Beatrice Steer
Image: Nene Courtie
FatherPhilip Steer b. 2 Jul 1855, d. 11 Aug 1937
MotherEuphemia Forrest b. 1859, d. 13 Mar 1914
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Beatrice Maud Steer was born on 12 July 1893 in Lake Boga, Victoria.1,2 
She married William Henry Lee, son of Francis Lee and Elizabeth Anne Picken, in 1914 in Lake Boga, Victoria.3,4,5 
She died in 1982 in Shepparton, Victoria.6 

Family

William Henry Lee b. 1888
Children
ChartsSteer, Edward, descendant chart

Story

Beatrice Maud was born in Lake Boga on 12 July 1893. She was the sixth and youngest child of Euphemia and Philip, and one of four to reach adulthood. She was generally known as Beat.

Her sister Alice was 13 years older, so when she had her first child quite young, Beatrice was an auntie at age six.2,7,8
Beatrice Steer
Image: Nene Courtie
Family Life in Lake Boga
When the family first moved to Lake Boga, Philip built a four-roomed cottage on their ten acre property. This is where youngest child Beatrice ('Beat') was born. The cottage was to be the family home for the next 15 years, and so is where the children did most of their growing up. They all attended school in Lake Boga.

In her late teens, eldest child Alice left the family home in Lake Boga and headed towards Echuca.

Having farmed in South Australia, around Langhorne Creek and Wolseley, then Victoria near Lillimur, when they moved to Lake Boga, Philip initially farmed there on their ten acre property.9,2
'Grandfather harvesting wheat' (Philip Steer, possibly man standing left of wheat bags), Lake Boga
Image: Margaret Sellwood
Food consisted of whatever was available at the time, and was quite dependant on the weather and economic conditions. The Federation drought of 1902 and the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 30s were particularly tough times. On a good day it might be lamb that was part of Philip's pay, or Murray cod caught in the nearby Little Murray river. At other times, they might catch a rabbit or two to eat. The water in the nearby lakes was of poor quality, usually too salty. This would cause fruit crops to fail in some years and was known to wipe out whole seasons of many different vegetables. In leaner times, they would have to live on potatoes and onions.

In the big drought of 1902 times were very hard, Grandfather [Philip] found work at a big Station called Murray Downs. Once a fortnight he would walk the 10-12 miles home carrying half a sheep on his back, this was part of his pay. Most of the time they lived on potatoes and onions. [Memories of Beatrice Lee]10,8

'Fishing at Murrabit' (Philip Steer, possibly right)
Image: Margaret Sellwood
Beatrice occassionally helped look after her sister Alice's older children.

When Alice returned to the family home after having twins, Beatrice helped look after her new nieces. She recalls rocking them in an old rocking chair.

In August 1905, when Dougal was born, she helped to look after the twins, Nene & Sis.

And in 1908, about six weeks after Bub was born, Alice had a nasty accident requiring a hospital stay. This time, Beatrice looked after the three older children with the help of a neighbour.10
 
Federal Coffee Palace
From about 1906, Euphemia and Philip ran a business, the Federal Coffee Palace, in Lake Boga. It was on the corner of Marraboor and Kerang Streets, and not far from the railway station. The family left the cottage, their home for about fifteen years, to live at the Coffee Palace.

The main business was meals and a boarding house. And at different times it included: a fruit and vegetable shop, soft drinks, ice cream, hairdresser, butcher, confectionery and tobacconist. There was also a cellar, stables, and when they sold, acetylene gas. When the family moved in, there were six bedrooms and when it was sold there were thirteen rooms. The sale advertisement states 'the wb portion of this building is entirely new'. The renovation may have occurred in mid-1907, when their ten acre property was mortgaged, possibly to finance the work.

Apart from the hairdressers, Philip, Euphemia, Maggie and Beat managed it all. Euphemia did the cooking, Maggie waited on tables and did the bedrooms, and Beat was in the shop. After Maggie married in 1907, Beat took over her role. With Lake Boga on the edge of the wheat belt it was very busy at harvest time, when farmers used to bring their wheat to the railway station. They came to the Coffee Palace for meals. There were also several permanent boarders.11,12,13
Euphemia Steer's Federal Coffee Palace, Lake Boga
Image: Margaret Sellwood
Unfortunately, in February 1909 they were forced to sell the business due to Euphemia's ill-health. They had also tired of the workload.

