Additional Information
Additional Information
- Written on the back of the drawing: Mrs McLeod has been blind from the age of 14 years. She and her husband own Utopia Station.
Resources
Image - Pecking for Chutney
Pecking for Chutney Mrs Daisy Shearer (nee Swan) was a nursing sister at the Old Alice Springs Hospital. She was Sister-in-Charge of the children's ward in 1957. This competent and kind nurse also loved cooking. Also a cook of renown was Mrs McLeod who was a friendly redhead from England. She and her husband ran a grocery shop on the corner of Railway and Gregory Terraces.
ct for NPWHF
Image - Pecking for Chutney
Pecking for Chutney Mrs Daisy Shearer (nee Swan) was a nursing sister at the Old Alice Springs Hospital. She was Sister-in-Charge of the children's ward in 1957. This competent and kind nurse also loved cooking. Also a cook of renown was Mrs McLeod who was a friendly redhead from England. She and her husband ran a grocery shop on the corner of Railway and Gregory Terraces.
ct for NPWHF
Image - Two Hens From Oodnadatta
Two Hens From Oodnadatta Mrs Lillian Bloomfield and Mrs Minnie McLeod were outback pioneering sisters who came on the train to Oodnadatta and then completed the journey to their properties Love Creek Station and Utopia Station respectively, in a buggy which took 13-14 days. One hopes Lillian was driving the buggy since Minnie was blind from the age of fourteen. Apparently she knew her way around her own home and managed her chores so well nobody could tell she was blind. When Lillian's first baby came prematurely while her husband was many miles away from home, she recalls "the native girl attended me while I read directions from a mothercraft book." Sadly the baby died a few days later.
ct for NPWHF
Image - Two Hens From Oodnadatta
Two Hens From Oodnadatta Mrs Lillian Bloomfield and Mrs Minnie McLeod were outback pioneering sisters who came on the train to Oodnadatta and then completed the journey to their properties Love Creek Station and Utopia Station respectively, in a buggy which took 13-14 days. One hopes Lillian was driving the buggy since Minnie was blind from the age of fourteen. Apparently she knew her way around her own home and managed her chores so well nobody could tell she was blind. When Lillian's first baby came prematurely while her husband was many miles away from home, she recalls "the native girl attended me while I read directions from a mothercraft book." Sadly the baby died a few days later.
ct for NPWHF
References
Petrick, Jose. (2010, November). The History of Alice Springs through Landmarks & Street Names. St Marys, South Australia: Openbook Howden Design and Print. p. 198.
VAN SENDEN AVENUE
Dudley Van Senden, J.P. – Government officer.
Dudley Van Senden came to Alice Springs during World War II as an Army officer. He returned with his wife after the war and held an administrative position in the Municipal Section of the NTA, which operated before the Town Council was established.
…
Mr Van Senden was instrumental in planting many trees in Alice Springs and in particular, the gum trees in Gap Rd. …
After his wife’s death, he went to Elkedra Staion as bookkeeper …
Mrs Van Senden, an ardent CWA member, was President of the Alice Springs Branch from 1953-54. While in office, she had the brilliant idea to have humorous caricatures of well-known CWA members drawn as fowls, by local cartoonist, Butch Peverill. Peverill sketched several members as hens, accentuating their characteristics.
Lil Bloomfield and Mrs Minnie McLeod, wives of pioneering pastoralists, were shown as two old brown feathered boilers wearing bonnets, driving a sulky. The picture was entitled Two Hens from Oodnadatta.
Another two were Mrs Kathleen Sneddon a Past President and Mrs Mary Kranz, who always wore eye-shades and were ardent cyclists. Mrs Kranz always held up an umbrella as a sun-shade when she cycled and her little fox terrier Zuki, ran beside her. Peverill sketched the two slim hens wearing eyeshades, frantically pedalling bicycles, complete with Zuki and the sun-shade. This work of art was entitled The Alice Olympic Bicycle Race.
The framed pictures were hung on the CWA Hall walls and provided great intrigue and humour for years. After the CWA ceased functioning, the priceless treasures were given to the McDouall Stuart Branch of the National Trust, NT, who loaned them to the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Alice Springs
