OBITUARY

LINDA EMMA CUTHILL - 19.03.1909 - 10.11.1998

(W.J. (Bill) Cuthill)

Linda was the youngest of a family of 5 - 4 girls and 1 boy - of Hermann and Louise Pump. Hermann Friedrick Pump was born a Prussian, in Holstein, in 1874, but his parents had been subjects of the King of Denmark before they were taken over by Austria after the War of 1864. Then, in the War of 1866, Prussia defeated Austria and Holstein became a Province of Prussia. Hermann migrated to Melbourne in 1890, giving his age as 21 years. He became a British subject in 1898 and was always proud of that fact.

Linda's mother, born in 1873, was Charlotte Louise, the daughter of August Zerbe and Eleonore (Neumann) who had come here from East Prussia in 1857 (now Poland). After their marriage in 1899, they set up their home in Canterbury Road, Ringwood, where they cleared the timber off their property for sale as firewood, and planted an orchard there. They were the first settlers, on a 40-acre block (which is now the Heathmont Railway Station area).

As a girl, Linda attended the Ringwood State School, walking the 2 miles to school each day. She obtained her Merit Certificate in the 8th Grade in 1921 and she then sought secondary education. There was no High School at all to the east of Melbourne, and at the age of 12 she was accepted as a student at Melbourne High School which was then in the old Model School on the triangle bounded by Victoria Pde. and Nicholson and Spring Sts., where the Royal College of Surgeons now stands. The school was co-educational and there she met her future husband. Bill Cuthill, who was in the same form. She attended Melbourne High School for the next 3 years, getting up at 6 am., walking the 2 miles into Ringwood to catch the 7 am. steam train to the City and walking up to the school (but she had a pack of tram tickets for use on wet days ) . After school she would catch the 5 pm Healesville train at No.l Platform, Flinders St., alight at Ringwood, walk the 2 miles home, have dinner, then do 3 hours of study by the light of a kerosene lamp before retiring at 11 pm., ready for the next day. At weekends, there were 6 hours devoted to study.

In 1924 she gained her Leaving Certificate, at the age of 15 years. She applied widely for an appointment as a Junior Teacher and was appointed to the new State School at Ringwood East, only 3 miles from her home.

In January 1925, on resumption of the school year, she presented herself to Mr. W.W.Whittle, the Head Teacher, who asked her if she had had any previous teaching experience. "No, I have just left B Form at Melbourne High School with my Matric." "Well, you will be given Grades 1 to 4 in this room and I will have Grades 5 to 8 in the next room. Here is your Time-Table." With that, he blew his whistle, the children marched in and she was a teacher, aged 15. She knew most of the children who had been with her at the Ringwood State School when she left there in 1921, but they all called her Miss Pump (never Linda).

Before long, Mr. Whittle became ill and was absent. The sewing mistress refused to work under these circumstances, so Linda dismissed the children and closed the school. The two of them walked into Ringwood, caught the train into the City and went up to the Education Department. There she was met by some official with a piece of paper in his hand and she related the said story to him whereupon he said, "You go right back and re-open that school and hold it open until a reliever arrives." So, on the next morning, she opened the school, pushed back the concertina wall between the classrooms and taught the 90 children in 8 grades for several days.

After 2 years as a Junior Teacher at Ringwood East, she transferred to Ringwood where she obtained her Trained Teacher's Certificate. She now applied for a school of her own. Victoria was then covered by small country schools, about 10 miles apart, manned by young, enthusiastic teachers. She obtained the school at Everton Upper, in September 1928; it was a mile from the Railway Station at Everton, on the Beechworth line. She was mistress of her own destiny with her 25 scholars in 8 grades, and she saw the District Inspector twice a year. By this tine she had again met up with Bill Cuthill who was then the Clerk of Courts at Brighton, Sandringham and Box Hill.

After a while at Everton Upper, she had to go to Melbourne for an operation and a reliever took over her school. Before returning to Everton she was placed on light duties by the Department, when she was posted to Spensley Street, Clifton Hill, where she was given a 3rd grade of 75 children - sitting 3 to a desk.

