"Sam" Samuel Walter Philip LEVETT
Born 4 September 1907 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England [P355]
Son of Samuel Philip LEVETT and Gertrude LEVETT [P355]
Following the death of their father his mother was forced to put himself, his elder sister Ivy and younger sister Nellie into care [P355]
He was bestowed in the care of the children's charity Dr Barnardo's in 1914, after which his mother kept in touch with him [P355]
Aged 15 years he departed London, England on the Largs Bay on 20 February 1923 for Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [203]
In later years he said he was proud to be an Old Barnardo Boy and always endeavoured to explain its good work [230]
In a letter to the charity that had aided him he wrote "...what the Homes have done for me is highly appreciated" [230]
He worked as a Farm Lad in England and after his arrival worked for two years on a diary farm in Leeton, New South Wales [203] [230]
Remaining in New South Wales he then worked on fruit farms for 18 months and on a rice and wheat property for three years [230]
His last employer suffered financial troubles and failed to pay him about £70, although he still valued and respected him [230]
All up he worked for about twelve people in New South Wales, worked hard, saved his money and never got the sack [230]
In 1929 he left New South Wales and shifted to Western Australia [230]
Farmhand for Malcolm L. PATTON on Longforest Farm in Waddy Forest, Western Australia in 1929 [230]
Longforest was the largest farm he'd up until that time worked on, being about 5,000 acres in size with 2,500 acres under crop [230]
He was in Waddy Forest by October 1929 and undertook duties on Longforest in connection with hay cutting and harvesting [230]
Farmhand for John BOWMAN on The Home Farm in Carnamah, Western Australia in 1930 [230]
At such time wheat prices had slumped to only 1/9 a bushel and the previous wool clip had been virtually profitless [230]
Farmers couldn't get bags for their wheat, while others weren't going to harvest their crops as it wouldn't cover the expense [230]
To cut down expenses his employer had stopped the tractors and reverted to horse teams to carry out the 1930-31 harvest [230]
He and seven others lived in workmen's humpies on the west end of Lot M928 bounding the North Boundary Road [P9] [230]
A cook prepared their meals except for their day off on Sunday when they got their own meals from the cookhouse [230]
By 1930 he was well acclimatised to Australian weather and believed he wouldn't be able to endure an English winter [230]
Although he liked the Australian climate he found the flies to be very bad at Carnamah in both summer and winter [230]
By late 1930 he was likening to the idea of returning to England on the suggestion of his mother and Barnardo's [230]
Resided in England from 1931 until his death at the age of 63 years in 1970 [P355]
Married (1) Marjorie Winifred KNOTT on 14 March 1936 [P355]
Partner of (2) Marjorie Elizabeth Jane PARSLOW [P355]
Father of Terence, Valerie, Jennifer, Philip, Anthony, Catherine and Richard[P355]
Died 9 January 1970 at the Ashford Hospital in Ashford, Middlesex, England [P355]
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Samuel Walter Philip Levett' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 25 December 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/samuel-walter-philip-levett [reference list] |
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