Walter James Gorman

BIRTH & BAPTISM First name(s) Walter James Last name Gorman Sex Male Birth year 1891 Birth place Thorpdale Father's name James Mother's name Rose Mother's last name Diver Registration number 28198 State Victoria Country Australia

CENSUS 1903 Census - Walter (age 12 yrs) farming in Allambie East with Rose Hannah ( Home duties). James is not mentioned although it is his selection. Where was he?

Walter's father, James, died in 1911, leaving Walter, age 20yrs, the family farm in trust for his mother and siblings. He seems to have taken up James' role in working the farm and contracting work for the Shire Council until Rose's death in 1930. His brothers and sister were still living and working on the farm when WW1 came along. Maurice and Paddy enlisted as soon as Rose would give permission, while Walter, Rose and the youngsters kept the home fires burning.

Yarragon, Trafalgar and Moe Settlement News 28 Nov 1912 Shire Minutes W. J. Gorman, asking permission to fell several trees near his propert at Ohilders.—Granted, under engineer's direction.

Ditto 31 Oct 1912 W. J. Gorman, Childers, asking for £2 for removing from public road, trees blown down, during recent, storm; also calling attention to bad state of Hooper's road—Engineer to inspect.

Not sure if this refers to Walter, Athel and Dan running the farm, or the O'Gorman family up the road.
Trafalgar and Yarragon Times 13 March 1914
Bush fires are still raging in many parts of this district. In the Childers district outbreaks have done an immense amount of damage. Messrs Gorman Bros, Walkins and others had hard fights to save their homesteads, outbuildings in some instances being destroyed.

DITTO 14 May 1915 Shire correspondence W. J. Gorman, Childers, claiming L4-for clearing timber off Hooper's road. The work was authorised by Cr Cantwell.—Next pay-sheet.

Ditto 16 Sept 1915 Shire Pay Sheet: W. J. Diver 35s, W. J. O'Gorman 10s. [They are cousins, and the writer has confused the Gormans with the O'Gormans who arrived in 1910]

Walter James Gorman has a correspondence file at the Public Records Office Victoria in relation to Allambee east 57D, a land selection. the file is VPRS 5357/PO unit 3245, item 2984/42.44. [It is most probably related to the will of James who died in 1811, and the transfer of ownership of the family selection.

Narracan Shire Advocate 12 May 1915 SHIRE COUNCIL MINUTES OF MEETING W. J. Gorman, Childers, claiming L4 for clearing timber off Hooper's road. The work was authorised by Cr Cantwell.—Next pay-sheet.

Trafalgar and Narracan Times 18 June 1915 W J Gorman is paid 4pounds by Shire of Narracan

Ditto 17 Sept 1915 Paid W. J. Diver 15s, W.J. O'Gorman 10s, both by Shire of Narracan [They are cousins]

Trafalgar and Yarragon Times 12 May 1916 Walter is paid L1/10/- by the Shire.

MARRIAGE First name(s) Walter James Last name Gorman Sex Male Marriage year 1916 Spouse's first name(s) Elizabeth Spouse's last name Richardson State Victoria Country Australia Record set Victoria Marriages 1836-1942 Registration number 6906

The Herald 5 Sept 1918 The Country Roads Board accepted a tender for Mirboo.— Clearing and fencing 296% chains of Allambee East-Mirboo road, Mayo Bros. Painter and Gorman, Thorpdale, £535/10/. [Not entirely sure which Gorman son this might be since Walter and Paddy were of an age. I believe Walter was running the farm, Paddy was still in the army, so most likely Dan? Or, given the Mayo Bros name, perhaps a different family altogether.]

1919 Electoral Roll - Walter farming in Childers (at Tuebrook?) with Elizabeth Minnie and Rose Hannah (both home duties). James has been dead 8 years. What happened to the selection at Allambie East? Is it the same selection with name changed?

Name: Elizabeth Minnie Gorman Electoral Year: 1922 Subdistrict: Yarragon State: Victoria District: Gippsland Country: Australia Residence Address: Childers, home duties, T [Walter, Rosehannah and Athel were present for this reg]

1924 Electoral Roll - Walter (Timber worker) living at Nayook with Elizabeth Minnie. [This could be the period when Walter had the accident which saw him lose all the fingers on one hand to a saw. If so that might explain the return to Childers if he was unable to continue in the mills. Although I don't have any clear memory of being told when the accident happened]

Herald 1 Jan 1920
STATE SAWMILL AT NAYOOK
. At present 35 men are employed at the Nayook Sawmllling Co.'s plant. Upper Latrobe, near Powelltown,
which the Forest Commission has purchased for the state. As soon as legal formalities are completed the Commission will take possession. The requirements of the Railway and Public Works Departments will be the first call on the output of the mill.
[This is probably where Walter was working in 1924. I don't know if they were still there in 1926 for the great bush fire, but in 1927 the family is back in Childers so Walter clearly lost his job at Nayook.]

