Members of the Warren Family History Group based in Manjimup were special guests who mentioned a multitude of resources to help discover family history and tell the story.
National Archives is an excellent one, online: naa.gov.au, with a research centre in Perth: 45 Francis Street, Northbridge.
They also said it was important to verify information ideally from more than one source. “Start with the basics (birth, death and marriage certificates are a good start) and check your information”.
Warren Family History Group member Susan Kennedy said it was her “lucky day”. Sue is a member of the Allen Family: Frank Allen had a dairy farm at the end of Allen Road c1935. The Allen’s and Ravenhill’s are related and distant cousins Sue Kennedy and Trevor Ravenhill discovered each other at the AGM!
The meeting concluded with President Elizabeth Shaw delivering her report on the Society’s liveliness in preserving history and encouraging the study and writing of the history of the district.
Elizabeth's report to the AGM is published here.
So, armed with a detailed map provided by Dennis Gilpin, information from Alicia Johnson (and sundry other sources!), the committee, with current land owners permission, set out on a fine Sunday afternoon (31 October 2021) to discover its exact location.
And it has been established: beyond doubt!
The site is on a hill which is why some 1928 local school children called it the "High School". Today it has views over relatively open land (perhaps once covered with tall timber) to Mount Frankland.
The Tingledale Group Settlement scheme started in 1924: deep in the Karri Tingle forests adjacent to the Valley of the Giants and east of the Frankland River.
These one teacher schools were are an essential part of settlement and this school was one of three that existed in the area in 1928. The first (Tingledale) is still there (now Tingledale Hall) on the Valley of the Giants Road at the Hazelvale Road intersection operated from 1925 to 1968
The other two which opened in 1928 were further north-west on Hazelvale Road: the Group 138 school was on the corner of what was known as Surreydale Farm; Group 139 (Hazelvale) School site is now marked by a memorial and plaque on the corner of Hazelvale and Hazelvale North Roads.
Primarily a place of learning for the growing number of children in the district, the schools were also a social hub that brought people together and helped to allay the isolation. Inter school sporting activities are another feature remembered. The Group 138 School only operated for about five years when it closed: by 1936 twenty families in the Hazelvale area had reduced to five.
Determining the location of the Group 138 School has helped the Society in its aim to collect and preserve records relating to the history of the Walpole Nornalup District and to encourage the study and writing of the history of the district.
Elizabeth Shaw, president of the Walpole Nornalup and District Historical Society said:
David is researching a remarkable feat of an open Austin-Healey Sprite circumnavigating the world in 1960-61 for a book he is writing. He sent us a facsimile of the car in the tree (right photo) and wondered if we could provide further information.
The left photo on page 20 of Trees You Can Drive Your Car Into is Fay, Vern, Diane and Ray Wills taken in the Valley of the Giants in 1961 (the car is a then new 1961 EK Holden Wagon).
David wonders if it may be possible to contact any of the Wills children, some 60 years later. We can't help him on that, but if anyone has more information about the family or the Austin-Healey Sprite when it was in Western Australia please let us know : we will direct the information to David.
Our correspondent from Kent, England, purchased a copy of the Society's book: Trees That You Could Drive Your Car Into ; he arranged payment through a friend in Balgowlah, NSW. In a covering letter the friend wrote: My father's cousin Alastair Brian Clarke HARRISON, was the first Australian to become a member of e British Parliament and he had a property somewhere in your area.
If anyone has any knowledge of Mr Harrison and his property somewhere in this area, please let us know.
David made a trip to Edinburgh and discovered many more photos. He is seeking our help to identify the location of some he thinks may be in Australia . Can you help? The photos are here .
