Phyllis Lillian Crosby Osborne 1905 – 1990
Until the last few years of her life when she moved into Laidley to be near her husband who was confined in a nursing home, Phyllis lived her whole life at Townson, at the top of the Laidley Creek Valley. The valley is a narrow strip about 2.5 kms wide, bounded on the west by the Mistake Range of mountains and on the east by the Little Liverpool Range with the Laidley Creek running through it. The flat land gets narrower as you progress up the valley, or up the creek as the locals say.
She was the oldest of 10 children although one of her brothers died at birth and she was the first child to be baptised in St George's Church of England at Clarke's Bridge. She was born at the end of a severe drought, the worst the settlers had seen since they arrived in the valley. Even the birds were dying, then just before Christmas four inches (10cms) of rain fell in a storm and it kept on raining. The kookaburras were so weak from the dry period that when they dived from the trees into the rain-soaked earth in pursuit of worms, they became stuck with their beaks and could not escape.
She knew the story of that drought and remembered clearly the next big drought that occurred when she was 13. During that dry period the area was burnt out by a bushfire. A few days later a huge hail storm caused the creek to burst its banks. The water was as black as ink because of the washoff from the fire and killed many fish which were found dead on the banks. No cod have been caught in the Laidley Creek since then.
Flood, drought and fire. She grew up and lived with it all.
Flood, drought and fire. She grew up and lived with it all.
She loved to tell her grandchildren of days gone by, the things that shaped her. The things she never forgot and the things she wanted us to know about our history. Even simple things like how to tell the time if the clocks stopped. When we were off playing in the hills or in the creek, we knew how to know when it was time to come home for lunch. We kept an eye on the sida-retusa bushes (also known as Paddy's Lucerne) and when the flowers opened we would know it was around 12 noon.
Her father was a colourful and jovial personality, a big man, 6 ft 3 ins in height with a wide knowledge of bushcraft. He was well known as a narrator of tales of the bush and the early settlers of the district. Sam knew every hill, hollow and wallaby track on the entire mountain and was noted as a guide for the many sightseers. He is said to have entertained his tour parties with his versions of popular poems of the day. His interpretations of Banjo Paterson's "The Man from Snowy River” and “The Old Bark Hut” delivered in the atmosphere of a camp fire on the mountain were performances to be remembered.
Sam, second from right, and a group of visitors to Mt Mistake.
After leaving school he had worked carting timber and produce by bullock wagon from Mt Mistake down the valley to Laidley. He must have been a tough, hardy soul and have also known every yard of the road from the mountain to Laidley, having travelled them so many times with either a horse or bullock team.
Sam and his brother, Alfred and their bullock team.
Later he purchased a farm at the foot of Mt Mistake where he worked and lived until his death in October, 1948. He had been a leading figure in the district and was a tireless worker for the school, church, Laidley Council and Show Committee and became involved in anything that might benefit the progress of the valley. He was elected to Laidley Shire Council in 1919 and served continuously until 1946 when he stated indifferent health as the cause for declining nomination for re-election.
It's a quick drive into Laidley these days but those 28 miles must have seemed a lot longer when walking beside your team in the heat (or mud).
The school teacher at the little district school always boarded with his family and there is an amusing account of the life of one of these teachers (1935-1937) in the booklet prepared for the school centenary celebrations in 1981. She travelled from Brisbane to Laidley and then on the little side line to Mulgowie in the guards van at the end of a goods train.
She tells how when she finally reached her destination she heard the guard announce, "Here's your teacher for you, Sam." And the reply, "To hell with the teacher! Where's the bloody tractor I ordered a month ago." It should be added that Sam had been waiting for the train at the Mulgowie Pub and was more than a little inebriated.
She described him as a likable old character - six foot three, jacky-howe singlet with belly hanging over a wide belt that held up his trousers, at the bottom of which were not two feet but one and a half. (His brother had chopped his foot off when he was a kid.)
On the journey home Sam hit a hare, stopped, got out, picked it up and threw it onto the truck, got back into the truck and said, "We'll have hare pie for tea tomorrow night, teacher." And they did.
Sam died when I was three years old. It would have been fun to know such a colourful, jovial character.
