Name: Charles Lawrence REYNOLDS

Date of Birth: August 22, 1913

Birth Location: Teede Street, South Bunbury.

Also Known As: Lawrence or Lon

Age at Burial: 66 years

Date of Death: February 24, 1980

Death Location: Roe Road East, (Now Reynolds Road) Capel.

Date of Burial: February 27, 1980

Denomination: Seventh Day Adventist

Row/Grave: Row 3 / Grave 21

Grave Transcription:

CHARLES LAWRENCE REYNOLDS

22.8.1913 – 24.2.1980

IVY MARY REYNOLDS

3.11.1914 – 3.2.2016

LOVED PARENTS OF

LYNTON, THELMA, LAWREEN,

GLENN AND ELAINE.

Father: Charles Leslie Reynolds born: April 17, 1881, Newtown, NSW. Died: January 7, 1945. Buried Capel Cemetery.

Married: December 6, 1905, Florence Street, South Fremantle.

Mother: Annie Georgina Andrews born: August 2, 1882, Warwick, Queensland. Died: July 25, 1968. Buried Capel Cemetery.

Grandfather (Father): Charles Thomas Reynolds born: 1857 Richmond, Victoria. Died: October 2, 1942. Buried Fremantle Cemetery.

Grandmother (Father): Mary Anne Chin (Chinn) born: 1858, Kiama, NSW. Died: October 6, 1933. Buried Fremantle Cemetery.

Grandfather (Mother): Arthur Andrews born: 1854, Warwick, Queensland. Died: September 26, 1910. Buried Karrakatta Cemetery.

Married: December 28, 1876, Warwick, Queensland.

Grandmother (Mother): Janet Steele born: 1854 Warwick, Queensland. Died: September 3, 1936. Buried Karrakatta Cemetery.

Siblings:

Eva Amelia Reynolds born: 1906, Fremantle, Western Australia. Died: October 30, 1995. Buried Midland Cemetery. Married 1929, Perth, George Elliot Lang.

Leslie John Reynolds born: 1908 South Bunbury, Western Australia. Died: March 13, 1956, East Coolgardie. Buried Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth. Married 1927, Busselton, Gertrude Annie Lemke.

Hilda Edna Reynolds born: 1910 South Bunbury, Western Australia. Died: May 21, 1940. Buried Capel Cemetery. Married 1934, Busselton, Walter Earnshaw.

Arnold Irwin Reynolds born: 1926 Died: July 29, 1934, Bunbury Regional Hospital. Buried Capel Cemetery.

Spouse: Ivy Mary Wells born: November 3, 1914, Dorrington Cottages, Dorrington, Worthing, Sussex, England. Died: February 3, 2016. Buried Capel Cemetery.

Married: November 5, 1935, Capel Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Children:

Lynton Charles Reynolds married Barbara Mary Vaughan

Thelma Georgina Reynolds married Jack Butt Payne

Lawreen Mary Reynolds married 1. Carl Everett.   2. Garry John McIver

Glennard Lawrence “Sno” Reynolds married Wendy Lynne Hockey

Elaine Joy Reynolds married David Brian Johannson

Occupation: Farmer

Their Story

Charles Lawrence, (for ease of reference in this document he will be referred to as Lawrence, or Lon) married Ivy Mary Wells on November 5th, 1935, in the Capel Seventh-day-Adventist Church.

Five children were born to Lawrence & Ivy, Lynton Charles Reynolds (married to Barbara Mary Vaughan), Thelma Georgina Reynolds (married to Jack Butt Payne), Lawreen Mary Reynolds (married to Carl Everett (deceased)) and Garry John McIver, Glennard (Sno) Lawrence Reynolds, (married to Wendy Lynne Hockey) and Elaine Joy Reynolds (married to David Brian Johannson).

Lawrence was one of five children.  His oldest sister was Eva Amelia Reynolds, born 1906, (married to George Elliott Lang): Leslie John Reynolds born 1908, (married to Gerty Lemke): Hilda Edna Reynolds born 1910, (married to Wally Earnshaw):  Charles Lawrence born 1913 (married to Ivy Mary Wells): Arnold Reynolds born 1926, deceased in 1933, the result of a rheumatic heart.

