Christine Grayden

The story teller

23/3/2023

Olive Justice models her home-made bathers. Christine Grayden celebrates her great aunt - and one of Phillip Island’s
great characters - for Women’s History Month.

By Christine Grayden

FOR MY 2022 Women’s History Month essay I compiled a list of online historical resources regarding women in Bass Coast. This year I’d like to share a few stories recorded back in the 1990s by my great aunt Olive Justice (nee Grayden) while she was aged in her 90s and totally blind.

Olive did nothing really spectacular in her life to earn her either fame or notoriety. However, blessed with a positive attitude, an adventurous spirit and an ability to ‘pivot’ long before that word took on its current economic meaning, she withstood more storms than are faced by most people. And, in common with her siblings Marguerite, Doug and Bert, she was a wonderful storyteller.

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The colonial curse

25/1/2023

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Cartoon: Natasha Williams-Novak

By Christine Grayden

ALMOST 60 years after the first fleet sailed in Port Jackson, in 1844 my English great-great-grandfather Samuel Pickersgill was transported to what has been ‘lutruwita’ for thousands of generations, but which the British colonial office called the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land.

Samuel had stolen two brass taps from a chapel and then attempted to sell them to buy a coat for the winter. It was not his first stealing offence, but presumably his young age of 17 saw him transported rather than hanged. From his record it is clear that while in Van Diemen’s Land he was flogged and subjected to long periods of hard labour and inhumanely cramped solitary confinement.

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Hats off to a band of amateur brickies

14/12/2022

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Christine Grayden applauds the musicians who built the iconic
Cowes band rotunda, seen here as it was before
windows were installed in the top storey. Photo: PIDHS

By Christine Grayden

THOUSANDS of people wander past the Cowes band rotunda at the jetty triangle each year. So I thought I would give you all some background of the history of this remarkable little Cowes icon.

The Phillip Island Band was formed in 1923 with a £50 grant from the Phillip Island and Woolamai Shire Council. The band more or less kept playing until World War Two, going into recess for the whole of the war due to members serving in the forces, or being required for essential services. The band reconvened in 1948 and operated continuously until it disbanded in 1967 due to lack of players.

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Making a Place for Olive

19/8/2022

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At a small gathering to mark the completion of Olive Justice Place, Christine Grayden is reminded of those who once called this place home. From left, Mayor Michael Whelan, Pamela Rothfield, Christine Grayden and John Eddy. Photos: Fybian Chakaodza

By Christine Grayden

IN 2013, when Bass Coast Post editor Catherine Watson wrote about the kerfuffle that took place when Bass Coast Shire Council tried to sell off number 70 Chapel Street Cowes (What would Olive say?) Catherine interviewed me as Olive’s great niece.

At that point the land was being used as an unofficial car park for the businesses around it and an overflow car park for the Coles supermarket opposite. The local real estate agents, many of whom made use of this gravel car park, refused to handle the sale and were adamant that the car park be sealed or the land even used for a multi-storey car park.

This was the antithesis of what Olive Justice wanted for her land!

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10 reasons I love the Post

30/6/2022

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Contributors and friends of the Bass Coast Post gathered at The Gurdies Winery to celebrate the Post’s first 10 years. Photo: Ted Minty

By Christine Grayden

IT IS 9am on 23 June, 2022. I have just re-read Bass Coast Post editor Catherine Watson’s essay “Post mortem” from last week’s edition, and all the beautiful comments. The article is another real gem from Catherine!

It is hard to believe that it is 10 years since Catherine clicked on “publish” and sent the first basscoastpost.com out to the online world.

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The more the merrier

19/5/2022

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Vibrant democracies encourage people to get involved. You don't
have to wait for the next election to play your part.

By Christine Grayden

WITH the federal election in full flight you may have reached the stage where you’re fed up with election hype from all directions and just looking forward to it all being over.

Approximately 35 political parties and many independents are contesting the 2022 Australian federal election. As you will have read in the last edition of the Post, we have eight candidates in the Monash electorate alone. On the surface, that would be an indication of a healthy democracy. However, in total, political parties apparently have at the most a combined 350,000 members across Australia.

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