Fairbridge Farm Pinjarra - Photo Album 1913 to 1950's

Welcome to Fairbridge Kids

Historic Pictures of Fairbridge People & The Village - 1913 to 1950's

This is a pictorial of Fairbridge people and places from the above era.

Number	Description
	1913 to 1920 - The Old Farm
PIC13001	The opening of the first Farm in 1913, shortly after the first party of 12 boys had arrived. The photo includes the Local Committee, guests and Farm School boys. Picture taken immediately after the Farm School was declared open. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13002	Members of the first Local Committee (formed by Kingsley Fairbridge) view a boxing match involving the new boys. The referee was R. Walker who wrote notes of these three 1913 photos in 1937. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13003	Boxing again. R. Walker was referee. The boys were divided into two teams for an impromptu boxing tournament. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13004	At the Old farm and this time in School. Bare feet, home-made furniture and lots of maths on the blackboards. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13005	Again in school. This looks like Kingsley giving lessons to the boys. Despite being home-made, the desks and seats look very spacious. Imagine the work that went into building all this. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13006	Class room at the Old Farm School. The boys and teacher line up for a group photo. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13007	Ruby Fairbridge pictured with young Barbara and Rhodes. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13008	Group of children pictured with some of the staff. Is that Kingsley far left? (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13009	Another group of children pictured with some of the staff that looks like on the same day as the above. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13010	Group of children and staff in front of building. Note the Union Jack flying high. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13011	Kingsley Fairbridge with his children Barbara, Elizabeth and Rhodes. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13012	The Dormitory. You can see some beds on the verandah. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13013	Hay piled up on the cart, and other horses. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13014	Children display a bumper crop of produce. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13015	Two boys collecting firewood for the cottage. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13016	Horse and cart - collecting firewood. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13017	Horse and cart - collecting firewood. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13018	Horse and cart - collecting firewood. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC13019	Children involved in clearing the land. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
	1920's
PIC20001	Kitchen under construction. The foundations are down and up they go. Note the cart down the right side. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20002	Kitchen under construction. The building has advanced some. That cart is full of clay that was used to build the kitchen. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20003	The first Laundry photographed in the mid-late 1920's. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20004	The Rectory. A little blurry. The Rectory stood next to the Church but was removed/destroyed in later years. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20005	Young man holds up his chopper to the roots of an almost impossibly large tree whilst young child on horseback looks on. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20006	1921. This is the Water tank that proudly occupied the land where the Church now stands. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20007	Mid 1920's. The photo is captioned "Class Rooms Under Construction". Looks like the whole school is out this day for this lovely picture. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20008	Rhodes and Elizabeth Fairbridge. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20009	Children on Garden Duty on 6 November 1923. Note the hills in the background - so characteristic of Fairbridge and never changing. (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20010	Entrance to Fairbridge Village in 1921. Is that muddy looking track in front what was then known as the Albany Highway but is now the South Western Highway? (Courtesy OFA Museum)
PIC20011	All the children in their Sunday best including ties suggests that this might be a church service or some official visitor is in town, or it is simply an occasion for a formal group photo. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20012	Henry Hudson cottage and children. Lovely photo. This (one following photos through to PIC20019) were most probably taken between 1923 and 1927. All cottages photographed existed in 1923. None of the seven cottages built in 1927 are featured. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20013	Shakespeare Cottage. Girls and Cottage Mother viewed through the pickets. Cute little hats they're all wearing. Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20014	Raleigh Cottage. The cottage buildings have changed somewhat. No doubt future renovations introduced more modern building materials and buildings were redesigned and expanded. Note the home-made cricket bat and the sharp axe! Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20015	Lister Cottage. This and Newton and Jenner always looked far too small to accommodate such a big family! Many nice smiling faces here. Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20016	Isaac Newton Cottage. Children and Cottage Mother on the verandah. Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20017	Glasgow Cottage photo 1. All the boys and Cottage Mother. Sitting on the verandah. Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20018	Glasgow Cottage photo 2. Another photo of the Glasgow family this time standing. Those trousers look like what some kids wear today. Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20019	Jenner cottage. 14 children and Cottage Mother. Between 1923 & 1927. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20020	The Fairbridge bus or truck (or maybe it doubled as both) taken sometime in the 1920's. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC20021	"The Old Red" pictured in 1926. This would have probably been the only motorised transport at the time. You can see passengers in both front and back. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
	1930's
PIC30002	Photo is captioned simply "Staff member - early Mandurah Camp". It would have been in the 1930's. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC30003	"Fairbridge Holiday Camp" says the sign outside Mandurah Camp. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC30004	Mandurah Camp. Large tent and car-of-the-day and what looks like bedding airing in the sunshine. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC30005	Mandurah Camp. Boy holding up an umbrella whilst a staff member sweeps around the tents. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC30006	Middlemore Cottage. Great portrait of 8 little boys and perhaps Cottage Mother chatting to another staff member. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC30007	Exeter Cottage. My guess is sometime in the 1930's. Note the steps to the entrance. It looks a bit like a fire escape but they didn't build them in those days. The two gentlemen at the bottom of the steps are unknown. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC30008	Exeter Cottage again. The steps have gone! Perhaps the main entrance is around the back now. This is how Exeter looked later on so perhaps this picture could be decades later? I don't know. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
	1933
PIC33001	The opening of the Club House in 1933 (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
	1934
PIC34001	Colonel Health (Principal), with Major Miller and Mrs Heath. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC34002	A hockey game in progress. This game was staged for the Duke of Gloucester visit. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
	1936
PIC36001	A very big crowd turns out for the opening of the Domestic Science building in 1936. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
	1937
PIC37001	Arthur Scratton boys pictured in front of their building. Photo includes a little girl named Helen Freenish (second name is very hard to read on the back of the picture). (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC37002	Arthur Scratton boys again, all wearing their ties, in front of their building. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC37003	"Our Anchorage". Build by the Scratton boys in the paddock over the second bridge (a small tributary of the South Dandalup River). (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC37004	"Off to Mandurah Camp" in 1937. Children piled into the back of the truck. Taken in front of the dining room. What an adventure that trip must have been! (Courtesy OFA Museum).
	1950
PIC50001	Around 1950 or earlier. Lovely photo of English children (taken in England). Marcelle O'Brien is pictured middle front - she's the very little girl. (Courtesy Marcelle O'Brien)
PIC50002	Marcelle again, this time pictured in Australia around 1950. She's the one third from the right, right at the front. (See press cuttings about Marcelle - 1951) (Courtesy Marcelle O'Brien)
PIC50004	Group of girls at Fairbridge around 1950. (Courtesy Marcelle O'Brien)
	1954
PIC54001	Cute 1954 Christmas card of Christine and Raymond Downs. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC54002	Great portrait of a seven year old. This is Roy Holloway in 1954. Expect picture was taken prior to UK departure as the children were pre-fitted with Fairbridge tie and very un-Fairbridge clobber (which generally disappeared without trace upon arrival)!
PIC54003	Five pretty girls - Lynne Rainey, Sandra Rainey, Lillian Dews, Marcelle O'Brien and Gladys Mares doing a bit of gardening at Shakespeare? Taken 1954 or perhaps 1955. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC54004	At the back L-R: Gladys Mares and Marcelle O'Brien. At the front L-R: Terry Brayn and Doris Campbell. Don't recognise the brick building. This is the photo used on the 1959 Christmas card (see PIC59001). (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
	1956
PIC56001	Staff Christmas party 1956 or 1965 (Caption on the photo has been changed and is hard to read but assume it's 1956). Party appears to be at the rear of Fairbridge House. No-one thus far identified. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
	1957
PIC57001	Boy's Church choir. Great photo - not all identified but perhaps Larry Davis, Peter Harding, Brian Ellison, John Jones, Barry Hutchinson and Eric Hall are amongst them.