Lawrence had only ever lived on the farm at 254 Jamieson Road,  Capel.  The farm is named Glen Eden. His parents started to build the humble, small farmhouse on the property near a very large gum tree, which is still standing when this is written (2024).  Lawrence’s father started to clear the property, it was covered in large Marri (Red Gums) and Jarrah trees.  It was back breaking work.  The clearing of the property at 254 Jamieson Road wasn’t completed until the Italian prisoners of war came.

The house was not e totally completed until the time of Lawrence and Ivy’s marriage in 1935.  It’s a long time to wait for completion.  Times were hard, as they were for all the residents of the district.  The world wars had a massive impact on farmers in Australia.

Lawrence worked Glen Eden, with Ivy’s help.  They built a very nice cottage from a “group” house that was dismantled from elsewhere and re-assembled on the farm. Lawrence’s parents lived in the original homestead until 1944 at which time Lawrence’s father became desperately ill with Tuberculosis (TB).   As there was no known cure (antibiotics had been discovered yet), the only solution to stop everyone from getting TB, was to isolate the sick person.  This happened with Lawrence’s father being moved to Lawrence and Ivy’s home and the entire family moving into the original homestead with Lawrence’s Mum, Annie Georgina Reynolds.  The cottage that was Ivy & Lawrence’s home was sold following the death of Lawrence’s father.  It was a heartbreak to Ivy who grieved for her little home most of her long life.  (Ivy lived till she was over 101 years old).  The sale of the house was necessary to keep the farm afloat: understatedly it was a difficult time.

Lawrence contracted rheumatic fever in February 1944.  It was a mongrel disease.  Lawrence was ordered to have 6 months bed rest.  The situation on the farm at this time reads: There were two children (Lynton 7 years and Thelma 5 years): Ivy was pregnant with Lawreen:  Two Italian prisoners of war were placed on the farm (as were many others locally and nationally) (The prisoners names were Sella & Sedella): Lawrence and Ivy had just won a contract to deliver Tom Jamieson’s cream, (neighbour) to the Watsonia Capel Butter Factory using a horse and cart: Lawrence’s father was dying with TB:  It was necessary to move into our Grandma’s house ( as previously explained why): And about 30-40 cows needed to be to milked by hand, and calves to feed: And somehow the farm had to keep running.  Lawrence’s brother Leslie John (1908 – 12th March 1956) and Ivy’s sister Dorothy Wells -Simpson came to the rescue, milking cows and manoeuvring around their own families.  Thank God for families!!!  Lawrence was told by doctors that he would live with a rheumatic heart for the rest of his life. Gratefully and providentially, this was not the case, though at the time he didn’t know that his life would be in danger a number of times in the future.

Lawrence hurt his back on August 21st 1944.  He was helping move a cupboard with his brother Les, and it turned out that Ivy and Lawrence were both in hospital when Lawreen was born on his 31st birthday.  Hence her name, a feminine version of Lawrence.  Dr Smith would carry a letter to Lawrence in Bunbury Regional Hospital (at the foot of the hill from the Roman Catholic Cathedral) from Ivy who was in the Sterling Hospital. Cute to read, traumatic to experience.

Two other children were born to grace Ivy & Lawrences’ home.  They were Glennard (Sno) Lawrence Reynolds and Elaine Joy Reynolds-Johannson.

Lawrence was a beautiful role model to his family, a very hard worker, a man of integrity.  The family remember him lying on the floor at lunch time and having a short nap.  He then often worked to well after dark.  Lawrence was always on the lookout for extra work, and he was known to take his little Ferguson tractor and rotary hoe orchards in the district.  He bought a small bulldozer that would have been very handy in the years before when clearing the land. He also bought an old truck and use to take cattle to market.

In the late 1940’s Lawrence was hospitalised in a painful state.  It wasn’t easily diagnosed what the problem was.  Eventually he was taken to theatre, and it was found he had a burst appendix. It wasn’t in the usual place but wrapped around his bowel.  Ivy said it was touch and go, but recover he did.

