Eileen Redden
Image: Rene Barnes
FatherJohn Phillips b. 25 Jul 1863, d. 6 Aug 1925
MotherEllen O'Loughlin b. 26 Mar 1869, d. 24 Jun 1951
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Eileen Phillips was born on 17 January 1911 in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria.1,2 
She married Thomas Redden, son of Hugh Redden and Mary Agnes McDonald, on 20 April 1935 in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria.3 
She died on 7 January 2001 in Western Australia at age 89.4 

Family

Thomas Redden b. 7 Sep 1909, d. 10 Apr 1983
Children
ChartsO'Loughlin, Michael, descendant chart
Phillips, James, descendant chart

Story

Eileen Phillips was the youngest of ten children and 19 years younger than the oldest (Larry). She married Tom Redden and they had five children, although one died in infancy. They lived in almost twenty different places in Victoria and Western Australia. Eileen saw many of her nephews and nieces when they came to visit their grandma in Bacchus Marsh, and she kept in regular contact with extended family even after she moved West. When Eileen Redden died ten days short of her 90th birthday in 2001, she had six grandchildren.
 
Eileen was born in Bacchus March, Victoria on 17 January 1911. She was the tenth and youngest child of Ellen and John. Unusually, she has the same birthday as two single-birth siblings, Larry and Joe. She was known as Eilie.

She was 19 years younger than the eldest Larry, who was running his own hairdressing business by the time she was born.5,1,2
 
When Eilie was born, her father worked for the railways in Bacchus Marsh, and they lived in the railway gatehouse on Vallence Rd.6
 
The gatehouse was next to the railway line on the north-east corner of the Vallence Rd crossing (this crossing was removed in 2004). It was a small four-roomed house, and the older boys slept in a tent in the back yard.

The children would play with any children nearby or who were known through school or St Bernard's church. There was a strong connection with all the Vallence families with a number living nearby including Nell, Eddie, Amy and Harry, who were just over the railway line. Lifelong friendships were known between the Phillips children and Vallences. And Mary married Bill Vallence.

The wide age range of the children, nineteen years to the day between the eldest and youngest, created an interesting household. Larry was working as a hairdresser before Eileen was born. He married when Eileen was just three, and made her Auntie Eileen at age four, before she started school.

During and following the First World War, the children gradually started leaving home.

Larry was first to leave the gatehouse, around 1914. About five years later he was followed by Tess and Tom. Last to leave home from the gatehouse was Mary in 1923.6,7,8
 
All the children attended St Bernard's school or St Joseph's Convent school.6
 
In 1890 four sisters of the order of St Joseph's, arrived from Sydney to act as educators. A house was purchased for them to use as a convent and high class ladies' school. In time, a detached schoolhouse was erected at the site and it was then that the students were relocated for the last time to our current site in Gisborne Rd - St Bernard's School.

Our beautiful convent was erected in 1900 with classes being held in the downstairs area and the upper floor being used as convent and boarding school. The attached chapel was built in 1905.

St Bernard's was the first Catholic school to be run by the Sisters of St Joseph, founded by Saint Mary MacKillop. Mary would often visit the convent on her journeys between Sydney and Melbourne and past students fondly remembered her handing out boiled lollies to the children.9
 
In 1927, Eilie studied at the commercial school, established as part of St Bernard's. She scored well in Bookkeeping (86), Business Principles (91) and Elementary Typewriting (95).10,11,12
 
Sunnyside
When their father died in 1925, the children still at the gatehouse, Jack, Joe, Jim, Annie, Danny and Eilie, moved with their mother to a recently completed house on Vallence Rd. This house was on the north-facing side of a hill and they named it 'Sunnyside'. In later years, nephews and nieces all referred to it as 'the house on the hill'. It was a twin weatherboard house with a covering between the two sections.

