Kemp Dudley
| Type of person | Individual |
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I am descended from James and Sarah Kemp who, after their arrival in SA made their first home in a dug-out adjacent to the Woolsheds Flat Road (now the Balaklava Road) on Section 507. His second home was erected circa 1871 in the north-west corner Section 508. In 1874 James finally built his homestead “Springwood” on Section 508 adjacent to the road. The remains of the dug-out can still be found today under several almond trees. James worked as a shepherd on a station property owned by Mr. Uphill before purchasing his first 80 acre section where he sowed the grain with a seedlet, cut hay with a scythe, stacking and culling it with a hay-knife before tying same into trusses (sheaves). When carting the hay to Burra he would back-load with copper ore taking it to either Port Wakefield or Port Adelaide. James Sarah had 8 children
On August 30th 1858 a gathering of the Wesleyan pioneers of Woolsheds Flat met at the home of Mr. Howard (now the home of Brian and Maureen Kemp) to discuss the possibility of erecting a chapel. James donated an acre of Section 127 on which to build the church. Donations amounting to fifty pounds were received at the inaugural meeting and the men of the faith then carted by bullock drays, 100 loads of stone quarried by hand from a nearby rocky outcrop. Tenders were duly called and let for the sum of sixty two pounds three shillings and sixpence.
When Sarah died James married Elizabeth and later they retired to Riverton and lived in a cottage on Washington Road.
James’ and Sarah’s eldest child William married Sarah Jane Ellery and their son Theodore married Althea Ruby Bowden. They had 4 children: Howard, who died at the age of 2, Althea, who died at one day old, Malcolm and Dudley.
My father was one of the fifth generation of Kemps. His name was Theodore and was brought up on the family farm, ‘Springwood’, at Rhynie. He was the second eldest boy of the family of nine children – six boys and three girls. He left the family partnership and came to live in Gawler in the early 1900s. Initially, he lived in Bishop Street which was the street behind the Hutchison Hospital in Gawler. He also bought a property at Yatta Creek in the Barossa Ranges about five miles out of Gawler. He never lived on it but travelled out to the property when necessary. In about 1910 he bought another property at 9 Lyndoch Road, Gawler, where he lived and the property included a little block between Daly Street and East Terrace on a little lane now known as Kemp Street. This was where he used to keep the ponies and our milking cow, whose name was Glen Ewen. She was a stud Jersey cow and it was my job to milk her before school each morning.
Dad was married when he came to Gawler. He had married Althea Ruby Bowden who had lived a couple of miles from where he was brought up at a property called ‘Gibralta’, named after the big rock on the property which was on the Wakefield River. They had had two children before they came to live in Gawler and lost them both - Howard died at two years old and Althea died soon after birth. They had my brother Malcolm when they moved to Lyndoch Road, Gawler. I arrived 7 years later on the 18th of September 1924. My mother went back to Riverton to have me. I was the youngest of 4 children.
My dad was a live-stock dealer. He used to travel as far away as the West Coast to buy sheep which had been walked to Cowell by the vendor. Then they would be shipped from Cowell to Wallaroo and when they arrived there would be a drover waiting to walk them to the new owner’s property. Dad would get a ring from one of the stock agents who would say to him, “Is that you Theo?” “Yes”, dad would reply. “Have you got some sheep?” “Yes”, dad would say. “Well you’d better come up. The drovers are on the piss and there’s sheep all over the country.” So I would get two days off from school to go and help dad sort out the sheep. I loved doing that. That was the way I learnt the live-stock trade. I also used to ride my ponies from the little block we had in Gawler out to Yatta Creek to help dad or if anybody else needed help with something to do with stock, I was there.
In 1937 dad sold Yatta Creek and went to Two Wells on the Middle Beach Road and bought a property there with Reg Bosisto. They were partners for about 35 years. They traded under the name of Bosisto & Kemp. He was in the dealing side of it. Dad was more the sheep man and Reg the cattleman. They were both pretty versatile. They employed fella’s to help them. As there were no trucks to cart stock the live-stock were agisted here and there on other properties. I’d ride a horse out to shift them where-ever I had to and I loved doing it. I could bring cattle home in a day. Sheep took two days. I loved it! Of course having these older blokes on the horses they’d always put me on a young colt, which was a challenge.
Dad was a live-stock dealer all his life and made a reasonable living from it. Mum stayed home and looked after things there. Things were tough as it was the Depression. During that time, dad used to go to the south east on the Melbourne Express to Wolseley, then change trains and go and spend a few days down around Naracoorte, Penola and Mount Gambier wheelin’ and dealin’ at the local stock markets. They even bought cattle at Hamilton and Warrnambool in Victoria in the 1930s. They would go by car, often with a De Garis stock agent, then, after the sale they would walk the cattle to Bordertown. Then, because it was all undeveloped country, rail them to Nairne and then walk them to Roseworthy. They were traders.
