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DOWN MEMORY LANE
 

Mary Rosa Scott nee Perich

My life began on the 16th February 1912 at my parents' farm "Oakrest" situated on the old Kalgoorlie-York road. The nearest rail siding was Bungulla which was eight miles from the town of Kelleberrin. The third of four children of Roseanna and Anton Perich, I was named Mary Rosa, with an older brother John, sister Nellie and younger brother Peter.

My schooling started at the age of seven as a boarder at St. Joseph's Convent in Kelleberrin. Four years later when a school was built at Bungulla I was able to live at home.

I used to drive my younger brother Peter and myself to school in a horse and sulky. The school was built of four bush timber uprights with hessian walls, corrugated iron roof and an earth floor. We had about eleven students.

Our teacher, Miss Thompson, who came from England, was billeted with a local farming family. Miss Thompson was a very timid person and found living in the country rather frightening. When the older boys got tired of their lessons they would crawl under the hessian wall and go outside to play marbles. Miss Thompson was too scared to discipline them. In hot weather the class lessons would be held outside under the shade of a big tree to escape the hot room. After a few years a one room weatherboard school was built to replace our hessian school room.

When I left school I worked for some time at Johnsons Baker's shop in Kellerberrin. Johnsons were well known for their beautiful meat pies, cakes and bread. They also had tearooms where I also worked at different times waiting on tables.

After my older sister Nellie married I went back to work on the farm, milking  cows and looking after other livestock, sheep, pigs etc.

My social life involved riding my horse Gipsy seven miles to town if I wanted to play hockey or go to a dance. On many an occasion I would roll up my lace dress, changing into it at a friend's place when I reached town.

At the age of 21 I married Jim Scott at St. Joseph's church in Kellerberrin and we had our wedding reception in the Bungulla weatherboard school - a marriage that lasted for sixty years, broken only with the death of my husband. The music for dancing at the reception was an accordion played by a Mr Huggett.

We lived for the majority of our married life in Doodlakine, nine miles east of Kellerberrin. My husband's family were pioneers of the Doodlakine district.

I had nine children, of whom seven are still living, and found time to be involved with the local CWA and the Red Cross as well as managing my own business -  a fruit and vegetable shop. Over the years we watched Doodlakine decline from a larger town to a hotel, post office, general store and school.

When my husband retired we moved to a small farm at Clackline, fifty miles east of Perth where we were caretakers of my daughter's property until shortly before her death.

In 1986 we moved to Palmyra a suburb in Perth, to be closer to our children, my seventeen grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.

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