I have to say this interview would have to be one of my favourites. Mavis’s daughter Jenny moved to Lismore in 1988 to work as a Reporter for NRTV news. Jenny also worked at SCU, The Echo and ABC Radio in Lismore. Mavis would help out with the Grandkids. Mavis moved to Ballina at 90 and sadly Jenny died from cancer in 2011. Jenny’s children Blake, Jane and Jasmin (twins) attended Kadina High. J&J went to SCU, Jane is a Nurse at Lismore Base Hospital and when Mavis broke her hip she was treated like royalty in LBH because she was so friendly and witty for her vintage. I feel privileged to have sat with Mavis yesterday to hear her story. What a gorgeous treasure she is.
Mavis Austin (nee Peace- Holland )-107 years old.
“Sometimes when I’m resting, my brain is like a kaleidoscope spinning around with memories from my life. I’ve never had such a lazy life since I’ve been here at St Andrews which is 18 months now. It’s the funniest bathroom here. When you have a shower, they sit you on a chair and they hose you. The first time they did I said…The bloody horses at the bakery got better treatment. The staff here are all so lovely. One of the fellas has a ring through his nose. I haven’t asked him what that’s for. I don’t want to know (laughs).
The older you get the quicker 12 months goes. When you’re growing up you can’t wait to be 14, then you can’t wait to be 18, then you can’t wait to be 21, then you get married and you find that overheads, partners and children and everybody else decides what you’re going to do with your time until they grow up. If you try to tell them what you think is right for them they would tell you right back what they don’t want to do.
I was born on Jan 1st in 1917 so I just had my 107th birthday. I was born at the end of the Spanish Flu and my mother said I went blue. The Doctor said I might not make it. I think he was trying to prepare her, but I got through that. From birth till I was about 10 I got every childhood illness you could get, measles, chicken pox and the rest. After that time I was the healthy one and my sister got it all. I think Mum had 4 or 5 children. She had a couple of misses but they didn’t talk about it in those days. I’m the oldest, my next sister was 2 1/2 years younger than me and then there was a spell and Betty came along when I was 10. Dad gave up, no boys.
When Mum was pregnant with Betty we had to go and stay at Grannies overnight. Grannie got us up early in the morning and said, ’Now go neaten and tidy your room , then you can run home and your Mum has a lovely surprise for you. I’m thinking a bag of sweets and when we got home I had a baby sister. I wasn’t a bit thrilled. I didn’t ask for another sister. In fact I said to Mum, What did you buy another one for? Because the week before she was complaining about the cost of things. I would have much preferred a book or a puppy.
I had 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys, all in Dubbo. We had a bakery there. You don’t get any bloody sleep in a bakery. I thinks that’s why I had so many babies. My husband and I were originally from Maitland. I was a little bit put down by him when we were first married until one day I turned around and punched him. I said if you ever come near me again like that there’ll be trouble. He went to war and I had to learn a lot. I was a keen dressmaker but ended up being a Caterer and many other things. I did 3 years at Tech in Dressmaking and I’m proud to say I got the highest mark. Dad was very proud but Mum never said much. With Mum you do it right or you don’t do it. My father was very disciplined of himself. He only ever told you something once. If he had to tell you twice, you’d get a smack on the backside. He was a lovely Dad though and his name was Thomas Peace.
A lot of our relatives settled on the Paterson River in Maitland. As children we only ate the Paterson River oranges. They had thin skins, no seeds and they were so juicy.
My Dad grew all our vegetables, out of the dirt and into the pot. We had all the oversize and undersize eggs from my Aunt’s poultry farm and Mum knew how to make a beautiful sponge.
There were several moments through my life that made me very happy. One was when I was 21 and I had my first formal, lovely ball gown but that was a more cosmetic happy moment. When I look back over my life with everything that was bad, you learn something. The best way to learn is the hard way. If you get what you want all the time, you expect it and then when something really bad happens, you have to cope with it. Everyday is only day time and night time and if you are going to bed tonight worrying…I should have done this or that…Forget it! You have to be ready for tomorrow because tomorrow will bring it’s own stuff, so don’t worry over trifles. If you burn the bloody dinner, have sandwiches.
