ELIZABETH May Cameron – Bessie as she was known to all – was born on March 7, 1927, the fifth child born to Ronald and Maria Stewart.
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Bessie was delivered by a midwife at home as the hospital expense was too much; her mother, however, developed blood poisoning and she and baby Bessie were transferred to Delegate Hospital.
After some tense days her mother was saved and went on to deliver three other sons.
Eight children all up – Freda, Ben, Jim, Joan, Bessie, Max, Peter and Barry.
Some of Bessie’s earliest memories were sleeping in a double bed in a small room, top and tail with her sister and small brothers.
Bessie, together with her brothers and sisters, attended Bendoc North school with around 30 other children and only one teacher who taught 1st to 8th grade.
She walked, like everybody else, to school, which was about 2 1/2 miles from home, in hail, rain or heat.
Walking home one evening, Bessie called in to a neighbour’s house for some lettuce and cabbage.
When a hailstorm hit half-way home, the children put the cabbages and lettuces on their heads for protection and the vegetables were chopped to pieces – needless to say their mother was not pleased.
At the time Bessie started school she had no books; all she had was a piece of slate about 10 inches square in a wood frame and a slate pencil.
In second grade she was given a book to write in.
No one was allowed to use their left hand.
Her school lunches were often spoilt by flies or, if honey sandwiches, ants.
Bessie always remembered that they received the spelling of 10 words to learn for home work.
Their teacher would have a spelling competition of 60 words every term.
Bessie was competitive and mostly got first or dropped one word and got second.
They were given nice prizes and the family still has a clock and ink stand that Bessie won.
This teacher also taught the children how to catch and kill snakes without damaging the skin; interestingly, Bessie could always kill a snake, but a spider would always bring her undone.
A minister taught scripture at the school each Friday.
This was one of Bessie’s great joys at school, especially singing.
She was told later in life that they never had hymns when the Stewarts weren’t there, as no-one would sing.
So that she didn’t wear out her shoes, she carried her shoes and put them on when she was close to school.
Some days they would freeze at school and the teacher would let the students take turns to go to the fireplace to get warm.
Joan and Bessie cleaned the school each Friday; they swept, mopped the floor and verandah, and dusted, for which they received sixpence and threepence respectively.
Bessie finished Grade 6, when the school was closed because of the Second World War.
As things got tough during the Depression the two older boys trapped rabbits and Joan and Bessie had to milk eight to ten cows each morning and night.
After milking they would clear country; mustering for lamb tailing was one of her biggest horrors.
Bessie knitted every night.
She was never allowed to sit and read, as this was considered to be a waste of time.
But she used to hide and read, and Joan would do all the work and cover for her, as long as Bessie told her the stories.
Bessie remembered her young life as being full, there was always something to do and she was never bored.
She would make a bow and arrow, a shangi or a hockey stick, play marbles or cards, or go fishing.
After Bessie left school in 1940 aged 12, she worked on the farm until a cousin from Sydney came to lunch and asked if she could go to the city to work for them as a dental nurse.
She travelled to Sydney by train, boarding in Bombala at 11am and arrived in Sydney around 4am the next morning.
Bessie worked in Sydney for around two years, still training in dentistry, when she received notice she was to be manpowered into a factory.
Her father intervened and she was transferred back home to work on the land army.
There she ploughed, sowed potatoes and cleared more land; the main objective was food for the forces.
Potatoes and turnips were bagged, put on the horse and cart, taken home and from there they were trucked to the trains.
It was hard work on the farm, and she long remembered forking up sheaf hay and forcing big sheep into a dip, as two of the heaviest jobs.
Through the war they made camouflage nets and knitted woollen socks.
They also made boiled fruit cakes for the CWA for the war effort.
They sent Ben and Jim food parcels, mainly consisting of tin fruit, dried fruit and fruit cakes, socks and hankies.