He was the second son of James Watson Crosby (1840-1929) of Yorkshire and Mary Anne Evans (1851-1917) from Wales, who were among the first settlers of Townson in the Laidley Creek Valley. They lived at the end of the road (before there was anything that resembled a road) in the foothills of Mt Mistake which sits within the Main Range National Park in south east Queensland.
Phyllis attended the tiny Townson school, about 3 kms from her home. The pupils were all from 5 families.
A classroom of a school of the time. Note the Good Manners chart.
She could never be drawn about her school days except to say she liked running. She must also have liked writing because when she was eleven years old she was the local correspondent to the Queensland Times. The newspaper was a vital link to the outside world before electricity or telephones came along. Every district had a small space in the paper for their local news. The articles were usually gossipy items such as who attended the monthly meeting of the Country Womens' Association, who won the “Best Apron” competition and who won the lucky door prize. But also covered birth and death notices. Before then she wrote letters to popular columns of the newspaper such as Uncle William's Letter Bag and must have been thrilled when one of her letters was published. She also had her name published a couple of times for making donations to the Children's Corner Cot Fund.
Everyone in the family had a part to play in the running of the farm. The cows were milked by hand but even before a child was big enough to perform that task there were other jobs to be done. Herding the cows or feeding the chooks as Phyllis would say. And, in the summer, when they were lucky enough to have water in the creek, a bath in the creek before dinner. Water was always a scarce commodity and not to be wasted. The clanking of the windmill was the comforting background music of her life.
Phyllis worked on the farm when she left school and took part in all the district activities. There were frequent balls and dances. She was known to be a good cook and an excellent dressmaker, a handy skill to have when you had to make your own balldresses. She was smart dresser throughout her life, always making her own clothes. And, as she grew older, the clothes for her family. Her wedding present when she married was a grandfather clock and a Singer sewing machine.
The Crosby girls - Elsie, Edie, Phyllis, Stella (unknown children) outside their family home.
She married Jesse Noah Osborne (known as Noah) when she was 20 in 1925. He was 6 years older than her and said he'd had his eye on her since she was a girl at school and could “run like the wind”. I heard him describe how she looked when she ran many times and his descriptions would change depending on his mood. Sometimes he's say she looked like a young graceful gazelle, other times like a hare with buckshot up its backside.
A paddock and the creek separated her old family home from the home she made with Noah. A little gully that emptied into the creek ran along the back of their house. A wonderful place for children and grandchildren to play.
The home she and Noah created for themselves and their family. You can see the outbuildings of her parents farm in the distance on the left hand side.
These days it has been modernised:
But the sight of it whenever I go to Townson, when I first arrive at the creek crossing, sitting there back off the road with the hills and mountains behind it still stops my heart. I hear Gran saying, "Car at the creek."
About 100 metres to the left, just a bit further up the gully was the cowshed.
The soil of the flat paddocks beside the creek was rich and eventually they stopped milking cows and grew crops mainly, potatoes, pumpkin, onions and watermelons but later on they leased the land to a company similar to our Watties who grew and harvested things like beetroot, lettuce, broccolini. This valley these days produces around 40% of the fresh vegetables consumed in South East Queensland.
Just add water
Phyllis and Noah had five children, my mother, Lily being the oldest. Their oldest son, John was a policeman, the other two sons, George and Reg were farmers. Maisie also married a farmer. Phyllis was the most wonderful grandmother anyone could possibly imagine. We all adored her. She loved us all and never compared one with the other. After she died I travelled to Mount Isa to spend time with my two sisters, Esme and Tricia. Esme had not been able to travel to Laidley for the funeral so one night the three of us had dinner at the Irish Club and held our own wake. I had left Mt Isa is 1973 and people who came in and recognised me or my sisters would stop to chat. We told them all they were welcome to join us but we were telling Gran stories. with 10-12 people around the tabled being entertained.
Fancy dress evenings were popular and Phyllis' children were often amongst the prize winners. Here Lily's costume is titled the Century in Between, John is a golliwog and Maisie is a handbag. (Political correctness had not been heard of.)
Marriage 1925 to Jesse Noah Osborne
Lillian Phyllis Ward 1926 - 2016
John 1927 – 1981 m Leona (Sandra, Wayne, Brenda, Julie)
Maisie m Trevor Turnbull (Gayle, Douglas, Max)
George m Jan Peters (Neil, Beth and Robyn)
Reginald 1938 - 2007 m Lorraine Goos (Shane, Diane
