FREDERICK JOHNSEN’s STORY

The following is a transcript of a conversation with Frederick Johnsen (Anglicised to Johnson)  at the old family home located in Old Ormeau. The house was built by Fred's parents and relied on 12 volt electricity and a small gas stove due to the wood stove having been damaged many years prior. It was rustic and took one back to the early years of Queensland's development.  Fred was the custodian of much of SE QLD's history and a wealth of knowledge.

This is his yarn.

Mr. Fred Johnsen was born on 29 May1904.

Fred Johnsen's grandparents - Annie and John Vaughan, came out from England on a boat and selected land at Hothom Creek, Queensland. A barge brought them up the Pimpana creek at Yawalpah.

They selected 2 blocks. 1, 160 acres and 2, of 80 acres.  They had 6-8 cows and took milk and butter in a horse and sulky to Southport to sell.

 Four children were born to them - Annie, Mercy, May and Frederick. The three girls married - Annie's husband was a clerk but died young. Mercy married an Englishman who took her to England and Canada and May married a runaway sailor and was the mother of Fred Johnsen.

Bernard (Bernt) Johnsen was a runaway Norwegian sailor, from Arendal,Norway,  who jumped ship in Brisbane and hid out on Mount Cootha until he saw his ship leave harbour. He took the road (track in those days) to Tweed Heads. He came back to the Ormeau district and married May Vaughan and worked in the Arrowroot Mills in the district. When Grandfather Vaughan died, Grandmother Vaughan had to have somewhere to stay. She lived in Clark's house which was Post Office for the district before the railway came through. It had a shingled roof.

Bernard (Bernt) and May lived in a slab hut, or a nearby dairy until told that people had bought the dairy and they had to move. They had three children - Louisa, William and Fred.

When Grandmother Vaughan became sick, they put her on the train for the General Hospital at Pimpana. The Pimpana Railway Station was on the flat ground behind Strawberry Farm at Pimpana today. There were two trains - one at 9.30 in the morning and one at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. A horse and sulky picked her up and took her to the station.

For a while previous to this the Johnsen's lived with her in the clerk's house. She died in Brisbane and is buried at the church on the Highway at Pimpana. Bernard Johnson and Frederick Vaughan dug her grave and friends helped to carry the coffin from Ormeau Station to the church for the ceremony.

Fred can remember the racecourse which was at Pimpana at that time. This was just up from the Railway Station or the flat behind Strawberry Farm. On race days they would attach the horse floats to the normal passenger train and the jockeys would travel with the horses to comfort them for the journey from Brisbane to Pimpana. Two horses were loaded on to each float and they would arrive on the morning train at 9.30 a.m. and then ride their horses over to the racecourse.

They would be ready to leave on the afternoon train. It was quite a way to the Hotels from the racecourse and some of the race patrons upon leaving for the Hotel forgot to come back. There were 2 Hotels at the time - one on either side of Hothom Creek.

Fred's grandfather, Mr Vaughan would chop a bush lemon tree and plant it in the vicinity of the racecourse come race day. He would load the lemon tree with oranges before the race people had arrived and used the fake tree as a gimmick to sell his oranges.

The Hotels would erect temporary bush shelters for the race patrons and the women would sell tea and refreshments on the race grounds.

Going back to the days of Grandma Vaughan when she was living in the Clark's house, the shingled roof leaked. The Clark's gave permission to Bernard (Bernt) to roof the house with corrugated iron and gave an assurance that he could take this iron with him when he left.

A farmer on his way to the blacksmith (which was between the Yatala Pie Shop and the Yatala Hotel) at Staylyton. picked up the corrugated iron from the Clark's house in a horse and sulky and let them off in the vicinity of Murtha's Park. Bernard Johnson then had to transport the sheets a few at a time with the aid of a wheelbarrow to the site of his new hut, six kilometres further along the road.  On being told that they would have to move from the dairy house, Bernard approached Mr Thompson. a man of means and land in the area for a place to stay. Mr Thompson said Bernard could build and live on his land rent free. Bernard wished to buy the land but it was many years before Mr Thompson agreed to sell to him. In the meantime Bernard built a humpy and the Johnsens lived there for a time before he (on the urging of his wife) built a more presentable house, roofed with corrugated iron bought for Grandma Vaughan.

