My parents and I lived in Burnie (North West Coast) when I was about 7 years of age, living there for about 2 or 3 years. We had a fabulous view to the sea, and we lived in the Police house provided till Dad was transferred to Moonah, a suburb of Hobart. In Burnie I began dancing as in Ballet, Tap Dancing and Highland Dancing. Went to the Catholic School and giggled every morning so hence I along with other girls got the cane every morning. We used to put onion on the palms of our hands and the cane didn't seem to hurt very much. Never did we shed a tear, any of us and the cane certainly didn't do us any harm, however, we still laughed to annoy the Nun. Fun days.
Now Burnie was established in the late 1820's by the Van Diemen's land Company as Emu Bay Settlement, the settlement was renamed to honour a company director, William Burnie, and was declared a town in 1866. In the 1870's it served as the outport for the tin mine at Mount Bischof. These days the Port at Burnie is very busy bringing all manner of things and exporting all kinds of things out of Tasmania. There are also cruise ships that berth once in a while.
The first photo was part of the School I attended now something else.
Margaret, thank you for taking us on a journey with you to your past and who hasn't made the Nuns angry!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome Norma - and no harm done re nuns 😉
DeleteThank you for telling your story. I've never been around nuns.
ReplyDeleteMary
DeleteWith good reason! Lashing young students was brutal, dangerous and probably criminal.
Actually nuns are lovely creatures, always got on well with them in my life,, when they were around but we don't have them here anymore in our schools.
DeleteHels, caning couldn't be permitted today, did me no harm at all, would have done me good. 😊
Margaret, I am not so certain. The ABC wrote that in Qld, Katter's Australian Party candidates campaign for corporal punishment, glorify use of cane, jug cord
Deletehttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-20/qld-election-kap-candidates-campaigning-for-corporal-punishment/104488140
Oh yes Hels, I read that the other day, not on at all, we can't live in the past...past punishments won't fix the youth of today.
DeleteThe cane?
ReplyDeleteHow times have changed! I would guess even the nuns in schools don't do that anymore. I remember the wooden paddle a teacher had hanging on the wall behind her desk. Strange to think of now. She used it once on a boy in front of the whole class. He was kind of a playful kid and wouldn't sit still. I hope he recovered from that emotionally. Dear Lord.
Sandi, did me no harm but it certainly might some youngster.
DeleteCertainly wouldn't be allowed these days, and rightly so as I'm sure canes and things like them were used unnecessarily at times.
You showcase your beautiful state so well. Only boys were given the cane when I was a school and I hadn't heard of the onion trick.
ReplyDeleteThank you EC. So I guess the girls could do as they pleased to a certain degree, however, giggling and getting the cane for me/us is a bit ridiculous when you come to think of it..lol
DeleteMy dad told me the onion trick, he used to use onions :)
Wonderful photos and story. The nuns at my school used to take a ruler to our knuckles which didn't bother us. I had a friend who punched a nun and got expelled. He ended up in a public school which was across the road.:)
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting Bill. Ruler, rulers didn't break so easily back in the day, or did the cane hurt any of us as it wasn't a thrashing type of hit.
DeleteWell I suppose the boy that went across the road to the school got on ok there, and probably turned out alright.
Hello Margaret,
ReplyDeleteThat's a cozy place with nice streets.
And what a fantastic houses. This is really amazing.
Many greetings,
Marco
It is a sweet place Burnie, hilly yet flat with a beach also.
DeleteHas vuelto a vivir los buenos recuerdos de tu niñez. Me ha gustado mucho ese lugar.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Yes, was a place I liked living.
DeleteI am sure the place doesn't look the same as it did when you were a child but it does have some nice looking houses
ReplyDeleteNo it's different to when I was a child, somethings are the same but things always change.
DeleteI received many requests to work in Burnie local hospital over the years. I never visited. The Irish pub looks great from the outside
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice hospital or it was the last time I visited there which was some years ago now. The pub does look alright but certainly have seen nicer ones on the outside, mostly when they have been just done up on the outside.
DeleteThis was a wonderful tour Margaret, super photos and thank you so much for the map :)
ReplyDeleteAlso meant to say how much I enjoyed your childhood memories. Must have been splendid living so close to the sea.
DeleteYou are most welcome Denise.
DeleteAlways loved living by the sea as it changes all the time, boats coming and going, lights and just the peace of it all.
I remember the cane, though I was never caned myself, I heard from others that girls were only allowed to have a light tap on the palms while boys got the full swing and sting across the buttocks. I was still in primary school when the cane was no longer allowed.
ReplyDeleteBurnie looks beautiful, and peaceful too.
Good place Burnie, more like a country town even though it's a city.
DeleteI can't recall about the boys, but I do know the cane didn't hurt we girls even using the onion and can also say I've never seen or heard of a boy being caned on the backside at any school I went to, so that is good, R.
I think we visited there a few years ago and had lunch at a cafe. It's a nice looking town.
ReplyDeleteYes it is a nice city though small, more of a country town feel about it. There used to be a paper mill there and a paint factory further up the road, both long gone.
DeleteI lost what I had written - but I went to St. Philomena's school in Moree. in the 1950;s where the Sisters of Mercy (????_ - they showed None.
ReplyDeleteThey were sadists and two ended up in Callum park - then the lunatic asylum!
Terrible cruelty but justice did eventually prevail.
Attached in something on Mary. A student but not a boarder - they were the ones belted black and blue.
Horrible wet day here. Anyone want rain??
Cheers
Colin
-----------------------
Gaudron was born in Moree, in northern rural New South Wales in 1943, the daughter of working-class parents Edward and Grace Gaudron. She would later speak about the intense racism towards Indigenous Australians which was part of everyday life in Moree and how it influenced her strong opposition to all forms of discrimination.[1]
Oh Gosh Colin, seems those nuns were not good, Karma called in it seems.
