Homes Is A Strange Country - Chapter 43

FORTY THREE
15^th – 21^st  September 1912

  

   George was preparing to leave his home to go to work with Willie at The Neutral Bay Boatyard. It was just after eight o'clock on Monday morning. He opened the front door and called to Clyda who, as usual, for a Monday morning was dawdling at no speed at all. George stood outside the front door on the door step looking at the small garden and the path leading away from the door in the corner of the building away to the gate at the opposite corner. It suddenly struck him that Florence would no longer be keeping the garden under control as she had; the thought filled him with sadness. The sky above was clear and blue yet George felt that the temperature was lower than in previous days. His countryman's eyes and nose detected a change imminent in the weather. The death of her mother only a few days ago appeared now to have washed over Clyda, and she almost had regained her normal cheerfulness and energy. George had first worried, and then marvelled, at the child's ability to pass over the incident, almost without it having seemed to harm or indent upon her nature. Maybe, he thought, That is the nature of children. They know nothing of life really, so treat everything as being normal. Every incident in their lives was initially new, and they dealt with it according to the scope of their experience, which for small children was limited. How fortunate they were. He turned away from the garden to call into the house for her.

    'Come on love, let's be getting you next door so you can play with the girls.' Iris Shepherd had two girls and a boy, the girls of a similar age to Clyda, one younger and one older, but the boy was much older and already working for his living. Iris had readily agreed when George had asked her to take care of Clyda during the day, when George was away at work, a problem which had neatly solved itself in the past few days by Iris's agreement. Iris had as much affection for the child as had Florence. It was a serendipitous arrangement. He smiled as he saw Clyda dash from the bedroom into the living room, clutching a small rag doll in her hand, then dashed back again into the bedroom to retrieve a forgotten item. Then as quickly reappeared once more, skipping across the room to the front door and George.

   'Here I am Pa,' she called, grinning up at him. His hand automatically fell gently to her head and smoothed her unruly hair. He smiled and pulled the door closed behind, them as she skipped along the short path to the street and the neighbour.

   As he walked back from the front door of his neighbours home to the street, George heard a man's voice calling his name. He stopped as he stepped through the gate, and looked up the street from where the sound was coming. The postie was walking down Phillip Street towards him.

   'Mr Kent' he called. 'Letter for you. Thought I'd catch you before you left for work.' George took the letter from the outstretched hand of the letter carrier and nodded his head in thanks. He started to wander slowly back to his home reading the type written name and address on the letter. It did not look to be the same sort of envelope as the one the solicitor used. George pushed open the garden gate and walked back down the path to the front door. Once inside he was greeted by Willie and Grace, a kind faced woman of similar age to Willie, and to Florence for that matter.

   'Trouble?' Willie asked. George looked up from the envelope to face Willie.

   'Not sure,' he said, 'Don't recognise the envelope or the typing.' He held it in his hand, weighing it and tapping it on the knuckles of his left hand and unsure of and unwilling to open it in case it contained unwelcome news. His life these past weeks had been full of unwelcome news, and he was loath to encourage more into his life. He stepped across the room and perched his bottom on the edge of one of the easy chairs which stood either side of the unlit fire grate. The sun flooded into the room over his right shoulder and his back as he ran his thumb under the lip of the envelope to open it. Before he took out the letter inside he turned the envelope over and read the postmark.

   'It was posted in Sydney, on Friday afternoon' he said slowly.

   'George!' Willie said impatiently. 'Get on with it and read the damn thing.' George slowly withdrew the single sheet of headed notepaper from the envelope and read the letter. He heart and his face sank in dismay as he looked up into the faces of his two friends.

   'It’s from the Boarding Out Office' he said,' They want me to go and see them this morning about Clyda. They want to take her away from me.'

   'Oh George' said Grace. 'They didn’t waste any time did they?'

   'No they didn’t'

   'It might not be what you think,' said Willie, folding his arm around Grace and gently pulling her to his side. 'Maybe they just want to see what you are like and if you are capable of taking proper care of the girl.' George pondered this for a moment then lifted his head in dismay.

   'I don’t think so Willie. I think they want to take her off me.' He stopped for a moment and then said, 'Surely it’s better for her to live here with me than go to some strangers’ house and be worked like a skivvy?'

   Whilst George’s comments were understandable, the sentiments were from another time. The Boarding Out Scheme had been established some thirty years earlier in New South Wales, first as a private scheme, and then the scheme had been taken over by the state. It’s function was to provide care for children who had been either orphaned, or where one parent was dead and the other destitute.

   The model was for the child to be placed with good working class couples, who could raise them in their own families. The idea behind the thinking was that the country required to increase its population of working class people, in order to populate the growing industrial base of the nation. By placing destitute children in 'good' working class homes they hoped to foster and improve the working class stock of the state.

