Long-time Richmond resident Joy Baillie (nee Hickmott) has documented her life well lived in Richmond which was the place she called home from 1934 to 1979 in her soon to be released book Coachtracks, Kids & Cappuccinos.
The book is being launched at the annual reunion of past and present Richmondites being held at The Strand in Townsville on Saturday, July 2.
It was in the last six-seater Cobb and Co coach in Queensland in 1934 that young Joy Hickmott embarked on a family journey to the north-west from Surat.
“We headed up west finding work on the way wherever we could, and eventually ended up selling the coach to a drover in Winton, which allowed us to purchase an A-Model Ford,” Joy said.
“We ended up in Richmond where we worked on properties such as Cambridge Downs, Richmond Downs and with the Watkins family at Bald Hills where we resided in the shearers shed, before eventually making the move into town,” she said.
“I commenced my schooling at the St Josephs Convent in 1936 where three lots of Hickmott families received their education prior to the convents closure.”
It was while working at Berrymans drapery store in 1950 she would meet her future husband Keith Baillie.
“Keith had come from Ingham to visit his brother who worked at the butcher shop, for a couple weeks, but he never ended up going home,” she said with a laugh.
“We were married in Richmond in 1952, and for the first five years after we had no kids so we got to enjoy all the social events on the North West calendar.”
But as the saying goes “when it rains it pours” and the Baillies became parents to four boys (Russell, Rick, Paul and Scott) in the next five years, which Keith joked about saying it was a matter of knowing how to start and stop.
“Because we had four young boys we couldn’t go to all the social events anymore so from our house we decided to open a kindergarten, nursery and youth hostel while Keith did a school bus run as well.
Joy said the services they provided were something the North West really needed as families from Julia Creek, Cloncurry and Charters Towers among other places were constantly coming into town for social events wanting to have a child-free night in adult company.
“When the first baby arrived in the nursery, we thought it was the best thing ever, then a couple of week’s later we were inundated with kids and we realised we’d create a monster,” she joked.
“We had country kids who lived too far away from school to go home everyday board with us with Keith bringing them in to town on Monday and take them home on Friday.”
She said the house was always full of life as at any given time there could be around 20 boarders, or 35 kids in the kindy or nursery.
“We loved our time in Richmond; everyone was friends with everyone else, it was a great bush community and a dance, ball or race meeting was always just around the corner to look forward too.”
The Baillie’s ran the businesses for 12 years and eventually farewelled the town they’ll always call home in December 1979 as the boys had grown up to an age where they needed to find work which at that time was scarce in Richmond.
“We moved to Townsville so the boys could start on their career paths where we stayed for 14 years before eventually finding our way to our current home in Mooloolaba.
“This is where the book’s title comes from; as I traveled by coach to Richmond when I was child, raised my kids through my adult years, and now we’re retired, relaxing and having cappuccinos.
Joy said she hopes all the children who are mentioned in the book find out about it so they can go and purchase a copy for themselves, which will be available at the Richmond Reunion on July 2 in Townsville and will soon be available in Richmond.
