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Biographical Dictionary - Coorow, Carnamah, Three Springs


Surname

Clem Hunter Porter GRANT

Born 7 September 1898 in Yorketown, South Australia [55]
Son of "Alex" Alexander Ray Porter GRANT and Sarah BONHAM [55]
Grew up in Kilkenny, South Australia [P196]
Carpenter of Laura Street in Stepney, South Australia in 1915 [18]
Enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 20 December 1915 [18]
     Embarked from Adelaide, South Australia for active service abroad on the R.M.S. Mongolia on 9 March 1916 [18]
     Private 4935 in the Australian Imperial Force's 50th Battalion during the First World War [18]
     He was shot in the lung and left in the trenches to die before being found by the Salvation Army and evacuated to England [P196]
     The only thing that had prevented him from bleeding to death in the trenches was that the snow had congealed his wound [P196]
Married (1) Esther May ROSS on 6 November 1920 in Mount Torrens, South Australia[55]
Farmer in Coorow, Western Australia 1922-1927 [19] [27] [50]
     Both his parents, he and his wife had all settled in Coorow by 1922 [50]
     He helped his parents on their farm in Coorow and worked in Coorow building houses for farmers [P196]
     4ZV was his and his father's registered horse and cattle firebrand in 1924 [80: 28-Oct-1925]
     His wife purchased 400 acres of virgin land in Coorow, Western Australia from the Midland Railway Company on 7 April 1925 [27]
     The 400 acres was Lot M1548 of Victoria Location 2023 and cost £300 (15/- per acre), payable by instalments [27]
     During an argument with his father about the farm his father shot him in the ankle, for which he went to jail for six weeks [P196]
     After the shooting accident he was taken by train to Three Springs and treated at the Cottage Hospital on Parakalia Farm [P2]
     Dr James P. MCALEER of Three Springs operated on his ankle and ended up having to amputate his leg above the knee [P196]
     He made his own wooden leg with knee, ankle and toe joints from a tree stump [P196]
     They sold their 400 acre Lot M1548 in Coorow to Eliza M. JACKS on 23 January 1929 [27]
By 1927, when his daughter Dawn was born, he and his wife had left Coorow and shifted to Perth [P196]
     He was working as an Artificial Limb Maker and living at 27 Congdon Street in the Perth suburb of Swanbourne in 1927 [P196]
Farmer and Builder in Three Springs, Western Australia 1928-1953 [4] [6] [19]
     He farmed his own properties - one west of Three Springs and another 10 miles east of Three Springs [5: 12-Feb-1937] [P196]
     Legislative Council Electoral Rolls reveal he was the owner of Victoria Locations 5461 and 5973 in Three Springs [61]
     Resided with his wife and daughters in a house on his farm east of Three Springs until the house burnt down [P196]
     The roof, verandah and verandah posts of his farmhouse blew away in a 36 hour dust storm on 9 and 10 February 1937 [5]
     The storm lifted the entire roof of his farmhouse and deposited it 50 yards away from the house [5: 12-Feb-1937]
     His brother Jack was helping on the farm and hung a tea towel above the stove which caught fire and burnt down the house [P196]
     Later resided in the Old Presbytery just east of Three Springs and in a house in the Three Springs townsite [P196]
     During their time at the Old Presbytery the local Aboriginal People had their camps just behind the Presbytery [P196]
     In addition to building houses in Three Springs he also built a few houses in Dongara and enlarged the Dongara Bakery [P196]
     Owned and drove a school bus from east of Three Springs to the Three Springs State School during the 1930s [P196]
     Also ran the bus to balls held in Mingenew, Perenjori, Carnamah and Coorow - for which he charged 4/- per person [P196]
Attended the Three Springs Agricultural Society's First Annual Show and Show Ball on Thursday 20 September 1928 [4: 29-Sep-1928]
Committee Member of the Three Springs Race Club in 1929 [4: 23-Feb-1929]
Won 1st prize for a Berkshire Boar in the Swine section of the Three Springs Agricultural Show on 22 September 1932 [5: 30-Sep-1932]
Gatekeeper of the R.S.L. Sports Day at the Arrino Recreation Ground on Thursday 5 November 1932 [5: 11-Nov-1932]
In August 1933 built in Coorow a blacksmith's shop for David TODD and a house for F. Keith KITSON [5: 25-Aug-1933]
Built the Marchagee Hall at East Marchagee for the Carnamah District Road Board at a cost of £358 in October 1933 [5: 6-Oct-1933]
     The cost of the hall consisted of £284/-/8 for the materials and transport, and £72/16/7 for building the hall [300: page 21]
     On 13 February 1934 the Road Board paid him a further £37/7/7 for building a supper room onto the hall [300: page 21]
Secured the contract for extensions to the Arrino Hall and began them on Tuesday 3 July 1934 [5: 6-Jul-1934]
By contract he sunk and timbered the pit of the Three Springs Rifle Club's rifle range in April 1936 [5: 24-Apr-1936]
Member of the Three Springs Rifle Club in 1936 and 1937 [5: 10-Jul-1936, 25-Jun-1937]
Attended and competed at the Official Opening of the Three Springs Rifle Club's rifle range on Thursday 23 July 1936 [5: 31-Jul-1936]
Attended the Fifth Annual North Midlands R.S.L. Reunion Dinner in Dongara on Saturday evening 24 October 1936 [5: 30-Oct-1936]
Committee Member of the Three Springs-Arrino Sub-Branch of the Returned Soldiers League in 1937 [5: 19-Feb-1937]
When his mother died in 1938 shifted to Coorow to assist his father on the farm, and later shifted back to Three Springs [P196]
Built a large cement brick home for Henry E. MORGAN on Mingatarra Farm in Three Springs [P2]
He was paid for undertaking repairs to the Marchagee Hall by the Carnamah District Road Board on 14 October 1941 [413: page 31]
Speaker at the Valedictory Social for stationmaster Herbert E. REYNOLDS in Three Springs during November 1949 [4: 19-Nov-1949]
On the trumpet he sounded The Last Past in Three Springs on Anzac Day one year [P196]
In the 1950s he retired, left Three Springs and shifted to Perth [P196]
Married (2) Muriel Eileen ROBERTS in Perth in 1952 [66]
He and his second wife resided at 26 Ridge Street in the Perth suburb of South Perth [50] before divorcing [P196]
Married (3) Vera BRITTON [P196]
Father of Joyce and Dawn [P2]
Died in Findon, South Australia and was buried at the Centennial Park General Cemetery in Pasadena, South Australia [P196]


Reference:  Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Clem Hunter Porter Grant' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 29 March 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/clem-hunter-porter-grant [reference list]




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