Bushfires are a constant threat and in February 1926 a bushfire destroyed most of the town and many mills in the bush. The railway station and some of the railway bridges were also burnt. However, timber was in great demand and the town was soon thriving again. The whole area burned again in the huge 1939 fires.

The Age 11 Dec 1926
NAYOOK AND NOOJEE.
Until last February many people were entirely ignorant of the fact that there was in Victoria a town called Noojee.
Then when the terrible bush fires swept through that part of the State Noojee sprang into fame at the same time as it was practically obliterated. The story of how the whole town, with the exception of the wooden church and the brick hotel, was destroyed in a night is one of the most dramatic in Victoria's history. This year many people will doubtless wish to see the place which underwent such a gruelling experience. Recent visitors have been astonished at the rapidity with which the evidences of the great fires have been erased. Among a select few, who felt that they had discovered something surpassingly fine in the way of rugged, mountainous scenery, the attractions of this area have been known for years. The town lies in a valley between two high hills, with a river running briskly a few yards from the main street. From the hills and tablelands magnificent views of the surrounding country are to be had. In the distance tower the Baw Baw Mountains, and on a clear day the
waters of Westernport are visible. The river valleys bespeak their own fertility. In season the wildflowers paint
the slopes of the hills, and mushrooms flourish. Various little streams are stocked with fish, and anywhere in the
neighborhood there is good sport with the gun. Up the high roads from Noojee, leading to timber mills, and farms, the walker will delight in rural aspects that are striking.
When the road system is completed and access is given across country to Powelltown, this is sure to be a very popular tourist route, with Noojee an inviting stopping place. Nayook is closer to Warragul, and is set on the fringe of a magnificent hardwood forest, where the mountain ash grows to immense proportions. From this centre where accommodation is provided, the tourist can penetrate the valleys of the Loch and Latrobe rivers, and explore the southern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. A famous beauty spot, the beautiful Glen Nayook, is close to the railway station. The wonderful valley is crammed with tree ferns, which are watered by a pretty stream almost overgrown with moss. This is one of the sights of the district. Tracks and galleries have rendered the valley accessible to the walker, and rest houses have been provided. The climate and pleasing surroundings make both Nayook and Noojee valuable as health resorts, and attractive for bush holidays.

Name: Walter James Gorman Gender: Male Electoral Year: 1927 Subdistrict: Yarragon State: Victoria District: Gippsland Country: Australia Residence Address: Childers Occupation: Saw-Miller [Walter is at Childers with Athel, farm labourer, Arthur Daniel, farmer, Henry Evered (Paddy), farmer, and Rosehannah, their mother. Elizabeth Minnie is not present, and presumably not the children. Where are they in 1927? Possibly with her brother?]

1929: While cleaning my files I have found an original letter from Walter addressed from the Murroon Post Office via Birregurra (near Colac), and written to Athol and Gladdy (his younger brother). Must have been given to me by Jean Gorman on one of my visits. It is dated April 8th and talks about Rosehannah being very poorly with Athol and Gladdy apparently asking him, as the eldest son, to come home. Rose died the following year so I am estimating the year of the letter as 1929, the year of the Wall Street Crash that heralded the Great Depression. I have believed that Walter was close to his mother and shared the work of the farm with her both before and after his father's death. The letter demonstrates that Walter has imbibed some of the strict religious values of the Divers and Jabez "the Mormon Killer". Walter was operating steam engines at a case mill at Murroon, probably using timber from the Otways. [MURROON [1890], A postal township 89 miles SW of Melbourne and 8 miles from Birregurra. District agricultural, with scattered population. There is one State school.] More below about this period in Walter's life.

