October 3, 2013
Murgon resident Coral “Peg” Perkins had a surprise when she visited Cherbourg’s The Ration Shed recently … up on the wall in the museum was a reminder of her own younger years at the former mission.
Coral Brewer, as she then was, worked as a clerk-typist at Cherbourg from 1951 to 1954.
On February 25, 1954, she was assigned the task of typing up a letter from the then-Mission Superintendent George Sturges to the Deputy Director of Native Affairs in Brisbane seeking to have permits printed to allow Aborigines to enter and leave the settlement.
Anyone found in Cherbourg without a permit would be removed by police.
This system of control was designed to keep “undesirables” away and, according to the Superintendent at least, had attracted the co-operation of Cherbourg residents.
Coral was surprised to see her initials “CB” at the top of the letter but she knew right away that she had typed it up so many years ago.
Only a few months later she had resigned from her job to get married; she was aged about 23 at the time.
Coral recalls her time working at Cherbourg with fond memories.
“I loved my work out there,” she told southburnett.com.au today.
“The truck used to go out each day to pick up goods from the railway.
“Myself and some lady teachers at the school used to come back with it.
“We used to climb up into the back under a bit of a canopy and ride in the back to get to Cherbourg in time to start work at 8:00am.”
It was a very different world.
As well as typing, Coral also assisted with the distribution of wages to the local residents. At that time, some people couldn’t read or write so she would collect their thumbprints instead of a signature for their pay,
Coral also looked after the small local telephone exchange, a party line that connected the sawmill, school and hospital.
Ration Shed Museum chairperson Sandra Morgan welcomed Mrs Perkins’ visit and made sure she captured the moment by taking a photo of her in front of the Museum’s Timeline.
