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Biographical Dictionary - Coorow, Carnamah, Three Springs


Surname

Noel CROSSING

Born 9 July 1906 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia [16]
He studied dentistry, graduating with a Diploma for Dental Surgery [4: 19-Jan-1929]
Dental Surgeon in Carnamah from January 1929 to September 1929 [4: 9-Feb-1929, 21-Sep-1929]
He operated his dental surgery from part of Mackie's Buildings at 19 Macpherson Street, Carnamah [4: 19-Jan-1929] [P399]
During his sojourn in Carnamah his mother, Mrs Ida Blanche CROSSING, also resided in Carnamah [19]
He commenced his dentistry business in Carnamah on Monday 21 January 1929 [4: 9-Feb-1929]
Visited Mingenew to see clients on the 1st and 3rd Monday and Perenjori on the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month [4: 6-Apr-1929]
During the first half of 1929 he saw clients in Three Springs on the first and third Friday of each month [4: 23-Feb-1929]
Beginning with the start of June he instead visited Coorow on the first and third Friday of each month [4: 1-Jun-1929 & 24-Aug-1929]
Member of the Carnamah Rifle Club in 1929 [4: 20-Apr-1929 & 6-Jul-1929]
Attended the Carnamah Cricket Club's Ball held at the Carnamah Town Hall on 20 April 1929 [4: 27-Apr-1929]
Purchased a new Willy-Knight Standard Six car from local agent Rupert LAFFAN in May 1929 [4: 1-Jun-1929]
On Saturday 11 May 1929 attended the surprise party tendered to his mother at their home in Carnamah [4: 25-May-1929]
Attended the Carnamah Football Club's Opening Season Ball held at the Carnamah Town Hall on 18 May 1929 [4: 25-May-1929]
In May 1929 he had a visit in Carnamah from his mother Mrs CROSSING [4: 25-May-1929]
Attended the Plain and Fancy Dress Ball at the Carnamah Town Hall on Thursday 8 August 1929 [4: 17-Aug-1929]
Had an account with Carnamah blacksmith, wheelwright and motor mechanics Henry Parkin & Son in 1929 [53]
Attended the farewell to his mother held at the home of Mrs Mary BADRICK in Carnamah on 10 September 1929 [4: 14-Sep-1929]
Left Carnamah in September 1929 after selling his dental surgery to Allan S. MUMMERY [4: 21-Sep-1929] [39: 18-Aug-1929]
After leaving Carnamah intended to take up his dental practice in Perth [39: 18-Aug-1929]
Married Mary Kathleen VAUGHAN in 1933 [66]
Resided in Albany prior to enlisting in the Australian Army on 1 June 1940 [16]
Lieutenant Colonel WX3353 in the Australian Army's 2/7 Field Ambulance during the Second World War [16]
Discharged from the Australian Army on 28 February 1946 [2]
Later resided in the Perth suburb of Nedlands [2]
Died 23 November 1972; buried at Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Anglican, Lawn 6, R017) [2]


From The Daily News newspaper, Saturday 16 August 1930:
Around the World - Perth Youth's Adventure - Working at Anything
     "After visiting New Zealand, Canada, the United States, England and European countries, Mr Noel Crossing, young Perth dentist, is satisfied that the Australian youth who is not averse from roughing it, can see the world with very little capital. Looking fit and well, Mr Crossing returned to Perth during the week.
     Twelve months ago Mr Crossing undertook a motor trip with another Perth youth, Mark Henshaw, through Adelaide, Sydney, Broken Hill, to Queensland, and back to Melbourne. He left Henshaw, and with Barry Durham, who, like himself, is an ex-Scotch Collegian, went on to New Zealand. Together they toured the North Island, paying their way as they went, mostly by heaving coal at various towns. At Fiji they worked on copra plantations before visiting Honolulu and Vancouver. There was plenty of work offering on the copper mines of British Columbia, and the adventurers had the unique experience of working at a mining camp made up of 21 different nationalities. They also did some trapping in the mountains.
     Around the Klondyke. Before separating, Crossing and Durham visited Alaska and the Yukon gold diggings. Durham then elected to join a salmon-fishing expedition in Alaska, and Crossing made for the United States with a young Canadian. At Vancouver the pair invested 25 dollars (£5) in a Ford Motor car, and entered California, working here and there, but never in a hurry to go anywhere in particular. They detoured through Montana, back over the Canadian border through the Crow's Nest Pass in the Rockies, and on to Banff, Lake Louise, and Edmonton (Alberta). At Edmonton they worked on the Bar-K ranch to assist the now rather depleted pocket, and encouraged by their sale of the old Ford for five dollars more than they paid for it - notwithstanding that it had carried them 3500 miles - they joined a party to take a train-load of cattle across to Montreal (Quebec). It was there that Crossing joined up with another companion, a young French Canadian, who was also eager for travel.
     Border Difficulties. Succumbing to the urge to move on, they jumped a train for Toronto. To ride on the carriage roofs while the train rocked along at 60 miles per hour, and to dodge officials at every stopping place, provided a thrill of its own. How to cross the U.S.A. border at minimum cost was a problem; but it became easy when the French-Canadian took charge of their joint belongings and money and crossed under the advices of immigration officials, while Crossing swam the river some miles further downstream. They met up again and headed for New York and Chicago. They favored a return to Canada rather than making for Mexico and after another battle of wits with border authorities in the State of Maine, they found themselves in Quebec. There they parted, Crossing working in a logging camp to earn his steerage passage and extra in order to cross the Atlantic. He sailed from Montreal down the St. Lawrence to land in Liverpool (England). With a few halts so as to earn the wherewithal, Crossing embarked on a series of sight-seeing tours, taking in Edinburgh, London, Germany, Paris, and Marseilles. At the southern French port he decided he had had enough for one trip, and so joined a Fremantle-bound steamer.
     U.S.A.'s Unemployment. Discussing his means of travel, Mr Crossing said that he left Australia with only £50, but was always fortunate enough to find work when his funds ran low. Canada treated him particularly well, and he is certain that the energetic and enterprising youth could find work aplenty there. British Columbia knows unemployment, but has little industrial trouble, because of the ever-moving population and the sliding scale of wages which operates on the mines. The miners draw wages according to the employers' returns. He found unemployment as acute in the United States as elsewhere, the difference being that it is not advertised to anything like the extent of other countries' troubles. He presumed it would be far worse now that the States were encountering severe droughts."


Reference:  Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Noel Crossing' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 26 April 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/noel-crossing [reference list]




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