	1958
PIC58001	Christmas 1958 with kindly Santa giving out the presents. Horse and cart is the transport. Don't know the location. Included are Mr Allan (Principal), David Buck in the background and Terry Brayn on the cart. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC58002	Bill Pettit's (Store Manager in late 1950's/early 1960's) girls and Christine Downs (centre). The two Pettit girls are Judy (left) and Betty. Probably taken around 1958. The background looks like one of the staff houses.
PIC58003	Kings Park - Mr Allen (Principal) with Richard, Robert and Judy Huggins (not sure who the three boys are to the right). Taken December 1958. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
	1959
PIC59001	Lovely Christmas 1959 card featuring Gladys Mares, Marcelle O'Brien, Terry Brayn and Doris Campbell. Whereas this is a 1959 card, the actual photo would have been taken much earlier - probably late 1953 or early 1954.
	Late 1950's
PIC5L001	Fabulous football team of the late 1950's. Back row (L-R): John Ellison, Terry Reid, Barry Bussingham, John Hardy, Ken Unthank, Raymond Phelps. Middle Row (L-R): Frank Wood, Reg Symons, Mike Allan, Tud Hedley, John Jones, Ken Reed, Mike Barnett. Front Row (L-R): Robert Huggins, Robert King, Mike Andrews, Derek Smith, Nigel Baird-Orr. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L002	Three cottage mothers. Late 1950's. Left unidentified. Middle is Miss Gibson, right is Mrs Jarvis. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L003	At swimming pool late 1950's. Photo is simply captioned "Cook daughter".
PIC5L004	At swimming pool late 1950's. Photo is captioned "Staff kids, Beards and others". Above Cook daughter is there too. The boy at the rear right is Geoff Kendal, son of nursing Sister Kendal.
PIC5L005	Miss Featherstone in front of Scratton. Late 1950's. Miss Featherstone ran the office and post office. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L006	Main Dining Room looking down towards to store. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L007	Children milling around in front of Main Dining Room. This is late 1950's. Those railways sleepers covered a drain. A popular pastime was to float little "boats" in the water and wait for them to come out of the other end of the drain from under the sleepers! (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L008	Kids tom-fooling around in front of the Main Dining Room, probably late 1950's. They could be Mike Barnett and Joan Horne at the rear and Raymond Downs left front. Child with the glasses might be Bill Hedley. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L009	Kitchener cottage at the swimming pool. Late 1950's. At the front is Nigel Baird-Orr who was then in Raleigh.
PIC5L010	Photo is simply captioned "Wood boys". This is Ken Reed (Forrest) and Joe Isherwood (Hudson) in the late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L011	Mike Rainey on horseback obviously in the farm area. Late 1950's.
PIC5L012	Jean McCormick and Gladys Mares take a nice picture. Late 1950's. Probably in the farm area judging by the horse presence. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L013	Hudson cottage boys with Mrs Mutton. Was Mrs Mutton the cottage mother at the time? Probably taken late 1950's.
PIC5L014	At the farm: The dairy with some of the cows probably just been milked. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L015	At the farm: The dairy with a portrait of farm manager Tom Reid with his milk buckets. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L016	The Farm Manager's house - Exeter. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L017	The Staff Kitchen - kitchen and dining room for staff. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L018	Frank Ayling outside the store. You can see the Farm Manager's house behind him. Late 1950's.
PIC5L019	Glasgow cottage with Father Hodge. Late 1950's. L-R: Mike Barnett patting Miss Gibson's dog, Norm Heslington, Nicky Hendon, Bob Jones, Ian Pickering, (obscured), Steven Scott, (unknown), and Emyris (Crab) Jones right over on the right. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L020	Kitchener cottage at the pool again! Miss Gibson is off to the left. Also in the photo is Robert Huggins (3rd from left) and George Braithwaite with his Astor radio he had purchased on his return to the farm to work. Late 1950's.
PIC5L021	A group of kids playing at the Games Centre. behind them is looking towards Scratton. The office at the extreme left of that building was later (and perhaps then) used as office for the House Master.
