• General Notes

  MEMORlES - Shared by Harry Thornley at the Memorial Service for Mrs Elsie  Bolton on September 3rd, 1996.
  
  Elsie Reid was born in the Kiewa Valley in 1897.
  She was born into a  pioneering family and this is probably where she gained her very strong constitution with which she was blessed right through her life. At the  age of 14 she moved to Geelong to complete her schooling and she lived at  the manse with Rev. and Mrs H. K. Mack. It was during this time that she  met her future husband Sloan Bolton - a young Irish immigrant.
  
  She became a qualified school teacher, teaching at various secondary  schools throughout Victoria while completing her Bachelor of Arts degree  at the Melbourne University. Talking to her about these times she  described how, when teaching at Yackandandah, she would ride her bike  home to Tawonga on a Friday after school - a distance of 57 kms. Also at one time when needing dental treatment, she rode a horse from Tawonga over the pass into Bright, had teeth extracted and rode home again - a  round trip of 90 kilometres.
  
  In 1920 at the age of 23, she married Sloan Bolton who had returned from  the war after serving at Gallipoli and Palestine. He had lost both his legs in action and spent two years in the Caulfield Repatriation Hospital. Sloan's strong determination showed out when he was the only  one in a ward of 40 amputees who succeeded in mastering the then,  cumbersome artificial legs.
  
  In 1922 she and Sloan moved to take up the farm at Mannerim - much  against the advice of friends and the Repatriation Authority. This was to be her home for the next 51 years. These were very difficult years. The  1920's were the start of the depression years.
  
  As well as raising six  children she had to be the 'farmer's apprentice' due to Sloan's severe  disabilities. The days could start as early as 3 am because their  Queenscliff milk contract required delivery by 5 am. Don't forget that these were hand milking days - and delivery was by horse and cart. At one  stage she had to take her baby who was suffering with whooping cough down  to the dairy while she was milking. Life also had its risks. Her diary records her terror as she had to get  up in the middle of the night to separate two valuable jersey bulls savagely fighting for supremacy.
  
  It wasn't practical to awaken Sloan due  to his disability. It has been stated times were hard and on one occasion  when funds were desperately low, Sloan had purchased a well bred but  emaciated bull, counting on qualifying for a Government subsidy, available at that time. In spite of Mum's earnest prayers, the inspectors  when they came were quite definite that the bull would not qualify for  the subsidy. She broke down and cried when they left, but shortly afterwards the men returned saying they had changed their minds. What an  answer to prayer! In 1942, during the 2nd World War, at the age of 45, she answered an  urgent appeal from the Education Dept. for married women to return to  teaching.
  
  She faced the challenge and returned as the Head Teacher at the  one teacher rural school at Mannerim. She taught there for the next 25 years retiring in 1967 at the  age of almost 71 years. She and her  children helped with the milking in these war years. Her eldest son Bob had joined the Air Force and become a spitfire pilot. The children she  taught were given a sound grounding in the 3 R's. The quality books she  read them established sound moral values.
  
  Her pupils have nostalgic  memories of nature walks, warm fires and hot cocoa. Each child,  regardless of academic achievement was made to feel special which  resulted in so many who have kept in touch during the years. Those were  the days of surprise visits by the school inspectors. One inspector, on  such a visit was shocked to hear an impudent student addressing the grey-haired teacher as Grandma. His intended rebuke was cut short when he  realised that the teacher was indeed the young Bolton's grandma.
  
  Her son  Bob gave her a present of a small motor bike on her 57th birthday and she became a familiar figure as she rode it to school each day. Her great  grandsons were most impressed when they were shown her motor bike licence recently, no doubt having visions of her astride a Harley Davidson! Through all these busy years she somehow found time to attend to her  children's spiritual training and no matter how tired she was, they never  missed out on their bedtime stories or Sunday school memory work. Part of this training was being responsible with their pocket money - threepence  and later sixpence. They had four boxes - 1. Missions and tithing  2. Others-presents. 3. Savings  4. Spends. How do you split threepence into four boxes? There were halfpennies in  those days. It is on good report that one of the sisters, who shall  remain anonymous, was looked on with great suspicion when her spends box  seemed to gain more money than the others!
  
  Her husband Sloan did in 1947 when she was 50, and less than a year later  their home was burned down. Diaries which had been kept from childhood  and many other valued personal possessions were lost. She stopped teaching in 1967 at the age of almost 71, when most people  are at least winding down, Mum at last had time to pursue some of her own activities. She enrolled in a writing course and completed many correspondence Bible study courses. She perhaps had one indulgence -  books. Books ranging from classical poetry to in depth Bible commentaries. In 1973 when she was 76 it became time to leave the farm at Mannerim.
  
  The  family purchased a home in Henry Street in East Geelong and then began to  worry about how Mum would cope with the move after fifty-one years of  country life. She took to it very well indeed, She loved her home in Henry Street and quietly helped out some of her elderly neighbours who  needed visiting, encouraging, their grocery shopping done or their paper  purchased and delivered. She became much respected and loved by her  neighbours. Most of these elderly neighbours were up to ten years younger  than she was! She had a special friend in Mrs Dulcie Drayton, who lived opposite and who died this year at the age of 95. Mum was a valued member  of a Bible study that Mrs Drayton held in her home for over 20 years.
  
  They continued right up to last year when there were only three left. Now  they have all gone. Henry Street was her base for many outreach activities. It was quite daunting for her to take on some of these activities. She was a shy  person, but was never afraid to overcome this shyness and take up a  challenge.
  
