FatherWilliam John Simmons b. 1903, d. 21 Jan 1993
MotherAnnie Eileen Phillips b. 25 Sep 1906, d. 2 Mar 1980
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Patricia Veronica Simmons married John Leonard Brown on 31 March 1951 in Preston, Victoria.1,2 

Family

John Leonard Brown
Children
ChartsO'Loughlin, Michael, descendant chart
Phillips, James, descendant chart

Story

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.3,4,5,6,7,8,9
 
Dad served in the army in World War Two. When he went to sign up they initially said no, as he had two fingers on his right hand joined. But he persisted and asked what about being in the band; they said yes.

Towards the end of the war, Margaret and I were at the cinema and a newsreel came on. Dad was on the screen. He was marching. They were in India on their way to Australia but had to swap ships because the military wanted the one they arrived there on for something else. [Pat Simmons]10,11,12
 
By 1942, the family was living at Penola St, Preston. Annie and Bill remained in their Preston home for the rest of their lives.13,10
 
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.14
 
Before she married, Pat was a stenographer, first with Loviathan in Melbourne, then Coulther Williams in Preston. After a break from work, she had a sales job with McEwan's hardware in Northland.

I loved working in sales because you got to meet people. I loved my first lot of work too. I just loved working.15

 
Marriage and Family
Patricia Veronica Phillips and John Leonard Brown were married at Sacred Heart church in Preston on 31 March 1951. They had two children.2,1
 
Pat kept in touch with many of her cousins and often communicated with them.15
 

Citations

  1. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, John Leonard Brown and Patricia Veronica Simmons entry, marriage registration no. 4529, 1951.
  2. [S278] Pat Brown, personal communication, 13 February 2020.
  3. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, 26 May 2014.
  4. [S37] Margaret Deveney, personal communication, 11 March 1996.
  5. [S102] Jack Phillips, personal communication, 30 November 1996.
  6. [S281] 'Phillips Family', Facebook, webpage, Facebook Inc, group created 25 June 2011, 9 January 2012 post by Laurie Phillips.
  7. [S15] Irene Barnes, personal communication, 4 December 2013.
  8. [S31] Eileen Redden, personal communication, 25 February 1996.
  9. [S408] Brian Phillips, personal communication, 2 June 2015.
  10. [S278] Pat Brown, personal communication, 22 July 2020.
  11. [S278] Pat Brown, personal communication, 5 january 2021.
  12. [S632] 'Simmons, William John', B883 Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947, control symbol VX28059, service record, 18 June 1940.
  13. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Batman, subdivision of Preston, 1942.
  14. [S45] Joy Prouse, personal communication, 13 March 1996.
  15. [S278] Pat Brown, personal communication, 25 August 2014.