Dear Athol & Gladdy I received your letter yesterday morning (Sunday). I am sorry to hear that Ma has been so bad. It seems very hard that one who has been so good all her life, as our dear mother should be required to suffer, so much at the end. We must submit to the will of Him who made and created all things. After all our lives here are, but as a flash when compared with all the countless ages of eternity past and future. Any sorrow and pain we suffer is after all only passing. Dear brother and sister, I do not want to preach at you, but just study Ma for a moment. How patient she is in her suffering. I have had many talks to her when I was there before Xmas & I tell you now that it was & is only her love and faith in God that enabled her to bear her trial patiently. She loves her children very dearly & I am very sure that we all return that love. I will be very sorry indeed to hear of her death, but I know that the parting is only for a little while, when I will meet her in a better & happier life. I am not sure that it is not quite selfish of us to mourn too much. Death is such a relief to those who suffer. Perhaps Athol you may find it hard to understand me, but I know the value of "that wonderful peace which passeth all human understanding". I have been through some very severe trials to gain that knowledge but thank God I have learned to submit all things to His will. I wish for your own and Gladdy's sake that you were as I am. Well I do not think that if you were to send for me that I could possibly come, but send all the same should the necessity arise.but do not think any worse of me if I do not come. As you know money is very scarce with me & my responsibilities very great. My little Chappies take a lot of providing for now. If I am not with you when the time comes, My heart will be there. I was just making a calculation of what the trip would cost & could not do it for less than 10pounds and that is a lot. Travelling alone would occupy 4 days. Well I think I will stop now. I have not written anything much either, so I spose I had better ask after the others. How has the mill turned out this year. Most of the case mills have had a rough spin. We are still going ahead. The strike has not affected us yet. I don't think it will. The other mills in this district have closed except Haydens. I don't know what is to be the end of it all. The country is going to the dogs head first. The both sides seem to be mad. The Trades Hall wants a bomb dropped on it. It seems to me that things are getting into such a mess that only the comming of Christ can put them straight. Well goodbye for now.I am very glad Mrs Brown has been so good & pray she will stay with till the end. Lizzie & kiddies have not been so well lately. They have had the flu or very severe colds I have never felt better this place suits me very well it is not so damp as Gippsland we get plenty of rain, but the water soon gets away. The average rain here is 25 to 30 inches where you are the average is about 40 inches. Write again soon and let me know how things are going & remember me to Dan tell him I hope he is well and so forth. Give my love to Gladdy and Nell Love to all your loving brother Walter.

In 1920 fruit growers were asking for "Government assistance, inter alia, towards the erection and equipment of packing houses; the reservation of forest areas for timber for case making; Government assistance in the erection and equipment of a case-making mill; the increasing of the supply of louvred railway trucks; etc"

CASE MILL Here is a short story about a "case mill" in Queensland that helps explain what Walter was doing in Murroon, and apparantly others near Childers. "In the early 1930’s, Australia fell into deep economic depression. Unemployment reached as high as 40% in some places. Displaced families who could no longer afford to keep their homes lived in rough-built shacks and tents. In the cities the sight of men, women and children standing in long lines in the hope of getting a bowl of soup or a little bread was not uncommon. As the situation became even more desperate, riots broke out and politicians feared the spread of civil disobedience. These were some of the toughest peace-time years in Australia’s history.

In 1934, at the height of economic uncertainty, Dad and his friend, Horrie Hingston, decided they could make a reasonable income supplying wooden packing cases to the many farmers in the district. Depression or not, people still had to eat and farmers still had to get their produce to market. At that time, fruit of all kinds was packed in wooden boxes (cases), for transport to the markets. Dad and Horrie intended to cut the timber to make the cases.

Dad bought a large acreage of heavily forested land opposite the state owned Flaxton Forest Reserve. This land, described by some as ‘mountain goat country,’ did not lend itself to agriculture. But Dad did not wish to harvest crops, he wanted to harvest the millable trees which thrived there. The steepness of some of the country presented difficulties but, as we will see later, none were insurmountable.

The two ‘would-be’ sawmillers began their project. With their collection of second-hand equipment, shafts, bearings, pulleys, belts and saws and a heavy dose of bush ingenuity, they built their case mill in the Flaxton bush. Powered by a Dodge petrol engine it was soon ready to cut the first logs sourced from Dad’s bush block. Mostly they used flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis), because this timber is light weight but very strong and ideal for making into packing cases. Dad’s sawmilling enterprise albeit so humble, had begun.

Regulations required packing cases to be made in standard sizes convenient for handling and transport and this gave the sawmillers a blueprint to follow. Thicknesses and lengths for sides, bottom, tops and ends could be pre-cut to the specifications. As orders came in it was just a matter picking out the correct number of pieces and bundling them together. Gordon Mayne or one of the other local carriers then delivered each bundle to the farmer’s packing shed. Here, the farmer assembled the cases using flat headed case nails or corrugated fasteners to hold them together.

