Amy Edith Hutchinson
I was born at Southwell, England, June 30, 1912. My parents were John Williams and Amy Garland. Beatrice, my sister, was born in 1915. When I was twelve, my brother John, joined the family.
My childhood was a pleasant one. Although my parents were rather possessive, they devoted a lot of their time to their family. They took us to Church and Sunday School, read to us, and played games of all descriptions with us during the winter months.
There was no electricity or telephones. Lamp light was the order of the day. Candles were used when we went to bed.
My father was a market gardener. Spring and summer daylight hours were busy. Since there were no tractors, horses were used. Dad employed three men full time and hired casual labour during the busy season.
My mother and several women had the task of bunching the flowers, radishes, onions, rhubarb, beets and carrots for market. We children helped when we came home from school and during the holidays. Feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs were also our responsibilities.
Good Friday was especially dear to us. We would go to a friend's orchard where purple violets grew profusely. To make pocket money, we would pick and bunch the violets for Dad to take to market on Saturday.
Strawberries were one of our big crops, four to eight acres. Casual labour was hired to pick the ripe berries. In our free time, we were also enlisted to help. The berries were taken to market every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Until 1923 or 1924, horses transported the goods to market.
During the Depression, my father decided to sell some of his property. Eventually we took a shop in Sulten, Ashfield where we sold fruit and vegetables. This produce was grown by my father on his remaining property.
We naturally went to school. After moving to Arnold House we had a one and a half mile walk. We were expected to come home for the noon meal. Our noon break was about an hour and a half. It took about twenty minutes to walk a mile. In the bad weather, we took sandwiches - but rarely. We had a dog, Brownie, who met us from school at noon break.
Sunday evenings were lovely. We sang hymns around the piano. I stayed at home until I started nursing in 1932.