Mr Con Callaghan

Born Cornelius James Callaghan in the WA Goldfields town of Boulder in 1909, the sixth child in a family of eight, I was educated by the Josephites (nuns who wore brown habits) in Boulder from the age of 5-14.

After leaving school at 14 I went to work for a Saddler in Boulder for a year learning many skills that would equip me in future tasks, especially the war effort. It would take one man approximately two days to make a saddle. I was taught double-handed sewing using a flax thread which was waxed and rolled, so with a needle in each hand and an awl with a wooded handle on it, the needle could be thrust through the leather, enabling reasonable progress.

When I was 15, the family moved to Perth. Armed with a good reference from my former employer, I went to work for Hugo Fischer who founded the firm of the same name. I was apprenticed for fives years and worked with tradesmen from the U.K Collar, Harness and Saddle makers. The saddle firm made heavy duty harnesses, saddles and bridles, mainly for the mining and farming industries.

I learned a lot but was not overly enthused by the work as I could see it was a dying trade; the writing was on the wall so to speak. Substitutes for leather were creeping into the industry, power driven vehicles began replacing horses, and mechanisation took over from manual labour.

At 21, I finished my apprenticeship facing an unstable future. When the mechanic for all these new mechanised equipment was fired, I stepped into his shoes and worked as a mechanic for the next 10 years. I served a term of 15 years in all for the German saddler in Wellington Street (Hugo Fischer).

In 1939 I joined the RAAF beginning in Pearce WA where I was asked to repair a windsock- making machine for a day’s trade test.  I spent two years in Victoria at Laverton where I learnt the art of parachute folding and maintenance. Every parachute had a log book for folding and repair work during its life. I was then transferred to Charters Towers in Queensland before finally being demobilised in Perth, at the end of the war.

I worked for a while at my sister Eva's dairy farm in Serpentine, then did a course in accountancy which was a great help in my next venture - the hotel business. I worked for six years as a bar manager at the Wembley Hotel, until 1956. Floreat meanwhile was being developed for housing.

My marriage to Hilda Carmody took place in 1956. In 1959, Mark, my only child, was born. The Wembley golf course was constructed by the Perth City Council eventually with valuable input from me and at one stage I controlled the course. I also had an interest in a private car parking operation. When the lease expired this paved the way for the erection of the Concert Hall.

I retired in 1974. My interests have been many and varied and my prowess in the sports arena must not be overlooked either. Throughout my life, I have shown great promise at athletics (I still own my original running spikes). I Joined the W.A. Athletic league, won trophies, ran in the Stawell Gift, competed in R.A.A.F. sports days, played Australian Rules football for Claremont for two years, and played cricket for a Subiaco team.