LAKE BOGA
TUESDAY, 16th FEBRUARY
Immediately before the Stock Sale
SALE of the
VALUABLE TOWNSHIP PROPERTY
Known as the
FEDERAL COFFEE PALACE
Also
FRUIT and CONFECTIONERY SHOP and
HAIRDRESSING SALOON
To Investors, Speculators and Others

ANDREW S MUIR and CO having been favored with instructions from Mr E Steer, will offer for sale by public auction, as above:-
    All that piece of land having a double frontage to Marraboor and Kerang streets, containing about half acre, on which is erected a commodious dwelling of brick and wb, containing 13 rooms, kitchen and bathroom detached. The wb portion of this building is entirely new, and includes a splendid fruit and confectionery shop. There is also a hairdressing saloon and tobaconist's shop. A new acetylene gas plant has been installed, and water is laid on to the premises. The other improvements include stables, sheds and chaff house. Being centrally situated in the business portion of this rising township, within three minutes of the railway station, this property offers an exceptional opportunity to investors, speculators and others to secure a splendid place. Mrs Steer has long carried on business, and these premises are well and very favorably known throughout the whole of the district, as well as to the commercial and other travellers, who make it their house of call. There is always a full complement of boarders, and to anyone in want of such a business the agents can with confidence recommend this house. It would let readily at a remunerative rental, and Mrs Steer is selling off solely on account of ill-health. Should the property be sold the furniture and stock may be had at valuation.
Terms at Sale
ANDREW S MUIR and CO, Kerang, Cohuna and Lake Boga

Euphemia ultimately sold the business but kept the property. It is odd that she offered the land for sale, as the title shows she didn't own it until August 1911.

Hendersons initially took up the lease for two years, and it was known as Henderson's Coffee Palace. Then from mid-1911, it was known as Lee's Coffee Palace, after being taken up by Mr and Mrs Lee, whose son William, later married Beatrice. Lees ran the coffee palace until at least mid-1914.

Mrs Lee retired from the business around 1915 after her husband died. Beatrice returned and with William ran the business for some time.11,14,15,16,17,18,12
 
Lake Boga News Agency and Fancy Goods Depot
In 1910, after selling the coffee palace business, Philip bought AC Stone's 'cash store, bakery, newsagency'. A Steer family photo shows Stone's name still on the building. Stone had originally offered the property for sale in March 1906, then described as a store, bakery and fruit shop on a quarter acre block. The now family of three, Philip, Euphemia and Beatrice, moved to live in the rooms behind the store.

By 1912, it sold books and stationery and was known as the 'Lake Boga Newsagency a fancy goods depot'. It also sold special occasion cakes:
... a beautiful wedding cake prepared by Mr P Steer, of Lake Boga.

Euphemia may have worked in the shop initially, but mostly it was Philip and Beatrice.19,20,8,21,22,23
The Lake Boga News Agency and Fancy Goods Depot, Philip Steer, proprietor 1912
Image: Progress of Swan Hill and District
Philip Steer's Newsagency & Bakery, Lake Boga
Image: Margaret Sellwood
In late 1913 or early 1914, typhoid hit the area, and Philip, Euphemia and Beatrice all contracted the disease and were taken to Kerang hospital. Euphemia died at the hospital while Philip and Beatrice were still there, though they both later recovered.

Beatrice continued to help Philip look after the shop.24,12
 
Marriage and Family
Beatrice Maud Steer and William Henry Lee were married in Lake Boga in 1914. They had six children.

It is reported that Beatrice's father Philip was not keen on her marrying William.

The children were Philip (known as 'Bill' or 'Billy'), Henry ('Harry'), Euphemia ('Effie'), Albert ('Bertie'), Frank ('Frankie') and Margaret.

After their marriage they lived with Beatrice's parents for a while.8,25,12
 
'Auntie Beat' was only ten years older than Alice's twin girls, Nene and Sis McDonald. About 85 years after the event, Nene fondly recalled the time that the three of them walked across Lake Boga. Drought records and newspaper reports indicate this might have been in early 1915 when the twins were 12 years old.8,26
 
Death of Albert
In 1918, Philip, Alice, Margaret and Beatrice received the news that their son and brother Albert died while on active service.
 