DeleteI don't ever recall anything like what happened in Moree in any of the schools I went to due to my dads promotions and transfers.
Gaudron, did well for herself!
Yes she was the first female Justise of the High Court of Australia.
DeletePlease to report that it is fine and sunny here.
Plenty of surfers at the beach.
Cheers
Colin
Glad it's fine, same here after a steady rain yesterday - today it's sunny and just over 26 Deg C.
DeleteThank you for telling us about Burnie, and like Denise said, I too appreciated the map.
ReplyDeleteWith the weekend fast approaching, I wish you a good one.
All the best Jan
You are welcome Jan, much easier with a map for it show where I'm talking about..thank you and you too.
DeleteI love the house on the 2nd and 3rd photos...really nice. Do you still tap dance? Would love to see it!
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely houses Angie. No, don't tap dance anymore but did for years as I loved it.
DeleteBeautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteHere in the Netherlands they used to get canings at school, you had to put your hands on the table and then they would hit you with a stick, just barbaric conditions.
Now it's different, here the youth is in charge, they are way too spoiled and if they have done something at school that is not right, the parents will come to the school to talk to the teacher, some are even threatened.
Greetings Irma
Yes Irma, times have changed, similar here according to the grandchildren.
DeleteI think back in the day it depended on how harsh the teacher was.
thanks for sharing lovely memories :)
ReplyDeletei agree that caning would not harm at all those days because teachers were wise enough to do so .once we had a teacher who was full of anger all the time and had broke the finger of one student by hitting so hard .she was expelled immediately on the same day .
we would get can often in primary classes and it seemed part of fun :)
your school certainly was in beautiful place
the houses are so nice wow
hugs add best wishes
Well Baili, that was rather brutal hitting a child and breaking the finger, and rightly so the teacher being expelled.
DeleteYes, in primary school it was part of the fun for me too, but not every teacher gave their students the cane.
Thank you.
Have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anne, you too.
DeleteWhat a cute town! Love the story about the nuns, the onions and the cane! I had to look up highland dancing as I did not know what it was. If I would have guessed, I would have guessed right, I love that kind of dancing!
ReplyDeleteMy late dad told me about the onion on the palm of the hand.
DeleteI loved doing the highland dancing, used to dance in the middle of the intersection by myself doing the sword dance when I became older with the pipe band around me in a circle...but that was in another town.
So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteAy Margaret., veo que en muchos lugares las monjas hacían lo mismo.También en Cáceres las monjas nos pegaban con la regla de madera. Lindas fotos.
ReplyDeleteBuen domingo.
Un abrazo.
Thank you. Yes, it seems that the nuns did caning everywhere as you say.
DeleteFun memories. Fortunately I never got the cane...somehow managed to dodge that! I was no angel, though...just did a good imitation of one and fooled the teachers!! :)
ReplyDeleteTake care.
Good for you then Lee. For me it was only in Burnie that I got the cane and it was indeed my own fault each time.
DeleteQuerida amiga, preciosas fotografías, un lugar bellísimo y encantador.
ReplyDeleteAbrazos y besos, que tengas un feliz fin de semana
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteBy the way. Margaret...I love the pic below. :)
ReplyDeleteThank Lee, those two are cute.
DeleteMolto belle lo foto della città dovei sei vissuta
ReplyDeleteThank you Stefania.
DeleteLovely sprawling houses. The cane doesn't not sound fun.. interesting how an onion would help with the pain.
ReplyDeleteOnion must have something within it to help not feeling the cane so much.
DeleteNice houses.
Es un bello lugar. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteThank you JP.
DeleteWhat a lovely stroll down memory lane! It sounds like you had an amazing childhood in Burnie, full of laughter and fun times. Your stories about dancing and those cheeky moments with the cane are priceless!
ReplyDeleteI studied at a convent school, and the nuns could be pretty mean!
I had a wonderful childhood all round Veronica. I found a couple of nuns a bit mean but on the whole, they were wonderful kind women.
DeleteAlways received a good education with the nuns - well that's what I believe.
You see a nice and clean city, a privilege to live there
ReplyDeleteHappy week.
Best regards
Thank you, yes it's clean, always.
DeleteLas fotos preciosas, imagino que evocadoras para ti y el relato retrospectivo que nos ha llevado a tu infancia las palmadass en la mas manos con la cebolla y el enojo de las monjas me ha hecho reir
ReplyDeleteUn placer haber llegado hasta aqui
Un abrazo
Thank you. I'm glad you could see the funny side of the onion and cane.
DeleteWhat a nostalgic trip down memory lane! It sounds like your time in Burnie was filled with both fun and adventure. Dancing and all those giggles at school definitely paint a lively picture of your childhood. It’s fascinating to hear about Burnie's history, too—it's amazing how places evolve over time! Thanks for sharing these lovely memories and insights.
ReplyDeleteRead my new blog post!
Thank you, Melody. Fun times in my childhood filled with just wonderful memories.
DeleteErinnerungen an die Kindheit und Schulzeit sind schön das treffen von Freunden aus der Schulzeit ist zurzeit regelmäßig nicht mit allen aber ein Anfang ist gemacht.
ReplyDeleteGruß
Noke
Me ha encantado saber de tu infancia y de tus bonitos recuerdos. A mí la maestra ( que no era monja ) también nos daba con una vara en la palma de la mano. El lugar se ve muy bonito. Un abrazo Margaret.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to visit your old hometown, there are always so many nice memories. It's also always an opportunity to compare how much has changed over the years... Have a nice day.. Take care!
ReplyDelete