In 1915 five acres were bought from Mr Thompson for 50 pounds but not without trouble. When finally, Mr Thompson agreed to sell Bernard land their first trip to Beenleigh to see a solicitor came to nothing as it was discovered that Bernard was an illegal immigrant and as such not entitled to own land. A birth certificate was needed and correspondence to and from Norway had to take place before Bernard could be naturalised. A further 8 months to a year passed before Bernard could sign papers and call the land his own.

Added information concerning Mr Thompson was that he owned the first car in the district - Model T-Ford and it was in this car that Bernard travelled to Beenleigh to see the solicitor.

There was no solicitor resident in Beenleigh at this time but a Mr Baile travelled from Brisbane to Beenleigh once a week (Monday) to serve the area and it was to him the Thompson's went for the legal papers to be signed.

Fred attended the Pimpana School as did his mother before him. May Vaughan was taught by Mr. Costello and Fred had Mr. Durwoody as teacher.

When Fred was 10 he was sent to work for Mr Oxenford's mother-in-law, Mrs Bozier at Coomera. She lived in the house which is now the Oxenford Hotel and Fred chopped wood and did the gardening and helped the old lady while attending the Coomera School. He worked for 4 years for the old lady. Fred's sister Louisa worked for the Oxenford's and when she left his brother also worked for them.

 When Fred was 14 he worked for the Murtha Family on their dairy farm. He had his own hut in which he slept and earned 10/- a week plus his keep. when he turned 15 he earned one pound a week and he kept his money but previous to this time his mother kept the authority notes signed by his employers. It was Fred's mother plus small amounts stringently saved by his mother that bought their land.

The five acres they bought from Mr Thompson came into Coomera shire. A lot of the and surveyed was taken over by small cane farms approximately 16 acres in areas - this land was bought out and is now only a couple of big farms.

 Boyhood memories:  Mr. Savage would come riding through the district to the various settlers taking orders and once a month he would load up a big dray pulled by two horses with household goods of every description. The settlers would always buy in bulk - enough to last them a month and to each household having children a bag of boiled lollies would accompany the essentials and this was courtesy of Mr Savage. The nearest shops to the area were south at Coomera and north at Beenleigh.

Fred can remember the day his father broke his leg. Fred was at home and so he must have been younger than 10 years. It was a rainy day - so much rain had fallen that the creeks were swollen and couldn't be crossed. Bernard could not get across to work at the Mills. He had by this time bought a horse to travel to work.  The sun had come out and Bernard decided to fell a tree, a particularly large tree a little way from the house. 

The children had slipped down to the creek which rounded the property and formed part of the boundary to watch logs floating down the rushing water. Some time passed until Louisa decided to go back to the house and heard her father's 'cooee'. She found her father trapped under the tree which had bounded back, having being caught by trailing lantana. Mrs Johnson traveled up the creek away to 'cooee' to the family on the other side - the Mills family.  

Luckily a giant tree had fallen further up the creek and formed a natural bridge. By using the tree the Mills forded the creek and enlisted the help of neighbouring families - the Marlowe's, the Thompson's and Harry Johnson. Bernard was freed and found to have a broken leg. 

Two chaff bags were threaded onto sapling trees to form a stretcher and because of the flooded creek the journey to the Ormeau Railway Station (which was just up from Murths's Park) took all day.

Bernard's accident happened early in the morning and they were just able to place him on the 
5 o'clock train to Brisbane. A horse ambulance transported him from South Brisbane Station to the General Hospital. He was there for three months during which time May and her children survived with the help of neighbours, family and friends. No welfare payments existed for people at this time. 

The creek provided food as well - fish was plentiful and yabbies, catfish and eels could provide meals which could be caught by the children.

 Fred also worked at Philip Peacheys garage at Ormeau - this was established in 1925.

Fred passed away on 3 March 1995, laid to rest at Pimpama Uniting Church Cemetery.

Ormeau now has the Frederick Johnson Park (a recreation reserve) named after Fred.