  One amazing project she took on in her late 70's and 80's was  selling recipe books, for church funds, from door to door. She travelled  on foot and by bus far and wide, even as far as Bell Park and sold over  5,000 copies. In her eighties she would walk into town to visit Karin at  the manse. She had quality fellowship time with Karin - sometimes going  to Grace McKellar and the Geelong Hospital visiting people who were  lonely. On some of those visits to the manse she would tie up newspapers  the church was collecting for funds, clean the toilets and the Church  hall.
  
  One story about her time in Henry Street involved a holiday visit by two  of her grand daughters, Vikki and Kellie. They organised a club with a joining fee of two cents which would buy a present for Nanna. Invitations  were made and cupboards raided for food and drink. Activities included  Bible study (very brief) a Bible verse to be learned and games. Art and craft were also on the agenda. Vikki and Kellie had to leave after the second meeting, but the children  kept coming each day and the numbers kept growing. After two weeks Mum  managed to reduce it to just Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, but  kept it up right through the Christmas holidays. She provided the food  and activities and I'm sure the Bible stories etc. If anyone wants to  read Mum's delightful version of this story, she wrote it up in the Church magazine 'Panorama' which she compiled and edited until she was 93.
  
  When she was 95 she had a bad fall and broke her pelvis in several  places. Her independence had come to an end and she had to leave Henry  Street after 19 years. After two months in hospital, she went to live  with her daughters spending two or three months at a time with each of  them. She never wanted to be a burden and her spirit of independence still shone through. She complained that her memory was failing.
  
  I recall  after a trip up the Newell Hwy in 1994, telling how I had driven through the Moonbi ranges in New Wales. Banjo Patterson's poem "Over the Range'  was about these Moonbi ranges and was included 4th Grade Reader. I got  out the book to read it to her and I read the first few words when she  then recited the whole poem of 32 lines without fault. This at the age of 97! Just 12 months ago she had a stroke and had to go into hospital. She  spent her last 9 months in Maryville Nursing Home.
  
  There she received  wonderful care from the staff; for which the family is very grateful. People took to her - her special smile and genuine interest in others,  drew people to her. Even up to the last day of her life people commented  on that special smile. People were enriched by her. Her love for her family was a major priority in her life. It shone  through everything. She rejoiced in their successes and felt for them in all their troubles. Her continual prayer to the end was that each one  would come to know the Lord. Her grand children and great grand children  have memories like Tom Piper steak  and vegies, chocolate custard and  home made lemon cordial. Fare later became more up market with choc chip  home made biscuits. The lolly jar was always well stocked for the young  ones and some of the older ones! Her grand children had a healthy respect for her capabilities.
  
  One time, out at Mannerim, she fed her grandsons  grilled chops and one of them asked what the brown lines on the meat  were. "Marks from the griller," Grandma replied. "Are these chops really  from a gorilla?" asked her round eyed grandson. She also kept a large tin  labelled, 'Barrets Satin Boiled,' which had once contained boiled lollies. Another grandson, Cameron, rather nervously inquired if Marga  really had boiled Satan in that big tin! I have known Mum for 46 years and she has been Mum to me for 43 years.
  
  I  knew she had been a great influence on my life. but it wasn't until I started to remember her life, that I realised how much. I can remember  clearly that first day I met her. Anna and I had not long met when Anna  invited me to the farm at Mannerim for the week-end. I remember clearly  on this summer evening Mum came in, we had tea and then Mum took up her  Bible and announced family worship, reading and prayer. We were kneeling  in prayer and I thought  had come into a home of religious fanatics!
  
  I am now so grateful for the quiet encouragement I received without really  knowing it. Not many people would he aware of her outreach and the numerous mission  activities she supported so generously with prayer. finance and  encouraging letters, so that they became personal friends. One may get the impression that she was very serious, and she was - over  serious matters, but she had a wonderful sense of humour. Some may even  say a bit twisted at times - which I think she has passed on to her daughters! I recall when Anna and I were living with her,
  
  I was working  in Geelong and I had to ride a bike two and a half miles to the  Queenscliff Rd. to catch the bus. It had been raining and the road was  like a quagmire. My foot suddenly slipped off the pedal and I measured my  length in the mud. I staggered up trying to choke down whatever words  were building up, when I looked around to see my wife and mother-in-law holding each other laughing hysterically!
  
  I want to read to you a letter she wrote on my 59th birthday, when she  was 89, which illustrates to me the wonderful humour she possessed. 5th April 1986 Dear Harry, I want to wish you a really happy birthday tomorrow, but I feel I'm  labouring under heavy disadvantages. I can't scribble off reams of poetry  at the drop of a hat like you and Terry do. I haven't any suitable cards,  and I no longer have the energy to walk into Keswick and buy one. They  never seem to have any worth buying anyway, and those they have are far  too dear. So what can I do? (a) Pretend I forgot and just ring up  tomorrow evening with apologies for my bad memory, or (b) be to your virtues very kind, and to your faults a little blind, and write you a  nice improving (or reproving) mother-in-lawish letter. Seeing that the  letter is half written already, I'll settle for (b).
  
  These faults that I'm to he kind to? Well, I don't seem to notice as many  as twenty or so years ago. Probably the good company you kept during  those years did eventually take effect. So what about the virtues? Much later - I don't know how long I've sat here just trying to think up your virtues, and I've finally decided that it would be most unwise to  give you such a bombastic opinion of yourself by listing them all. So hoping you are not too disappointed, Your very sympathetic Ma-in-law.
  
  P. S. I hope that birthday comes up to your very highest expectations. Finally. I want to read to you four verses from the 13th chapter of 1st   Corinthians, which give the characteristics when love is displayed in a human being. If this was a questionnaire of Mum's life she would get a  tick in all the right boxes. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is  not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily  angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always

Details of Elsie's family with Sloan (Scotty) Bolton DCM