Bill had a Rudge-Whitworth motor cycle and side- car then, and he asked her to go with him to a theatre in town as he had a free ticket from an executive of J.C.Williamson. Bill had no money and he always said that ticket found for him the best girl in the world. When she was in town during holidays, they liked the upstairs portion of the Balwyn theatre where the seats were in pairs. He rode his motor cycle up to Everton, 170 miles, regularly, often on a Friday night.

They became engaged to be married on the dreadful weekend when the "Southern Cloud" disappeared. He carried the ring up to her, tied to a string around his neck so that he wouldn't lose it. Linda eventually took pity on him and arranged for an exchange with the teacher at Winchel- sea Plains school, only 70 miles from Melbourne. She took over at the end of 1931. That little school was the last one on the Winchelsea-Cressy Rd., miles from anywhere, serving the children from the big Western District stations.

As Bill was obtaining promotion in the near future, he bought a secondhand Singer sedan and she bought the furniture. They were married at Ringwood on 23rd February, 1933. She had to resign her position as a tea- cher but she did not do so at once - she waited until they had arrived back from their honeymoon to Sydney and Canberra in the Singer. "Resignation accepted from date of marriage. Advise date."

Their first home was in Bentleigh (rent 27/6 per week). He was on a salary of only 4.10.0 per week and he received no tax deduction for a wife, for Linda had earned more than 100 in the current year. When he obtained his promotion to the 4th Class, he could sit for the examination for appointment as a Police Magistrate, so he studied until 1 am. every night and Linda transcribed notes for him. They went nowhere and she was able to save 5 in the year. Every Thursday, when he had Court at Box Hill, she would take the car to Heathmont to see her parents.

He obtained his promotion to Traralgon in February 1934 and took up the group of Courts there on their first wedding anniversary. He visited the Courts at Erica, Heyfield, Mirboo North, Moe, Morwell and Rosedale and she often went with him. The examination for promotion to the office of Police Magistrate was held just after this. There were some 35 candidates out of which only 7 passed and Bill obtained an equal First place. He decided to continue his studies in law but had to obtain matriculation Latin before he could enrol at the Melbourne University. He passed that from scratch in 6 months.

The Police in his District were all studying for promotion and, collectively, they sought his assistance as a lecturer. Bill and Linda set up a weekly session in their home in Traralgon where he taught Law in the dining room and Linda taught Arithmetic and English in the kitchen. Their students came from as far away as Mirboo North and Boolarra.

Then came the War. Bill had held a Commission in Light Horse Signals before the war and when Japan entered the conflict he obtained permission from the Law Department to enlist in the A.I.F. as a Private. He was posted to Army H.Q. Signals at Park Orchards and was there in the wireless room, working with Darwin, on 19th February, 1942, when Darwin sent a code signal and went off the air. Deciphered, it read - "Closing down on account of air raid." They knew, before anyone else in Melbourne, that Darwin had been bombed.

It was not long before Linda was asked to take up teaching at the Traralgon State School when so many of the young men teachers had entered the armed forces. She had 2 small boys, aged 4 and 5, and the school had to accept them. It was a case of "No kids. No teacher". She was given a 4th grade of 64 pupils. After teaching for nearly 3 years, she resigned in anticipation of her husband returning to Australia.

After the War, she became President of the State School Mothers' Club and helped to organize a Children's Ball in the Town Hall. That evening she proudly addressed 1,000 people from the stage and everyone cheered her.

She was then asked to tender her services at the newly-established centre in Traralgon for retarded children, and she really enjoyed helping these unfortunate little people to find a place in the community.

Linda had kept the Traralgon home going for the 4 years of her husband's absence in the A.I.F. and he was able to return to his former position as Clerk of Courts at Traralgon. However, he was soon promoted to Clerk of Courts at Northcote and Preston and, in 1948, he was appointed as a Police Magistrate and was able to take over the vacant North Gippsiand District which extended from Darnum in the west to the N.S.W. border and up to Omeo and Bendoc. He was the Coroner for the whole of that area.