While Dad busied himself building the case mill, he camped in the burnt-out hollow of a huge tree. Far from comfortable it did at least afford shelter from the wind and the rain. Even after he completed the case mill project, he retained his basic dwelling place while he built a weatherboard cottage for the whole family to live in. That drab, little unpainted cottage standing alone in the bush, reminiscent of the gingerbread house of fairy-tale fame, endured for many years and later served as accommodation for the families of sawmill workers." From the Montville History Group

Age 6 an 1930 This is possibly the mill Walter worked at. Wymbooliel Saw Milling Co. Pty. Ltd. Formed to acquire the business of Wymbooliel Saw Milling Co., Murroon. Authorised capital, £5000.

1930 -- Rosehannah dies in March and Walter returns from Murroon.

1931 Census - Walter (engine driver) living at Childers with Arthur Daniel (farmer), Athel Leonard (farm labourer), Elizabeth Minnie (Walter's wife), Gladys Muriel (Athel's wife), Henry Evered (farmer), and Harriet Eliza (Hetty, Dan's wife). The women are all doing home duties. [Walter has trained and is now qualified to operate the steam engines which ran the great saws in Gippsland mills, and much early farm machinery]

1931 Electoral Roll - Walter (engine driver) living at Thorpdale with Elizabeth Minnie.

8 August 1932: Gorman family farewelled at Childers and relocate to Metung, on Lake King. 1932 Walter and Lizzie are in Metung where Herbert (Bert) is in the school register.

1936: Walter James Gorman, labourer, and Elizabeth Minnie h/d, are at Metung.

1937: Walter James Gorman, labourer, and Elizabeth Minnie h/d, are at Metung.

1939 Electoral Roll, East Gippsland: Walter James Gorman, labourer, Metung, Elizabeth Minnie, home duties, Elva May Gorman, home duties (twin sister of Maurice).

Live Wire 9 Dec 1942
FIRST AID EXAMINA-
TIONS
The following candidates were successful
at the recent St. John Ambulance
Association examinations
ranged under the S.E.C. Safety
Council's training scheme.
SECOND CERTIFICATE
Brown Coal Mine— Mesdames W. Gorman, E. Wagner; Mr W. Gorman.

Live Wire 10 May 1944
BCM News
Sympathy is extended to Mr Gorman of Tanjil East on the accidental loss of some of his fingers while at work last week. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Live Wire 14 June 1944
Appreciation
The Editors, "Live Wire".
Sirs,—A great deal has been said, written, and published in the newspapers about the conditions and salaries
of nurses, also about our hospitals. I would like through your paper to say something of the only experience I have ever had of either nurses or hospitals. I spent 10 days recently in the Yallourn hospital when I lost the four fingers of my left hand in an accident at the Briquette factory. Apart from the loss of my fingers and -any pain which this entailed, I think my stay in the hospital was one of the grandest experiences of my life. The cheerful, sympathetic and truly sisterly attention which patients receive at the hands of the whole of the hospital staff, from matron to
wardsmaids is just wonderful. The nursing sisters' cheerful, smiling faces and bright conversation, and watchful attention, just simply would not let anyone feel pain or remain sick for long. Nothing is too much trouble for them.
The patient's slightest wish, often unexpressed, is attended to whenever possible. I believe that these girls are typical of the whole of the nursing profession, isnd I think that if there is anything at all that can be done to
better conditions of work or salary, or otherwise make their lives happier and brighter it should certainly be
done and the public whom they serve so well should see that it is done and done qaickly. Personally I cannot say enough in praise of the staff of the Yallourn hospital, for the treatment I received there. I consider that it would be
quite impossible for me to liquidate ' the debt of gratitude I owe to these splendid people and I wish them to know that I will always be proud to salute the uniform of the nursing profession.
I am grateful ex-patient.
Brown Coal Mine.
W. J. GORMAN.
[This letter explodes the belief that Walter lost his fingers in a saw mill. The briquet factory in 1944 was the scene of the accident]

Same day  - BCM News Mr Gorman of Tanjil East is spending the weekend with his daughter at Hillend.

Live Wire 20 June 1945
BCM (Brown Coal Mine)
Mr and Mrs Gorman, of Tanjil East, have been notified that their son, Pte. H. Gorman A.T.F., who has been p.o.w. in Germany for over 4 years, is now safe and sound in England.
Another son AC1 Eric " Gorman, RAAF, is home on leave.

Live Wire 23 Aug 1944
WOULD THE FOLLOWING PERSONS PLEASE
CALL AT HARDWARE DEPT. FOR THEIR CLOCKS.
If not called foi* in one week these clocks will be given
to next customer on list.
MR McCALL, Newborough.
MR J. GREEN, Morwell.
MR J. WRAY, Strzelecki Rd.
MR W. J. GORMAN, B.C.M.
MR T. DIANE, 18 Banksia St.
MR J. DUXBURY, 53 Narraean Ave.
MR F. SAUNDERS, Newborough.
MR TIERNEY, 74 Church St.
MR GOULD, Morwell Bridge.
MR HARROCKS, 55 Church St.

