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Harold Edmund Clunes and Elizabeth May Butler © Harold Edmund Clunes was born on the 29th August, 1913, at Four Mile, Inglewood. Queensland1. His mother was Florence May Clunes and she registered the birth in Warwick on the 16th September, she did not give a father’s name. To-date, a baptism for Harold has not been located. There has been much speculation as to Harold’s father, and it seems strange that he is not mentioned on either of his sibling’s birth certificates nor on his mother’s death certificate, as according to his siblings even though Harold didn’t live with them, they were always close. Harold lived in Inglewood during his younger years and, until he was an adult, he thought his grandparents, George & Rose Anne, were actually his parents. As he grew up, Harold worked around the area as a General Farm Labourer, at times turned his hand to a bit of shearing, and spent some time as a Forestry Worker in the Inglewood area. Harold was also a very keen fisherman in his spare time. Family story suggests Harold won a couple of thousand pounds on the Casket in the early 1930s, this apparently didn’t last long. Firstly, he purchased himself a car, which he soon wrote off when he crashed into a tree. Secondly, like his grandfather, Harold was said to have been very generous and it is said the rest of the money went to friends and relatives, and to ‘living it up’, as also like his grandfather he was quite partial to the odd drink or two. During 1932, Harold wrote to the Australian Aeronautical Academy in Brisbane2, stating his desire to become part of the aviation world. The reply he received welcomed his interest and outlined the courses he would need to complete. However, the courses suggested were very expensive, and it is of little surprise there is no indication or any suggestion from family that he actually applied for any of the coursed listed. Even though Harold had earlier won a considerable sum of money, and his family worked the land, it is highly unlikely either they or Harold himself would have been able to afford the £75 cost of each of the many courses required to enable him to break into the aviation industry. It is not known just what occupation Harold was interested in following in aviation. On the 6th February, 19343, Harold married Chloe Grant, in Inglewood. Harold was a 21year old Bachelor, born in Inglewood and Chloe a very young 15year old Spinster. Chloe had been born in Charleville, Queensland, and was the daughter of Leslie Edward Grant and his wife Olive Alice (nee Stuart). It is not known how, or where, Chloe and Harold met, but just a few months after the marriage, their first child, Edmond Stuart, was born. Their second child, a daughter, Shirley Marion was born a year or so later. Unfortunately, in June 1939, Harold and Chloe separated, and Chloe left the Inglewood district taking her two children with her. She first went to Toowoomba, but shortly after re-located to Goondiwindi. Chloe and Harold were divorced in 1944. On the 4th September, 1939, after his marriage had broken down, Harold left Inglewood and travelled to Warwick2. He then went to Allora, on to Toowoomba, then to Mount Tyson, still working with the Forestry Department2. He also worked for a while at the Imperial Hotel in Toowoomba2, but dates for this are not known. A receipt from Toowoomba Hospital2, dated 4th July, 1942, indicate Harold had spent the previous 11days in Hospital. However, no other details are known. Harold enlisted in the Army, at the Toowoomba Army Barracks, on the 1st September, 19424. Records indicate Harold became ill by the end of 1942, and after the Army Medical team couldn’t find any reasons for his illness, Harold applied for leave to return to Toowoomba to visit his own private Doctor. It is not clear if this request was granted, but Harold was found Medically Unfit for Service on the 27th December, 19424. He was then discharged on the 1st March, 1943. Harold is described on his Discharge Certificate as: 29years 11months, 5ft 7½inches in Height, with a Fair complexion, Grey eyes and Fair hair. It is also recorded he had scars on his right leg and left elbow and his trade at the time was recorded as Yardman. Following his discharge, Harold found lodgings with a Ronald Hesse and his wife, Elizabeth May (nee Butler) and their two sons, in the Brisbane suburb of Holland Park2, and found work on a nearby farm. Circumstances and events suggest that Harold and Elizabeth were very much attracted to each other, and it wasn’t long before they decided to move out of Ronald Hesse’s house and set up together as a family. However, Ronald took his two sons oldest sons to live with him when Elizabeth and Harold moved out. Elizabeth May was the eldest daughter of Thomas Harold Butler and his wife Elizabeth Jane (nee McKeown, also known as Russell). Elizabeth was born on the 3rd June, 1913, in Wyatt Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, and her mother registered her birth on the 1st July to same year1. Again, no baptism has yet been discovered. Very little is known of Elizabeth’s childhood, although it is known she grew up in Fortitude Valley and attended a local school. Family story also tell us that she did have a hand in helping her father raise her four younger brothers and younger sister after her mother left the family. It is also told she was a great sports woman and loved to play cricket, even being selected in a Queensland representative team. However, the story goes she was unable to accept as the family could not afford the fees. On the 20th September, 1937, in St Stephen’s Church of England in Holland Park, Elizabeth married Ronald Hesse3. Ronald was 23, a Bachelor of Holland Park, occupation Labourer, his parents George Henry Hesse and Clara (nee MacKlin). Elizabeth May, was a 24year old Spinster, also of Holland Park, her parents were Thomas Harold Butler and Elizabeth Jane (nee Russell/McKeown), her occupation given as Domestic Duties, probably at her home. The marriage was performed by Leonard Sydney Quinlin, being a Clerk-in-Holy-Orders, Church of England. The witnesses were Charles Edward Barnden and Walter John Mills. Ronald and Elizabeth had two sons: Ronald Vernon 1938; and Harold John 1941. In 1943, Harold & Elizabeth moved out of the house in Holland Park, with