JEAN LELLO ─ HER DAUGHTER FRANCIE'S MEMOIR
15 September 1916 – 16 December 1939
My mother was Jean Lello, youngest child of Harry and Bessie Lello and twin sister of Jessie. They were born on 15th September, 1916 at Queenstown. My father was Andrew James Oswald Brown, born on 18 May, 1911 in Launceston, the second of eleven children of Eva and Leonard Brown.
Jean was tall, slim, with straight, brown hair and brown eyes. In 1930 Andy moved to Queenstown to work as a miner, working 1000 to 2000 feet underground from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on 6 days a week for the sum of £6 0s. 9d. a fortnight. Andy and Jean married 5th October, 1934 when Jean was just eighteen years old and I, Frances Elizabeth Brown, was born on 14th September, 1936, named Elizabeth after my grandmother Lello and weighing just 5 pounds.
Jean became very thin and sickly, and in 1939 was diagnosed with tuberculosis. For some time she was nursed at home in Queenstown by her mother Bessie, but progressively deteriorated until it was necessary for her to be transferred to the Hobart Sanatorium where she died on 16th December, 1939. Her ashes were placed in the Wall of Remembrance at Cornelian Bay along with those of her parents and twin sister Jessie. Although I was only three years old I remember spending a lot of time on her bed before she had to go away.
After mum died my dad did other work on the west coast. He worked as a drover, a butcher and then a bush worker. He later moved to Melbourne and became a foreman at a large meat works and saved his wages until retirement to purchase farms in Ferndene and Elliott. He was the first farmer to introduce Murray Grey cattle into Tasmania. He died aged 74 in Burnie on 9th November, 1985 and is buried in the Zeehan cemetery.
My Grandmother Brown looked after me in Rosebery for a few months, as Nana Lello was nursing a husband who was ill and weak with silicosis. Then I went to live with Pat and Jessie Rooke, with whom I remained until I was fifteen. We lived in Conlan Street at South Queenstown, next door to Nana and Grandad Lello.
I remember Nana Lello always had a lovely flower garden that rambled everywhere with lots of old-fashioned flowers like granny-bonnets, foxgloves, lupins, stocks, snap-dragons, forget-me-nots, pansies, Canterbury bells, holly-hocks and snowdrops, with a row of tall poplar trees along the left side fence. I also remember her spending many hours unpicking seams of second-hand clothes and treadling away on the old Singer sewing machine making up clothes to fit Marion and me – they often itched unbearably! At one time I came home with a beautiful bunch of wattle, only to be told not to bring it into the house because it brought bad luck indoors! My only memory of Grandad Lello was of him being in his bed ill quite a lot. One hot day I needed a drink of water from the tank, the tap of which was operated with a key that fitted over the top. Well, I got that on all right and turned it on, but was unable to turn it off! Grandad frightened the life out of me yelling at me to turn it off. The tank water was precious and fiercely guarded. Fortunately Nana came to my rescue. I loved my Nan. She was always so very kind.
I went to the South Queenstown School for primary years. At first we went to Sunday School at the little old Tin Church up by the bridge, but then that closed so we had to walk up to town for Sunday School. I can remember one of the ministers was an old “fire and brimstone” preacher and I’m sure he directed his sermons at me alone. When I was eleven we moved to Lake Margaret were Uncle Pat worked in the power station. I had two years at the Queenstown Junior Technical High, where we had to ride to and from school in a small rail-car. I loved the wild-flowers – waratah and Blanfordias and heath, and we roamed around the bush and hills as we pleased, climbing the haulage for the walk around to the lake on the big water pipe. I remember being ill with tonsillitis quite a lot through my childhood and used to get very breathless with any exertion. At school I loved running and sport, but because of a heart “murmur” I’d had all my life, I could never participate fully in any physical activities. I also loved knitting and made many garments of quite complicated stitches, while we sat in front of the old radio in the evenings.
When I left school I went to Melbourne to be boarded out with Uncle Tom Lello who owned a boarding house in St. Kilda. I was working during the day at my job, also working at the boarding house or at one of the shops also owned by family members at night-time, and became quite ill. I was finally sent to a heart specialist who diagnosed my long-standing heart problem and I underwent heart surgery at seventeen. After this I moved to Hobart to board with my father’s sister Ruth and husband Ron Yaxley.
I started work in Tasmania’s first supermarket in Richardson’s building in Murray Street, where I became head cashier and met and married my first husband Kevin Rosevear in 1958. We lived for a while at Howrah, then moved to Bronte Park when Kevin took over the general store there. We separated in 1971 with five small children to bring up. I tried to always encourage them to study and do well at school. The three boys went on to apprenticeships, with one later becoming an architect, and the two girls both went on to university to qualify as pharmacists. All did well and I’m proud of their achievements.
On 29th January, 1994 I married Russell Rees who was eighteen years my senior and, sadly, died 1st September, 2001.
My great interests in life have always been gardening and listening to music. Wherever I have lived throughout my life I have developed a garden or been surrounded by pot-plants if living in a unit. I love all my flowers and would find life quite unbearable without my music. Recently I have been dividing my time between my unit in Hobart and Brisbane, and keep as busy as health and finances permit.