DEATH - On Active Service
STEER - Killed in action on 8th August, 1918, in France, Private AE (Bert) Steer, only son of Mr Philip Steer, of Lake Boga, and brother to Mrs D McDonald, Nyah; Mrs W Cook, Lake Boga, and Mrs H Lee, Lake Boga. Aged 29 years.
    Though absent from among us, Bert,
     You are always in our thoughts;
    And those you left behind you
     Most keenly feel your loss.27
 
"Half Mast."
Private Albert Edward Steer, of C Company 60th Battalion, has been reported killed in action, in France, after having been in the firing line for only three months. His widow and three fine little boys reside in New street, Dandenong. Private Steer was an only son, of magnificent physique, and 29 years of age. His father and mother are living at Lake Bolac [sic: Lake Boga], while Mrs Steer's parents are Mr and Mrs Kennedy, of King street, Dandenong. His last letter was full of hope for a safe return home.28
 
Family Gathering
This photo was taken at Murrabit, likely Maggie and Will's place at the time, around 1921.
Front: Alice McDonald (Steer), Maggie Cook (Steer), Bill (Philip) Lee, Philip Steer; others unknown; Murrabit (north of Kerang)
Margaret Sellwood (Lee) remembers Tom & Sis Phillips visiting Beatrice and the family in a big flash American car (the Studebaker) when they lived in Lake Boga. She was about five years old and commented that 'It was like they were from another world'.29
 
Hard Times and Separation
William was a very popular man; he was a good footballer and entertainer; he sang and played the mouth organ. He was also agent for the wheat farmers, a very lucrative business. Unfortunately it went to his head and he began drinking more and neglected the business. Creditors forced them to sell up.

The family fell on hard times, making it very difficult to appropriately raise their children. They lived on fish and rabbits when available to catch. At one stage, Philip bought them a small cottage on the hill opposite the school.

Ultimately it became too much, and around 1939, Beatrice and William separated.12,30
 
Raising Family on Her Own
After separating from William, Beatrice moved to Mooroopna with the two youngest children, Frank and Margaret. Beatrice's niece Bub Williams had the Cricketer's Arms Hotel in Mooroopna and lived there with her son Graeme and mother Alice. Beatrice, Frank and Margaret also lived at the hotel.31
 
Bub had Alice help run the hotel, and Beatrice became one of two cooks, the other being Ma Hawking.

Beatrice enjoyed the peacefulness of a room with her two children.

Frank, Margaret and Graeme started school in Mooroopna. Graeme attended the Mooroopna State school.31,32,12,30
 
The lease and licence for the Cricketer's Arms hotel expired late 1944. Bub, Alice and Graeme lived with Nene or Pauline for a short time before Bub and Graeme moved to the Hotel Australia in Shepparton.33,34,31
 
Beatrice saved enough through her work at the hotel to buy a house in Elizabeth St in Mooroopna, and later moved there with Frank and Margaret.12
 
Margaret's Dancing 
Margaret loved her dancing.

I started to learn dancing from Hazel King. We learnt tap, ballet, toe and national dancing (Scottish, English and Irish). We danced at the airforce camp at the Shepparton Showgrounds during the war years to entertain the forces. We did national dancing competitions at sports meetings and got money prizes for winning medals. I used that money to pay for my dance lessons. The Moyle family lived two doors down from us and Joyce Moyle and I used to practice tap dancing on the back of an old truck after school. [Margaret Sellwood]30

 
In about 1944, Margaret went to Cobram for some highland dancing. Her brother Bill (Philip) drove. Whilst there with her mum Beatrice, they visited 'an elderly aunt'. This was 'Auntie Lottie', Charlotte Steer. Beat visited while Margaret was doing her dancing.26,35
 
Mooroopna Base Hospital
Beatrice and Margaret both worked for a time at the Mooroopna Base Hospital.

Mum worked at the Mooroopna Base Hospital as a cook. Each night she would prepare the porridge for breakfast the next day. One day the porridge exploded and Mum was badly burnt. She spent a long time in hospital and had really nasty scars for the rest of her life. Of course she couldn't work for several months after that. Matron said Mum would have to get someone to work in her place to save her job. I had just finished school and got my Merit Certificate so I took Mum's place but I wasn't allowed in the kitchen. I worked in the laundry. That was my first job. [Margaret Sellwood]30

 
In Mooroopna c. 1950.36
Bill (Philip Francis) & Gran/Beat Lee (Steer)
Image: Lost Mooroopna, Facebook, Peter Holt
Beatrice Maud Lee died in Shepparton in 1982, aged 88. She was buried at Mooroopna cemetery.6,37
 