Harold taking his new family to Wacol, a western suburb approximately 15km south-south-west of Brisbane. Opened in 1942, Wacol was originally used as a US Army Camp during WWII, but it became the temporary home for many while they waited for public housing after the war5. It was here that Elizabeth gave birth to a son, Eric Thomas Hesse, 1943-1999, Eric was accepted as Harold and Elizabeth’s child and, although registered as Hesse, was always known as Clunes. Two more children followed: George Robert 1946, he married Yvonne Mary Ainsworth; and Ethel May 1947. It is thought that Ronald and Elizabeth were divorced at some stage, but it is believed that Harold and Elizabeth never formally married. Harold found work at the Darra Cement Works as a Bag Checker, a position he remained at until the late 1970s. Darra is 5km north of Wacol. The family was allocated a Commission house at Inala in 1953, here the family stayed until the early 1980s. Inala is about 7km east of Wacol. A long-time member of the Australian Workers Union, Harold was also an active member of the Cement Works Social Club, and an enthusiastic member of the local Inala Blue Fins Fishing Club. He also liked to spend time with his mates at the local pub and had a regular ‘flutter’ on the horses. Elizabeth, as most women of this era, was a competent housekeeper and visitors were always welcomed to the home. She had an inexplicable ability to make even the most meagre meal stretch, and satisfy even the most hungry or even unexpected visitor. A much loved ‘wife’, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and neighbour, considerable sadness was felt when, on the 12th December, 1968, at the age of 55, Elizabeth died after a long illness6. The cause of death was recorded as Uraemia, Diabetes Mellitus, and Hypertension. Uraemia, Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension are all serious and chronic medical conditions, which in general are almost always connected. Uraemia is a serious complication of chronic kidney disease, and the chief cause of uraemia is damage to the kidneys. Diabetes Mellitus, a chronic, lifelong condition that affects your body's ability to use the energy found in food. All types of diabetes mellitus have something in common. Normally, your body breaks down the sugars and carbohydrates you eat into a special sugar called glucose. Glucose fuels the cells in your body. But the cells need insulin, a hormone, in your bloodstream in order to take in the glucose and use it for energy. With Diabetes Mellitus, either your body doesn't make enough insulin, it can't use the insulin it does produce, or a combination of both. Hypertension or high blood pressure can be due to an identifiable cause such as kidney diseases7. Elizabeth was laid to rest in the Mount Gravatt Cemetery, Monumental Part, Portion 4E, Section 20, Plot No. 1079, on the 16th December, 19686. The burial was conducted by Salvation Army Lieutenant Clark and attended by her family and many friends. Staying in the house in Inala Harold continued working at the cement works, while his daughter kept the house until she married. Retiring from the Cement Works about 1975, Harold moved in with his daughter Ethel and her husband John Murray. Harold stayed with them for a short while, then went to live with a lady named Pat and her son at Moorooka, shortly after this Harold purchased a small house at Deception Bay, and he lived there with Pat and her son Brian until around 1979, when Pat left him. Shortly after Harold sold the house in Deception Bay and went to live his son George & wife Yvonne and their three children on the Redcliffe Peninsula. During the time he spent with his son George and family, Harold enjoyed many trips to with George and his family to visit Yvonne’s parents in places such as Stanthorpe, Sapphire and Warwick. Over the next few years Harold occasionally spent some time with both his daughter Ethel and son Eric, and during one of these visits he met and found companionship with a lovely lady called Ruby Solway. By 1985 they decided to move in together and over the next few years they lived on the Gold Coast, and in Annerley. During the late 1970s Harold was diagnosed with the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease. This is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, resulting from the death of cells in a region of the midbrain which generate the hormone dopamine; the cause of this cell death is unknown. Early in the course of the disease, the most obvious symptoms are movement related, including: shaking, rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with walking and gait. Later, thinking and behavioural problems may arise, with dementia commonly occurring in the advanced stages of the disease, whereas depression is the most common psychiatric symptom. Other symptoms include sensory, sleep, and emotional problems. The disease is named after the English doctor James Parkinson, who published the first detailed description in ‘An Essay on the Shaking Palsy’ in 18177. For many years Harold’s Parkinson’s was well controlled by medication and had only minor effects on his life. However, as the disease progressed he became more and more unsteady, until finally he needed more daily care than Ruby, who was not that well herself, could provide. Ruby moved to live with her family and Harold spent the next couple of years between his children, then necessity of 24hour care forced him into the Annerley Nursing Home, just a few hundred metres from the flat he had previously shared with Ruby. During the latter part of 1992, Harold became quite ill and this progressed rapidly into Bronchopneumonia, which is a type of Pneumonia and the acute inflammation of the walls of the bronchioles. The effects of the Parkinson’s Disease had rendered him immobile and his body quite ridged, which probably led to the Pneumonia, and definitely aggravated the disease, as he was unable to sit up or cough effectively. Harold succumbed to his illness on the 14th November, 19926, at the Nursing Home, he was 79years old. On the 18th November, 1992, Harold was laid to rest, in the same plot as Elizabeth, in the Mount Gravatt Cemetery6. There is no marker on the grave.
References:
3. Marriage Certificate 7. WebMD https://www.webmd.com/
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