Annie Stack

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Annie Stack was well-known around Toodyay, Western Australia as an energetic and resourceful Noongar woman. [1]

Toodyay, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Toodyay, known as Newcastle between 1860 and 1910, is a town on the Avon River in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 85 kilometres (53 mi) north-east of Perth on Ballardong Nyoongar land. The first European settlement occurred in the area in 1836. After flooding in the 1850s, the townsite was moved to its current location in the 1860s. It is connected by railway and road to Perth. During the 1860s, it was home to bushranger Moondyne Joe.

Noongar an Indigenous Australian people who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast

The Noongar are a constellation of peoples of Indigenous Australian descent who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the south coast. Noongar country is now understood as referring to the land occupied by 14 different groups: Amangu, Ballardong, Yued, Kaneang, Koreng, Mineng, Njakinjaki, Njunga, Pibelmen, Pindjarup, Wardandi, Whadjuk, Wiilman and Wudjari.

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Although locals recall her being strong-willed and fierce if crossed, she had their respect as a hard-worker and being business-like in her dealings. She managed a team of workers based at her camp at Culham and contracted out their labour. Stack could also be wily when it came to dealing with authorities, especially when it involved her children. She had good reason given the government policies of the day, now referred to as the Stolen Generations, and the battles she had to fight, and often lost to regain them from the Moore River Settlement. [1]

Moore River Native Settlement

The Moore River Native Settlement was the name of the now defunct Aboriginal settlement and internment camp located 135 kilometres (84 mi) north of Perth and 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) west of Mogumber in Western Australia, near the headwaters of the Moore River.

Personal life

Stack was born in 1894 at Culham, a farming area north of the town of Toodyay. The Aboriginal camp where she was based was along Chatcup Road east of Culham homestead, and known as Djudjerin. [2] While the details of her life and family are still the subject of research, it is known her mother, Maggie Townsend came from the Pilbara region and her father may have been Christian Danbury. [1] [3] In 1912 Stack married James Yerbal who was also known as James Stack of New Norcia. Her second marriage was to Joseph Jackamurra also of New Norcia. It is believed she had about five children, Abraham, Kathleen, John, George Richard and Lila, and that some or all of them were from her second marriage. [1] [4]

During the 1930s Stack married for the third time to Wilfred Morrison. A boy Benjamin Wilson Morrison was born at Pinjarra on 2 November 1932. Ben was educated at the New Norcia mission. Around 1938 the family were living in a camp at Guildford, and spent some time at Moore River. They also moved about visiting and living in various camps in the Wheatbelt region and in the Swan Valley. Stack's life had its share of incidents. These were reported in the press and recorded by the authorities providing some details of where she was living at the time and the names of her extended family. [lower-alpha 1] One serious incident in 1944, in which Stack and her daughter Jean were assaulted by Jean's husband, left her in Northam Hospital for a fortnight. [1] [6]

Pinjarra, Western Australia Town in Western Australia

Pinjarra is a town in the Peel region of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, 86 kilometres (53 mi) from the state capital, Perth and 21 kilometres (13 mi) south-east of the coastal city of Mandurah. Its local government area is the Shire of Murray. At the 2011 census, Pinjarra had a population of 4,255.

Guildford, Western Australia Suburb of Perth, Western Australia

Guildford is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, 12 km northeast of the city centre. Its local government area is the City of Swan.

Wheatbelt (Western Australia) region in Western Australia

The Wheatbelt is one of nine regions of Western Australia defined as administrative areas for the state's regional development, and a vernacular term for the area converted to agriculture during colonisation. It partially surrounds the Perth metropolitan area, extending north from Perth to the Mid West region, and east to the Goldfields-Esperance region. It is bordered to the south by the South West and Great Southern regions, and to the west by the Indian Ocean, the Perth metropolitan area, and the Peel region. Altogether, it has an area of 154,862 square kilometres (59,793 sq mi).

In 1940 her son Ben was sent to Moore River Native Settlement and kept there until 1950. Stack, who gained a reputation for being bad tempered and probably seen as a nuisance by the authorities, had been labelled an "expelled" woman. This meant she was not allowed entry to the place and was refused permission to see her son Benjamin. [lower-alpha 2] There were other incidents involving hiding children, they may or may not have been her own, and misleading police about their whereabouts and perhaps to whom they actually belonged to. [3]

Work life

From the 1940s in Toodyay, Stack and her Culham team undertook contracts for land-clearing and fencing, charging at a per acre rate. They also collected wool from dead sheep, and fleece that had been caught in fencing wire. The wool was baled and sold to Woolcox-Mofflin, a firm based in the metropolitan area, for scouring. [3]

Acre unit of area

The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong, which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, ​1⁄640 of a square mile, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. Based upon the International yard and pound agreement of 1959, an acre may be declared as exactly 4,046.8564224 square metres. The acre is a statute measure in the United States and was formerly one in the United Kingdom and almost all countries of the former British Empire, although informal use continues.

Stack was well known to the local shopkeepers in Toodyay. She helped needy friends by promising to pay their bills, which she always did, and there is the famous story about how she argued with the local butchers about not paying for kangaroo meat. After all, it was a native animal, it had been here before the Europeans, and by rights belonged to the Aboriginal people. [3]

Stack’s reputation was such that she became known as the "Queen of Toodyay". Locals remember her as a tall woman with white hair, and plenty of character. This is captured in the lively portrait taken of her by professional photographer Alex Risco who had a studio in Northam. [lower-alpha 3] [2] The portrait was titled "Queen of Toodyay". Whether the title was based on local lore, or that was how she perceived herself is something we may never know. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ For example in August 1939 Stack was charged with assaulting Joseph Parfitt, in Northam, [5] though she stated it was an accident.
  2. ↑ Ben Morrison’s death in the Fremantle lockup, when he was aged 55 years, was to be part of the 1980-1989 Deaths in Custody enquiry.
  3. ↑ The photograph is held by the Toodyay Historical Society Inc. Alex Risco was a Russian migrant who came to Western Australia after the Second World War.

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References

CC-BY-SA-icon-80x15.png  This article incorporates textby Robyn Taylor available under the CC BY SA 2.5 AU licence.

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Taylor, Robyn (2015). "Annie Stack". Toodyaypedia. Lotterywest Toodyaypedia - Part II. Newcastle Gaol Museum Collection: Shire of Toodyay (draft).
  2. 1 2 Recollections by John Bee, a stockman working at Culham homestead.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Brochure on Annie Stack produced by Jenny Edgecombe of the Toodyay Historical Society Inc., October 2007
  4. ↑ Discussion with Chris Jackamarra of Toodyay by Robyn Taylor 2003
  5. ↑ "Woman Faces Wound Charge". The Daily News. 16 August 1939. p. 11. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Police Court. Assault". The Toodyay Herald. 31 March 1944. p. 1. Retrieved 15 October 2015.

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