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"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."
-C.S. Lewis
Click here for more photos of the 2016 Weedon 10K. If you put a photo somewhere public, please add the credit Photo by Barry Cornelius.
I added a folder to the inside of my notebook for loose bits of paper until I paste them in. It's an 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" envelope, attached with copious quantities of double sided tape.
I added a filter from Snapseed to this one.
Going with the Goldilocks principle - it is right enough for this assignment. Moving on.....
The International Brussels Tattoo Convention 2018 - The convention
Welcome to another edition of the famous international Brussels tattoo convention (9, 10, 11 novembre tour and taxis Brussels)
An international amazing meeting place once a year for 3 days in the heart of Europe! The international brussels tattoo convention is all about tattoos, music and art, custom cars and bikes, meeting new people, great entertainment and much more!
In the whole world people are starting to show their real self by adding tattoos on their body. for many people this is a way to express their feelings or views about art, remind their causes in their lives or just simply show the world their feelings or thoughts about certain things crossing their paths in life. this is fantastic and we want to support this so much and share this with everybody!
In Memory
of
Jack Wilton Charker Lees
(28-Oct-1908 to 4-Apr-2010)
"You're a good bloke," the voice said over the phone. He was tickled pink at the time. His cousin had just sent him a letter congratulating him on his recent achievement.
The circumstances leading to that conversation started nearly a year earlier. In fact, it started much earlier than that. Jack loved to tell a story and if he told it once, he may well have told it a 100 times over the years. During family gatherings back when I was a child, Jack would often come out with the statement "Of course, you know I'm related to royalty." Well, I was impressed and was quick to point out that I was related to royalty as well! I figured if he was, then I had to be, given he was my uncle. It struck me that this counter statement may have surprised him and that if he indeed was related to royalty, then perhaps so were most of the others present as well. Jack often referred to "my ancestors" in family gatherings, not necessarily making the connection that they were our ancestors as well. It was one of Jack's characteristics that we all adored.
Perhaps it was these first proclamations regarding family history that years later sent me down the road of family history exploration. There were definitely other more interesting stories to come out such as Grandpa's cousin, known as 'Big Tom' Lees, who was once the heavyweight champion of Australia but alas, no such evidence of royalty. But Jack still held on to that thought. It was at his younger sister Nancye's funeral, as he pondered upon his age, when he quietly mentioned to me that he figured he might be getting a letter from his cousin soon, even though he did not seem to think it was a big deal, or at least did not want to make out that he did. Never-the-less, the wheels were already being placed into motion.
Upon my return back to Melbourne I contacted my local member, Jenny Macklin, to initiate the process. I applied to obtain a copy of Jack's birth certificate from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, explaining why I needed it and was informed that because it was less than 100 years, it could not be issued. I again explained that was the very point and in fact had to get Jenny Macklin's office to confirm this with them. The certificate duly arrived and a copy dispatched to Jenny Macklin.
A few months down the track Jack called me in a great fluster as he could not find his birth certificate. Turns out that someone must have mentioned to him that special letters had to be requested. He wanted to know if I had his birth certificate. Had he given it to me? He and Grace could not find it. It was supposed to be a surprise but I could not let this dear old man panic over this affair. I assured him that I did not have his birth certificate but I did indeed have a copy and would send it to him. I also assured him that he should not worry as it was all taken care of. A sense of calm seemed to prevail and we never heard another thing about it.
A couple of months further on, I was in a design meeting at work and my phone rang. Because I was in a meeting, I redirected the call to voicemail. Soon afterwards, I received a message to urgently go and see our administration assistant. Apparently an elderly man had rung the main switch and they had put him through to her as I could not be reached. He did not want to leave a message but she said he sounded very short of breath. She was so concerned that he might be having a heart attack that she dialed the number from the caller ID, upon which Grace answered the phone and assured her he was OK and that he had simply wanted to say hello to me.
I rang Jack back. He had just received the letter, a week ahead of time. He was absolutely delighted, tickled pink. We had a nice yarn and that's when he said to me, "You're a good bloke." Coming from Uncle Jack, it was one of my prouder moments that this great and generous man would pay me such a compliment.
As Jack approached that centenary, I guess I grew even more in awe of him. It was 2008 and I had had enough of work and its stresses. I desperately needed a change and yet it would still be some months more before I would even be able to say I was half his age.
