"Tom" Thomas Clement DOWNES
Born 10 April 1897 in Strawberry, Western Australia [P393]
Son of Thomas DOWNES and Louisa Jane LONG [15]
His father had died from pneumonia in January 1897 after being trapped by flames while fighting a fire in Mingenew [P393]
In 1901 his widowed mother married Thomas DEE [15]
It is believed he may have attended the Strawberry State School at Strawberry in the Mingenew district [P391]
He was a grandson of William LONG and Sarah GREEN who were the first non-indigenous settlers in Coorow in 1862 [P17]
Farmhand in Coorow by 1919 [19]
Worked in Irwin prior to shifting to Coorow to work for Samuel B. RUDDUCK on Koobabbie Farm in Coorow [P391]
Met and courted Eileen CASSERLY who was a domestic employee working for Mrs RUDDUCK on Koobabbie Farm [P391]
At the time his elder brother was working at Koobabbie and it may have been through him that he learnt of Eileen's arrival [P393]
He was working for Baxter D. BOTHE on Inglewood Farm in Coorow and travelled the 20 miles to see her a few times a week [P393]
Charles W. DOWNES and Arthur DOWNES, brothers who farmed in Yandanooka, were his first cousins [P391]
Married Eileen CASSERLY on 11 November 1925 at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Fremantle [P393]
Farmhand and Wheat Lumper in Kununoppin 1925-1931 [P391]
Worked for a Mr O'NEILL on Bunning Farm in Kununoppin [P393]
His wife gave birth to a stillborn son Charles in 1928 which "nearly broke their hearts" and which he "never quite got over" [P393]
Along with his wife and their daughters Eileen and Verna left Kununoppin and shifted to Coorow in 1931 [P391]
Farmhand for Baxter D. BOTHE on Inglewood Farm in Coorow [P391]
They briefly resided on Inglewood Farm in Coorow and then in the Coorow townsite [P391]
In the townsite they initially 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]
While continuing to work for Baxter D. BOTHE he also did contract work for the Carnamah District Road Board [P391]
Such contracting included clearing scrub from a townsite street in Coorow, for which he was paid £1/15/- in August 1933 [300: page 54]
He did contract fencing for £11 per mile building fences for farmers in Coorow[P393]
Successfully tendered to contract fence the Coorow West Road in Coorow for the Carnamah District Road Board in 1936 [5: 24-Apr-1936]
He'd done 80 chains of netting fence, 167 chains of clearing and 170 chains of posts on the Coorow West Road by June 1936 [5]
At his request the Carnamah District Road Board paid him a £20 progressive payment for the work he had done [5: 19-Jun-1936]
Also at his request he received 10/- compensation for damage caused to his bike for a fire lit by the Road Board gang [5: 19-Jun-1936]
Farmhand for W. Gordon LAMBERT on Carrawidgy Farm in Coorow [P393]
One day while closing an iron gate on the farm lightening struck a fence and he was knocked unconscious [P393]
Later ceased working as a farmhand and worked full time for the Carnamah District Road Board as part of their gang in Coorow [P391]
Along with the gang he would load a truck with gravel by shovel and then spreading it out on roads by shovel [P393]
Sold a cow for £3/7/6 through Elder Smith & Co Ltd at the Midland Market on Wednesday 2 December 1936 [5: 4-Dec-1936]
First Aid Man for the Coorow Football Club in 1937 [5: 11-Jun-1937]
Steward of the Poultry section at the Coorow-Waddy Forest Districts Agricultural Society's Annual Show in 1937 [5: 18-Jun-1937]
During the Second World War worked for the Allied Works Council making the bitumen road between Watheroo and Mingenew [P393]
He would work away all week and then catch the train back to Coorow for the weekends [P393]
After getting to know the train drivers they would stop at Coorow to pick him up on a Sunday night to return to work [P393]
In 1949 purchased a school bus and secured the Waddy Forest bus run which he conducted until 1961 [P391] [P393]
He drove and maintained the bus himself, picking up and dropping off children from farms in Waddy Forest each day [P393]
He was a great supporter of the Coorow Football Club while his sons Tom and Irwin were playing [P391]
He was made Patron of the Coorow Tennis Club as he was always present at matches to watch his children Tom, Irwin and Jetta [P391]
Along with his wife left Coorow in 1962 and retired to the Perth suburb of East Victoria Park [P393]
Resided in retirement in the Perth suburb of East Victoria Park from 1962 until his death in 1966 [P391]
Father of Eileen, Charles, Verna, Thomas, Loris, Irwin, Jetta, Kathleen and Ursula [P391]
Died 3 April 1966; buried at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth, Western Australia (Roman Catholic, Lawn 4, 163) [2]
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Thomas Clement Downes' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 19 December 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/thomas-clement-downes [reference list] |
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