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Growing up in Brooklyn - Tom Richmond
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DetailsThe following is the work of recently deceased Tom Richmond, talking about growing up in Brooklyn. This was probably the last local history work Tom completed before he became sick and ultimately passed away.
GROWING UP IN BROOKLYN
My own memories of Brooklyn stretch back to the end of the Second World War.
My grandmother was born in Brooklyn (then known as Peats Ferry) in 1871 and lived there until her death in 1962. In 1906. She married Peter Johnson, one of two brothers who brought their oyster farming skills from the Shoalhaven, where their father had pioneered the industry on that river. The Johnsons who continued the Brooklyn venture were the decedents of Joseph Johnson, Peter’s brother. My own grandparents had one son, who was killed during the War, but they had three daughters, who “escaped” from the village to take up nursing careers.
The eldest daughter, Mona, retired as the deputy-Matron of the former Eastern Suburbs Hospital. She grew up in Brooklyn, attending St Carthage’s College, where she excelled at Music. Her training as a nurse came at the Mater Hospital. She retired to Brooklyn and lived there in what was the second house on the Johnson property. The original one, built on 1906, had been demolished, largely by white ants, in the late 1920s. The author demolished the second one, again with insect assistance, in about 1979, and built the present one.
The second eldest daughter was May, the author’s mother. As was the case with her elder sister, she was educated at St Carthage’s, but qualified to attend Gosford High School as a selective pupil. After the Leaving Certificate, she did her training at the Mater and became a leading theatre nurse. She married Bob Richmond in 1937 and the couple settled at Asquith. May died in 1981, but Bob lived on until 2010, spending his last years at Brooklyn with the author.
The third daughter was Lorna, who, following a long nursing career, settled at Mt Colah with her husband, Robert McKee. McKee (Mac) was a war hero, albeit reluctant to speak of his experiences, and he frequently called at Brooklyn after Lorna’s death.
I spent many happy hours at Brooklyn during school holidays and on weekends. The village was even quitter then and traffic was so sparse along Brooklyn Road that we were able to play cricket on the road outside my grandmother’s place. The main cause of interruption was the bus, but we could hear it climbing Convent Hill and a bus stop at the top of the hill gave us time to move the wicket.
We had a rowing boat moored at Jimmy Bryne’s wharf, opposite our place. We would use it to gather firewood from the shores of Long Island, or to land at the beach there. Sometimes we would fish from the end of the wharf, with the occasional catch large enough to eat. We used to swim from the end of the wharf as well, despite occasional glimpses of shark fins in the Inlet. There were no houses on the hillsides then, so we could roam and explore. Sometimes we would pause to watch the steam trains struggling up the hill, or we would cross the line to the reservoir hoping that it was full of water. We even found platypus nests in the creek that fed the reservoir and saw occasional wallabies.
A particular source of pleasure was climbing up to the tunnel under the railway at the head of the Salt Pan. The tunnel was gloomy, with water running through it but at the end was a creek in which crayfish could occasionally be seen.
As kids we had reason to rejoice in the presence of the river and the hill.
Taken from Tom Richmond’s unpublished booklet, THE RIVER AND THE HILL – A history of the Brooklyn area.CreatorNathan TilburyKeywordsTom RichmondBrooklyn
DetailsThe following is the work of recently deceased Tom Richmond, talking about growing up in Brooklyn. This was probably the last local history work Tom completed before he became sick and ultimately passed away.GROWING UP IN BROOKLYN
My own memories of Brooklyn stretch back to the end of the Second World War.
My grandmother was born in Brooklyn (then known as Peats Ferry) in 1871 and lived there until her death in 1962. In 1906. She married Peter Johnson, one of two brothers who brought their oyster farming skills from the Shoalhaven, where their father had pioneered the industry on that river. The Johnsons who continued the Brooklyn venture were the decedents of Joseph Johnson, Peter’s brother. My own grandparents had one son, who was killed during the War, but they had three daughters, who “escaped” from the village to take up nursing careers.
The eldest daughter, Mona, retired as the deputy-Matron of the former Eastern Suburbs Hospital. She grew up in Brooklyn, attending St Carthage’s College, where she excelled at Music. Her training as a nurse came at the Mater Hospital. She retired to Brooklyn and lived there in what was the second house on the Johnson property. The original one, built on 1906, had been demolished, largely by white ants, in the late 1920s. The author demolished the second one, again with insect assistance, in about 1979, and built the present one.
The second eldest daughter was May, the author’s mother. As was the case with her elder sister, she was educated at St Carthage’s, but qualified to attend Gosford High School as a selective pupil. After the Leaving Certificate, she did her training at the Mater and became a leading theatre nurse. She married Bob Richmond in 1937 and the couple settled at Asquith. May died in 1981, but Bob lived on until 2010, spending his last years at Brooklyn with the author.
The third daughter was Lorna, who, following a long nursing career, settled at Mt Colah with her husband, Robert McKee. McKee (Mac) was a war hero, albeit reluctant to speak of his experiences, and he frequently called at Brooklyn after Lorna’s death.
I spent many happy hours at Brooklyn during school holidays and on weekends. The village was even quitter then and traffic was so sparse along Brooklyn Road that we were able to play cricket on the road outside my grandmother’s place. The main cause of interruption was the bus, but we could hear it climbing Convent Hill and a bus stop at the top of the hill gave us time to move the wicket.
We had a rowing boat moored at Jimmy Bryne’s wharf, opposite our place. We would use it to gather firewood from the shores of Long Island, or to land at the beach there. Sometimes we would fish from the end of the wharf, with the occasional catch large enough to eat. We used to swim from the end of the wharf as well, despite occasional glimpses of shark fins in the Inlet. There were no houses on the hillsides then, so we could roam and explore. Sometimes we would pause to watch the steam trains struggling up the hill, or we would cross the line to the reservoir hoping that it was full of water. We even found platypus nests in the creek that fed the reservoir and saw occasional wallabies.
A particular source of pleasure was climbing up to the tunnel under the railway at the head of the Salt Pan. The tunnel was gloomy, with water running through it but at the end was a creek in which crayfish could occasionally be seen.
As kids we had reason to rejoice in the presence of the river and the hill.
Taken from Tom Richmond’s unpublished booklet, THE RIVER AND THE HILL – A history of the Brooklyn area.
CreatorNathan TilburyKeywordsTom RichmondBrooklynClick on the image to add
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Nathan Tilbury, Growing up in Brooklyn - Tom Richmond. Hornsby Shire, accessed 25/04/2026, https://hornsbyshire.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/6058