FatherJohn Marion Phillips b. 2 Feb 1900, d. 21 Sep 1979
MotherRuby Irene Williams b. 7 Nov 1904, d. 22 Jul 1966
Pedigree
ChartsO'Loughlin, Michael, descendant chart
Phillips, James, descendant chart

Story

Roylyn was born in Bacchus Marsh. She was the eldest child of Ruby and John.1,2
 
Sisters Roylyn and Joy grew up in Bacchus Marsh, went to primary school there, and spent almost the first thirty years of their lives there.3,4
 
Visiting Grandma Phillips 
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.5,6,7,8,9,10,11
 
ANTIQUES & CURIOS
CWA Exhibition at Bacchus Marsh
BACCHUS Marsh, Thursday.=
The Bacchus Marsh branch of the Country Women's Association staged an antique and curio exhibition, together with a mannequin parade of old world frocks, in the mechanics' hall to-day.
...
A minuet was danced by two tiny tots, Joy and Roylyn Phillips, dressed in pre-Victorian costumes.12
 
In Bacchus Marsh, anyone who went to the war had a plaque made with their name on it fastened to a tree in the Avenue of Honour. Roylyn and Joy used to ride their bikes down to see the plaque dedicated to their uncle, Thomas James Phillips.3
 
Catching Up with Cousins
There were a few cousins around Bacchus Marsh, and they often met with others from further afield. They also played with the Hardys, including writer Frank Hardy, and television and radio personality, Mary Hardy.3
 
Secondary Education
For secondary school, both Roylyn and Joy attended Loreto Abbey Mary's Mount in Ballarat. This was a Catholic boarding school. Occasionally when boys visited (brothers, cousins, etc.) there were lots of girls looking out windows to catch a glimpse of the opposite sex. For an outing with a boy, the girls were required to wear a hat and gloves, and were accompanied by a nun.1
 
Photographer
Roylyn was a photographer.

She worked for nine months at a place in Toorak as a wedding photography, but found the work boring, so left.

Her next job was at the CSIRO Division of Forest Products, then at Melbourne University. She enjoyed this work and did it at CSIRO, and later Melbourne University until she retired in the early 1990s. Initially, she commuted to work from Bacchus Marsh. In the late 1950s she moved to Hawthorn.13,14,15
 
In the 1950s, Roylyn and Joy Phillips once stayed with their father's cousin, Tom Guerin and his family in South Australia. Tom's land was purchased by the South Australian government to become the new city of Elizabeth. The family did very well from the sale; when Roylyn & Joy visited, the family had something called a freezer!3,16
 
Mum's Death 
Ruby Irene Phillips died at Hood St in Strathmore on 22 July 1966, aged 61. She was buried at Maddingley cemetery in Bacchus Marsh.17,18,19,2,20
 
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.21,22,23
 

Citations

  1. [S44] Roylyn Phillips, personal communication, 12 July 1996.
  2. [S45] Joy Prouse, personal communication, 28 March 1998.
  3. [S45] Joy Prouse, personal communication, 13 March 1996.
  4. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1963.
  5. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, 26 May 2014.
  6. [S37] Margaret Deveney, personal communication, 11 March 1996.
  7. [S102] Jack Phillips, personal communication, 30 November 1996.
  8. [S281] 'Phillips Family', Facebook, webpage, Facebook Inc, group created 25 June 2011, 9 January 2012 post by Laurie Phillips.
  9. [S15] Irene Barnes, personal communication, 4 December 2013.
  10. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 25 February 1996.
  11. [S408] Brian Phillips, personal communication, 2 June 2015.
  12. [S171] The Age, 1854-, newspaper, 9 August 1940, p. 2, viewed 12 December 2014, https://news.google.com/newspapers
  13. [S44] Roylyn Phillips, personal communication, 13 March 1996.
  14. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Kooyong, subdivision of Hawthorn, 1968.
  15. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1958.
  16. [S2] 'Elizabeth, South Australia', Wikipedia, online, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 9 October 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth,_South_Australia>
  17. [S322] 'Deaths: Phillips', Bacchus Marsh Express, 28 July 1966.
  18. [S45] Joy Prouse, personal communication, 12 July 1996.
  19. [S422] BillionGraves, online cemetery data, Ruby Irene Phillips entry, Maddingley cemetery, 1966.
  20. [S321] 'Mrs Jack Phillips', Bacchus Marsh Express, obituary, 28 July 1966.
  21. [S44] Roylyn Phillips, personal communication, 9 December 1998.
  22. [S294] 'Carmel Lawrence', Facebook, social network, 6 Jan 2018.
  23. [S294] 'Carmel Lawrence', Facebook, social network, 7 Jan 2019.