According to the
Australian Government’s “It’s an Honour” website, the main purpose of the Order of Australia is to recognise, by
national honour, those who have made outstanding contributions that benefit
their communities, and ultimately our country.
Maria Caesar of the Bush Curlews interviews the Charters
Towers 2013 OAM award recipient, Shirley Symes.
Various groups Shirley is involved within the community
During the 1970s there
was the restoration of the Stock Exchange
Arcade. More recently was the Zara Clark museum, which had been closed
down a few years ago. In both instances, Shirley gathered groups of interested
people to save the National Trust
buildings.
The Don Roderick Gallery had also been
closed down until Shirley gathered a group of volunteers to re-open it. The
gallery is now a great incentive for local artists to display their work and
every year they have a competition, bringing in artists from out of town.
Shirley has always been
fond of writing so she is a member of the Bush Curlews. She has had a lot of
interest in the schools and was on the Advisory
Board of All Souls St Gabriels School
for seven years. Shirley’s husband used to own horses so she became involved
with the Charters Towers Amateur Race
Club, another club that needed reviving as it was very close to closing
down.
In her younger years,
Shirley played basketball in a team called the “Red Wings”, travelling out of
town for several competitions. She was also a member of the Charters Towers Dramatic Society
performing in plays in the Theatre Royal
before the building was torn down after the war.
It was the loss of this
“beautiful timber building with great acoustics” and several other valuable
buildings within the town that ignited Shirley’s passion for reviving and
restoring historical premises. Nowadays, the heritage structures that grace the
town’s central business district are a major drawing card to tourists and
movie-makers visiting the region. Shirley says she likes to “encourage people
to preserve what we have and to bring about an awareness” of the importance of
keeping history alive.
Coming to Charters Towers
Shirley was born in the
Burdekin. After the death of Shirley’s father, her mother moved to Charters
Towers. Shirley’s great aunt, Mary Palmer, also known as “Maude”, was the
proprietor of the Occidental Hotel (located
where the Commonwealth Bank is now),
then later the Excelsior Hotel and
then The Australian (now the Rix Hotel). Aunt Maude was a very
elegant, artistic woman and Shirley had always looked up to and admired her.
Shirley was only seven
years of age when they came to Charters Towers and has been here ever
since. She worked in a goods and produce
agency called Bartlams Ltd (located
where the Zara Clark Museum is now),
until 1952 when she got married. Her stepfather had been the managing director
of Bartlams Ltd until he retired.
Shirley's main achievements
There has been great
satisfaction in rescuing and restoring the old buildings but generating
awareness amongst other people of what we have is the hardest thing to do. When
the group was working towards the restoration of The Stock Exchange Arcade many people were against it. The group constantly
asked: “Why restore a building that broke so many people’s hearts?” There was a
lot of vitriolic letters going back and forth in the paper. But now it is done
most people appreciate the restoration.
You
won another Australia Day award in a previous year. What award was that?
It was the Senior Citizen Cultural Award in 2011.
As with the Order of Australia Medal,
Shirley would have been nominated for the award by the community.
School life
Shirley attended All Souls Saint Gabriel’s School, but
during the 1940s when the war was on the Americans came to Charters Towers and many
of the schools were confiscated. All
Souls Saint Gabriel’s became a hospital. Some boarders were sent to
Richmond, but Shirley’s parents didn’t want her to go out of town so she went
to Blackheath & Thornburgh instead.
Charters Towers was a
garrison city and there were two airstrips here during the war. The only
schools in the city not vacated were Saint
Mary’s and Blackheath &
Thornburgh. The military had taken
over Mount Carmel – their students
moved into the Park Motel. The
military used many of Blackheath &
Thornburgh’s playing fields as a defence base, keeping artillery there.
It was scary times, but
when you are young you can’t quite comprehend the degree of danger. They had an
air-raid shelter in the backyard and they each had a little suitcase with
clothes and food. Her stepfather was an air-raid warden and used to walk around
with a little cap, looking like a character from Dad’s Army.
Hobbies and Interests
Shirley enjoys painting
and she tries to do so once a week. She also enjoys writing. Shirley loves music.
She used to play the piano and also used to sing in the Eisteddfods every
Easter. Shirley was a member of the Charters
Towers Philharmonic Choir – there were about thirty people in the Choir. Gardening,
beauty and colours all appeal to Shirley’s artistic nature.
Shirley has travelled
abroad, visiting San Diego, New Zealand, the UK and Canada but her favourite
holiday destination is Paris. She has been there twice, once in the spring and
once in the winter and she fondly recalls the cars buried by snow as their
windscreen wipers waved back and forth futilely.
Education has always
been a main interest to Shirley and she believes that Charters Towers “is a
wonderful educational centre. It’s a shame there was never a university located
here.”
Shirley cherishes her
role as great grandmother. Her first great grandchild was born just before
Christmas 2012 and in 2013 she will be a great grandmother again, this time to
twins, which is “very exciting”.
Overall, Shirley admits
that she loves her life. She has met many wonderful people and has achieved a
lot within the community, having saved numerous local heritage properties. It
is with thanks to the efforts and dedication of people like Shirley that
Charters Towers is now known as a town rich in history, and will continue to be
so for many generations to come.