In 1951, he was promoted as a Stipendiary Magistrate in the Melb- ourne circuits and the Cuthills had to move to the city. They bought their present home on the Golf Links Estate in Camberwell. Bill eventually be- came the Chief Stipendiary Magistrate for the State of Victoria, 1969 to 1974.

They had been living in Camberwell for only a short period when Linda's cousin, Henry Fliegner, the District Inspector of Schools for the Camberwell area, asked her to help out at the Camberwell Central School where they had no teacher to teach sewing. Somewhat half-heartedly, she agreed and the month extended to 17 years. She was given a 3rd grade of 60 children and, after a few years of teaching primary classes, she trans- ferred to the Secondary section where she taught English, History and Arithmetic. She really enjoyed all those years with children.

She travelled widely all over Australia with her husband. In 1961, they went overseas for 10 months and travelled the world. They attended the Commonwealth Magistrates' Conference in Nairobi in 1973, taking a month to get there and 2 months to return via Russia. They also went to the Conference in Kuala Lumpur in 1975. They went back to Anzac for the 60th Anniversary in 1975. She has travelled through Africa, South America, the Pacific and behind the Iron Curtain. She saw Burma, Beirut, Addis Ababa, Kabul, Pan Mun Jom, Kota Bahru and many other places where it is now too dangerous to venture.

They had been living in Camberwell for only a short period when Linda's cousin, Henry Fliegner, the District Inspector of Schools for the Camberwell area, asked her to help out at the Camberwell Central School where they had no teacher to teach sewing. Somewhat half-heartedly, she agreed and the month extended to 17 years. She was given a 3rd grade of 60 children and, after a few years of teaching primary classes, she trans- ferred to the Secondary section where she taught English, History and Arithmetic. She really enjoyed all those years with children.

Linda helped the late Les Blake in his gathering of data for his "Vision and Realization", the record of State Education in Victoria, she being responsible for the collection of the histories of all the schools in the Camberwell area. She wrote the first and only history of Camber- well State School No. 888, based on the knowledge she obtained while working on the files in the Education and Public Works Department for Mr. Blake's history.

For 14 years, she and her husband conducted tours and excursions for the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, covering all of Victoria, twice to outback Queensland, historic New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Flinders Island, also the wreck of the "Sydney Cove", King Island and the wreck of the "Cataragui", Norfolk Island twice and to Lord Howe Island.

She has addressed the school children at Thargomindah, Burketown, Birdsville and Windorah in Queensland, and at Apia, Gwangzhou and other places overseas. She has taught some hundreds of children in her lifetime.

Not many people have had such a happy and successful life as Linda and Bill have had together. They celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary in February this year (1998) with a large gathering of family and friends. Congratulatory messages were received from the Queen, the Governor and the Premier and representatives of many important institutions.

On the evening before Linda entered hospital on 28th September, 1998, she and Bill sat together listening to The Last Night of the Proms, recording it until 12.30 am on the Monday morning, finishing with the beau tiful hymn "Jerusalem", sung by 6,000 people in the Albert Hall and 40,000 outside in Hyde Park. Like her father, she was proud to be a British subject and she taught many children to appreciate Australian poetry. Let Banjo Paterson finish her story -

                    But we know that God hath this gift in store,
                    That when we come to the final change,
                    We shall meet with our loved ones gone before
                    To the beautiful country over the range.

(Editor) We are grateful to Mr. W.J. (Bill) Cuthill for this information and we feel sure that our members, many of whom have known Linda and Bill so well, will wish to offer their sincere sympathy to Bill, his 2 sons. Ward and Robert, and his grandchildren. We know of the devoted care that he gave to Linda during her long illness.

A number of our members attended the Thanksgiving Service at Le Pine's Chapel, in Camberwell, on Saturday, 14th November.