Dad was a regular at the cattle and sheep market in Pooraka on Wednesdays but he always had to get home in time to have a game of bowls. He was a very keen bowler. He was also a Trustee of the Tod Street Methodist Church where he used to sing in the choir. I’d be riding steers while he was singing in the choir! I was the ‘black sheep’ of the family. All my other cousins agreed that I was the ‘black sheep’ of the Kemp family, but I have had a lot of fun being it. My father had a couple of brothers that never lived very long but the four that did survive were all stock-dealers. Riverton was a big market day. His brothers all had properties around the Rhynie township. My dad’s brother married my mum’s sister. Two brothers married two sisters. They were pretty successful dealers too. Dad would have a drink occasionally but he was pretty steady. He was a pretty respected stock dealer/agent I think. He used to buy for several of the butchers and exporters. He would buy stock on a commission basis for whoever engaged him. He was the middle-man. The buying and selling process is very different today.
MY GROWING-UP YEARS
I went to Gawler Primary School. I hated school and thought I was dumb. At every opportunity I had to miss school and help dad move sheep. The highlight of my life was being able to go to the travelling buck-jump shows that were often happening around the district. Then one day dad took me to a Kidman Rodeo which was held on Jubilee Oval, which was where Frome Road in Adelaide is now. I was about 8-10 years old. It was a milestone in my life. It was an exhibition of horsemanship and wasn’t competitive. It aimed to demonstrate the stock-riding skills performed by Sir Sidney Kidman’s best stockmen. That was in 1932. I was enthralled. From then on after school I used to try doing what they were doing. I was determined to do what those blokes did so I practiced and practiced. The Lillicrap boys, who lived in the next street, encouraged me a bit. My own pony was called Nipper and I learnt to ride on him. All the kids in Gawler East learnt to ride on my ponies and I learnt to ride on their bike. We had great fun.
As Yatta Creek was only 5 miles out I would ride my pony out there after school to help dad with the sheep or anything else he was doing. As I had two ponies sometimes a friend would come with me. Soon there were travelling buck-jump shows around the place and I realized that people were making a living out of it. At the time there were some famous names like Tex Morton, the Gill brothers, Thorpe McConville and others whom I hero-worshipped. All these travelling shows were held at night time so of course I would be there. I won my first event when the show was held on a vacant block behind Dr Hyde’s surgery. I rode a buck jump pony called ‘Electric Spark’ full time and had every body there cheering me on. I got a medal for my effort!
Every show that came to Gawler I’d go. A bloke called Johnny Snell did a lot of work for my dad and his partner was a champion horse-man and, of course, he was a very competent horseman too. He said to me one day, “I’m going to Victor Harbour Sat’dy to ride in a rodeo there. Want to come?” I didn’t need to be asked twice I can tell you! So he took me, Alec Oliver and Jack Tierney. We caught the train to Adelaide and then went on the bus to Victor Harbour. We got met by one of the blokes who were putting the rodeo on. Snelly won the Bronc Ride and I ran third and then I won the Steer Ride. And, of course, we had a bit of ‘fun and games’ afterwards, just like the teenagers do today. We missed the bus home so we stayed at the Central Hotel in a couple of empty beds. In the morning I thought, ‘I’d better ring my mum on the Sunday morning to tell her where I am’. When I did she said, “It’s alright I know where you are, I read it in the Mail.” I said, “We’ll be home sometime today.” From then on I loved that sort of business – rodeos.
The year I left school, in 1939 aged 16, I cut my Archilles tendon through with a scythe that I’d been using to cut lucerne for the horses. I had just hosed them down and had cut some lucerne for them and given it to them. Then when I went to pick the scythe up I fell on the blade and cut my Achilles tendon through the side. When my mum came home from the Saturday afternoon pictures she saw that I couldn’t walk. The lad that was with me led the horse into the yard where all the blood tracks could be seen. Mum said, “Where’s all the blood coming from?” I said, “I cut my leg.” I didn’t realize how serious it was. Mum said, “Let me have a look.” I said, “It’s stopped bleeding, it’s all right.” So I let it go till next morning. By next morning it was a hell of a lot worse.
Mum got the doctor and he went and got the Gawler Light Horse camp doctor. The camp was based on the Gawler Race-course as WW2 had just begun. Dr West was a specialist and he hooked the tendon together for me and I spent six months in plaster and on crutches. That really grounded me! I was not at all happy. That really ended my competitive rodeo aspirations. As rodeo riding involved lots of dismounting and lots of other things that would risk damaging the tendon again, the risk was too great. So I never played anymore footy either for that reason. I had only played a couple of games for Willaston. That accident affected my life greatly.
