Local Profile: Frank Paton

LOCAL PROFILE: FRANK PATON A Step Back in Time

By Liz Clark Recently I spent some time with Frank Paton from Anglesea, to talk about his memories of earlier days and his family’s association with the town.

Frank’s Anglesea home is high up on Parker Street with a magnificent view –the best in town, according to his grandfather. (Strange that, as I believe where I live at the top of Noble Street has the best view in town – according to my father). Frank’s grandfather purchased a huge allotment at what was then the outskirts of town at the end of Parker Street, and built ‘The Hut’ there 115 years ago. The land was later subdivided into three large blocks, all still held by the family. A remarkably solid pine building with eucalyptus stumps is still standing today, having been used for many years as a holiday house. It is one of the five oldest houses in Anglesea. Frank remembers stories of his grandparents and parents coming to Anglesea from Melbourne – by boat to Queenscliff, then the Cobb and Co. coach to Anglesea. When he was a youngster, he would travel with the family in their car – a Minerva – three children squashed into the dicky seat, and parents and a fourth child in the car with all their holiday necessities packed firmly around them. Particular care needed to be taken so that no one stood on the eggs on the floor!

Of course, in those days safety issues were less to the fore than they are today – Frank once fell from his mother’s lap out the door of the car after fiddling with the handle. Apparently he was little the worse for wear after this incident.

One of the first chores, after arriving for a month’s holiday each January, was to visit the dairy in town to purchase a large block of ice for the ice chest, the modern refrigeration system which replaced their original Coolgardie safe. Frank was fascinated to watch the iceman cut the ice from an enormous block and wrap it in a hessian bag to take home to keep all the food fresh and cold.

Since their timber house was quite small, the children all slept on small stretcher beds on the front veranda, vulnerable to attack from mosquitoes, any other buzzing insects that infested the night air, large spiders and of course the elements.

Things that would now seem almost like child neglect were the norm in those days – no one carried water bottles as they do now, so if you were thirsty you basically had to wait until you got home to have a drink. Sunscreen was rarely used, more likely coconut oil or a lotion that would encourage a strong tan to show what a wonderful time you had spent over the summer on the beach.

Holiday life was free and easy, especially for kids. They were allowed to roam freely, and walk to the beach on their own. Frank’s grandmother would blow a conch shell so loudly that it could be heard at the surf beach and the children knew it was time to head home for lunch. Days were spent rambling on the beach – perhaps a swim, walking to Point Addis, picnics, tossing stones and fossicking for shells, surfing, playing endless games of cricket, and arriving home from the beach with skin glowing from perhaps a little too much sun.

Frank Paton at home in Anglesea.

Underneath the house, Frank showed me a huge red surfboard that had once been his pride and joy. It was so heavy that he had to negotiate with owners of Debonair Guest House to leave it under their house so he wouldn’t have to lug it up the big hill each time he used it. The Guest House was sold, and Frank feared that his board was gone, but investigation proved that it was still safely stored, without the new owners’ knowledge. He managed to remove it and reclaim ownership – no negotiations required! On those few days that were unsuitable for beach life, the children would set out for adventurous walks with their father across the Anglesea marsh, coming home tired, muddy or dusty depending on the season. Rock climbing on the cliffs and diving off the rocks into the pool near Urquhart Bluff, picnics and late night walks filled idyllic, simple holidays, somewhat like the adventures children read in the Famous Five books of the time. There were few expectations of doing anything particularly exciting and few places to go for treats or dining out. He remembers Christmas lunch in the shed at the rear of Marion’s shop – a musty, dusty room that was rarely used – and the high expectation of the yearly visit to the Four Kings café as a birthday treat for their mother.

Frank recalls that for mothers in those times, this was not really a holiday. It was merely a transfer of their ongoing chores to a less convenient house, with a tiny kitchen and more and more meals having to be supplied to hungrier children. So, his mum really deserved her birthday dinner! There was no delivery of mail to homes in Anglesea in the 1950s and 60s, and Frank took his turn to line up at the Post Office to wait and see if the family had received any mail. Today, Frank spends about half of his time in Anglesea and half in Melbourne. The family still enjoys the simplicity of their old house, with bookcases crammed with old Penguin crime stories, but a redesign to make the most of the views, and various other changes, make it much more comfortable than its original beginnings offered.

Frank has embarked on a 20-year project to remove all the environmental weeds that have made their home on his bush block, and to introduce indigenous plants to replace them – a very challenging and demanding enterprise. He enjoys the simplicity of pottering, clearing and transforming his overgrown garden, and relishes the many reminders of happy childhood holidays in this beautiful part of the world.

The original house built by Frank’ s grandfather - still standing today, and now one of the five oldest in Anglesea.