PIC5L022	Robert (Pongo) Young wearing his Scout belt, taken outside Livingstone, around the late 1950's.
PIC5L023	Ian (Turkey) Tural and Ian (Cabbage) Cunningham both from Glasgow pictured outside Nelson around the late 1950's.
PIC5L024	Group of girls with laundry basket. At the front is Carla de Jong (Teacher). The girls, left to right are Rosemary Wall, Gladys Mares, Margaret Braithwaite and Lorraine Champion. This was taken in 1959 or 1960. (Info. courtesy Carla de Jong).
PIC5L025	Two boys on the oval outside the school. The fellow on the left is Kenny Baker and with him is Joe Isherwood. Late 1950's.
PIC5L026	Car (perhaps private or a staff member's car) taken on the roundabout outside of Scratton. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L027	Three girls outside Scratton looking at what seems to be a floor polisher. Probably late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L028	Four boys at the swimming pool. Probably late 1950's.
PIC5L029	Possibly down at the swimming pool. Cottage mother is unknown - possibly relief staff. The boy is Reggie Symmons. Late 1950's.
PIC5L030	Nice picture of two boys - unidentified. Late 1950's.
PIC5L031	Unidentified young man sitting on a suitcase - looks like the day he's leaving Fairbridge. Could be one of the Big Brothers. Mid 1950's.
PIC5L032	Lois Elliott at around 21 years of age. Thus probably mid/late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L033	A couple of boys and many bikes outside the Store - taken sometime in the 1950's. That's Tom Wall on the verandah. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L034	Good picture of three boys at the store (John Millen is in the middle). The Farm Manager's house in the background, the old Shell manual petrol pump and the rear end of what looks like a Mark 1 Ford Consul or Zephyr that perhaps belonged to Mr Ensly, a school teacher there at the time. Taken late 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L035	Perhaps on the football oval. L-R is Barry (Budda) Hutchinson, Graham Bennett, Brian Ellison and Joe Isherwood. Late 1950's.
PIC5L036	Roy Holloway looking great in his primary school Sunday best. Mid 1950's. (Courtesy Lois Elliott)
PIC5L037	Fairbridge Bus. Fabulous photo of an early bus. Apparently used up to the 1950's. The new bus arrived in 1958. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L038	This bus was owned by a man named Jones who was based in Pinjarra. He used it as a school bus ferrying children to school from as far away as Mandurah. Before this bus he had a small rounded Bedford bus. Perhaps this day the bus was at Fairbridge bringing a visiting sports team. (Info from John Barns). (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L040	Chris Solley - one of the "Big Brothers". Year unknown.
PIC5L041	Mick Erridge - another of the "Big Brothers" - in front of one of the cottages. Year unknown.
PIC5L042	Michael Allan next to car, enjoying a smoke! Year unknown. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L043	Ian McLeary holding a box. Year unknown.
PIC5L045	Canoeing was a favourite past-time. Canoes were crafted out of corrugated iron and the holes filled up with chewing gum! The boy in the middle of the river is John Barns - he spent a good deal of time building this unsinkable craft (named 'Dreadnought'). It was painted a smart shade of green and carted home safely and with a good deal of effort after every use! (Info from John Barns). (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L046	Cleaning out the calf shed was a lot of fun with a high-pressure hose. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L047	Very young looking Billy Braithwaite and Kenny Ducker feeding the calves. This was probably in the late 1950's.
PIC5L048	Someone helping George Elliott by dropping a bit of food into a pigsty. Late 1950's or early 1960's.
PIC5L050	Jeff Williams the guitar man. Location and date unknown. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L054	Billy Braithwaite and Kenny Ducker looking very young in this pose. Perhaps late 1950's.
PIC5L055	Kevin Winton and David Buck check on proceedings at Mandurah Camp. Perhaps late 1950's.
PIC5L056	Chris Solley, one of the "Big Brother" boys poses outside of perhaps Scratton? Suggest late 1950's.
