Introduction

The Bowra family lived at 38 Walcott street from 1925 until 1968.  Their previous residence was in Guildford.  The family consisted of Mrs Minnie Bowra (nee Salter) and her two children Douglas and Geoffrey; their father having died at Gallipolli in 1915.

Frederick Bowra

Frederick Douglas Atlee Bowra was born on 9 October 1887 in Perth.  When he enlisted on 21 June 1915 his occupation was stated as Railway Engineer and was living at Devon Road, Guildford (today in Bassendean) with wife Minnie. 

He was one of seven children, the fourth son of Frederick James (1862-1937) and Maria Jane (1863-1928) (nee Coffen) Bowra. His father worked for the Government Printing Office and had a long association with the Oddfellows’ Society. Maria had also worked at the Government Printing Office.

Frederick Douglas’ grandfather was John William Atlee Bowra (1823-1898) who arrived in Fremantle in 1847 on board the Java with 96th Regiment (foot) and was discharged in April 1849. Later, John was a watchmaker and horologist to the Government. His main claim to fame was that he installed the London built Perth Town Hall clock and maintained it from 1858 to 1898.

It is John’s brother (Frederick’s great uncle) who later partnered with O’Dea to form the well-known Perth undertakers Bowra and O’Dea.

Frederick married Minnie Salter in St Mary’s Kelmscott on 1 November 1911. It is reasonable to assume that they met through St Mary’s as he was a member of the Vestry and Choirmaster. He lived in one of the Salter cottages in Kelmscott.

They had two sons Douglas Samuel (1912-2011) and Geoffrey Frederick (1914-1993).

Honour plaque in Kings Park

He was the first soldier enlisted as a sapper in the Field Engineers in Western Australia when he joined the No. 4 Field Company on the 10 April 1911 and was given Regimental Number 1. He was promoted to Sergeant in September 1911 after topping the Statewide exams and, in 1912, was the first Sergeant Major.

He was a Lieutenant in 4th Field Company of Australian Engineers and died of gas poisoning after an explosion in a mine tunnel that the sappers were digging in Shrapnel Valley, Gallipolli on 29 October 1915 age 28.  He is buried at Shrapnel Valley Cemetery together with 600+ others. There is a plaque for him in Kings Park.

His widow Minnie received a pension of £91 per annum and their two sons £13 per annum each, later increased to £26 each.

Minnie Bowra (nee Salter)

As we have seen, Frederick Douglas Atlee Bowra married Minnie Salter in 1911. 

She was the first born, in Jarrahdale on 11 February 1888, and the only surviving child of Samuel August Salter (1849-1930) and his second wife Ellen Elizabeth Gilmore (nee Best) (1860-1949).  Her siblings Bernice (1890-1890) and Herbert Samuel (1894-1895) did not survive early childhood. 

In 1894 Ellen deserted Samuel and their child Minnie.  When she delivered an illegitimate child, Robert Salter (1899-1918), it gave Samuel grounds for divorce after years of trying. So Samuel brought up Clara (1876-1953), the daughter from his first marriage, and Minnie at ‘Sunnyside’ on River Road (now Brookton Highway), Kelmscott. Samuel married his third wife, Mary Ann Louise (nee Collier) (1866-1941) in 1901 and they had a son, Talbot, born in 1903.

Samuel’s first wife was Ellen (nee Buckingham) who passed away in 1878 from ‘ovarian disease’.

Samuel was a timber contractor and hauler/sawyer, as was his father – also Samuel. 

It is this Samuel, Minnie’s grandfather, after whom Salter Point on the Canning River, was named. The Salter family stationed themselves on the banks of the Canning and engaged in a wood-cutting contract.After being in Pinjarra Samuel purchased some blocks of land bordering the Canning River and thus settled in Riverside Road, Kelmscott in 1891 which is where Minnie and her father were born.

Minnie’s father died on 10 March 1930 at the of age 81 years.

Minnie attended Kelmscott Primary School and was an active member of St Mary’s, Kelmscott where she later taught Sunday School. She also played the organ and was a member of the Church choir. Later she began a teaching profession at Kelmscott Primary School and Gosnells Demonstration School.