I remember there was a girl at school called Florence. She was a neglected child and I suppose she was jealous in a hurtful way. My Mum sent us to school with our hair in ribbons and polished shoes. Florence was neglected and as we walked home from school she would walk behind me and tread on my heels so I’d lose my shoe. She was bigger than me. We were nearly home and she did it again so I had to stop, put my bag down and put my shoe on. I think I swore and I could see my gate was open. I turned around and swung my school bag at her. It hit hard and she didn’t chase me. She never came to school for 3 days. I was so sorry I did it because I was sorry for her as a neglected little girl. I never got pestered again. I didn’t know whether she’s still alive because she is a person I would like to say sorry to.
I was lucky I had 2 lovely Grandmothers, one was as poor as a church mouse. My Mother was one of 11. The other Grandma, her husband was a mining engineer who got hurt and there was no compensation in those days. Granny was a good cook and she got permission to start one of the very first tuck shops at school. She’d make little meat pies, Cornish pasties and sausage rolls. If you had threepence you would have a good lunch. I gravitated to people I could learn from. My Aunty Mavis could embroider and Aunty Myrtle could crochet and I would watch them. They used to make little milk jug covers that were weighted down by shells which my sister and I would find.
We were in Dubbo and I remember the Queen came. It was 1954. Everybody saw the Queen except me, I was in the kitchen working and I only saw the back of her. I had to cater for 40 men for their business men’s lunch. In 1955 we had a big flood with water almost to the roof in our shop. My husband came back from the war damaged. He ended up with another girl and left. I ended up moving to Wollongong as a single mum and it was a hard time. I always wanted to be a teacher but I had to raise my kids alone.
There was racism back then and I always had a good relationship with the Aboriginal people. My black friends were the truest friends. My daughter Jenny had a best friend who was a little Aboriginal girl. There was a little gang of four and they were gorgeous. They’d sneak into the bake house and nick the warm cakes.
I used to help my daughter Jenny when she was working as a Journalist and also when she worked for the TV in Lismore and when she got breast cancer so I would go and stay and help with her children. I never had a holiday for me but that was good because it allowed me to be close to my family. Before Jenny got sick I moved to Ballina so I got to spend her last years with her.
I had a little dog called Scruffy once. Nobody wanted her. She had funny little teeth, black fur, black eyes and you could wash her and brush her and she wouldn’t look any different. She’s be all clean and beautiful and she’d go straight out and roll in the dirtiest thing she could find, usually a steaming cow pat.
I have always loved music. I only ever had 18 months of music lessons and then the Miners were locked out so Dad said all luxuries had to go and music lessons were a luxury. I can actually play by ear but I can’t read music.
One of my favourite songs is Memories…
(sings) Memories, memories, dreams of love so true
O’er the seas of memories, I’m drifting back to you.
Childhood days, wildwood ways among the birds and me.
You left me alone but still you’re my own, in my wonderful memories.
Another song I remember singing when a lady asked me to sing to her. I was very tiny and when I finished she gave me a half crown coin. She asked me to sing it again when I’d finished and Mum said I put my hand out for another coin (laughs). I can still remember that lady. Her name was Mrs Garrett and her husband had ginger hair and ginger freckles. They lived in a little shabby brown house and the arbour over the front gate was white and it was unusual. I took notice of things.
It goes like this…
(Sings.) The sweetest song I ever heard my Mummy sing
was when I was one year old
She sang her song so sweetly
It seemed to ring out of a voice of gold
It was only uttered from my mother to me
As she rocked me to and fro on her knee
The sweetest song I ever heard my Mummy sing
Was when I was one year old.
Now you need to take my photo do you? My hair is awful, I can’t do the rollers anymore like I used to. And I’ll leave you with one of my favourite sayings when doing a toast…May all your troubles be dissolved in bubbles.”
(Mavis and with her Granddaughter Jane.)