Most weekends after scrubbing the kitchen floor and cooking, Joan and Bessie would take their dogs and go for a kangaroo hunt.
This was necessary, as it was the dogs’ feed for the following week, but at time resulted in some hairy encounters.
The family did not eat kangaroo meat, but hares, rabbits and parrots were common meals.
When her brothers returned from the war, they would take Bessie and Joan to dances, but she always had to be back home to milk the cows and do the chores the next morning.
When Robert Cameron’s mother became ill, and he needed help in the house cooking and cleaning, Bessie went to ‘Pineleigh’ to help.
As time went by they grew fond of each other.
The couple became engaged in December 1948 and married on May 14, 1949 and the birth of their children followed.
Firstly Hazel, then Pam a year later and then a year later Robert was born; sadly he passed away at two years of age.
This was a horrifically sad time in Bessie’s life but great joy followed when Doug was born three years later.
Bessie’s involvement with the Anglican Church started when she married in St Phillips Anglican Church, Delegate.
They were unpopular with the Catholics and Presbyterians alike, as the Stewarts were Catholic and the Camerons were Presbyterian.
Together with Helena Rodwell, they ran a cake stall to raise money for the electric organ for this church.
Bessie then joined St Phillips Parish Council and was on the council for almost all of her church life and president for many years.
She was on the council when it was decided women could be on Synod.
Joan Chewyoweth, the Bishop’s wife at the time, and Bessie were the first two women on Diocesan Synod.
Bessie spoke at a function in Goulburn to more than 300 people, and when she finished her address she received a standing ovation.
She also taught Sunday School at Bendoc and later at Delegate.
Bessie worked tirelessly for the churches in the district.
She was very active in the restoration of the community church at Bendoc and saving the Presbyterian Church in Delegate from being sold.
Bessie was a member of the Delegate Hospital Auxiliary, Delegate Public School P&C, Delegate Tennis Club committee, Delegate Golf Club committee, Delegate Pony Club committee, member of the Bombala Mountain Top Bush Walkers, Chair of the Bendoc Progress Association, Bendoc Fire Brigade and a founding member of St Phillips Op Shop along with her church committees.
Bessie was also actively involved in the sporting lives of her children, and herself played tennis and golf.
She took up sewing, cake decorating, and spent years arranging flowers for church services, weddings and other functions.
She was quite famous in the district for her jam rolls and her extraordinary energy in cooking for street stalls.
She also loved her chooks, and had many battles with foxes, hawks and some of the farm dogs.
Bessie was always on hand when Doug needed assistance mustering or shearing, and she liked nothing better than heading out on her four-wheeler bike with a tank of spray to kill tussocks.
Bessie was a true Christian.
She visited many young families when they moved to the district and made all new families feel welcome.
She always remembered what it was like to be a member of a struggling family of eight little Stewarts and it was in her character to always treat everyone equal.
Some of her other achievements and contributions to the district included being awarded the Centenary Medal for Service to the Community in 2001 and in 2003 she was awarded the Bombala and District Citizen of the Year.
Bessie was the “mother hen” of the Stewart family, attending family functions and maintaining contact with her sister-in-laws – Audrey Stewart of Bombala, Alma Stewart of Delegate, Jan Stewart of Candelo, Belle Stewart of Moruya and Margaret Stewart of Hobart.
These unselfish acts throughout her lifetime, were those of the wonderful woman and mother.
Rest in peace.
Extract from Bessie’s diary found in September 1994
Tuesday – Prepared dinners for Mila, rung around for street stall, cooked for street stall, six slices and six butter spreads.
Wednesday – Cooked all day again, 14 rolls, eight butter spreads and six slices.
Thursday – Cooked for stall, eight butter cakes and six rolls. Picked seven bunches of daffodils and potted 15 plants. Checked cows at Locks. Cooked two large cakes for Marshall and his 19 footballers. Mowed lawn.
Friday – Sat on stall day for half day. Did bouquets for local wedding.