically in the course of Gov ernment work. Late in 1909 he was drafted to Bunbury for a period of three weeks, and later took up residence permanently at that centre. Mr. Gorman was responsible for the work of making the channel from Turkey Point to Collie Bridge in 1910. Had it been looked after it would have still been of service to the community. Mr. Gorman assured. He worked with the local harbour authorities until four years ago. Mr. Gorman's final remark was that to-day people were only as bad as they felt. He still admits that if he feels a little out of sorts, he immediately goes down to his workshop and works the mood off. He is a cabinet maker, with whom few could compare, and he displays with pride a shed full of articles of furniture he has made in his spare time.

The West Australian Friday 28 November 1947

DEATH AT 95 Well-Known Bunbury Identity BUNBURY, Nov. 27.-Mr. Lawrence Gorman, believed to have been Bunbury's oldest inhabitant. died at his home at Victoria-street today. He had been in ill health since his 95th birthday in September. Mr. Gorman left Belfast (Ireland) at the age of ten days and arrived in Australia aboard the sailing ship Dudbrook in February, 1853. He spent his childhood in Fre mantle and was later engaged in waterfront activities in Albany, Cossack and Bunbury. He married in 1875 and his wife died in Bunbury in 1939 at the age of 84. Mr. Gorman was one of the South-West's best-known identities and had over 100 descendants.