Robert Alexander Bruce (1865 - 1943)

Born 2 Aug 1865 in Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Alice (Douglas) Bruce — married 20 Jan 1888 in Guildford, Western Australia, Australia

Descendants

Died 15 Aug 1943 at age 78 in Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Rob Garton Smith [send private message]

Biography

Alexander Bruce (later called Robert Bruce) was born on 2 August 1865 at Perth.^[1]

Robert Bruce (as Alexander Bruce was called) went to Perth Modern School and Perth Boys School (the school in St George's Terrace which became Perth Technical College).

Robert grew up in Plain Street, East Perth. His father used to cause mischief and blame Robert. His father was very strict. There was one occasion when Robert had misbehaved and ran away and sat for a long time at the East Perth cemetery hoping to avoid a belting. When he got home, his father said, don't worry, I'm not going to belt you until 12 o'clock. He went to sleep and at midnight was woken up by his father for a belting.

He worked for a butcher in Perth. He used to travel from Perth to Cannington to collect a farmer's meat. When he got back at the end of a day's work, he used to get a meal of bread and meat.

Robert Bruce grew a beard when very young, at least by the age of 18 (in 1883). At the time, all of the convicts had to be clean-shaven. There were convicts nearby living at or near the Barracks. At night time, when a torch was shone in people's faces, it was very easy to see who was a convict and who was not by seeing if they were clean shaven or had a beard. Many people grew beards or moustaches so they would not be confused with convicts. This is why Robert Bruce grew a beard so early. John Bruce used to tell Robert not to become too friendly with the convicts. There were some who were quite dangerous.

He met Alice McIntosh (nee Douglas), who was three years his senior.

He then went up north and for several years had a job on a station as a shepherd in the Cossack or Ashburton area, working for the McGrath family. His job was to guard the sheep from the aborigines. He had to live in the bush. He said he never had any trouble with the aborigines though he took great care . The Dictionary of Western Australians says he was a police constable at Cossack in 1885.

He wanted to marry Alice so he gave up his job and returned to Perth . Robert was a good friend of Joseph Manning . In 1887 he is recorded as being employed by John Daniel Manning Snr at the Manning's Mount's Bay Road dairy (near Jacobs Ladder under Mt Eliza). He appears to have remained in the employ of the Mannings until 1895.

Robert Bruce married Alice McIntosh (nee Douglas) at the Wesley Church, Guildford on 20 January 1888 . At the time, Robert was 19 and Alice was 25 .

They lived in a house above the spring on Mt Eliza (now Kings Park) just the Perth side of the Brewery Buildings. It was two thirds of the way up the hill. This house was owned by the Manning family and was called "Temperance Cottage" . Elsie was born in that house. The location is indicated in the book “The Mannings Way of Life” page 47 but this diagram may be incorrect. Bill Williams believes Temperance Cottage was on the West side of Jacob’s ladder.

The Manning family had a house below the Bruce's. One child named Douglas died and Robert had to carry the child down the hill to be buried. At the time one of the children was being born, Robert rode his horse to the doctor's rooms at St George's Terrace. To save time, the doctor took Robert's horse and told him to walk back, saying: I'm the one who's wanted in a hurry.

There were many aboriginal families living in the area near the house. The children got into trouble if they played with the aboriginal children. There was a tribe of aborigines living above the spring - including Robert Bropho's ancestors . The Manning family used to give the aborigines food parcels. The children used to have fun sliding down the slopes of Kings Park on palm fronds.

Sometimes, Robert Bruce used to row to the flour mill at Mill Point to get feed for the cows.

In 1895 a fence prevented access to Kings Park. The cows were allowed to graze in what is now Kings Park, but in 1895, the new Board of Control decided to erect a boundary fence, thus preventing access by the stock. For a while a paddock owned by John Tarrant was used, but as Manning had property, lot 388 on the South side of the river, which he had purchased in 1877 at 10s per acre, he decided to establish his dairy there. The causeway, built in 1873 was very narrow and subject to damage when the river was in flood. At the movement of cattle over it was prohibited, the herd was driven through the water, using a shell bank where the water was only about 1 foot deep and Heirisson Island which at times had a shallow covering.

In 1895, Robert Bruce started his own dairy in Mounts Bay Road , possibly on the land that Joseph Manning had vacated when he bought “Mylup” near Australind. Cows used to go up the hill where Jacob's Ladder was subsequently built to graze.

Norm Manning says that when the government decided to build a staircase up the hill, the Mannings suggested the best place would be where the cows chose to go up. This is where it was positioned, and the name for it - Jacob's Ladder - was also suggested by the Mannings who were very religious.

As most of the grazing land was gradually fenced off he also transferred his operation to South Perth where he had acquired property.

It was possibly in 1897 or soon after , that Robert moved to South Perth at 278 Suburban Road (now Mill Point Road), the later site of Chesterton Lodge . This land was purchased from the Douglas family , Alice's family. There is a photograph of the family taken in about 1898 in front of the weatherbord exterior of the house at 278 .

They also grew fruit and vegetables. The wares were punted across to Perth on market days.

Robert and Alice had six children, all born in Kings Park except for Stan.

Robert Bruce was a very religious man, being a strict Baptist. He was so religious that he made his children go to church up to three times a day. Robert used to smoke a pipe.

A few years later, around 1907 or earlier , Robert decided to sell all his possessions and go and live near Jackadder Lake. He did this for religious reasons. Another story is that he had been told by a doctor that he had a serious medical condition and had only 6 months to live. He gave his properties to his sons and the dairy in South Perth was given to Herb Cartright, his foreman. Later, Robert said that he was tricked by Cartright into giving him the dairy. The dairy ended up being run by his son-in-law Frank Roberts.

