Special Certificate for Excellent Attendance - Ruth and Gerty Cuthbert 1919

Alfred Cuthbert, (1851-1929), married Harriet Emily Farthing (1853-1907) in Colchester England in 1874.
Their son Thomas Alfred Cuthbert (1875-1952) married Agnes Elizabeth Palfrey (1874-1944) in 1898 in Colchester, England.
They had 2 sons & 4 daughters:
Charles Cecil (1899-1923). Born Colchester England
Florence Emily (1901-1991). Born Colchester England
Edward Alfred (1902-1986). Born Bedfordshire, England
Evelyn Agnes (1904-1948). Born Colchester England
Gertrude Elizabeth (1910-2001). Born Busselton
Ruth Alice (1913-2004) Born Busselton
Walter Thomas (1916-2015) Born Busselton
The couple emigrated to Western Australia with 4 children on SS Oratava in 1908.
They arrived in Fremantle, where Thomas left his wife and children and travelled to the southwest, to look for land.
As all the coastal land had been taken up, he selected 160 acres (homestead block) no. 705 on Jalbarragup Road, about 12 miles from Busselton.
The family joined him, and together they set about clearing the land, planting fruit trees & vegetables.
They lived in a canvas hut with a jarrah bark roof & a stone fireplace. Eventually a house was erected, made of split sawn timber slabs.
A corrugated iron roof and verandahs were added later. There was a dirt floor for many years.
The farm became very self-sufficient: chooks, ducks, pigs & cows were eventually acquired.
Flour bags were refashioned as outside wear, sugar bags were made into smocks, calico bags into pants, petticoats & towels. Nothing went to waste.
There was no school in the area when it came time for Gertie & Ruth to attend school.
Back in the day, the Education department required that a minimum of ten children were required before a school could be provided.
Very industrious parents got together and started the project of building a school.
In 1919 a one room school made of jarrah slabs & lined with canvas, was constructed.
It measured 17 ft x 5ft with a stone chimney at one end.
The Education department provided the desks with an inkpot, paper, pencil, a table, and a teacher
who boarded with one of the families. Desks were the long type, seating 5-6 children. Ink was made
from powder, mixed with water in the inkwells.
The younger children had slate & chalk.
Gertie, Ruth & Wally were among ten children that attended Jalbarragup School, with ages ranging from six to fifteen years of age.
To get to school, the roads were sandy tracks, so, some came by bike, some walked and some rode a horse.
Gertie Cuthbert left school at fourteen and worked as a home help as well as helping at home where necessary.
She later worked as a shop assistant at the local grocery store. She was later employed as a housekeeper for a local businessman, and it was around this time that she met Carter Harbeck.
After 3 years of courtship, they were married December 22nd 1934 and moved to Nannup in January 1935, to live on his father’s farm.
Ruth Cuthbert won a scholarship to Bunbury High School, were she attended for 5 years. She passed both the Union & Leaving certificates.
She then went to Teacher Training College in Perth.
Ruth’s first teaching post, as a Monitor on Probation, was at Group school 89/ 90, (1935) on the
Channybearup Rd, about 8-10 miles from Pemberton, where she boarded with the Sawyer family.
She transferred to Moulyinning (1936-1938) near Dumbleyung, where she taught for many years,
before getting married to Thomas Neale, a farmer in the district.