Jack Wilton Charker Lees was born October 28, 1908, the second son of Alfred Edward Lees and Florence Sarah Charker. Alfie had arrived as a 16 year old from England in 1888. He took on the profession of a painter and paper hanger and later settled in Bowral. Florence came from a longer line of Australian stock, stemming back as far as 1801 to the convict Jane Camm. Alfie and Flo met in Bowral and married there in 1905. His siblings were Dudley (1905), Dorothy (1916), Arthur (1917) and Nancye (1920).
Dorothy, Arthur and Nancye were much younger and their big brothers, Dud and Jack, would look out for them. Their mother only had one hand as a result of a childhood accident so Dud and Jack would have become quite familiar with helping care for their younger siblings. After completing 5 years of high school, Jack obtained his Leaving Certificate with a solid record of 'A' grades. At family gatherings over the years he would often break into reciting verses he learnt during those early years. He would also tell the story of how he once bowled out a fellow in the class ahead of him, a boy by the name of Don Bradman. It was a story that he initially would feign hesitance at telling but was easily convinced. It clearly gave him a good chuckle.
By the mid 1920s, Dud and Jack were determined to move out to seek work and help their parents by sending money home. On 24th March 1926 Jack was appointed to his first position as a junior clerk at Goulburn Court in the Petty Sessions branch of the Attorney General's department. The standard working week had just been reduced from 48 hours to 44 hours.
Within 3 years, he and Dud would both find themselves in Sydney where they boarded in Croydon with a relative of their grandfather, William Charker, who owned the hotel in Bowral. Just last year Jack regaled us with a memory he had from when he was about 8 years of age, of sneaking Ginger Beer straight from the barrel by turning the tap on and just lapping it up. In early 1929, the family moved from Bowral to Strathfield where Alfie had purchased a home at 21 Beresford Road and Jack moved back home. He has lived there ever since for 81 years except for when his work required him to travel and reside in various country towns as part of the magistrate circuit. Places such as Goulburn, Queanbeyan, Cobar, Bourke, Narrabri in 1943 and Nyngan in 1954.
He did not go to university to qualify as a lawyer, rather he obtained his qualifications on the job and completing the relevant examinations conducted by the Solictor's Admission Board. He would study at night going to bed at 4am and getting up 2 hours later to pass his exams. He did not claim to be a brilliant fellow, just an ordinary bloke. Study was a long haul intermixed with being posted to nearly every country town in NSW whilst on the magistrate circuit. In March 1934 he passed the First Law exams and he passed Section 1 of the Final examinations in March 1937 and Section 3 in November 1939. War had just broken out again. Jack and his brother Dudley were both employed in what were declared to be "protected industries" and as such were unable to enlist or be conscripted unlike their younger brother, Arthur.
In 1947 Jack was appointed as Clerk of Petty Sessions to the Industrial Magistrate with a salary of £801 and in 1957 he was appointed Stipendiary Magistrate, a position he held for 17 years until his retirement. In conjunction with this role, he also held appointments as a Mining Warden, Industrial Magistrate, Coroner for the State, and Special Magistrate under the Child Welfare Act. He would liken life on the magistrate circuit to one much like a commercial traveler. And if the government would not put up for a sleeper berth for him to come home on holidays then he would simply sit up all night on the train.
As the years passed and his siblings married and moved out, Jack remained single and at home caring for his parents. In 1963 his mother Flo died at 81 years of age. He continued to care for his father until Alfie's death in 1968 just shy of his 97th birthday. Jack arranged to purchase his siblings shares in the Beresford Road property and made it his permanent home. I imagine it must have felt an empty house after having been the centre of the family's lives for the previous 40 years. Even though he was approaching his retiring years he continued to direct his energy towards his career and in helping other family members but alas no signs of 'settling down' himself. My mother informs me that there was at least one significant girlfriend in Jack's earlier years but there was never enough money and life on the circuit was too demanding to consider marriage. It was looking like he would remain single. In 1970 his brother Dudley died of lung cancer. Jack never smoked again.
Towards the end of his career he contracted diverticulitis. He was hospitalised and under went an operation to rectify the condition, which meant that the traditional fare of figs and nuts at Christmas were no longer allowed, along with any other source of seeds such as strawberries and tomatoes. Ultimately he made an excellent recovery. But there was a silver lining in this cloud, which happened to come in the form of a kindly nurse by the name of Grace Burke, nee Brown. Grace was a war veteran's widow whose husband had died a few years earlier. Jack, always a charmer and a joker caught her attention and a match was made. On March 24, 1973 Jack married Grace here at St Anne's, just across the road from the family home; the scene of many happy family weddings before them and now it seems in recent times, the sad passage of funerals for those same characters. Next month represents the 125th anniversary of this beautiful church. The Lees family has shared an association with St Anne's for 81 of those years.
