Gladys Lillian (McLean) Rowney (1924 - 2009)

Born 27 Apr 1924 in Ouyen, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Daughter of Hugh Percy McLean and Ethel Sarah (Kilcullen) McLean

Wife of John Percival Henry Rowney — married 29 Jan 1942 in Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia

Descendants

Died 30 Jul 2009 at age 85 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: M Roberts [send private message]

Biography

Gladys McLean was born on 27 Apr 1924, in Ouyen, Victoria, Australia. Her parents were Hugh Percy McLean and Ethel Sarah Kilcullen. She was raised on her family's farm nearby at Tempy.

Glad was only 4 years old when her mother died. Her older siblings took on many of the household responsibilities at that time. Money was tight for their family, and she remembers sleeping with two of her sisters in a double bed as children. The wire sagged, and the three girls always rolled together into the middle. The scarcity of water also meant that they all had to take their baths, one after the other, in the same water, outside in a tub - oldest to youngest, but their father always ended up last. The family never had internal plumbing at their home, so all water had to be collected from the tank outside and from the dam. Hot water was boiled in a special device on their stove. The family rarely traveled far, because they couldn't all fit in their gig together.

Glad received her education at Tempy State School, which she attended for eight years, usually going to school on horseback. She often rode bareback on their temperamental little Shetland pony with her younger sister Mary. The pony often threw its passengers somewhere along the way, or cunningly knocked them off on a post as it passed by. On one occasion, Glad was lucky enough to get a ride to school on a buggy with some of her neighbours, the McCleary kids. Unfortunately, while Glad was holding the reins, she steered them through a deep puddle and overturned the wagon, dumping them all out into the water. Mary, who had been following along on their pony, had to tell the teacher what had happened when she got to school. Glad fondly remembers the mischief the two girls got up to between home and school. Her clearest memory of school itself, was training for the sports. Their sports days were usually held at Tempy or Ouyen.

Besides their schooling, hard farm work was also a fact of life for all the McLean children from a young age. They had a farm to run and could not afford to hire help. Glad remembers they were "all expected to work like men" doing whatever jobs had to be done without payment; driving the horse teams; sewing up the bags of grain; and loading them onto the wagon for the trip to Tempy. The silo was only a couple of miles away but it was always a full day's work to get a load in. They would cart their load early in the morning, return home, then load up again for the next morning. The bags were loaded onto the wagon using a lever mechanism pulled by a horse, and Glad recalls vividly her father's temper when she would coax the horse too quickly and cause the bags to be flung right over the wagon. He was similarly unimpressed if she allowed the pair of horses to become tangled around a post, or tree, while he was trying to scoop a channel. Burning harrows with a team of four horses was another dirty and difficult task which left a strong impression on Glad. When her older sisters had left home she also took her turn as chief housekeeper. This meant an early start to the day. Her father was always up at dawn to start the fire and feed the horses, and he expected his breakfast to be on the table when he returned. The clunk of his boots on the floorboards, as he put them on in the morning, was Glad's wake-up call. Their father was a man of few words and wasn't always easy to get along with, and without their mother, all the girls had to teach themselves to cook and clean, and learn the facts of life. They were fortunate to have Mrs. McCleary, a helpful and kindly neighbour, who lived across the road. Glad's main form of entertainment while she was at Tempy were the dances which were regularly held at most of the small country towns around the district. She also played tennis for Tempy for a while after she finished school.

When her younger sister, Mary, was old enough to take over the household, Glad moved away to Melbourne. She stayed with her sister Dot, who was married and living in Burnley, and began working in the Herbert Adams baking factory in Richmond. At Herbert Adams, she remembers, you could eat as much as you wanted of the food they produced. On one occasion she overindulged on honey rolls, and has never eaten them since.

She met Jack Rowney while he was working at an oil depot at Murrumbeena in Melbourne, and they were married during his leave from the Army on 29 Jan 1942. Glad moved in to live with Jack's sister, Jinny Dutton, and her daughter Pat, in Warracknabeal for the duration of the war. Jinny's husband Bill was also away in the Army. Jack and Glad's daughter, Pam, was born during this time. Glad and Jack later purchased the same house in Warracknabeal for £500 under a deferred payment scheme, taking advantage of special interest rates for servicemen. The house was considered old, even then, and they continued living there throughout their lives.

After the war Jack returned to Warracknabeal and resumed his contracting work with his father on the State Rivers. Their family grew steadily over the following years. In the meantime, Jack had begun working as a plasterer with the Classic Fibro Company, which was located in Warracknabeal, on the site where the BP Service Station now stands. He worked there for a number of years and was eventually persuaded by the owner, Fanny Hansberry, to buy the business. Glad became the bookkeeper and they soon realised that things were not going well. Eventually they were forced to close the doors. Glad was able to find work at Dungey's Cafe, opposite the Town Hall in Warracknabeal, once again baking pastries and pies. Later Glad became manager of the canteen at the Warracknabeal High School, a position she held for many years.

Jack died in 1990, at the age of 71, after many years suffering from emphesema.

After her reluctant retirement Glad found more time to enjoy her gardening, her little dog Charlie, and watching her family continue to grow. Glad's garden was always her pride and her pleasure, blooming with flowers, and lush with vegetables and immaculately tendered trees bearing fruit of all varieties; plums, peaches, pears, apricots, and apples. The magnificent mulberry tree was the feature, with its delicious berries, it shaded many happy family gatherings, and provided hours of climbing fun for her grandchildren.

Glad died in the Ballarat Hospital in 2009, at the age of 85. She died suddenly after a late diagnosis of cancer, having enjoyed a long healthy life. She was buried with Jack in the Warracknabeal Cemetery.

Sources

• Records and recollections of family and friends.

• Marriage: VIC BDM Online, Family name: ROWNEY, Given name(s): Jno Percival Hy, Event: marriages, Spouse's name: Gladys Lillian McLEAN, Reg. year: 1942, Reg. number: 3562 / 1942

• Death: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/231411578/glad-rowney: accessed 16 April 2023), memorial page for Glad Rowney (unknown–unknown), Find a Grave Memorial ID 231411578, citing Warracknabeal Cemetery, Warracknabeal, Yarriambiack Shire, Victoria, Australia; Maintained by Oddjobber (contributor 48454427).

• DNA: Maternal relationship is confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between M Roberts and his third cousin. Their most-recent common ancestors are their great great grandparents, Patrick John (Cunningham) Kilcullen (1850 - 1916) and Jane (Sands) Kilcullen (1855 - 1948). Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: third cousins, based on sharing 94 cM across 5 segments.