Joan’s 100th

Mum, Joan Kathleen Marsh, was born at Phoobsering Tea Estate, just north of Darjeeling on 14 February 1921. The estate was one of the oldest in the area and the bungalow she was born in was built in the 1860s. Here are a few photos of her early life to mark the centenary of her birth.

The earliest known picture shows Joan, with her mother Evelyn, visiting her Glaswegian grandparents Claud and Margaret Bald in August 1922. The Balds had recently retired from the Darjeeling tea industry and were living in London. The picture has been automatically colourised but is probably fairly accurate (green for grass is a safe bet).

This picture shows Margaret and Joan (right and incognito) at the old house in Phoobsering, together with two of the outdoor staff.

This picture shows Joan taller and more confident on her donkey in the centre. Margaret is on the left and an unknown child on the right, perhaps the child of the assistant manager at Phoobsering. The girls were brought up by an Ayah (the woman on the right is probably Ayha to that child) and the tea bushes of Phoobersing were Joan's kindergarten. Joan’s first language was ‘Paharia’.

Joan was 'sent' to boarding school, with her sister, in far off Worthing, England, at the age of eight. The school aimed to educate the Empire's children who, in previous generations, found English monoculture unsettling. She spent summer holidays with her grandmother Margaret Bald and aunt Agnes or her aunt Ruth (who married Arthur Campbell) in Bangor, Wales. Joan and Ruth exchanged Xmas letters until Ruth died in 1988. In spite of the relatively enlightened education she received, and the support of extended family, Joan had trouble adapting to England but her mischievous cynicism found joy. She avoided compulsory French for breakfast by skipping food and playing the piano – her life-long ‘escape’. The picture shows Joan and Margaret off to Kingdene School, Worthing, with Aunt Agnes. The street photographer snapped them at the same spot on several occasions.

Joan returned to Darjeeling in late 1937 and studied piano at St Michael's and Mount Hermon obtaining a licentiate in piano as had her mother. This is a page from a schoolbook she had in 1938, showing the well-known view of Kanchenjunga (the eastern end of the Himalayas) as seen from Darjeeling.

Joan and her sister were next sent to live in Melbourne with their paternal uncle Frank Marsh as war-related problems seem to have appeared early in Darjeeling. Joan studied music at the University of Melbourne but as soon as she was 21 joined the Women's Australian Auxilary Air Force (WAAAF) and was included in the first group trained in RADAR. Her cousin Jeffrey Downing withdrew from medicine to join the RAAF. Margaret found work in the Government clothing factory. The picture shows Joan enjoying WAAAF life and getting to know other anti-monarchists.

After the war, Joan got a job at Myer in Melbourne where she worked at the complaints desk (being partially deaf, she was regarded as ideal for the role). She took a fancy to Noel, a young fellow in the furniture department. Noel's sister had a catering business and employed Joan to wash dishes while Noel helped with the cooking (also wise moves). Noel's concession to his future mother-in-law was to shave off his pencil moustache. The picture shows the pair with a picket fence at an unknown seaside location in about 1950.

Joan died on 24 December 1997 after suffering a form of leukaemia not uncommon to early RADAR operators. An adaption of my eulogy for her is at Joan's Treasures. She just missed seeing the long-overdue, and possibly inadequate, memorial to RADAR operators unveiled at the Australian War Memorial but had donated to its creation.