   For the first twenty or so years after its inception, the Boarding Out Scheme had been abused and misused by some of the foster parents. By the early nineteen hundreds there had been many changes after many complaints of abuse of the system, and the level of supervision of the children placed into care had increased, and had improved. Fewer and fewer complaints were received from the children in care, and the number of trustworthy and good well meaning people seeking to take Boarded Out Children had increased as the number of children in the general population had increased. It was true that the stigma and reputation of the people associated with the scheme had perhaps not changed in the public perception during that period, but the truth was that children who were without parents were more likely now to be placed in the care of loving and caring parents for many years. But the public perception of the scheme was what George lived with, and nothing at this stage in his life would alter it. They were going to take His child from him.

   He looked from Willie to Grace and back to Willie.

   'What do you reckon I should do?' he asked. Willie thought for a moment then replied.

   'You have to go to see them George. If you don’t, then it will look the worse for you in the end. It will look like you are either ignoring them or fighting them, and there is nothing more guaranteed to get their backs up than that. You have to go and see them.' George slowly nodded his head in acceptance.

   'You’re right Willie. I know you are right, but it doesn’t make it any easier does it?' Willie shook his head in agreement.

   'It’s the best thing to do. Go see them, see what they have to say and then go and see Mr Roxburgh. He will be able to tell you what the right thing is.' George thought silently for a moment then raised his head from the letter.

   'Who do you think told them?' Willie looked from George to Grace and eventually he said,

   'My guess is that the Intestate Estate Office has told them about her. When do they want to see you?' George glanced down at the letter and found the time of the appointment.

   'Eleven o’clock this morning' he said.

   'Well that gives you time to go and have a quick word with your solicitor before you go to see them. If there are any problems he will be able to give you some idea of what the problems are before you make the appointment.' George nodded his head in agreement.

   'Yes, you’re right' he said. He glanced up at the mantle clock. 'Right. It’s eight fifteen now, I can get the eight thirty ferry across to Circular Quay and be in Roxburgh’s office just after nine. That should do it.' He levered himself up from the chair and after placing the letter back in its envelope glanced automatically around the room, his eyes resting on Willie. 'I should be back early this afternoon Willie. Is that alright with you?' Willie smiled at him.

   'I think I can manage for half a day without you George. You just get this lot sorted out and dusted away. That’s the most important thing for you,' he paused, 'and for Clyda as well. You don’t want her going into some Boarding Out home when she will be better off here with you, do you?'

   With Willie and Grace left behind inside the house, George  walked down to the ferry at Neutral Bay quay, where the ferry across the harbour was almost ready to push off. He walked onboard and bought his ticket from the boy waiting on the boat side of the gangplank, then seated himself down on one of the wooden forms running across the width of the boat. Within minutes the boats had left the quayside and pushed its way out into the harbour going south across the choppy waves to Circular Quay. As the small boat drew closer he saw the usual flotilla of large multi-funnelled overseas vessels lined up alongside the quays, some of them discharging passengers, mainly from England, and others lying still in the water being loaded with cargo and passenger’s luggage for the return trip across the world.

   When the ferry docked, George walked briskly across the quay and inland past the Customs House on the quayside. By nine fifteen he was being ushered into the office of Mr Roxburgh on Bridge Street.

   'Mr Kent, please sit down, I wasn't expecting you this morning' he said, indicating the chair in front of his desk. George sat down drawing himself forward to hand over the envelope from his pocket.

   'Got this letter in the post this morning Mr Roxburgh. Thought it best to see you with it as soon as I could.' Roxburgh took the single sheet of paper from the envelope and slowly read it through twice. He leaned back in his chair and met George’s eyes.

   'What do you think this request for an interview implies Mr Kent?' he asked. George considered the question for a moment before replying.

   'I’m not too sure. It's obviously about Florence’s money and stuff, but I think there's more to it. I think they want to quiz me about Clyda as well.' Roxburgh glanced down at the letter then lifted his head once more.

   'You may well be right on both matters Mr Kent.' He paused a moment, 'In fact you are probably right. They will certainly wish to know more about her bank and savings accounts, but also to see if she had any property and valuables.' He took up a pen lying on the desk and waved it gently at George. 'There’s nothing unusual about this letter, or its contents. The office of Intestate Estates has a legal duty to ensure that all the property and goods and money belonging to a deceased person is correctly accounted for, and that her debts are paid from the estate, should there be any debts.'

   'I’m pretty certain she had no debts Mr Roxburgh. She always kept on top of that sort of thing. She were very good with money. Never owed a penny to anyone. I think the Government  Savings account was where she saved most of the money she got in maintenance.' He paused to think again of his life with Florence and how she had managed both of their lives so efficiently. 'If it’s not just about the money then, do you think they will want to put Clyda in a Boarding Out home?' George asked. Roxburgh considered the question before replying,

   'I think it is something which will be concerning them. They have a legal duty to enquire into the estate of a deceased person to find out not only if the estate owed money, or was owed money, but also to ensure that the estate does not become a burden upon the state, and this could be where they might be going as far as the child is concerned.' George’s head lifted at this and he started to speak, but Roxburgh held up his hand to silence him. George kept quiet.

