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This week we have a photo of two young ladies, Ethel and Gladys Hill. They can be seen out the front of 165 Seymour Street on Gladys’ fiancé’s British-made Velocette motorbike. I would expect that we would have a few readers who would like to have this motorcycle in their garage today.
Steph Farrar tells me that the dark-haired lady is her mum, Gladys, who passed away on October 16, 2006. Steph’s Aunty Ethel resided in Sydney but passed away on March 21 this year. She was 90.
Gladys Edna Hill was born on September 18, 1924 at Sodwalls. This small settlement, south-west of Lithgow, once had a station on the Main Western Railway.
Gladys’ sister Ethel Annie Hill was born in Bathurst on January 3, 1927 after the family had moved into Bathurst. They were two of the five children born to Ethel Annie (Topsy) and William Eric (Bill) Hill and they lived at 68 Pye Street or Pye Lane.
Both girls were educated at various schools including Tarana, South Bathurst, Raglan, St Philomena’s, Howick Street Public School and Bathurst High School. Both teenagers left school when they were 14, but that was common in those days.
All girls would immediately look for a job after leaving high school. Gladys became a sewing instructor at Cole of California Productions, teaching returned serviceman. While there were oodles of jobs during the Second World War, they were scarce after the war was over and soldiers returned.
Gladys also worked as a waitress, a cleaner and at Edgells, where she would knock off processing at midnight and she and her sisters would go dancing.
Ethel worked at Mockler Bros, Edgells and California Productions, sewing swimsuits and dressing gowns. The latter company’s swimsuits were, in the majority, two-piece designs during the war, but many of the bathing costume designs after the Second World War were one-piece designs as more material was available.
These two sisters loved their dancing and would go frolicking seven evenings a week if possible. They were very often seen at dances at the Bathurst Hall and the Masonic Hall. Sometimes they travelled out to dances at the Bathurst Army Camp on Limekilns Road. They would spend many happy nights around their pianola having a sing along with the extended members of their family. Gladys and Ethel were also very keen softball players.
Gladys married George Henry Hutchison at St Barnabas Church on September 9, 1950 and Ethel married Robert Sydney Mowatt at St Paul’s Church in Sydney on August 29, 1953. Gladys and George had two daughters, Stephanie and Judith Ann. Ethel and Robert had one son, Robert. Gladys had five grandchildren and, since her death, a great grandson. Ethel had four grandchildren. They were part of a large extended family, many of whom still live in Bathurst.
Motorbikes were quite a common mode of transport after the war due to the shortage of motor cars and many courting couples would have used them. This brand of smooth-running motorcycle was very reliable and popular, though these street machines were not that easy to come by either. The Velocette Motorcycle Company, founded by Johannes Gutgemann, was originally called Veloce Ltd.
The British business initially manufactured four-stroke motorcycles, but created its first two-stroke machine in 1913.
The Velocette dominated lightweight motorcycle racing from 1923 through to the early 1950s. The lightweight overhead camshaft models were popular and the ultimate model was the Mark VIII, which was manufactured from the first year of World War Two, though fewer than 180 were manufactured after the war.
Two major developments accredited to this company were the positive foot gear lever and rear shock absorbers. With their excellent handling, this brand of motorcycle took part in races on the old Vale Road circuit and Mount Panorama.