It is possible Jack and Joe stayed in the gatehouse for a couple of years after the others left, as Jack is shown as still at the gatehouse in 1926 and 1927, and Joe was still in Bacchus Marsh.13,8,14,15,16,17,18,19
 
In her younger days, Eilie used to play golf and bowls. And she liked a game of tennis.

(Don't tell Auntie Eilie, but ...) Auntie Eilie was meant to be looking after Ruby while Roylyn was being born, but she played tennis instead and was found lying on the floor to cool down. [Joy Prouse]20,21

 
Eilie had a horse and used to take it to the blacksmith's shop [now heritage listed] in Main St, Bacchus Marsh.10
 
Aunty Eil and Uncle Dan used to travel to dances on the back of a truck with George Vallence and a group of others to Ballan and Myrniong. George and Uncle Dan were best mates and he would sing 'Oh Danny Boy' to Dan. I think they all got into a lot of mischief. [Moyna Redden]22
 
One time when Tess was expecting, Eileen stayed with her sister for a few weeks for company. The teenager attended the local St Monica's school while in Essendon.23
 
Eileen kept in touch with her O'Loughlin relatives in and around Dunnstown.
 
She stayed at the home of Neil (Cornelius) O'Loughlin's parents (opposite Tierneys Rd, Dunnstown). She would go there perhaps with a girlfriend for a ball or dance and stay three or four days. Neil's parents used to cure bacon there.10
 
Eileen remembers Con (Cornelius James) and Jack (John) O'Loughlin who married sisters, Julia and Mary Tuddenham. Their father, also Cornelius, was a witness to her parents' 1891 wedding.24,11
 
She remembers two of her mother's sisters, Auntie Maggie (Margaret Budge) in Skipton, and Auntie Bridget (Guerin, later of Salisbury in South Australia).

And she knew Dinny (Denis Thomas) Murphy, son of her Auntie Mary, though she didn't go near him much because he was 'a bit quiet, lived on his own'.24,10
 
The only relatives of her father she knew were twins Peter and Joe McMahon, who visited when she was later on the farm in Balliang. Eilie's grandmother Bridget was a McMahon.24,21
 
Eileen's father died when she was 14 years old. Around this time, the remaining Bacchus Marsh family members moved from the railway gatehouse to a larger house further up the hill south of the railway line.17,25,26
 
It was at the 'house on the hill' that Eilie began to see a never-ending procession of her nieces and nephews who had come to visit their grandma.27
Ellen & Eileen Phillips with Pat Simmons (in front), house on the hill, Vallence Rd, Bacchus Marsh
Image: Eileen Redden
Nieces and Nephews Visiting 
Grandchildren loved visiting their Grandma Phillips in Bacchus Marsh, either at the House on the Hill, Lerderderg St or Millbank St. They would also get to play with their Bacchus Marsh cousins, Roylyn and Joy Phillips. At different times, their Auntie Mary and Auntie Eilie were also living with Ellen.

They would visit for two to three weeks during school holidays. The older grandchildren stayed at the House on the Hill.
The house had a cow. Grandma would squirt them [Jack, Reg and Laurie] in the face. Also chooks. The water tank had 'wrigglers' [mosquito larvae]. Grandma said 'They won't hurt you'. [Laurie Phillips]

At the House on the Hill, the nearby railway embankment was a popular play area.
After they [Dot, Beryl and Marge] had - again - been sliding down the railway embankment, Grandma told them that this time she was not going to patch the seats of their pants again. Marge remembers hearing from Auntie Eilie something like 'Why do we have to look after those b__y kids again?' [Marge Deveney (O'Loughlin)]

At Bacchus Marsh, they [Jack, Reg and Laurie] visited Gran up on the hill. They had good times. At the railway embankment they'd shout 'Paper! Paper!' as the train went by and people would throw out newspapers. They'd flatten pennies or halfpennies on the railway line or roll rocks down the embankment. They'd also try to trap rabbits by blocking some of the exits with rocks. [Jack Phillips]