PIC5L057	Big pose of boys and girls. Not sure where the log is or who the boys are but the girls are L-R Lillian Dews, Sandra Rainey, Lynne Rainey, Doris Campbell, Gladys Mares and Marcelle O'Brien. Suggest late 1950's.
PIC5L058	This photo is one of the best, aptly entitled "Rebels". See for yourself! They are Lynne Rainey, Margaret Braithwaite, Christine Hinch, Gladys Mares and Anna Baker. But don't tell anyone, ok? (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L059	Tim Bedford and Tina the dog. Tina was Mrs Barns' (Cottage Mother, Nelson late 1950's) Fox Terrier. Tina continued to live at Nelson after the passing of Mrs Barns and after the leaving of John and was looked after by the Nelson boys. (Info from John Barns). (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L060	Shakespeare girls, L-R are Gladys Mares, Janes Baird-Orr (partially obscured), Sandra Rainey, Judy Huggins, not sure, Maxine Ellison, Linda Le Hardy, Marcelle O'Brien, Doris Campbell and Lynne Rainey. Pretty picture perhaps taken near Fairbridge House in the late 1950's. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L061	Looks like Jeff Williams is still twanging on his guitar and the boy on the bike is singing the chorus! Year unknown.
PIC5L062	Mrs Kath Mir with Marcelle O'Brien at the swimming pool. In the background someone is ready to launch from the diving board. Late 1950's. (Courtesy Marcelle O'Brien)
PIC5L063	Portrait of a smiling Elizabeth Smeaton. Suggest late 1950's. (Courtesy Marcelle O'Brien)
PIC5L064	Boys at the swimming pool in the late 1950's include Eric Chambers and Michael Allen.
PIC5L065	Michael Baker in the 1950's.
PIC5L066	Great picture of Joan Horne on the hockey field or somewhere further up the hills? Suggest late 1950's.
PIC5L067	Tony Tippett, Roger Roberts and un-named boy taken in the late 1950's.
PIC5L068	That's Marcelle O'Brien - the little one at the front. The others are not all named but include Roslyn Bell, Avril Dodds and Edith Dodds. Taken early 1950's. (Courtesy Marcelle O'Brien)
PIC5L069	John Jones and Marcelle O'Brien in 1960 perhaps at Mandurah in the late 1950's.
PIC5L070	Boys activities at he Games Centre. Looks like volleyball. Date and names unknown.
PIC5L071	Five little girls gardening at Shakespeare. They are from L-R: Gladys Mares, Marcelle O'Brien, Lillian Dews, Sandra Rainey and Lynne Rainey. Mid-late 1950's.
PIC5L072	Not sure what's going on here but it looks like some Fairbridge staff are engrossed with setting up something. Suggest late 1950's.
PIC5L073	Swimming carnival sometime in the late 1950's. The bridge over the river was constructed after mid-50's floods in mid-late 1950's. Up on the bridge in the white hat is Commander Buckee. This place didn't change over the next 20-30 years. (Courtesy OFA Museum).
PIC5L074	Peter Hodge (Reverend or Father). A great photo of Peter next to his Ford Thames van outside the Church. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L075	Linda Le Hardy checks on Kenny Baker feeding the calves. Who is that boy in the foreground on the left? (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L076	Miss Goodman standing next to a large palm tree. Miss Goodman was Mandurah Camp cook 1940's/1950's. Also Assistant to Matron ( Miss Hilda Fraser) & lived in Evelyn cottage. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L077	Lovely portrait of Hudson boys around 1958 or 1959. Front row - 2nd from left is Paul Boyland, 4th from left is Eric Pringle, extreme right is Ian Pickering. The first from the left in the second row is one of the Hedley boys. (Courtesy Gladys Mares)
PIC5L078	Group of Cottage boys suggest 1958 or 1959. Bob Jones is second from the left. Can anyone tell any more details? (Courtesy Gladys Mares)

A History of Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Western Australia