The Jackadder Lake land Robert moved to was owned by Joseph Manning and was leased to Robert. It was near Woodlands/Osborne Park near the northern end of Herdsman Lake. Robert started a dairy on this land.

His dairy was on the west side of Liege Street. Most of Jackadder Lake was part of the property and the property ran through to Scarborough Beach Road. He leased the property from the Manning family. The dairy became "Bradley's Dairy". The Bruce family lived in a house which was reached by a driveway from Ewan Street. There is photograph of the dairy and the house taken in about 1907. In the photograph appear to be Robert’s mother Bridget Margaret Quinn Bruce (on the verandah), Robert Bruce (on horseback on the right), his wife Alice Bruce standing amongst the cattle, their daughter Ivy Bruce on horseback and Neil (amongst cattle on the far right), Stan on a pony in front of his father and Doug sitting on the fence just to the right of Robert. The house was knocked down in the 1960s to make room for Bradley's housing estate and the Metro Drive-Inn (now Union 8), opposite Nookenborough Hotel.

The house was built from limestone from the Castle Road quarry, just above the property. The ceilings were 15 foot high and the walls were 18 inches thick.

This house should not be confused with the Manning family’s holiday home which still survives and is the house today known as Manning House.

Robert needed labour for the dairy and had 8 Irish workers to whom he paid 2 sovereigns a week. This caused neighbouring dairymen problems in hiring labour because it was more generous than they were prepared to pay.

Once, Robert bought some cattle from the Eastern States for a cheap price and when they arrived, he found that they had TB. He lost the money he paid for the cattle.

Some time prior to 1914, he had a plan to build an ice works/cool room at Charles Street on the present site of Brownes Dairy. At the time the land was owned by the Wholesale Farmers' Co-op Dairy Company. He had an argument with the Perth Council or Roads Board. They wanted the ice works built in brick and Robert refused. He wanted it built out of galvanized iron. He abandoned the whole project and in 1915 the land was then purchased by Brownes who went ahead and built an ice-works in brick . The family have ever since said that it should have been "Bruce's Dairy" not "Brownes".

At some point there was a cool room or ice works in galvanized iron on the corner of Anzac Road and Coogee Street, Mt Hawthorn. Whether he built it, is not known. Later, it was owned by his former foreman, Cartright. In the 20's it was known as Cartright's Ice Works. Robert lived for a while in Anzac Road.

By the end of 1914 , Robert had moved from Jackadder to Edinboro Street. Alice used to go into town to go shopping at Boans. Robert would put his hand in his pocket and take out a handful of sovereigns for her without even counting them. Alice would tie up her horse at the hitching rails at Boans and the staff would take care of the horse.

On Sunday afternoons, the local minister from the Mt Hawrthorn church would come to Jackadder for the evening meal and Robert Bruce would have already arranged for a supply of food parcels for the needy families in the area and with the assistance of the church minister, he would deliver those on Sunday afternoons.

Robert then built a milk holding plant and a refrigeration unit in Edinboro Street.

In 1915, Robert bought the 3 acre Connolly dairy (but not the herd) which was on the north edge of Herdsman Lake, fronting Scarborough Beach Road.

Robert worked with the local Roads Board and then moved to Waroona and bought a dairy farm from a man named Thomson. After buying the farm, he discovered that it did not have any water. As a result, he lost all his money.

Alice became ill and in about 1925 they want back to Perth . She had developed peritonitis and had to go to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment. She recovered and this was regarded by the hospital as remarkable for someone of her age.

At first, they lived in the Hurlingham Estate in a red brick house which belonged to the Manning family. This house is pictured in the book The Manning’s Way of Life by Marion Lofthouse (nee Manning) on page 108. In about 1931, they moved to a concrete house next door which Robert built. The house was eccentric in that it had many gates in the fence. It had a lookout at the top. The lookout leaked frequently and he would plug the leaks with chewing gum.

In the late 1920s Robert used to break horses at the Mannings dairy and do other work for the Mannings. Once he had a nasty fall and hurt his back and this stopped him from riding again. The horse reared and fell backwards and he was still in the saddle and the weight of the horse pushed him onto a tree stump and injured him. After this he had a bad back and could not sleep on a soft bed. He made up a special camp bunk with timber slats and slept in that. He kept a many cattle dogs in kennels at the back of his home, one named Smokey. There is a photograph of him with two of his dogs.

He only lived 150 yards from the manning Dairy. He would bring up a pale of milk every day or so fresh from the dairy and put it on the wood stove to simmer over night. In the morning there would be a thick topping of scalded cream on top.

Around this time, Robert Bruce was a good friend of an aboriginal stable hand at the polo ground named Simon Gentle , though some also called him Simon de Veer.

On 20 January 1938 Robert and Alice celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary at 298 Suburban Road (now Mill Point Road), South Perth.

In about 1939, their house was condemned and they went to live with Alice's daughter May Hodgkinson before they died. In old age, both Robert and Alice became forgetful and were not able to look after themselves .

Robert Alexander Bruce died on 15 August 1943 .

Bill Williams says that some of Robert Bruce's stories about himself and his family were fanciful. Robert was placid, kind and generous. He was not a hot-head, but calm in his decision making. Robert used to say (perhaps jokingly) that he was descended from Robert Bruce, the famous King of Scotland.

There exist a number of photographs of Robert and Alice.

Sources

1. ↑ "Australia Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT6W-KYH : 11 February 2018), Robert Alexander Bruce, 10 Sep 1865; citing Perth, Western Australia, Australia; FHL microfilm 1,363,650.

• Birth Certificate.
• Interviews with Bill Williams in 1994 and some information from Ivy (Roberts) Garton Smith.