In October 1973 with 6 months of marriage under the belt, Jack retired from a lifetime of public service. He had rendered 47 ½ years as a Public Servant, 17 of them as a Stipendiary Magistrate. The Under Secretary of Justice congratulated him for the length and quality of his service and wished him good health to enable a lengthy period of retirement with his wife. Little did he realise just how long a retirement Jack would enjoy!
On the occasion of his 100th birthday Jack received a letter from the Attorney General in which he notes that Jack served the State of New South Wales with distinction, that he exhibited, through his conduct as a Magistrate, all of the worthy characteristics that the title implies. The Attorney General also noted that Jack was the first Judicial Officer in NSW and perhaps Australia to reach the significant milestone of 100 years of age.
Throughout his 37 years of marriage and retirement, Grace has proven to be a marvellous and constant companion for Jack. He was very appreciative of her company and her qualities. He certainly felt blessed to have met and indeed lucky to have married her. As it turned out for the rest of the family, Grace is also a superb cook, baker of cakes and master decorator as well. Family gatherings at Beresford Road became just that much more special with Grace's touches partnered with Jack's joviality and yarns. Together they put on many special family celebrations such as my own 21st birthday. On these occasions nothing but the best was warranted and the finest china, silverware, prawn cocktails, cold meats, roasts and professionally decorated cakes all conducted by Grace were laid on, aided by the new kitchen renovations undertaken and project managed by Jack.
Many members of the family have been recipients of Jack's generosity over the years, both financially and in respect of his time. And he never asked for anything in return. He was a handy bloke too. I recall when he helped my father completely replace the water pipes in our home at Northwood with all new copper pipes. He was also great with financial advice, especially regarding shares; what to buy and what not to buy and would always provide guidance to the family in these matters. He was certainly not a high risk investor preferring solid blue chip stocks. He was particularly fond of that iconic Australian company, BHP. In fact he was passionate about it. As a teenager, I was perhaps not so passionate and when Jack got in your ear, he was there for quite a while. He would ensure the message got through. If he said it once, he said it over and over. On several occasions I was captive to his discourse on the telephone and on one occasion he virtually had me writhing on the floor in frustration wondering how to bring the discussion to a close.
On several occasions as a young boy I stayed at No. 21 for holidays. There were was always something of interest for me - a cast iron money box in the form of a Negro bust on which you put a coin in its hand and push a lever and it would swallow the money. Silver expanding shirt sleeve bands adorned the dressing table. I was amazed with his roll top desk and how the lid glided open and shut through its curved track. And I had a particular fascination with the old family photos, especially one of him as a young boy with long flowing curls. I remember him and Dudley giving each other haircuts on the back verandah with clippers and using candles to singe the short hairs and shaves with the old cutthroat razor, sharpened on the leather strap. Privet hedges clipped straight as a die and mowing the lawn with the old push mower.
He caught the home improvement bug when Grace came along. As I mentioned earlier, the kitchen was remodeled and an entrance to the dining room knocked through the wall. The verandah was enclosed, an extension added out back and the old garage replaced with a new brick one.
Jack told me as he was approaching his 100th birthday that he never expected to live that long but clearly as he got closer he began to look forward to it. On the day he received his letter he was so happy he told me he figured he had another 2 or 3 years left in him and even on his 101st birthday he felt the same. I guess he was so convinced of such mindset that during this final hospital stay he was adamant that he was 103. In a letter to my mother last year he wrote of the upset he felt when the baby of the family, Nancye died on New Year's Day in 2008, just shy of her 88th birthday. I'm sure that he would never have expected to outlive his youngest sister. And then to lose his younger brother last year, it was all going backwards for him. As a young boy he saw them come in to the world and then as an old man he was seeing them depart. After so many years of looking out for them, there was nothing more he could do. It must have affected him deeply. My mother Dorothy is now the last of their family.
To conclude, in case you did not know, Jack had a weakness for sweet sherry. McWilliams sweet sherry in fact, which he would purchase by the flagon. In his final days the doctors allowed him to have some in hospital as a final comfort. So perhaps afterwards, that is if there's any left, we could all charge a glass and toast him. And just as Jack would so often sign-off his letters, I also now bid him a farewell
CHEERIO.
-Peter Pidgeon, 9th April 2010
Click here for more photos of the 2018 Alchester 5K. If you put a photo somewhere public, please add the credit Photo by Barry Cornelius.