Annie Musgrove is my grand aunt. She was born on 26 March 1895 in Clitheroe, Lancashire, to parents Thomas Ainsworth Musgrove and Ellen Stowell – my great grandparents.
Annie married Percy Procter in Clitheroe on 14 June 1919.
I have recently found the following the newspaper article in the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times of 13 June 1956 in which they recount Annie’s recent extended stay in Australia….on doctors orders!!
BACK HOME AFTER 7 YEARS IN AUSTRALIA
A grand sunny climate, but….
“Follow the doctor’s advice” might well be the moral of this story of a rejuvenated 61-year-old Mrs Annie Procter, who recently arrived back in Clitheroe, after seven years in Australia.
It was in August, 1948, that Mrs Procter was advised by her doctor to go and live with her married daughter in Australia – for health reasons.
And so Mrs Procter set out on her first sea trip – a voyage across the world. And what a rough trip it turned out to be, too. But Mrs Procter enjoyed the buffetings of the ship in the rough waters of the Indian Ocean – much to the disgust of her less fortunate fellow passengers.
Her destination was Moorabbin, a suburb of Melbourne, where she lived with her daughter, Betty, now Mrs B Eastwood, and family. Mrs Procter spent five years at the seaside town of Parkdale, where the climate proved entirely to her liking.
In fact, the improvements in Mrs Procter’s health was so rapid, that six months after landing in Australia she started work in the mending department of a woollen mill at Bentleigh, near Moorabbin, and continued working without a break until coming back to this country.
BEHIND TIMES
Her general opinion of Australia? “Well behind the times,” says Mrs Procter. “They have a lot to learn, yet.”
Climate? – No complaints, naturally, in view of its recuperative powers.
Housing? – The drawback with new housing estates is that drainage and sewerage is not carried out until years after the completion of the building. Consequently, tenants are faced with ankle-deep mud covering the unmade roads after rain.
Litter? – Australians are definitely not litter-conscious.
Licensing laws? – Peculiar. The present hours, 9am to 6 pm are responsible for queer happenings.
Such as the occasion when a young couple, friends of Mrs Procter, went to a ball. In their car they took a zipped bag filled with bottles – a portable bar for use during the evening.
It is quite a common sight to see hotels besieged by workers (who finish at 5pm) and the same people emerging at 6pm carrying liquid refreshment to be enjoyed at home.
Cost of living? – The biggest drain on people’s wages out there is clothing and furnishings, which are exceedingly costly.
Mrs Procter, who is living with her sister and brother-in-law, Mr and Mrs Robert Halstead, at their grocery shop in Curzon Street, greatly enjoyed the voyage back to England – “an absolute contrast to the outward trip” – calling at various ports en route, including Naples where she visited the ruins of Pompeii.
Though she has decided to settle down for the time being in Clitheroe, Mrs procter still feels the urge to travel. And no wonder. “After the Australian trip, I feel 20 years younger,” she says.
An interesting personal reflection on life in Australia 50+ years ago.
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Moorabbin in Australia now.
Going Where The Sun Will Shine
you don't choose your family 