When Grandma and Auntie Mary lived up on the hill near the railway line, Jack, Reg and myself used to wait by the line as the train went by calling out 'Paper! Paper!' and the people would throw out papers, minties, different goodies they didn't want, we used to reckon it was as good as Xmas. Many trains went by on that line so we had a ball. Those were the days. [Laurie Phillips]

When Jack, Reg and Laurie stayed with their grandma during school holidays, they would bring their blue school shirts to wear. These got grubby and needed changing every day, and Eilie remembers 'an endless stream of those damn blue shirts to clean and iron'. [Eileen Redden]

The children would get to ride on the horse and jinker to get to church.

The younger grandchildren visited their Grandma at Lerderderg St or Millbank St and would make their own fun.

At the Millbank St house, when Don and I used to visit, there was an ant track along the back of the house. We'd put sticks in the way so the ants had to go over hurdles. [Rene Barnes]

When Brian spoke of visiting Grandma, he said it was at the Lerderderg St house, and Auntie Mary and the cockie quickly came to mind.28,15,27,29,30,24,31
 
Marriage and Family
Eileen Phillips and Thomas Redden were married at St Bernard's church in Bacchus Marsh on 20 April 1935. They had five children, with one early death.

Her bridesmaid was Dot Williams, a cousin of Ruby (wife of Jack Phillips, Eileen's brother). Eileen's brother Danny was in the wedding party.3,23,32
unknown, unknown, Tom Redden, Eileen (Phillips), unknown, Dan Phillips, Apr 1935
Image: Rene Barnes
Family Life
Tom and Eileen farmed at nearby Balliang and this is where the couple started their married life.24
 
Eilie's harp: A few months after Tom and Eilie married, Reg and I were holidaying at Balliang for our Christmas holidays. Auntie Eilie was learning to play a small harp type instrument that was a wedding present. She wasn't making much headway with it. Uncle Tom got the giggles, and Reg and I joined in. Auntie Eilie did the melon and sent Reg and I off to bed, and I guess maybe uncle Tom's honeymoon was over. [Laurie Phillips]33
 
Tom originally used a horse-drawn harvester, but by the time he and Eilie married he used a tractor, probably a 'Fergie'. As well as wheat and sheep, there were a few cows and chickens for barter. Every Thursday morning a man would come to collect eggs, cream and a shopping list, and go to Geelong. He would return in the evening with fruit, vegies and groceries. Eilie said 'Looking back, it was a good life'.23
 
How fast will it go, Tom?: Tom Redden had a big car. With Tom and Eilie in the front, and the visiting Reg and Laurie in the back on their way to church, the boys would ask 'How fast will it go, Tom?' Tom would duly oblige by planting the foot, much to the delight of the two in the back. When they got back to school after the holidays and were asked 'what did you do for Christmas?', they would recount the story of how they went screaming along in their uncle's car at 60 miles an hour. [Laurie Phillips]28
 
Sometimes during school holidays, Brian visited his Auntie Eileen and Uncle Tom Redden at Balliang.34
 
Tom and Eilie's oldest three children, John, Terry and Hugh, were born in Bacchus Marsh. Noel died of cot death at six days old. The youngest two children, Pat (Patrick) and Julie, were born in Geelong. Tom and Eilie lived in Geelong for about 12 months.

The three boys went to school at St Joseph's in Geelong.24
Mary Vallence (Phillips), Tom Redden, Eileen Redden (Phillips), Bub Phillips, Ellen Phillips (O'Loughlin), John Redden, Danny Phillips (seated), 16 Millbank St, Bacchus Marsh c. 1937
Image: Eileen Redden
Roylyn Phillips, Terry Redden, Joy Phillips, John Redden
Image: Roylyn Phillips
Back: John Redden, Bev Phillips, Terry Redden; front: Joy Phillips, Pat Redden, Roylyn Phillips
Image: Roylyn Phillips
Eileen, Pat & Julie Redden, Balliang Vic
Image: Pay & Moyna Redden
Pat & Julie Redden
Image: Pay & Moyna Redden
For several years, the family lived in Ellerslie just outside Mortlake in western Victoria. Tom continued his farming there after they moved from Geelong.35,36
 
All four Phillips sisters were together in Preston in 1951.
Mary Vallence, Tess O'Loughlin, Annie Simmons & Eileen Redden (all Phillips), Pat Simmons' wedding, Preston, 1951
Image: Eileen Redden
From East to West
Around 1954, the family decided to move to Western Australia, with their first home being near Mt Barker just north of Albany.

