Mary Philomena Brown (nee Sherman) formerly of Mudgee, Rylstone and Lue, died last month at the age of 102 in Wellington, after spending her final years living in Lake Cathie on the NSW coast.
Phil, as she was known, was born on December 30, 1907, in Bathurst Hospital to parents Anne and Arthur.
Phil’s mother passed away 11 days after her birth, leaving behind three children and a husband.
Anne’s sister (Mummy Reynolds as Phil called her) was visiting from Africa at the time and in Bathurst for the birth.
She returned to Africa with a young baby daughter after Arthur said he felt he could raise his other two daughters, Ada and Patricia, but was worried about a new born.
Three years later Phil and the Reynolds returned to Australia and settled in Geurie, where they managed the hotel, handed down to Mr Reynolds by grandfather Reynolds.
Phil always remembered growing up in the pub with customers leaving their horses and sulkies for the groom to attend while they carried out the day’s shopping before having dinner at the pub and heading home.
Phil remembered the husbands spending most of their time in the bar while the women did the shopping.
“You couldn’t buy clothes in Geurie”, she told her granddaughter Felicity Brown shortly before her 100th birthday.
“But you could buy shoes” and Phil remembered her favourite childhood patent leather shoes with patent leather strap.
For clothes they would travel by train to Wellington, where they would always enjoy a day’s shopping before heading back home to Geurie.
Phil also remembered the first cars arriving in town and the race horses the Reynolds owned in Geurie and raced in Dubbo, Wellington and Orange.
Phil started her schooling at Geurie Public School and the Reynolds’ stayed in the town until Mr Reynolds became ill and passed away in Orange Hospital, when Phil was aged nine.
In those days a woman couldn’t hold the licence for a Hotel so Mrs Reynolds and Phil left their Geurie home and moved with Mrs Reynolds to Dubbo, where they lived with Mrs Reynolds’ sister-in-law and Phil went to school at the convent.
After a year they moved to Sydney to live with Mrs Reynolds’ sister Poll in Wahroonga.
In Sydney Phil went to school at Lorretto Normanhurst, where she was one of the first day students. Phil continued at Lorretto until sixth class and then went to Bathurst Convent as a boarder where she completed her intermediate certificate, after which she left school, to spend time at home in Sydney with Mrs Reynolds whilst completing a typing course.
During these years, Phil’s sisters Ada and Patricia had completed their schooling in Bathurst, NSW, where their father owned a cordial factory. Patricia (Pat) went on to study teaching at university and on completing her studies Phil and Pat rented a house together in Meadow Bank, Sydney. Pat was teaching in North Strathfield and Phil had an office job in Grace Brothers where she spent the next six years before going out on her own, carrying out people’s stock take using the historical cantometer.
Phil didn’t marry until she was 31, when Arthur Brown won her attention.
“I love to dance” Phil told her granddaughter.
“I heard this beautiful speaking voice behind me after one of the dances. He was standing in the hall, He was talking to the lady who had escorted us girls out to the Dance, so I went over and of course she introduced me. He asked “can I have the next dance” and I said “yes, sure, yes”. We had the next dance and we started going out from there.”
Arthur used to visit Phil in Mudgee, travelling from Lue, where his parents had a shop.
He soon invited Phil out to Lue for the weekend, to meet his mother. Phil didn't remember an actual proposal from Arthur but within that first year of meeting, they were happily married in the catholic church of Mudgee, with Phil a true bride in lace frock and with best friend, Nell Barnes by her side as Matron of Honour.
Phil moved back to Lue with Arthur and was very happy.
She later boasted that she and Arthur didn’t have any fights or quarrels and that although Arthur would go down the hill to the Lue Hotel to meet his mates, “he would always come home for tea.”
Nine months and two days after they were married, Phil gave birth to their first son, William Edwin Brown, (Bill) and two years later, in 1941, to another son Michael, better known by his middle name of ‘Tracey’.
Bill and Tracey started school at Lue Public and schooled there until sixth class, after which they were old enough to go to Boarding School in Waverley, Sydney.
When the boys went to boarding school, Phil and Arthur bought a house in Woolstoncraft and moved to Sydney.
The boys became day students at Waverley.
The family stayed in Sydney until Bill and Tracey finished school, then they headed back to the bush.
There were a lot of people on the land around the Mudgee district and Phil remembered life to be good on the land. At age 100 years, she still owned some land in the area.
Bill died in a car accident aged 22, and three months later Arthur was also killed the same way.
Within just three months, Phil and youngest son Tracey had lost their husband, father, brother and son; both in motor vehicle accidents and both so close to home.
Phil loved playing tennis and dancing and her granddaughter Felicity fondly recalls her dancing the Charleston in the family lounge room.
Phil spent her later years in Lake Cathie, next door to her son Tracey.
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