One Life

By Rod Vincent

The Offset Alpine burnt-out building, the Accounts Dept with Judy, and Rod holding what was left of a monitor, on Christmas morning, 1993.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jul 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781982295332

Rod Vincent

Rod Vincent is an Anglo-Irish chartered psychologist, a writer and a musician. He is an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, and during his previous career as a business psychologist he helped to develop leaders in forty-one countries. He now mostly confines himself to walking the Shropshire Hills. His poems and stories have won prizes in competitions and been published in a number of literary journals including Poetry Ireland Review, Stand and The Rialto. His poems are also in the Iron Book of New Humorous Verse (Iron Press). He writes the lyrics and plays bass as one half of O’Reilly & Vincent.

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Copyright © 2022 Rod Vincent.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9532-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9533-2 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:   06/27/2022

Contents

Dedication

Chapter 1 Australia’s History

Chapter 2 Great-Grandfather Eichler

Chapter 3 Chart of the Eichlers

Chapter 4 Chart of the Vincents

Chapter 5 My Grandparents

The Eichlers

Gwennie Eichler

The Vincents

Chapter 6 My Parents

Chapter 7 Life in Sydney

Deliveries - Bread

The Milkman

The Ice Man

The Fruiterer

Paddy’s Markets

The Tivoli Theatre

The Prop Man

Rabbitoh

Home-Grown Chooks

The Insurance Agent

Cooking

Shopping

Working at Home

Family Pets

The Plane in the Back Yard

Playing With Fire

Swimming Holes

Bankstown Olympic Pool

Blackheath Baths

Bondi Baths, Redleaf Pool and Rushcutter’s Bay Baths

Carss Park Baths on the Georges River

Ramsgate Baths and Slippery Dip

Wylie’s Baths, Coogee

Katoomba Baths at Leura in the Blue Mountains

North Sydney Olympic Pool

Saturday Movie Matinees

Fear

New Caledonia

Living Hobbies

Cicadas

Silkworms

Guppies

Adrenaline Strength

The Cowboy Guns

Pain

High School in Sydney

My Broken Arm

The Ford Zephyr

The Sydney Cricket Ground with Dad

The Langs of Cronulla

The YMCA

Chapter 8 My Famous Sister Julie

The Bikini

Earliest Recollections

Julie The Mermaid

Living in Glen Davis

Nurse Julie

Script Writing

City Shopping

Spearfishing Champion

Living at Mona Vale

Diving with Sharks at the Zoo

An Honour for Julie

Lord Howe Island

Heron Island

Fairfax Island

Wreck Island

Return to the Mainland

Chapter 9 My Brother Norman

Norm’s Picture Show

Norm’s Jazz Nights

Norm’s Cars

Off to Greener Pastures

Chapter 10 Migrating to Canada

Making The Arrangements

Underway

High School in Vancouver

The End of My Schooling in Canada

Earning Pocket Money

Norm’s Wedding

The Drive

Chapter 11 Homeward Bound

Trail B.C. to New York

Leaving on the Queen Mary

England

France

Italy

Egypt

Yemen

Ceylon, Now Called Sri Lanka

The Equator II

Indonesia

Back in the Lucky Country

Chapter 12 The In-Between Years

Nights at the Movies

John Briggs

Sunday Nights at the Sheraton

Borrowing John’s Mother’s Car

The Bush Fires of 1957

Fishing

Rock & Roll

Taking Up Smoking

Maureen O’Keefe

Weightlifting

Time in the Army

A Throat Infection

Restaurants in the ’60s and ’70s

The Cann River Experiment

Peter and Fran

The Wedding and The Honeymoon

The Moon Landing

Our First Car

The Granville Train Disaster

Giving Up Smoking

Chapter 13 Starting Work in Sydney

An Apprenticeship

Mail Boy at Radio 2UE

Chapter 14 Blue Star Line Shipping

How It Came About

Chapter 15 A Career in Accountancy [1959-]

