Eileen CASSERLY / DOWNES
Born 22 September 1904 in Fremantle, Western Australia [P391]
Daughter of Peter CASSERLY and Alice Maud Mary BLACKLOCK [15]
She was the eldest daughter of twelve children [P391] and attended a convent in or near Fremantle [P392]
The sisters at her convent recommended her to Samuel B. RUDDUCK who had contacted them looking for a domestic worker [P391]
She caught the train to Coorow and began working domestically for Mrs Alice M. RUDDUCK on Koobabbie Farm in Coorow [P391]
While working on Koobabbie Farm in Coorow she met local farmhand Tom DOWNES [P393]
Tom was working on Inglewood Farm in Coorow and travelled the 20 miles to see her and 20 miles back a few times a week [P393]
Married "Tom" Thomas Clement DOWNES on 11 November 1925 at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Fremantle [P393]
They resided in Kununoppin 1925-1931 [P391]
Gave birth to a stillborn son named Charles in 1928 who was buried at the Kununoppin Cemetery [P391]
In 1931 left Kununoppin and shifted to Coorow with her husband and their daughters Eileen and Verna [P391]
Resided in Coorow 1931-1962 [P391]
Through her husband their children were great-grandchildren of Coorow pioneers William LONG and Sarah GREEN [P391]
They briefly resided on Baxter D. BOTHE's Inglewood Farm in Coorow and then in the Coorow townsite [P391]
In the Coorow townsite they resided in bough shed with gravel floor and tarpaulin roof while their house was being built [P391]
Their house in Coorow, at Lot 18 Long Street, was a two room cottage that was later extended [P391]
The two rooms were a kitchen and their bedroom while an end of the back verandah was enclosed for their children's room [P393]
Often a piece of timber three feet long was fed into the kitchen stove with the other end resting on a chair [P393]
Snakes were often a problem and when was killed in was kept all day under the belief that they didn't die until sundown [P393]
Sometimes a mate of the snake killed would show up as well which would then also be killed [P393]
She kept fowls for eggs and meat, and took in washing and ironing to supplement her husband's wages [P393]
Washing was done in boiling water in a copper in their backyard with velvet soap cut up to provide the suds [P393]
Her children milked cows which they churned with a hand beater into butter and then sold it around town [P393]
Before and after school her children also delivered milk for 3d. (three pence) a pint [P393]
During hard times she had only two dresses - one on and one in the wash, until a cow ruined one on the clothesline [P393]
Despite hard times they always provided gifts for their children at Christmas [P393]
Whenever she could she tried to attend Church and give her children some knowledge of the Catholic faith [P393]
Her children were baptised in their kitchen when the priest would call for a snack or cuppa after mass at the Coorow Hall [P393]
Her children won 1st prize in 1936 and 2nd in 1937 for Wildflowers at the Coorow-Waddy Agricultural Show [5: 11-Sep-1936, 10-Sep-1937]
Contributed to the war effort during the Second World War by providing food for sick and injured troops on Red Cross trains [P393]
With her elder children she met the trains passing through Coorow with milk, butter, cream and cakes for the sick troops [P393]
Received a citation from Major H. M. OWEN, Commanding Officer of 10 Ambulance Train, in appreciation of her kindness [P393]
They kept their food cool with a Coolgardie safe until 1946 they purchased their first refrigerator [P393]
Water was a problem during their entire time in Coorow and was carted from a nearby soak as they had no running water [P393]
They carted their water with a stick over the shoulders and a bucket each side until 1947 when her husband purchased a truck [P393]
She worked very hard looking after her family in Coorow [P8]
Along with her husband left Coorow in May 1962 and retired to the Perth suburb of East Victoria Park [P393]
They purchased a house on Balmoral Street in East Victoria Park for $6,500 with house and contents insurance costing $8.90 [P393]
Following her husband's death from lung cancer at the age of 78 in 1966 she continued to reside in their Balmoral Street home [P393]
Later resided in the Perth suburb of Hilton [2]
Mother of Eileen, Charles, Verna, Thomas, Loris, Irwin, Jetta, Kathleen and Ursula [P391]
Died 18 October 1980; buried at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Roman Catholic, Lawn 4, 163) [2]
Her brother Peter, the last surviving Australian who served on the Western Front in the First World War, died in 2005 aged 107 [P391]
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Eileen Casserly / Downes' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 20 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/eileen-casserly [reference list] |
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