Citations

  1. [S51] Margaret Sellwood, personal communication, 6 April 1996.
  2. [S361] Beatrice Maud Steer, birth registration no. 26902, 12 July 1893.
  3. [S380] Margaret Shirley Lee, birth registration no. 20077, unknown date.
  4. [S552] William Henry Lee and Beatrice Maud Steer, marriage registration no. 2983, 1914.
  5. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Wm Hy' Lee and Beatrice Maud Steer entry, marriage registration no. 2983, 1914.
  6. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Beatrice Maud Lee entry, death registration no. 8861, 1982.
  7. [S352] Rupert George Steer, birth registration no. 18206, 7 September 1899.
  8. [S52] Doris 'Nene' Courtie, personal communication, 10 November 2001.
  9. [S376] From the Memories of the Life of Beatrice Lee, unpublished, 1987, p. 1.
  10. [S376] From the Memories of the Life of Beatrice Lee, unpublished, 1987, p. 2.
  11. [S539] 'Lake Boga: Sale of valuable township property', Bendigo Advertiser, 1853-2003, newspaper, RR Haverfield, 11 February 1909, p. 8, viewed 10 August 2014, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/89403608
  12. [S376] From the Memories of the Life of Beatrice Lee, unpublished, 1987.
  13. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, Certificate of title, vol. 2371, folio 088, Lake Boga, 1899-1920.
  14. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, Certificate of title, vol. 2387, folio 393, Lake Boga, 1891-1920.
  15. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, Certificate of title, vol. 3526, folio 173, Lake Boga, 1911-1920.
  16. [S543] 'Special: Mr JE Crapp, dental surgeon', Kerang New Times, 1901-1918, newspaper, George Adams, 6 August 1909, p. 2, viewed 21 June 2022, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222447751
  17. [S543] 'Special: Dentist. Mr AR Wellman', Kerang New Times, 1901-1918, newspaper, George Adams, 4 July 1911, p. 2, viewed 21 June 2022, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222462281
  18. [S39] 'General news items: Dentistry', Swan Hill Guardian and Lake Boga Advocate, 1892-1937, newspaper, A Knox Chapman, 21 May 1914, p. 2, viewed 21 June 2022, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87215888
  19. [S333] The Progress of Swan Hill and District: Introducing Ultima, Lake Boga, Nyah, etc., self published, 1912, p. 73.
  20. [S58] Violet 'Bub' Williams, personal communication.
  21. [S543] 'For private sale as a going concern', Kerang New Times, 1901-1918, newspaper, George Adams, 27 February 1906, p. 3, viewed 27 June 2022, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222227116
  22. [S543] 'Orange blossoms', Kerang New Times, 1901-1918, newspaper, George Adams, 16 January 1912, p. 4, viewed 23 July 2022, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222478628
  23. [S51] Margaret Sellwood, personal communication, 20 March 1997.
  24. [S543] 'Obituary', Kerang New Times, 1901-1918, newspaper, George Adams, 20 March 1914, p. 3, viewed 23 July 2022, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87738147
  25. [S51] Margaret Sellwood, personal communication, 6 April 1996 and 8 July 2014.
  26. [S51] Margaret Sellwood, personal communication, 8 July 2014.
  27. [S39] 'Death on active service', Swan Hill Guardian and Lake Boga Advocate, 1892-1937, newspaper, A Knox Chapman, 5 September 1918, p. 2, viewed 17 June 2021, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87265877
  28. [S390] 'Half mast', Dandenong Advertiser, newspaper, 5 September 1818, p. 2, viewed 7 September 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/88818842
  29. [S51] Margaret Sellwood, personal communication, 3 March 2012.
  30. [S563] Salt of the Earth: Inspirational stories of Mooroopna & Ardmona women, Mooroopna Education & Activity Centre, 2016, pp. 51-54.
  31. [S265] Graeme Williams, personal communication, 31 January 2013.
  32. [S58] Violet 'Bub' Williams, personal communication, 7 July 1996.
  33. [S220] 'Hotel licences', The Argus, 1848-1957, newspaper, Argus Office, 4 November 1941, p. 3, viewed 9 June 2014, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8214590
  34. [S58] Violet 'Bub' Williams, personal communication, 28 December 1999.
  35. [S51] Margaret Sellwood, personal communication, 27 December 2019.
  36. [S294] Facebook, social network, Lost Mooroopna post of photo shared by Peter Holt, 20 May 2020.
  37. [S576] Carol's Headstone Photographs, online service, Beatrice Maud Lee entry.