Live Wire 22 Aug 1945
B.C.M. News.
PERSONAL.
Sgt. Herbert Gorman, recently returned POW, is home with his.parents, Mr and. Mrs Gorman. .Another
son, Pte.-Maurice Gorman, accompanied by his wife and baby daughter, are spending holidays with them.

Walter and Elizabeth Minnie relocated to Brown Coal Mine during the war when labour shortages made it easier for Walter to get work. He was employed at the SEC as a painter. When Maurice was demobilised in 1945 at the end of WW2, he entered preferred employment as a motor mechanic with the State Electricity Commission (SEC), then a public utility, which was required to employ suitably qualified returned servicemen on a preferential basis. He was then able to assist his brothers, Bert and Eric gain employment with the SEC. The SEC became a family affair.

1946 Electoral Roll, Yallourn: Walter James, labourer, Elizabeth Minnie, home duties, are living Brown Coal Mine (later renamed Yallourn North), also Maurice James Gorman, labourer, and Irene Winifred, home duties. I think Maurice, Irene and I are still living with Walter and Lizzie near the Anglican church while they build the house in Kelso Road.

Live Wire 12 April 1950
Mr and Mrs Gorman Senr. have returned from holidays spent at Melbourne and Lakes Entrance.

DEATH & BURIAL First name(s) Walter James Last name Gorman Age 79 Sex Male Birth year 1892 Death year 1971 Father's name James Mother's name Rosannah Diver Death place Yall State Victoria Registration number 15735

Walter died at the home of his eldest son, Maurice and Irene, in 6 Kelso Road.

                                     ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some historical background to the period of Walter's young adulthood. In 1910, the federal government introduced a national currency, the Australian pound, which it pegged to the pound sterling. In effect, Australia was on the gold standard through the British peg. In 1914, Britain removed the pound sterling from the gold standard, creating inflation pressures. Britain returned the pound sterling to the gold standard in 1925 at pre-1913 parity, effectively revaluing both currencies significantly and unleashing crushing deflationary pressures and falling export demand. This had the immediate effect of making British and Australian exports far less competitive in non-British markets, and affected Australia's terms of trade.

In 1929, as an emergency measure during the Great Depression, Australia left the gold standard, resulting in a devaluation relative to sterling. A variety of pegs to sterling applied until December 1931, when the government set a rate of £1 Australian = 16 shillings sterling. This was intended to ease entry of Australian goods into the British and other linked markets.

Falling export demand and commodity prices placed massive downward pressures on wages, particularly in industries such as coal mining. Due to falling prices, bosses were unable to pay the wages that workers wanted. The result was a series of crippling strikes in many sectors of the economy in the late 1920s. Coal miners' strikes in the winter of 1929 brought much of the economy to its knees. A riot at a picket line in the Hunter Region mining town of Rothbury saw police shoot one teenage coal miner dead.

The conservative Prime Minister of Australia, Stanley Bruce, wished to dismantle the conciliation and arbitration system of judicially supervised collective bargaining which had been the cornerstone of Australia's industrial relations system since the 1900s, which would allow employers alone to increase or decrease employee wages in response to economic and market conditions.

The opposition Australian Labor Party, led by James Scullin, successfully depicted Stanley Bruce as wanting to destroy Australia's high wages and working conditions in the 1929 federal election. Scullin was elected Prime Minister in a landslide which saw Stanley Bruce voted out as the Member for Flinders, the only time until the 2007 federal election that a sitting Prime Minister lost his seat.

After the Wall Street crash in 1929, everything got much much worse for ordinary Australians and for Walter the worst had not yet begun. Things did not improve until 1939 and World War 2 once again brought full employment.. The generation of men who began with high hopes as small farmers in the 1880s, like the Gormans, Divers, Richardsons and thousands of others were decimated. Walter was 19 years old in 1910 when the economy began to contract severely, working with his mother on the farm at Childers; in 1911 he was 20yrs when his father died and he became responsible for the family; three years later, when he was 24yrs, his two elder brothers went off to war leaving him the sole adult male to do the work. In 1929 he was 38yrs old, in Murroon working in a case mill while the economy collapsed around them, leaving his younger brothers to make a living on the family farm - a farm too small to support all their families. In 1929 Maurice and Elva were about 12yrs old.