Minnie’s mother’s family were from Toodyay where Ellen Elizabeth Gilmore (nee Best) was born on their farm at “Toapin”. She was the eldest of eleven children and named after her mother Ellen Prince (1842-1918).  Her second name Elizabeth was from her grandmother Elizabeth Prince nee Truslove (1824-????) and the Gilmore was from her father’s mother’s maiden name. Ellen died in Mt Lawley on March 28 1949. She was 88.

Ellen also had a son Robert, the ‘illegitimate’ one referred to above, brother to Minnie, who was also at Gallipoli where he sustained a shrapnel wound to his arm in May 1915. In 1916 he was returned to Australia with meningitis and in 1917 was shipped out again to the war.  He was Killed in Action on 30 March 1918 whilst working in No Man’s Land. He was 394 Lance-Corporal Robert Melville Salter of the 44th Battalion and is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

Thus, Minnie lost a husband and an only brother in the Great War.

Between about 1917 and 1926 Minnie and her two sons, together with stepsister Clara, lived at 56 Farnley Street. The 1924 Wise Directories indicates that there were no houses at 38 or 40 Walcott Street but in 1925 Frederick James Bowra (Minnie’s father in law) built a co-joined house which was numbered 40 and 42 Walcott Street. Mr Bowra occupied No 42 and Minnie was in No 40 with her two boys, then aged 11 and 13. 

By 1933, Wise Directories mentions that Mrs Minnie Bowra lived in No 38. Thus, it is assumed that she had the house built on the empty block. By this time Minnie had returned to teaching to support her two sons. It is reported that she taught at Guildford Grammar Preparatory School. 

As we have seen, Minnie lived at No 38 initially and in her latter years. However, it is reported that she lived in Kelmscott during the World War II and rented out No 38.

It is unclear as to when, but Minnie definitely had her house partitioned whereby she lived on the downside, or right hand side, and it was variously tenanted, occupied by her sons and their families or tenanted on the upside.

The West Australian of 4 October 1934 reported a party for Mrs Minnie Bowra who has “recently returned from a trip to Europe”.

In late 1937 Minnie had her home (No 38) on the market. This appears to have been unsuccessful as in early 1938 it was reported that, “McLean, Carmichael Limited have been instructed by the Owner, who is contemplating leaving for an extended trip to the Continent to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION” etc. It was subsequently withdrawn from sale.

The West Australian of 2 August 1938 had an advertisement for the sale of furniture and effects on premises (38 Walcott Street).

Minnie moved back to River Road, Kelmscott during WWII to escape the reminders of the war that existed in the city and perhaps the memories of days long past. 

At some time before, during or after the war (details vary), Minnie divided No 38 into two sections. She lived in the right-hand side with her own front door off the verandah (where the French doors are today), kitchen and living area. The other side was variously lived in by her sons, Douglas and Geoffrey, and their wives and children.

The West Australian of 23 March 1950 informs us that Minnie Bowra “herewith withdraw my Property from all agents, same having been sold privately”. Yet she still lived there until her passing in 1960!

Some recollections from Minnie’s niece:

When we were in our very young years (mid 1940s) we just loved to have a holiday with ‘Aunty Minnie’ at 38 Walcott Street. She’d take us to the shops in Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley and of course this was so different to our part of the world (Kelmscott).  Minnie always took us to the picture shows in the city and catching the tram to and from Mt Lawley was so exciting to us. She’d send us home to River Road, Kelmscott on the Roleystone bus and always referred to us as “her nieces from the country”.

Among the many treasures that we loved of Minnie’s was her pianola.  We children just loved to pump the pedals as the perforated roll turned round and round omitting olden day tunes and it seemed as if we were playing the music on our own.

Out the front of her home there was a sloping front lawn and we used to roll from the top part of the lawn down to the bottom and usually right over a small pine growing in the centre.After we stopped being boisterous children the tree grew to a large size.

