Gordon Orange - A Tribute

The following is an article from the Tongarra Heritage Society Inc's July 2013 newsletter. It is a tribute to local Albion Park Rail identity, Gordon Orange who passed away 17 June 2013 aged 94 years.

'The passing of Gordon Orange cannot go un-noticed without a tribute to a quiet gentle man, who many of us knew as a long-time resident of Albion Park Rail and formally Oak Flats. A devoted member of his church, Gordon was the son of Albert and Nellie Malin nee Edelsten.

Gordon's father, Albert Edwin Orange, ventured in the estate business and was involved in the establishment of The Rural Land Company, and purchase of the Panorama Estate at Oak Flats. He built a guest house, Illawarra House at the Esplanade Oak Flats and a stone wharf adjacent to the guest house. Albert had purchased a ferry ‘The Lady Albion’ registered in 1927 as the Illawarra Ferry Company. The manager of the vessel was William Green of Albion Park and captained by Mr. Jacobson. Passengers were picked up from the Sydney train at Albion Park Rail station and ferried from the Windang Street wharf Albion Park Rail to the guest house wharf at Oak Flats.

This project failed during the 1931 economic depression, and Albert’s venture fell to hard times. The Guest House was dismantled and transported in 1936 to Reddall Parade at Lake Illawarra South by the Chambers family. The building was re-assembled and has survived, now known as the ‘California’.

Albert continued selling his allotments of his Panorama Estate, and four streets are named after the family, Malin after his wife Nellie Malin Orange, Gordon, Eleanor and David Streets after their children.

Gordon donated the ferry flag from the ‘Lady Albion’ to Tongarra Museum and his father Albert donated three, 1928 panorama framed photos of scenes looking towards Lake Illawarra and Lake Entrance.

Gordon would drop into the Tongarra Museum many times with memorabilia for the museum collection and for our heritage society archives. He invariably left us with a bible quote of the day and a prayer book as well as a cheery smile. One of his donated booklets ‘The History of Oranges’ Poultry Farm Albion Park NSW’ is a great account of the history of his father’s farm, 'Brinawa' at the Illawarra Highway.

Excerpts from The History of Oranges’ Poultry Farm by Gordon Orange,

The Orange Tree –Third Branch-Australia,

Oak Flats Garden Suburb by Kevin Gillis.

Article contributed by Dorothy Gillis. ©The Tongarra Heritage Society Inc. Newsletter –July 2013 No. 177 Page 4

Looking towards the Koona Bay jetty that services the Lady Albion tourist launch
Shellharbour Images, Shellharbour City Libraries

The California Guesthouse 1999
Shellharbour Images Shellharbour City Libraries



Shellharbour Honour Roll

In the lead up to the centenary of World War One, we will feature some of the stories of Shellharbour's Diggers and the effects of the war on the local community.

Illawarra Remembers  is a blog developed by Wollongong City Libraries and supported by Shellharbour and Kiama Libraries. We will also be contributing posts to this blog as well. For more info on the project visit - http://illawarraremembers.com/

The Shellharbour Rolls of Honour and Memorials to the the Great War 1914-1919 and World War II 1939-1945 were originally placed in Little Park, Shellharbour.They were later relocated to Caroline Chisholm Park in Addison Street and incorporated with the Atchison Boer War Memorial and the Memorial to the wreck of the Cities Service Boston.

Below is an account of the unveiling of the captured German trench mortar and honour roll commemorating the men from Shellharbour who served in the Great War, and a photograph of Rose Fisher at the original memorial at Little Park.

Kiama Reporter 28 June 1922.

Bonnie the Cow

 The Graham family lived at Lake Illawarra. Mr. Charles Graham worked building the roads in the area in the 1920s and 1930s. Bonnie was the Graham family’s pet cow.

When Mr. Graham was working on the roads he would have to feed the team of men working with him, and for this reason he bought Bonnie to supply the milk.

Ron Graham (Charles son) had to milk Bonnie every morning before he went to school and then when he came home again.

Bonnie never had a paddock, she would just roam all over Lake Illawarra, sometimes walking up to three miles almost all the way to Shellharbour.

One day Ron found her on Windang Island. She had walked all the way across the sand  through the entrance of the lake to get to the grass on the island.

About three o’clock every afternoon, Bonnie would begin to make her way home again to be milked. Ron would meet her half way and walk back with her.

After giving her a feed of some chaff and bread, Ron would sit on his little stool with his milking bucket.

Ron’s parents later bought a block of land and built a shop, Graham’s Store. Charles built a jetty  into the lake and hired out boats to holiday makers.

Ron’s mother Gladys ran the hire boats and would let out holiday homes in the area. Owners would give Gladys the keys to their weekenders to let them out to  holidaymakers at the lake.

 

Bonnie the Cow and the Graham kids
Photograph courtesy Ron Graham.
  

Graham Store, Lake South
Photograph courtesy Ron Graham.

Congratulations Kevin and Dorothy Gillis!

Congratulations to Oak Flats couple Kevin and Dorothy Gillis for being awarded a medal of the Order of Australia for their contribution to historical research and the preservation of heritage sites in the Illawarra. They provide a valuable service at our Tongarra Museum and have worked with Council to erect plaques at historic sites around the city.