Tag: Beaufort Thistle Club

A bombshell for the Thistle Club

At the Beaufort Thistle Club meeting in December 1942 Andy Duncan announced that he would be stepping down as secretary. It had been a hard year for him health-wise, and Thistle Club activity had declined through wartime austerity measures. Travel by car to recreational events was discouraged, as was spending on anything other than basic needs or war funds.

The 1941 Thistle Club Boxing Day sports had not been well-attended, and by February 1942 there was concern that the club might not continue. Andy had offered to take a 50% reduction in his £15 secretary’s salary.

Andy probably felt responsible for the difficulties confronting the club. Perhaps he could see that his health would not allow him to put in the extra effort required to keep the club running.

He asked that the club have a successor ready to take over in time for the annual meeting in January.

The chief said that was a bombshell, and the members regretted to hear of his decision

Riponshire Advocate 5 December 1942

The club members must have worked on Andy over the Christmas period and encouraged him to continue as secretary.  At the annual meeting Andy’s name was put forward for the role, but he declined the nomination.

Andy’s stepping down as Thistle Club secretary caused some nervousness at the Beaufort Cemetery Trust, where Andy also held the position of secretary.

A week after the Thistle Club meeting the Trust met. The trustees quickly moved that a bonus of £3/3/- be passed to the secretary, and it was minuted that Andy was “Very capable, attentive, courteous, obliging, and highly efficient”. The thanks of the Trust were due to him, and the trustees expressed the hope that Andy “would long continue in the role”.

Andy had not, apparently, given any indication that he was about to step down from his position at the Cemetery Trust. He continued as secretary into 1943. The trustees no doubt congratulated themselves on succeeding in retaining Andy where the Thistle Club had failed.

Sources

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 3 Jan 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 7 Feb 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 9 May 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 5 Dec 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 23 Jan 1943. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 30 Jan 1943. State Library of Victoria

1942 ‘PRIME MINISTER ON NEED FOR RECREATION’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 9 January, p. 2. [ONLINE] Available at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205278807 [Accessed 3 April 2016].

1942 ‘PRIME MINISTER’S ATTITUDE ON SPORT’, Sporting Globe (Melbourne, Vic. : 1922 – 1954), 18 March, p. 1. (Edition 2). [ONLINE] Available at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article178090717  [Accessed 3 April 2016].

1942 ‘SAVING FOR WAR’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 16 April, p. 2. [ONLINE] Available at: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205274757  [Accessed 3 April 2016].

Featured Image: Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 3 Jan 1942, p. 1. State Library of Victoria

 

 

 

 

 

Life during wartime

Despite the war grinding on, the routines of daily life continued much as before in country towns like Beaufort.  Long, hot summers came each year. The dry, shimmering heat, brought with it snakes and threat of bushfires, which formed a backdrop to the town’s activities.

Andy Duncan organised the Beaufort Thistle Club’s traditional Boxing Day sports and New Years Eve dance. He arranged for the sports day to be held in aid of the Prisoners of War Fund. He knew from personal experience that money was needed for this fund, the Riponshire Advocate noted.

The sports day was not a successful fundraiser, however, with poor attendance. The lack of public support went beyond the Boxing Day event. By February 1942 there was concern whether the Beaufort Thistle Club would continue. Andy Duncan offered to a take a 50% reduction in his £15 secretary’s stipend.

Andy and Jane continued to attend cards nights and Beaufort Band socials. They were regular prizewinners at these events. Jane had joined the Beaufort Fire Brigade Ladies Auxiliary and played in carpet bowls tournaments, often on the winning team.

Andy was now in his 60s and his health was inconsistent. The Gallipoli shrapnel in his back gave him trouble, and his weakened body was more susceptible to illness. Beaufort’s Doctor Little made regular visits to the Duncan home.

Around Anzac Day 1942 Andy suffered a severe attack of influenza.

Influenza was reported widely in Victoria in the first half of 1942. Nurses at Castlemaine Hospital, office and factory workers in Melbourne, schoolteachers in Shepparton were among those suffering from the virus.

Andy would have been isolated in his bedroom and kept away from his daughter Rene who was heavily pregnant. His family must have been relieved when he recovered just before Rene’s son was born in May.

Andy was quickly back to work, making arrangements for a Thistle Club patriotic social evening a few weeks later. All proceeds from the event went to the Prisoner of War fund.

Jane was also engaged in fundraising with the Fire Brigade Ladies Auxiliary. A fundraising social was held in July. Was it a coincidence that funds raised went to the Prisoner of War fund close to Andy’s heart, or had Jane suggested the idea? Andy and Jane attended the evening; Andy won a prize at cards.

 

Sources

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 6 Sep 1941. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 9 May 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 16 May 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 23 May 1942. State Library of Victoria

Riponshire Advocate (Beaufort, Vic.: 1874 – 1994) 25 Jul 1942. State Library of Victoria

1942 ‘COUNTRY NEWS.’, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 28 January, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8229987

1942 ‘Flu Depletes School Staff.’, Shepparton Advertiser (Vic. : 1914 – 1953), 30 June, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175497733

1942 ‘PREVALENCE OF INFLUENZA.’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 28 May, p. 5, viewed 6 February, 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206817054

 

Featured image: Beaufort Fire Station, 2015. Jane Duncan played carpet bowls here, with the Fire Brigade Ladies Auxiliary. From the author’s collection. Copyright Andrew Palmer.