It was a few years on, when Lawrence was using a circular saw, and a piece of wood flew off and all but took his ear off.  His ear was stitched back on. Later, on October 7th 1959 he was using an emery wheel that shattered.  (This happened a week before Thelma’s wedding on October 14th 1959).  He was building a trailer.  A piece of the shattered emery wheel shattered his facial bone into about 120 pieces.  It all stayed in the appropriate place and eventually healed.  His eye never faired so well.  The force of the hit transferred a sliver of flesh from his eye lid onto the eyeball, that remained there until he passed away.  The eye unfortunately going blind.  And though Lawrence never complained he suffered headaches, and the remaining eye felt very stressed.  He would sometimes sit quietly with his eyes closed. Dr Foster was the Doctor who stitched him up on those occasions!!!

Lawrence was quite a tease.  He really loved his grandchildren, there are vivid memories of him teasing them and playing with them.  In fact, the last picture taken of Lawrence was with his granddaughters Melissa Johannson and Tanya Reynolds.

Lawrence planted and replanted the orchard on the property.  In the middle of the orchard was a large patch on red coloured loam.  It was here as well as inside the fence at the homestead, that Lawrence planted vegetables.  In todays’ language we would say he had a real green thumb.  He grew beautiful veggies and fruit, that Ivy would sell around the district as they owned a hawker’s license.  Also, in the early sixties the farm had about 6,000 free range chooks. Ivy sold the eggs as well.  Vegies and fruit were taken to the Perth markets on occasions and excess eggs sold to the Egg Board in Bunbury.  The farm was very productive.  Lawrence also propagated bees and sold the honey along with the other produce.

In 1960,  at the time of Lynton and Barbara’s wedding, the farm was split into two.  The cows and dairy were moved to the “second flat” on Jamiesons Road and a cute little house was built commonly referred to in the family as “The Ranch.”.  The veggies, fruit and eggs kept everyone highly involved and busy.  It was not long after Lynton and Barbara’s wedding that they accepted employment on the Wiluna Adventist Mission Station where Barbara’s parents were the Directors.  Lawrence then ran fat stock and ceased milking cows.

Lawrence loved the Capel River, that is the southern boundary of the farm. He infrequently caught English Perch in the River.  It was scrumptious.  During the Second World War, he was paid to measure the river, as many other people in WA were asked to do.  The Government wanted to know where permanent water was and how much was available.

Another of Lawrence’s passions in life was fishing.  He loved to go to the sea and fish.  Sometimes to rocks, visiting places like Wydaup, Canal Rocks, Dunsborough, Capel Beach at Peppie Grove or Forrest Beach.  He was a good fisherman, and sometimes caught so many fish he would sell them. It all helped to keep the family fed and happy.

Lawrence and Ivy became Seventh-day Adventists prior to their marriage and enjoyed an active Christian life.  They frequently were called to help people.  It was a major part of their marriage and continued all of their lives.  They credited God with being their stable partner in their marriage.

Lawrence was referred to as Lawrie at Capel Primary School, Uncle Lon to his nieces and nephews, and Ivy always referred to him as Lon.  (Interestingly, Lawreen is known as Lonny to her grandchildren). Lawrence was an amazing athlete at school and could “run like the wind” according to those who knew him.  Certainly, his children followed in his steps in that regard.

Lawrence acquired more land around the district.  He sometimes leased property over the summer from the Water Board in the Stirling and the Forestry Commission in Ludlow.

It was a life well lived.  One filled with love, hard work, sorrow, laughter, pain, peace and much more.  It was a sad day when he was killed in an accident while using the tractor on Roe Road East, now known as Reynolds Road.  He was helping his daughter Elaine and her husband David, get water to their house from the river.

He was a great Dad, husband, son, uncle, Grandfather and friend.  This is a very small snapshot of our Dad, Charles Lawrence Reynolds.

(Lawrence & Ivy Reynolds are mentioned  on pages 164, 251 & 329 of “Just a Horse Ride Away: A History of the Shire of Capel and Its People”.  Copyright Shire of Capel, 1995.  Authors Diana Chase and Valerie Kranz.  ISBN 0 646 261770.)

Some of the details in that account are not quite correct.  On page 251, Lawrence and Ivy took over the management of the farm at 245 Jamieson Road, they never started the farm.  Lawrence’s parents started the farm in 1913.  Also Lawrence did have Rheumatic Fever, but he was not hospitalised for 6 months, but he was ordered 6 months bed rest by the Doctors.  Which did indeed transpire.

Compiled and written by Lawreen McIvor daughter of Charles Lawrence Reynolds.

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© Capel District Cemeteries Project 16/12/2024