Brian Wells – A Life Well Lived
Brian Ernest Wells was born at St Rocks Hospital Bunbury on 12 May 1928. His parents Elizabeth and Frank were living in Wellington Mills at the time.
When he was three, his parents moved to a house in Teede St, Bunbury when his father obtained work as a mechanic at Langhands Garage. His sister Sylvia had also been born by this time. The family moved from Bunbury to Dardanup in the early 1930s where Frank worked on trucks with Main Roads and later the local Dardanup Roads Board (pre-Dardanup Shire Council). They bought a farm called Caringa on Recreation Rd, Dardanup in 1935.
Brian attended the Convent School in Dardanup from 1935 and all his school life he only had two teachers who were Sisters of Mercy; Sr M. Kieran and Sr M. Peter. He left school in the May holidays when he turned fourteen.
As his parents farm was close to Dardanup, Brian used to walk to school each day and home for lunch. As a young lad Brian would help with the milking, which was all done by hand, before going to school, and after school as well. He also helped in the house doing chores like the washing up and laundry – boiling the copper and using the scrubbing board. His mother suffered from dermatitis so was unable to put her hands in water.
After leaving school he helped run the dairy, growing vegetables and general jobs such as digging drains and clearing the land by hand, with no means of mechanical help like today, horses being the only mode for heavy work and transport.
By 1940 Brian had a baby sister Connie and twin brothers Ron and Neil.
During the Second World War years, 1939-45, Brian contributed to the war effort by knitting scarves for the soldiers on the front, organising fundraising events such as dances and socials, training children at the two schools in air raid drill as well as instructing them to observe strange planes in the sky and what to do if one appeared.
Brian joined the Voluntary Defence Corp at about the age of fifteen, being too young to join the Army. Later he joined the Air Training Corp or Airforce, learning to identify different planes.
Finally, he was accepted for a period of two years into the Australian Navy as a seaman serving in the South Pacific and Papua New Guinea. The war was over by that stage but ships were still being engaged in mine sweeps, blowing up detected mines to prevent damage to other ships in peace time. Brian was discharged from the Navy and came home to Dardanup. Together with his Dad, he worked the farm and in 1949 he purchased Linden Farm with the help of his deferred Navy pay.
Over ten years he worked really hard on the farm, getting it all ship-shape with fencing completed and farm sheds built. On 30 January, 1960 he married Gwen Harris and together they continued farming, rearing calves and pigs and later progressing to a milking machine. The milk was separated into cream and sent off to the factory in Bunbury by truck. Later, a whole milk license was obtained and milk was picked up in cans by trucks and taken to the factory. Later still refrigerated vats were the go and milk tankers collected the milk directly from the farm. Brian retired from milking at the age of 65 without any regrets.
Brian enjoyed his sport in between all the hard work on the farm, travelling to towns like Donnybrook and Bunbury to play cricket as well as coaching junior boys in cricket at Dardanup as part of the Bunbury competition. Brian was on many Committees in the Bunbury Cricket Association and was awarded Life Membership for his contributions to cricket in the South West. Brian was also a Life Member of the Waterloo Cricket Club (pre-Dardanup Cricket Club) and a member for many years.
Brian became Vice President of the Bunbury Hockey Association and was responsible for the juniors, taking boys to Narrogin carnivals and even to Tasmania. Eventually, he also served as President and was responsible for many changes in the Association. He received a Certificate of Merit for his services.
Brian also played football for the Dardanup team travelling to neighbouring towns for games.
Badminton was enjoyed in the early years with Brian winning quite a few competitions. He was the inaugural Secretary of the Dardanup Club. He coached and ran a night competition for many years with the local juniors. Brian was awarded a Life Membership for his services to Badminton.
Brian was part of the committee organised by the South West Development Commission to develop Hay Park in the 1970s/1980s, incorporating a greater range of sports as well as developing the South West Recreation Centre.
Brian enjoyed many years in the Junior Farmers movement, being an inaugural member, excelling in the debating teams and being awarded Life Member. Brian won a trip to the Sydney Royal Show in 1953 as an outstanding Junior Farmer and in later years was an adult advisor to local Dardanup youth, Junior Farmers being the precursor to Rural Youth.
In addition to all his sporting activities he had time to bring up and nurture 10 children, supporting them in all their sporting and school activities.
In 1983 Brian received the Australia Day Citizenship Award for outstanding contributions to the local community over the many years of his life in Dardanup. This award was presented to him in the Dardanup Hall by his Excellency the Governor Rear Admiral Sir Richard Trowbridge on behalf of the Dardanup Shire.
Brian was a self taught carpenter having little training. He has been responsible for building and renovating many houses, sheds and dairy buildings. Brian always enjoyed wood craft in his workshop and helping his sons in any of their projects and business operations.
Brian enjoyed farm life, be it fixing fences or growling at the cattle when they got out.
All in all Brian unconditionally loved all of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and was eager to help them out whenever he could, enjoying the family celebrations be it weddings, birthdays, sport events or new arrivals. Brian is remembered by friends and family as having a wonderful sense of humour, always joking and laughing.
Brian and Gwen were married for 64 years and he was 96 when he passed away, still living at home on his farm at Dardanup.
Dardanup Times Editor’s Note: In 1955 when the Dardanup Hall was partially built the contracted builder absconded. The community wouldn’t be deterred and a ‘Welfare Committee’ was set up to find a way through to complete the hall construction. Brian was the Secretary of that Committee which set about raising funds and completing the build. The following is an excerpt from the Dardanup Heritage Collective website with regards to the construction of the Dardanup Hall by the community:
“Brian personally spent many hours on the seemingly never-ending solid wandoo floor. The boards are 4.6 meters long and were only 65mm wide. He recalls “they needed to be drilled and then the nails could be hammered through to the joists, as wandoo is so hard”. Even on the day of the opening Brian was frantically working to finish the floor with only a few hours to spare. His will to finish this beautiful floor had been driven by the determination to be the first to dance on it. That night at the opening Gala Ball as Jack Bartlett’s 5-piece orchestra limbered up, Brian partnered with Gwen Harris, ready for the first music beat on which they stepped across the floor, indeed giving Brian his reward of ‘being the first to dance a lap’ upon his seeming nemesis, the dance floor. This floor remains one of the Halls finest features almost 70 years later.”
Brian certainly loved Dardanup and our community has been better for all his years of service, in particular the work he did shaping our young people through his involvement in sport and community groups.
Reference:
Thankyou to Gwen Wells and the Brian’s family for sharing his life story
Dardanup Heritage Collective 