Introduction Story - PART 1 Story - PART 2 Story - PART 3 Story - PART 4

The Great War broke out in Europe in 1914 and my father immediately became restless (as did many other men). We got our coaches taken off the road then and the Royal Mail came by car which was everlastingly breaking down or running off the road, when they had to send a horse coach to pick up the passengers and mail. He sold up our home and loaded our buckboard and horses on a cattle boat at Ballina and landed in Sydney where he drove us overland to Melbourne. He sold the buckboard at Euroa loaded us on the train and himself rode the horses to Melbourne. The horses were later sold to the Remount Department of the Police Force in St.Kilda Rd. After a short period in Melbourne he moved to Meredith with the idea of his father coming to live with us – which he never did until he broke his leg. He enlisted as soon as he could and from then on his whole personality changed – my mother was continually hearing of his numerous infidelities, which he took little trouble to hide.

Florence Lasseter (nee Scott) Ruby's mother

For some reason women who had been quite respectable became fascinated by him. I could name several who had children by him – one he got a mate in camp to marry before her son (Kevin) was born – another one (an artist's model) and quite prominent was so enamored of him that she followed from camp to camp in several states and my mother received a letter from her brother threatening to shoot him if he went near his sister again. She eventually married one of her brother's friends before her son (Lewis) was born.

After the war he tried to make a fresh start as a contractor in Gippsland – but habits found during the war years were too strong and he kept my mother continually short of money while he used to visit Melbourne and squander it on his women friends.

All this time he used to say to us that one day he would make us all rich, as he knew where there was a cave with gold sticking out all over “like plums in a pudding”.

Eventually he left us in Melbourne – my mother and I were working – he used to appear occasionally and one day he told my mother that he had been “shanghaied” into going thru (sic) with a marriage ceremony with a women at Albert Park – ....

From time to time he sent mother short letters containing £1 towards my young sister's support ... .