Chapter 16 Australian Consolidated Press

Chapter 17 Lawyers

Leon Goldberg

Jim Poulos

Frank Walker

Chapter 18 SWSRSDC

Chapter 19 Neil

Neil Marries

Chapter 20 Donna

Chapter 21 Floodbound on the Gold Coast

Chapter 22 How I Took Up Cooking

Chapter 23 Norm & Bev Visit Australia

First Visit for Beverley

Second Visit

Chapter 24 The Retirement Holiday

Leaving Home

Chapter 25 Work & Play with Judy

Offset Alpine Printing Pre-Rivkin

West Pennant Hills

Castle Hill

Winston Hills

Chapter 26 The Fire at Offset Alpine Printing

Chapter 27 Life with Judy After Offset Alpine

Jan and Dave Harding

Chapter 28 Federal Publishing Company

Chapter 29 Time Research

Chapter 30 My Last Partner, Wendy Ann

Living and Working in Sydney

Unexpected Holiday in Victoria

Moving to the Gold Coast

Looking for Work on the Coast

A Job Interview in Brisbane

Darwin – To Avoid The Brisbane Heat

Banks and Credit References

Chapter 31 Back to Sydney for Work

Chapter 32 Retirement, Phase II

Chapter 33 Music as A Way of Life

What Determines Our Preferences

The Diversity of Live Music

Chapter 34 Links by Religion

Obituaries

Author’s Note

Dedication

The ultimate self-indulgence of man is to write an autobiography to pass on to his descendants. There is an assumption that it will be appreciated and by default, that the writer will be appreciated, whether during his remaining years or thereafter. The last chapter will be the most difficult to pen, as it will involve conclusion, and most of us don’t really wish to stare at death with glazed eyes, to succumb to the inevitable end to our private place in the universe. And yet, not to sum our lives up gives rise to a meaningless existence – of occupying a cubic metre of precious space for no purpose worthy of note.

As for longevity, I am a firm believer that we will live to attain at least the same age as our parents. As a teenager, I had a heart murmur and imagined I would not live past 30.

In my 30s, I was examined by a doctor who assured me that I no longer had a heart murmur.

In life, difficulty has its rewards, from winning a personal achievement to championing a cause for others. Best to ignore the toil of it and concentrate on what circumstances are likely to bring about the right outcome. Frankness and truth are the two main ingredients used in this book with a touch of discretion concerning elements of the journey that are unworthy of a place in the hall of remembrance.

To my daughter Donna and my son Neil, I leave these memoirs for their indulgence, and when I am no longer around, they may wish to refer to these pages as a history of some of their forebears and of what shaped my life. I hope too that others who come into contact with my book will find it an interesting read.

1

Australia’s History

In the scale of nations, Australia and the states/territories beforehand had little history due to their short existence.

The United States, right now, has only existed for 235 years, but Columbus discovered the Americas almost 300 years earlier and gave the continent a long history postdating the tribal Indian nations. Britain’s history is over 2,000 years old, using the Roman invasion as a starting point, and most of Europe is also well endowed with a very long cultural history.

So, we in Australia have been thought of as lacking in history. Warring armies haven’t invaded our island continent, we have never been occupied by aggressors (save the Japanese incursion into Darwin during WWII), and our only history of warfare was offshore as an ally of others. We have been fortunate in only losing a hundred thousand service personnel during all conflicts in which we have engaged since federation, more than half being in World War 1, and no nations look to us for battle or incursion. Our neighbour to the north, Indonesia, although a Muslim nation with ten times our population, is a moderate nation and spends no time looking south and indeed only focuses on its neighbours to the north (which I was told by an Indonesian). Thus, we seem blessed with good neighbours and allies. So how do we portray ourselves historically? New ways must be found, or we will continue as a ‘new nation’ for hundreds of years hence. Apart from creating our own industry, albeit it from lands occupied by indigenous peoples, we have room for continual change and improvement by opening up new towns and creating cities on unoccupied lands. The recognition of our aboriginal heritage continues to open up a history for us that is rich in culture that most non-indigenous Australians don’t understand but, it seems, are willing to engage.

