Interviewee: Mrs Wilhelmina Victoria Poad (nee Garbett)
Date of Birth: 10 September 1890
Interviewer : Pauline Payne
Date of Interview: 6 June 1985
Death: 1994
Synopsis: Lyn Adams
BOHG No: 1985-001
Total Length: 32 mins 8 secs
Mrs Wilhelmina Victoria Poad was born in 1890 in Victoria and came to Western Australia with her mother and older brother when she was seven years old. They travelled on a cattle ship, the Nemesis. Her father, having made the journey earlier, met them in Bunbury on a Sunday which necessitated that they walked to Picton Inn.
They lived in Picton Inn for four years, the children attending Picton School. Her father worked for the Railways and was transferred to Upper Capel. While there he was responsible for the change of name of the town to Kirrup, later changed to Kirup. Due to the father’s work, the family moved several times to such places as Serpentine, Wooroloo and North Fremantle. This meant interrupted schooling for Wilhelmina and although she did quite well she did not want to continue at school when her parents took on farming at North Boyanup. Her brother had taken on a trade at Midland Workshop so Wilhelmina worked hard on the farm with her parents.
Eventually the family went to Bassendean where Wilhelmina met her future husband. He served overseas in the war but they were finally married in 1921. They went farming and established themselves on a farm near Dardanup. On the old family farm in Boyanup they had mostly produced fruit, but Wilhelmina and her husband had a dairy farm. They lost a little girl early on but then had two sons.
Her husband died in 1934, but Wilhelmina carried on with the farm having the assistance of three farm labourers who stuck with her and her two sons as they grew up. Her son Alec was particularly good with the milking whilst her other son Ray raised pigs.
Wilhelmina became very involved in community work, mainly the CWA and the Red Cross from their inception in Dardanup. She was particularly involved in the Red Cross during the war. She recalls some of the changes she has seen in Dardanup and especially changes in transportation and farm processes.
At the time of the interview, aged 94 years, she was still involved in the farm. She died in 1994.