The family all travelled from Mortlake to Adelaide by caravan, then Eilie and some of the children went by ship, and Tom took the others across the Nullabor.37
Terry Redden, (friend of Terry), Eileen Redden (Phillips), Julie Redden (front), John Redden (back), (friend of Terry), Tom Redden at their Porongurup home near Mt Barker
Image: Eileen Redden
When asked to name the places where the family has lived, Eilie once responded with this list: Balliang (Vic), West Geelong, East Geelong, Ellerslie (near Mortlake), Carburup (near Mt Barker, WA), Mt Barker, Porongurup, Kulin (150 km east of Williams), Mt Barker, Albany, Nanarup (near Albany), Rolystone (Perth suburb), Kelmscot (Perth suburb), Bedfordale (Perth suburb), High Wicombe (Perth suburb), Lesmurdie (Perth suburb), a different place in Lesmurdie, Denmark (the town in WA near Albany, not the country!). John moved independently at one stage.11,38
 
Contact With Extended Family
Eilie kept in touch with her extended family after she moved to Western Australia. She kept in touch with many of her nieces and nephews, the oldest of whom was only five years younger than she was. She communicated regularly with niece Marge O'Loughlin of Kensington, who was herself a very good communicator. And she occasionally travelled back East to catch up with family.24,23
Eileen Redden (Phillips) & Danny Phillips, Hotel Australia, Shepparton
Image: Eileen Redden
Three siblings: Tess O'Loughlin (Phillips), Eileen Redden (Phillips) and Jim Phillips. The occasion is unknown, perhaps simply coinciding with one of Eileen's visits to Victoria from Western Australia.
Tess O'Loughlin (Phillips), Eileen Redden (Phillips) & Jim Phillips
Image: Eileen Redden
And there were visits in the opposite direction to see their Auntie Eilie.
Roylyn Phillips, Bev Scott (Phillips) and Eileen Redden (Phillips), river boat cruise in Perth
Image: Eileen Redden
Peter Phillips visiting Eileen Redden and her family in Denmark WA 1998
Eileen & John Redden, Rene Barnes (Phillips)
Image: Rene Barnes
Cousins Roylyn and Bev began travelling together after Frank died. Visits included their only remaining Phillips uncle or auntie, Eilie, when she lived about 30 km south-east of Perth. And their Phillips cousins and their families throughout Victoria.38,39,40
Roylyn Phillips, Bev Scott (Phillips) and Eileen Redden (Phillips), river boat cruise in Perth
Image: Eileen Redden
Roylyn Phillips & Bev Scott (Phillips), Jan 2019
Image: Carmel Lawrence, Facebook
Roylyn Phillips, Laurie Phillips, Bev Scott(Phillips), Jan 2018
Image: Carmel Lawrence, Facebook
Eilie once described her mother Ellen as being a happy-go-lucky person - this is an apt description for the fun-loving Eileen too.23
Eileen Redden, biker, Kalbarri, 1989
Image: Pay & Moyna Redden
Pat, Terry, John & Eileen Redden (Phillips), 80th birthday
Image: Eileen Redden
When Eileen Redden died ten days short of her 90th birthday in 2001, she had six grandchildren.
Reddens: back: John holding Maureen, Moyna, Pat, Terry; front: Jo, Fiona, Eileen, Colleen, Shaughan; Albany, Fiona's first communion
Image: Pay & Moyna Redden
Katrina, Maureen, Joanne, Colleen, Shaughan, Fiona, Julie, Pat, John or Terry, Eileen Redden & Noel Griffith, Albany WA
Image: Pay & Moyna Redden
Eileen Redden died in Western Australia on 7 January 2001, ten days before her 90th birthday. She was buried with husband Tom and son Terry at Allambie Park cemetery in Albany.4,41
 