Much of Europe is old and developed to a standstill. Few new cities or towns are likely to flourish and all structures that exist will only be replaced in micro form, one at a time, here and there, as they eventually disintegrate. We don’t seem to follow that pattern in Australia to any degree. We choose to open new suburbs from the ground up and rely on travelling some distance to marry up with jobs. Schools, hospitals and universities are built to meet district needs, regardless of whether there is sufficient local industry to service locals.

The non-indigenous history of this land should be measured by its pioneers – people who decided to come here and start a new life away from oppression. And of these migrants, many brought innovative ideas with them, or unleashed their talents inspired by their new environment. We outgrew the ‘colonialist devotion’ to Britain when the US came to our aid in the second world war while the British abandoned us in Singapore. Our US alliance, along with New Zealand through the ANZUS Pact, taught us that we had earnt respect for our support instead of being forced into participation as a loyal colony of Great Britain. That transition is also part of our history.

The pioneering history includes our mining interests – gold, coal, oil and gas, diamonds, metals and uranium – as well as wool, wheat, beef and tinned fruit exports. All have contributed to our national prosperity and will be around for many decades to come. Just one of these interests encouraged my maternal great grandparents to immigrate to Australia – gold – but not as prospectors. They saw the unrest in Germany - uprooting of families to follow the search for gold here - as an opportunity to promote the German way of life in Australia, 170 years ago.

And so, my great-grandfather ventured forth by ship to a new land. One life in the early history of Australia, and 120 years this year since it ended with his death, aged 80.

Some of his life and what followed lies ahead in this book.

My life, and that of my immediate family, occupies the majority of it.

2

Great-Grandfather Eichler

My maternal great-grandfather was born 200 years ago and migrated from Germany in the 1850s, bringing with him many German migrants whom he sponsored. They were trying to escape the demise of the Prussian state in Germany and many heard that there was prosperity in Australia from the discovery of gold, which would open the country up and provide opportunities for employment.

Charles Ferdinand Eichler, MD, was ship’s doctor on the various trips he made to and from Germany with more migrants and when he settled down in Sydney, he met a young governess and would later marry her. He set up a medical practice in Bridge Street Sydney where he practised as a surgeon and general practitioner. The governess he met was in fact governess to the home of Sir Charles Fitzroy, Governor of New South Wales prior to federation, and Lady Fitzroy. According to one of my Eichler cousins, Sir Charles Fitzroy must have taken a liking to Charles and appointed him Sydney’s first coroner.

Sir Charles later became Australia’s first Governor-General.

My great-grandmother was Louisa Fredericka Kurtz, who had 10 children including my grandfather, Henry Alfred Eichler, who in turn had 8 children, including my mother. GGF’s offspring had between them 22 children and 26 grandchildren, scattered all over Australia. The female Eichler children married into the families of the Whitelockes (newspaper editor), the Denduyts (renowned wool buyers) and Hvistendahls (also wool industry). Two of the grandsons (my uncles) fought at and survived Gallipoli; Alf Eichler as a lieutenant and his brother Arthur as a sergeant.

The Eichlers travelled by omnibus, tram, or horse and buggy from Bridge Street in the city to their ‘country’ home, Rosenau, on Illawarra Road Marrickville. Here is an account of his working life in Sydney:

The police called on Doctor Charles Ferdinand Eichler to examine the body they had recovered from the water near the gangplank of a foreign vessel in Sydney Harbour. Dr Eichler reported that the crewman had died from head wounds followed by drowning.

The Sydney Morning Herald headlines the next day read "Sailor Murdered in Sydney Harbour" and another day in the life of the Sydney Coroner proved to be as intriguing as many before it.

This was 1864. Some five years earlier, Dr Eichler had migrated to Australia at the behest of the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles Fitzroy, and in so doing had brought with him from Germany a small party of migrants who would find a new life in this far distant land.