As a child I went to Sunday school and became a Cub in Boy Scouts because my brother was a Scout. I liked Cubs but when I got to the Scout stage the war broke out and Scouts dispersed a bit so I joined the Air Training Corps. When I got injured I got down graded because I couldn’t do all the activities. I learnt to shear when I was a kid with hand shears. I was taught by a fella’ called Charley Clark. Shearers were all blade shearers in those days. I learnt to shear in Nolan’s stable in Willaston I reckon, it was not in a shearing shed. When dad had some sheep agisted old Charley Clark, who lived in the side street, came and shore them. That was when I learnt the skill. I did anything for a quid. We used to get two pound ten shillings a hundred. Now they get about $2.10 each! I loved anything to do with animals. When I left school I went to work for a fella’ called Frank Best and he taught me to shear with the machines. Then I also went down to Kingsford, where they made the TV program called ‘McLeod’s Daughters’ a few years ago. It’s a property on the eastern outskirts of Gawler on the North Para River with a large homestead on it. A fella’ called Jacky Mitchell owned it then and I did a bit of shearing with his son. I never shore big numbers because of my injured ankle. I’d do anything for a job though, like stooking or carting hay that was all done with horse and dray.
MY BROTHER MALCOLM My older brother, Malcolm, who was 7 years older than me, wasn’t interested in dealing for a living. The only job he ever had was working for Elders Stock Company in Currie Street Adelaide. He started with Elders in about 1935. He was also a keen scout and in 1937 went to an International Jamboree in Amsterdam, Holland. He went on a ship called the Orana and came back on the Oronsay. He was away for six months. My dad never had enough money to pay for him to go so my Gran Bowden gave him the money to go. She was in the ‘time on’ period of her life then and she said to him, “You’ll never get an opportunity like that again.” I think he also saw the Coronation of King George VI.
He no sooner got back from Holland when war looked inevitable. Before the war broke out he joined the 27th Battalion and had to wear a Scottish kilt. He trained at Woodside. Then when the war started he transferred to the Air Force. After 8 weeks he was sent to Rhodesia and trained at a place called Bullawayo with Ian Smith who was well known in Rhodesia because of his radical political views. He then moved on into the North African campaign and then moved on to Malta where he stayed for some time. He was then in the 451 Air Squadron. He won a DFC for his exploits in the Middle East and got mentions in dispatches. He was flying ‘Hurricanes’ in that area. When he went to England he fought in the Battle of Britain and was flying ‘Spitfires’. He got a French decoration, the Croix de Guerre, from that campaign. Unfortunately, because he was away so long I never had a lot to do with him in my growing up years. When he did come home he discovered that the girl he was engaged to had got some-one else. As a result he became a bit of a loner. People used to say ‘he’ll never get married.’ Then he met an officer (female) at the Willaston Air Force camp just before he was discharged and married her. He and Agnes had four children, Malcolm, Phillip, John and Althea.
They decided to marry in the Methodist Church at Woolsheds, even though Agnes was a Catholic, thinking that the wedding would be a small one. As there hadn’t been a wedding in the church since my Uncle Arthur Kemp and Auntie Rita Bowden were married there after the First World War, it ended up being a big one as everyone in the district came! My great grandparents gave the land for it to be built on and the building is now under the protection of the National Trust. Special events are occasionally held there, such as district re-unions and the annual carols night which we look forward to attending each year.
When Mal came back from the war he went back to work with Elders, then one day he came home and said to dad, “Bugger Elders, I am going to pull the pin, I am going to get a job in the Airways and fly a plane anywhere.” I think he must have said to my dad, “I’m not going to have a young bugger kicking me around anymore, I’m sick of it.” When he came back from the war he found that everyone else was above him and he had to start at the bottom again and work his way up. However, dad must have spoken to the right person saying, “If you want him you had better give him some responsibility and something he likes doing.” So he went to work in Elders Wool Store at Port Adelaide. He had a lot to do with a Union fellow who gave him a hard time but that didn’t matter, that was how it was. He later got promoted to being the State Wool Manager. That took him to a lot of places. Then when the merger between Elders and Goldsborough Mort came he had the job of representing Elders and had to work in partnership with the Goldsborough’s representative as they didn’t want two managers in all their branches. It wasn’t an easy job for him to demote an employee. However, he got by. Then he got a few promotions and he finished up Assistant Manager in Victoria.
We went over to see him one New Year’s Eve and he wasn’t real happy and he said, “I’m not going to let these Victorian bastards kick me around. It’s different over here.” Then one night I get a phone call and he said, “How are you? I’m coming back to Adelaide and I’m going to take a demotion. I’m coming back to Adelaide as Finance Manager.” That’s where he finished up. I admit we never had a lot to do with one another growing up because he was away so much and because of the big age difference but we made up for it in later years. When mum and dad both passed on within about six months of each other in 1968, we never had any arguments about dividing their assets. We had a get-to-gether and shared everything. We tossed a coin for everything we wanted and split the money that was left. Then he went his way and I went mine but we still kept in touch. Soon after he retired from Elders he died aged 67. Now I keep in touch with his youngest son more than his other three because he is more stock orientated. Lately, he’s been working for Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard (Prime Ministers) for about a year. He’s done everything – like me. He’s travelled a lot to visit all the other states in the course of his job to assess the rural situation, and been to the Middle East where he was involved in the live sheep trade there, so I find he’s very interesting to talk with.
References
Memories of Kemp Dudley
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