Citations

  1. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Eileen Phillips entry, birth registration no. 223, 1911.
  2. [S358] Eileen Phillips, birth registration no. 223, 17 January 1911.
  3. [S279] Thomas Redden and Eileen Phillips, marriage registration no. 4605, 20 April 1935.
  4. [S136] Moyna Redden, personal communication, 1 March 2013.
  5. [S276] 'Shire of Bacchus Marsh: Bacchus Marsh riding', Bacchus Marsh Express, 1857-1983, newspaper, Christopher Crisp & George Land, 20 August 1910, p. 4, viewed 3 November 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90171229
  6. [S318] Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society, personal communication, 3 November 2013.
  7. [S38] Lynette Dow, personal communication, 18 December 1996.
  8. [S331] Joan McClure, personal communication, 11 December 2013.
  9. [S2] 'History', St Bernard's Parish Primary School, online, St Bernard's Parish Primary School, Bacchus Marsh, August 2021, viewed 12 September 2021.
  10. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 9 March 1998.
  11. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 5 December 1998.
  12. [S235] 'St Bernard's Bacchus Marsh: Success of commercial school', Advocate, 1868-1954, newspaper, 19 January 1928, p. 24, viewed 17 May 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/171646161
  13. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, December 2013.
  14. [S44] Roylyn Phillips, personal communication, 13 March 1996.
  15. [S37] Margaret Deveney, personal communication, 11 March 1996.
  16. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Ballaarat, Victorian division of Bulla, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1926.
  17. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Ballaarat, Victorian division of Grant, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1927.
  18. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1926.
  19. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1927.
  20. [S45] Joy Prouse, personal communication, 13 March 1996.
  21. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 16 November 1996.
  22. [S281] 'Phillips Family', Facebook, webpage, Facebook Inc, group created 25 June 2011, comment by Moyna Redden in 27 May 2020 post by Peter Phillips.
  23. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 10 March 1996.
  24. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 25 February 1996.
  25. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Ballaarat, Victorian division of Grant, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1928.
  26. [S359] John Phillips, death registration no. 7850, 6 August 1925.
  27. [S102] Jack Phillips, personal communication, 30 November 1996.
  28. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, 26 May 2014.
  29. [S281] 'Phillips Family', Facebook, webpage, Facebook Inc, group created 25 June 2011, 9 January 2012 post by Laurie Phillips.
  30. [S15] Irene Barnes, personal communication, 4 December 2013.
  31. [S408] Brian Phillips, personal communication, 2 June 2015.
  32. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 17 April 1996.
  33. [S281] 'Phillips Family', Facebook, webpage, Facebook Inc, group created 25 June 2011, 8 January 2012 post by Laurie Phillips.
  34. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication.
  35. [S319] 'Obituary: Mrs John Phillips, Sen', Bacchus Marsh Express, newspaper obituary, 30 June 1951.
  36. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Corangamite, subdivision of Mortlake, 1954.
  37. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 18 May 1996.
  38. [S44] Roylyn Phillips, personal communication, 9 December 1998.
  39. [S294] 'Carmel Lawrence', Facebook, social network, 6 Jan 2018.
  40. [S294] 'Carmel Lawrence', Facebook, social network, 7 Jan 2019.
  41. [S442] 'Allambie Park cemetery, Albany', Oz Burials: Lorraine's cemetery records pages, online register, Eileen Redden entry, viewed 23 June 2020, http://www.ozburials.com/CemsWA/Albany/Albany.htm