Marie Freckleton

I am Marie Jean Freckleton. I was born on July 7, 1942 at the ‘old’ Mildura Base Hospital to my parents Jean Muriel Jardine and Alexander Roy Jardine. They were living in Ouyen, but as there was not enough specialised care, it was decided that I would be born in Mildura. My mother had been quite ill having already lost her baby, Muriel Isabel, in 1936. My older brother Alan was born in 1938. My mother Jean (Stewart) was born in Prahran on October 23, 1905 to parents Amy and George Stewart. My grandfather was a master printer who worked at McCarron Bird & Co, in Collins Street, Melbourne. The firm was established in 1872 in Flinders Street Lane West by John Francis McCarron having taken over the firm known as Ferguson & Moore.In 1887, the firm relocated to 479 Collins Street, as it continued growing.This building is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. My grandmother was a tailoress before she was married. My mother’s siblings were Sybil, William and Alan. Both my mother and Sybil were teachers who were keen to apply for a school in the country, as their brother William had gone farming at Underbool. My mother applied for a position at Kiamal State School in June 1930. Kiamal State School was a one teacher school and very remote. She remained in that position until she was married in 1934. My father was working in Kiamal at the time my mother went there to teach.