William Robert Hope was the first born of 5 children to William Bryce Hope and his wife, Eliza Ann Robertson, on 2 September 1882 at Apsley, in far Western Victoria.

29 December 1913, was the date chosen for the wedding of William to Grace Amelia Marr (1887-1965), at Edenhope, Victoria.

William and Grace Hope had 4 children, three sons and one daughter, namely; Ian Robert Hope, Douglas Hope, Ethel Mary Hope and Stuart James Hope.

After leaving Victoria in 1915, William and Grace Hope bought a farm at Gnowangerup, Western Australia. The farm was about 500 acres of light land covered in white gum trees and Mallee. William started off by doing some contract clearing for other farmers while preparing his own land. he cleared most of the timber with an axe and built a small house of corrugated iron, initially consisting of a large kitchen and one bedroom. Later, as the family enlarged, he added other rooms, again of corrugated iron. The last room which was added was made of wheat bags with a corrugated iron rood, but no floor - just earth. The beds were made of timber sticks and wheat bags and the family had no sheets or pillow coverings. There were plenty of snakes about the house and sheds, especially where the hay was stored but luckily the family was never bitten.

The water supply for the daily needs of William's family, was one water tank and when that dried out, as was often the case, it was down to the dam with a sled and tank, pulled by the horses.

William did not own a car or truck and the only means of transport was in the horse drawn spring cart. The children, whose school was 7 miles from the farm, were taken there and picked up in the cart. During the winter months, they were usually wet through by the time they arrived at school or back home at the end of their day. They didn't have water proof clothing and consequently, nearly always had colds, flu and runny noses.

Most of the children wore hand-me-down clothes. The eldest girl or boy, would often have discards from other families or friends and they in turn would be handed down to their younger brothers and sisters, as each child outgrew the articles. They would be patched until patches were hand sewn over patches and often it was hard to see the original colour or pattern, but all the while they were clean and tidy. The children, like many others of the time, didn't wear shoes and socks. They were a luxury.

There was no electricity, running water, refrigeration or any of the mod-cons we take for granted these days. The work for a housewife and farmer was hard - long hours every day and no entertainment or holidays. It was a lonely life on the farm and William's youngest son, Stuart, will testify, the children of the generation have no fond memories of those days.

There were no machinery's apart from a small plough pulled by a few horses and the wheat was sown by scattering it by hand out of an old tub strapped over the shoulder. William had to borrow a harvester to strip the wheat, or at least what was left of it after the kangaroos and rabbits had been eating it while it was growing.

The livestock consisted of about 20 sheep, 7 cows, 6 horses and about 12 pigs; plus 10,000 rabbits and 5,000 kangaroos. Meals consisted mainly of the latter, i.e., rabbit and kangaroo, with home made bread and home made butter. Money was always scarce but it was here that the rabbits and kangaroos came to the rescue, as their skins were always good for a few extra pounds to supplement the income. Unfortunately, William was never able to sell the fruits of his Labour as there was barely sufficient for his own family.

The farm was not a success story and he walked off it during the Depression (about 1936). William actually sold the farm to a neighbour for 100 pounds but never received any money for it, so you could say that he gave it away. William, Grace and the children moved into the town of Gnowangerup where William worked for the Road Board. It was not a well paid job but at least the money was regular. He and Grace retired to Mandurah (Western Australia). After William's death in 1960, Grace moved to Perth and lived with her daughter, Ethel Mary (Molly).

William and Grace Hope had 4 children, being (with LINKS):

• Ian Robert Hope
• Douglas Hope
• Ethel Mary (Molly) Hope
• Stuart James Hope

NOTE: see the page "Arrival at Hynam" for information about the land that William & his brothers bought &/or lived on, as it appears that often they bought parcels of land between them.

Regretably, I have no further information about the life and times of William and Grace Hope or their families.

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William Bryce Hope (father)

Thomas Hope (grandfather)