The good doctor set up practice at No. 44 Bridge Street Sydney in a surgery catering to the wool buyers, merchants and settlers of Sydney Town. He was a GP and surgeon, living in Illawarra Road, Marrickville with his wife and family, waited on by an ample gathering of servants.

His premises in Bridge Street were of two storeys with a large number of rooms. Dr Eichler was in practice with another doctor for many years during which Dr Eichler brought one of his sons into the practice, another surgeon.

All went well for many years until a misdiagnosed case was reported in local papers and Dr CF Eichler was denigrated. The case involved a woman who had smallpox which was diagnosed as a common cold. For some reason not known to the writer, Dr Eichler’s life changed at this point.

At some time during the arrangement with his son, Dr William Otto Eichler, the son, who was 39 at the time, committed suicide. One is not to know if this were at a time that would have had any bearing on the father’s decision to leave the practice – his commitments in Marrickville forced him to forego the daily trips to the city – but whatever the reason, he retired to Rosenau, the family home at Marrickville.

In 1867, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and son of Queen Victoria, visited Dr Eichler’s home to attend a garden party in his honour where 2,000 guests were catered for.

Dr Eichler was a founder of the German Club, the Lutheran Church and the Rose Society, the latter being a hobby during his days in England studying at the Royal College of Surgeons. He sponsored many German citizens coming to Australia and was ship’s surgeon on many trips between Australia and Europe.

Charles Ferdinand met Louisa Kurtz, who was governess to Governor Sir Charles and Lady Fitzroy, and they married at St James Church in Sydney Town in 1853. The marriage bore eight living children, all entering separate livelihoods, and two known deaths.

Charles F. Eichler died in Sydney in January 1902, aged 80 – one year after federation. His wife died three months later. Two of their grandchildren were soldiers who fought at Gallipoli in World War 1 and sons of Henry Alfred Eichler, my grandfather.

My Uncle Alf was a lieutenant in the AIF at Gallipoli, Service No.44. He served in the Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (Tropical Unit) (1 Battalion) & arrived for combat on HMAT Berrima A35 on 19/8/1914.

My Uncle Arthur was a sergeant in the AIF at Gallipoli.

Service No.918, John Arthur Eichler was in the 3rd Infantry Battalion & arrived for combat on 20/10/1914.

He, like every other soldier at Gallipoli, was a war hero, but despised war and never wore his medals or marched.

3

Chart of the Eichlers

Charles Ferdinand Eichler MD migrated to Australia from Germany in 1852 and set up a medical practice in Bridge Street Sydney. He met and later married Louisa Kurtz and they had 10 children – five boys and five girls, including one son born in Germany on a trip back there. There were 22 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren, of whom I am one.