Minnie would also visit “her nieces from the country” in Kelmscott:

Sometimes she would catch the Perth to Roleystone bus on a Sunday morning, meet up with a friend and alight at our home to spend the day with us.  If we weren’t home they’d stay the day. Maybe they’d tidy our house, gather themselves some fruit from the orchard, make themselves some lunch and have a good chat and then catch the bus back to Perth at 6 pm.  Aunty Minnie sometimes would be carrying a flat parcel wrapped in newspaper back to Perth with her. This would be a dried ‘cow flap’ for her garden.

As well as bringing up her two boys single handed, Minnie was very caring to her relatives. As we have seen, she was the favourite aunt to her nieces, supported her stepsister Clara and was on hand to help her mother in her last days.

Minnie passed away on 5 September 1960 as a result of complications and concussion after a fall on a painted wet verandah upon leaving a house having played bridge. Whilst she is memorialised at Karrakatta Cemetery her family regrets that she was not buried in the private pioneer cemetery of St Mary’s in Kelmscott.  She was 72.

Clara Salter

As we have seen, Clara was the only daughter of Samuel and his first wife Ellen (nee Buckingham), and was born in Kelmscott although is reported to have been baptised on 21 May 1876 in Guildford. Nothing is known about Clara’s early life except that she was brought up by her father and his subsequent two wives, as her mother died of ‘ovarian disease’ in May 1878. 

From the Electoral Rolls we see that, in the early 1910s she lived at 170 Brown Street, East Perth and listed as Spinster. In 1917 she was a shopkeeper in Woolwich Street, Leederville. More interestingly for us, in the same year, she is registered at 56 Farnley Street – where Minnie had moved to. Presumably, she assisted with the young boys then around 10 years old.

In the early 1930s she is registered as living at 40 Walcott Street and occupation as Cleaner – for Minnie’s father-in-law Frederick James Bowra.

It must have been around the mid 1930s that Clara was institutionalised at Graylands Hospital where she died on 4 August 1953. She did not marry and her ashes were scattered to the winds at Karrakatta Cemetery.

The Bowra Boys

Having married in 1911, Frederick and Minnie had two sons. Douglas Samuel (1912-2011) and Geoffrey Frederick (1914-1993). 

Douglas Bowra

Douglas was brought up in Mt Lawley and presumably was schooled there. He married Helen ‘Nellie’ Farris Blechynden in St Alban’s Church, Highgate on 12 November 1938. Her parents were from Bridgetown. During the war years he and Helen lived at 38 Walcott Street in the upside part of Minnie’s home.

He was an Electrical Engineer and was appointed Resident Representative for Noyes Bros Pty Limited in Canberra in November 1962.   

He died in Narabeen, NSW on 9 May 2011.

Geoffrey Bowra

Geoffrey, like his older brother Douglas was brought up in Mt Lawley and presumably was schooled there. During WWII he joined the RAAF in 1940 and was promoted to Flight Lieutenant in 1944. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in 1943. His wife, whom he married in 1936, was Phyllis Melba (1927-1972) (nee Carlton).  His profession in 1940 was stated as Window Dresser (for Chas Moore and Co). 

Upon returning from the war he and his wife and their son Graham and daughter Greer move to Kelmscott. They purchased a poultry farm in Westfield Road Kelmscott which they farmed for a few years. He became a member of the Kelmscott Agricultural Society and helped in the setting up of the district displays.

In 1951 he was the proprietor of Vapex Dry Cleaners of 195 York Road, Midland. Geoffrey died in Safety Bay in November 1993 age 79.

Information Sources

The author’s interest in this address was sparked by a telephone call from Mrs Ann Lambert of Kelmscott emanating from the author’s contribution to 6PR’s Saturday morning suburb round up talk on Mt Lawley on 29 February 2020. 

Ann is the daughter of Talbot Salter, Minnie’s brother. She was very fond of Minnie and has many pleasant memories of visiting her at 38 Walcott Street. Her willingness to assist in this project is very much appreciated. 

She also gave me access to the book ‘Life Goes On’ by Beth Blair (nee Salter), Ann’s sister.  This excellent book documents the Salter family of Kelmscott from the original Samuel Salter (1819-1868) to today.  From this book much family background information and pictures were extracted.  This information was supplemented by research using the Wise Directories and Trove.