Gwenneth Gemmill lived through two world wars, a depression, five British monarchs, the introduction of television and 24 Australian prime ministers.
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Perhaps it was encoded in the genes of her hard-working Scottish ancestors, or perhaps it was her early life with 13 siblings which taught her resilience and patience.
Her life was remembered by her family, relatives and Mooroopna people when they gathered at the Mooroopna Cemetery where she was interred on November 22 last year at the age of 98.
The granddaughter of Scottish emigrants carrying the Sinclair name, Gwenneth was the 13th of the 14 children born to Robert and Elsie May (nee Tonkin).
Her grandfather Andrew Sinclair migrated from the Orkney Islands of Scotland in the 1860s and settled on a farm in Arcadia.
Her father Robert Sinclair was born at Murchison in 1880 and eventually inherited property, but was forced to relinquish the farm due to drought, a series of bad seasons and ill health.
The family moved from one rented house to another in Miepoll, Arcadia, Tatura, Mooroopna and Shepparton.
The Sinclair family was living in Knight St, Shepparton, during the Great Depression when father Robert was in and out of work.
In 1935, they made news when Robert won 1250 pounds in a Tattersalls lottery. In the days when a new car cost about 300 pounds, the winnings went a a long way to buying a house.
“I have never given up hope, and with the large family things have been hard,” he told reporters.
Gwenneth was born in Tatura on May 12, 1925, and later attended Shepparton Primary School, followed by two years at Shepparton High School.
She left school at the age of 13 to work as a housekeeper, and worked at SPC before moving to Yarraville to live with her married sister where she found work at a woollen mill.
Over the ensuing years, including World War II, she worked as a housekeeper, at Footscray rubber mill, the Newport Railway workshops and as a hospital kitchen hand, while returning to Shepparton for the fruit season to work at SPC.
Gweneth Gemmill’s parents, Elsie and Robert Sinclair.
She married Victor Gemmill in 1947 after meeting him at a Shepparton dance.
The couple parented three sons and four daughters: Murray Rodney, Vivienne, Gwenda, Laurel, Neil and Roslyn.
Her generous character and her personal strength were sorely tried in her relationship with her husband, Victor, who served in World War II and who struggled with mental health issues as a result of his war service. She never gave up on him.
He died in 1982 and she also had to deal with the death of her son Rodney and daughter Laurel.
In a photo taken in 2013, the Gemmill and MacIsaac families discuss their family histories at the Gemmill home in Mooroopna. (From left) Gwenneth Gemmill, 87, Laurel Horton, 57, Murray Gemmill, 65, Rod Gemmill, 63, Ian MacIsaac, 80, and Robert MacIsaac, 47.
Photo by
Julie Mercer
Gwenneth lived in her Morrell St, Mooroopna, house since 1948, never needing support services, battling on without airconditioning — but always with a cup of tea available for any visitors.
She was a doting grandmother who loved having the grandchildren over.
The house was made for children with plenty of toys to play with, books to read and puzzles to do. She volunteered to hear reading with students at Mooroopna Primary School.
She loved music and had an old radio-cassette player she used to play taped songs she had recorded.
Despite her humble lifestyle she gave to others and her generosity extended to buying Mooroopna swimming pool memberships for disadvantaged children.
It was only in her last year where she required extra help and moved to a nursing home.
Gwenneth wrote out the words of a Tex Morton song which reflected her attitude to her fortunate life:
“I’ve never been blessed with riches, I guess. Still I find I don’t mind, for the treasures I hold untold, although silver and gold are wealth of a different kind.
“Nothing can buy one moment of my dreams of silver and gold.“
She died at Mooroopna on November 12.
The Sinclair family with the brothers and sisters who Gwenneth Gemmill grew up with. (Back row, from left) Tom, Joyce, Margaret, Gladys, Edie, May, Max and Mena. (Front row, from left) Ray, Robert, Gwenneth, Jean, Alison, Elsie, Nancy and Jack.
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