Charles F. Eichler married Louisa F. Kurtz

They had 10 children –

1. Frances

2. Marie – married Nelson Whitelocke

They had 5 children –

1. Rosa

2. Marie

3. Frances

4. Bulstrode

5. Elizabeth – married John Lanigan O’Keeffe

They had 2 children –

1. Elizabeth

2. Stephen

3. Anna Louise

4. Ferdinand J. – married Elizabeth Plowright

They had 6 children –

1. Phyllis – married Francis Beaver

They had 2 children –

1. Geoffrey

2. Francis ii

2. Marjorie – married Leslie Whitney

3. Hilda – married Theodore Smith

They had 2 children –

1. Douglas

2. Russell

4. Clarice – married Arthur Naylor

They had 3 children –

1. Marie

2. Barbara

3. Pamela

5. Marie – married Joe Griffin

They had 2 children –

1. Edward

2. Valerie

6. Muriel – married Clive Scott

They had 2 children –

1. David

2. Frank

5. Alice – married Arthur Denduyts

They had 4 children –

1. Arthur Jr.

2. Harold – married Jeanne Van Rompey

3. Leslie

4. Norman – married a Ms Raymonde

They had one child –

1. Ariane

6. Henry Alfred – married Jessie Collier

They had 7 children –

1. Arthur – married Winifred McNeal

They had one child –

1. Clarence

2. Reginald – married Lillian Lloyd

They had one child –

1. Elza

3. Wilhelm

4. Alfred – married Gwen Anderson

They had 2 children –

1. Gwen

2. Jessie

5. Mabel – married John Andrews

They had 3 children –

1. John Jr.

2. Irene

3. William

6. Essie – married Percy Teasdale

They had one child –

1. Elizabeth

7. Gladys – married Sydney Vincent

They had 4 children –

1. June

2. Robert

3. Norman

4. Rodney

7. Augustus

8. Adele – married Anton Hvistendahl ii

9. Charles L.

10. William Otto – married Catherine Lee (nee Beahan)

4

Chart of the Vincents

John Henry Vincent and his wife, Rosina Heaven, migrated to Australia from England with their four sons in 1883, residing in Sydney. They had 6 more children, 3 boys and 3 girls, in Sydney. John died in 1896, aged 49. As far as I can ascertain, they had 17 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, of whom I am one.

John Henry Vincent married Rosina Heaven

They had 10 children -

1. Alfred

2. George – married Ethel Butler

They had 9 children –

1. Leslie

2. Elsie

3. Ivy

4. Irene

5. George II – married Nellie Butler

6. Walter

7. Eric

8. Allan

9. Reginald – married Marie Matthews

They had 3 children –

1. Ronald

2. Eva

3. Barry

3. Ada

4. Albert – married Alice Hill

5. Arthur – married Hilda Morton

6. Oliver – married Gertrude Pocock

They had 1 child –

1. Joyce

7. Sydney -married Ivy Flello

8. Nellie – married Herbert Cook

They had 3 children –

1. Elsie – married Max Bigwood

They had 2 children –

1. Kernon

2. Lynette

2. Thelma – married Harold Schwarzer

3. Rita – married Alfred Nicholls

9. Elsie – married Harry Stevens

They had 1 child –

1. Valerie

10. Frederick – married Rose Hill

They had 3 children –

1. Alma – married Arthur Leeman

They had 2 children –

1. Joan

2. Kevin

2. Frederick II – married Helen Smith

They had 2 children –

1. Yvonne

2. Bruce

3. Sydney – married Gladys Eichler

They had 4 children –

1. June

2. Robert

3. Norman

4. Rodney

5

My Grandparents

THE EICHLERS

[1865-1954]

In 1933 my maternal grandmother was killed in a pedestrian crossing by a speeding driver, as a result of which my grandfather wrote to the government seeking compensation for the loss to his family, & after which the government introduced 3rd party insurance legislation into Australia. Grandpa never remarried & lived with his son Bill, who had childhood encephalitis & was an invalid throughout his life. Grandpa used to take me by train to St James Station in the city, where he would buy 18 pence worth of fruit from the street barrow in Elizabeth Street and go into Hyde Park and sit on a park bench while he carefully peeled the fruit and cut it up with his penknife. Then we watched men play chess while eating the fruit and took a walk around the park before catching the train back home.

When Grandpa died in 1954, Uncle Bill had to be looked after so he came to live with us. He spoke as if he had had a stroke, slurring and slow, and had to throw one leg in front of the other to walk, but he had a wonderful nature and loved to play cards and board games with me. My Aunt Mabel and my mother were the only siblings who would put Uncle Bill up whenever Grandpa wanted to take a trip away from home. Mum had the back verandah closed in to make it a bedroom for him. He used to help in the garden and he died just before Norm informed us of his pending wedding.

Granddad was an engineer and a carpenter by trade, working on many large projects around the inner Sydney suburbs in commercial real estate, particularly shopfitting. He had seven children. He also made furniture during the depression years and often crafted bedside tables and so on to give to his relatives. He was adept at making model sailing boats for his grandchildren. I remember receiving such a boat one Christmas while on holidays at Katoomba in a rented house. The boat was painted glossy white with varnished decks and brass deck rigging with