   'If they feel that the child is not going to be well looked after by yourself, or any other person, then she will have to be taken into the care of the state, or the State Children’s Relief Board, as it is more correctly known. They operate the Boarding Out Scheme, and if they feel you are not able or willing to care for the child then it is their responsibility to place the child in the care of a suitable adult who can take care of them within the scheme.' He paused to allow George to assimilate this information then continued. 'It could be, and is more than likely, that they would place her with a couple who have been checked for their suitability, they might even have had other children from the scheme in the past, or they might place the child in a home with other children where she could receive schooling and then be taught a trade.' He paused to allow all this to sink into George’s head. 'I do feel, however, that if you can demonstrate to the board that you are willing and able to care for the child, and at this stage in the proceedings I feel you could so demonstrate, then they might feel that the best solution to the problem would be to leave the child with you.' This last statement was just what George had been hoping to hear. He sat back in the chair and breathed out a loud sigh of relief. Roxburgh leaned across the desk quickly and pointed the pen at him. 'Please Mr Kent, I don’t want you to feel that this is the only course of action, or the only decision the board could make, far from it. Obviously it is the one you would like to hear from them, but we cannot know all the intricacies of how their legal framework will work. I am simply pointing out to you a course of action they might take, but there could be others, and you need to bear that in mind when you go to see them later this morning.' George smiled in relief.

   'I understand Mr Roxburgh. It’s not all plain sailing is it? I might get what I want, but they could have other ideas up their sleeve which I need to find out about.'

   'That is exactly right Mr Kent. You need to go into that meeting and be prepared to listen carefully to what they propose. Don’t lose your temper if they don’t immediately propose what you want, simply listen to them, and don’t make any rash decisions during the meeting. It is unlikely they will push you for an answer right away, but you must be prepared to digest what they say and understand everything they say so that you can come back here to discuss it with me. Is all that clear Mr Kent?' George nodded his head eagerly in agreement.

   'Don’t worry Mr Roxburgh. I can keep my mouth shut when necessary. Can I come back here after the meeting to tell you what happened?'

   'Let me check my diary Mr Kent.' He took a folio sized diary bound in black leather from the corner of his desk, and flipped it open to show the day's events.

   'No, that’s fine Mr Kent. I have an appointment at three o’clock, so if you can get back here well before then we can go over what they have proposed and see where we go from there.'

   George pushed back the chair from the table and leaning over extended his right hand to Roxburgh who shook it warmly.

   'I hope you hear what you want to hear Mr Kent, and I will see you this afternoon after lunch.'

   'Goodbye Mr Roxburgh, and thank you for seeing me without an appointment. I’ll keep my temper and see you this afternoon. I think it will be about one o’clock before I can get here.' He turned and left the office, closing the wide solid door quietly behind him.

   Shortly before eleven o’clock George entered the office of the Intestate Estates Office in the Registrar of Probates office in the County Court building on Queens Square. All the names on the brass plates on the front, and on the inside of the building, seemed to George to have multi-barrelled names for each department, and it took him some time to read his way through them all until he found the correct one. He tugged down at the edges of his best, but well worn, tweed jacket in order to straighten it before he entered the office. Despite the comforting words his solicitor had given him, his stomach was churning and his mouth was dry in anticipation of the meeting.

   A woman of about forty, a secretary, he assumed, smiled as he entered the outer office of the registrar and said,

   'Mr Kent is it?' He nodded silently and smiled back at her. She rose from her seat at her desk and went to open the door of the registrar which lay in the middle of the partition wall which stood behind her desk. As she placed her hand on the door handle she turned back to George, 'I’m sure he won’t keep you waiting too long Mr Kent. Mr Stephens likes to keep to his appointment times.' George nodded silently as he watched the woman enter the office. He heard her speak to someone in the office from the doorway and immediately turned back to him. 'Come along in Mr Kent. Mr Stephens will see you now.' George nodded his thanks and walked past her into a large airy office with windows allowing in sunlight. Mr Stephens, a man in his late forties wearing a dark pinstriped three piece suit, rose from behind a large desk and indicated with his hand for George to take a seat in a high back chair on the opposite side of the desk.

   'Mr Kent?' he said.

   'Yes, George Kent' George replied.

   'Please take a seat will you?' Stephens said in a tone of voice George had not been expecting. It was kindly and well spoken. Not at all the sort of offhand nature he had been anticipating. George sat down in the chair and prepared himself to hear the worst news possible from the Acting Curator of Intestate Estates.