William and Esther Kemp

Life was fairly rudimentary at Pine Hill. The nearest shops were in Stanthorpe. It would take a full day on horseback to get there and back. Supplies were bought in bulk, so William would take a dray (a heavy sort of wagon). It would take a full day to get to Stanthorpe by dray, and another to return with the supplies. Most of the supplies were purchased when the year’s wool clip was sold, and these stores had to last the whole year. 

Lighting was provided by kerosene lanterns. The family used to take the washing to the creek 200–300 metres from the house. Soap and many other household items were made at home from locally available ingredients. 

On one occasion when William was away getting supplies, Esther left three of the children on a ridge while she rounded up the sheep to bring them into the yards. She had a complete panic when she could not find them quickly. These were pioneering times and there were many worries of bush living. The indigenous people were still living in the district and there were occasional flare-ups between the settlers and the aboriginal people. So when the aborigines held corroborees on a nearby hillside, it would be a worrying time for the family. 

When a baby was due, William would take Esther into Stanthorpe to await the arrival of the baby. He would then return to the farm. A week or so after the baby arrived, he would ride in again, and they would ride home together, Esther carrying the newborn baby in her arms. In later years, the older children would go along, so it would have made a merry procession. Lindsay recalled Leslie coming home in this way in 1900. There are also tales of one such trip home being in a flood! 

The locality of Mallow was only a mile or so (1.6 km) from the Kemp property and had a cricket team, a school and hotel (Malone’s Hotel). The school only operated every second week, taking turns with another school at Pikedale, 12 km (8 miles) to the west. Both schools were known as Pikedale, and sometimes ‘Pikedale 1’ and ‘Pikedale 2’. 

In about 1908 the family moved from Pine Hill to a new home at Araluen. This house was on a 400 acre (180 hecatare) block on the other side of the road from Pine Hill. Photos show this as a much more comfortable home. There was still an external kitchen. 

Esther was a strong character, 1.6 meters (5 foot 6 inches) tall, with very direct blue eyes. A loving and generous woman, she carried on continuous correspondence with her siblings, nieces and nephews. She was proud of her memory and in her later years loved to talk of bygone days. A devout Anglican, she worked for the church until shortly before she died. 

William was a man of his times, leaving the ‘inside matters’ to the women. He was the undisputed head of the house. He was literate and learned man, interested in astronomy, which he read about whenever he had the time. He was a long-serving member of the local school council and the Mallow Sports Society. He loved a yarn, so passing drovers were always made welcome. It sounds like he was a kind but stern man. One story relates that talking at the table would bring a stern ‘come come’, accompanied by two taps of his finger! 

There were pioneering times and life could be very tough. In 1908, Elliott and Eddie were shearing at ‘Glenlyon’ when they fell ill with influenza. They returned home to Pine Hill, where the flu developed into pneumonia both died within four days of each other. Elliott was 21 and Eddie 27. Eight-year old Leslie also contracted the virus, and was gravely ill, but recovered. Four years later, the same fate befell Alfie who was 33. The Kemps were a close family, who stayed in touch despite the poor communications of the time, so this must have been a heavy blow to the whole family. 

Endings 

William died on 31 March 1921. He was 61 years old and died without making a will. This caused some difficulty for the family, because the estate had to be equally divided between Esther and the surviving children. Lindsay made most of the arrangements, which were considerable. 

The farm was sold, and Esther moved into a house in Syme Street Stanthorpe (McGregor Estate) in 1924. She lived there with her daughter Susie until 1926 when Susie married, then moved to Newcastle to live with Ivie and her husband Vic Pierpoint. Leslie had also moved the Newcastle and had established a home only a few streets away from Ivie’s house. 

Esther died of heart trouble on 27 July 1939 aged 84. 

Legacy

William and Esther were survived by eight of their eleven children: 

• • Addie – married Jack (John) Hindmarsh. Their only child was stillborn. Addie died in Toowoomba in 1957 aged 80. 

  • Charlie – married Gertrude Hindmash and was a farmer. They had three children but only one, Arnold, survived infancy and he never married, so there are no living descendents of Charlie and Gertrude. After Gertrude died, Charlie married Laura. He died in Sydney in 1955 aged 77. 

  • Beatrice – married William Bamberry and had seven children. They remained in the Stanthorpe district, where Beatie died in 1957, aged 74. 

  • Susie – married Sam Weir. They had three daughters. Susan died in Toowoomba in 1955, aged 70. 

  • Alice – married Vincent Byrnes and had four children. She died at Stanthorpe in 1957 aged 69. 

  • Lindsay – married Helen Weir (sister to Susan’s husband Sam). They had one daughter and worked a dairy farm near Warwick. Lindsay died in Brisbane in 1972 aged 80. 

  • Ivie – married Vic Pierpoint and lived in Newcastle for most of their married life. They had one son, Athol. Ivie died in Newcastle in 1971, aged 75. 

  • Leslie – married Isabel Stewart and reared five children in Newcastle. Leslie died in Newcastle in 1983, aged 83, the last of his generation.