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- [Notes on Jean provided by her sister Joyce]
Jean assisted her parents with the running of the farm until at age 19 she enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Australia Air Force (WAAAF) on 21 Oct 1943. For the first 16 weeks, trainees were based in Sydney at the Oceanic Hotel, Coogee (which was commandeered for service personnel accommodation for the duration of the war). Their training was conducted at the Ultimo Technical College. When this course was completed they were posted to the Central Flying School at Parkes and subsequently to the RAAF flying base at Point Cook, Victoria.
Jean was an instrument repairer. On 27 Feb 1945 she was on duty when the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited Point Cook. Jean was working in one of the hangers that the Duchess visited. (The Duke was Governor-General at the time). Jean was discharged from the WAAAF on 22 Jan 1946.
She then entered the nursing profession. She did her general training at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Then with several other nurses proceeded to the Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital in Adelaide to begin post graduate studies. Before returning to Sydney she traveled in company with two other graduates to Geraldton in WA where they worked in the local base hospital. When she returned to Sydney she continued to broaden her experience in various fields of nursing and administration before accepting an appointment at the then newly opened Governor Phillip Special Hospital, Penrigh, a rehabilitation hospital for geriatric patients.
Jean played a significant role during expansion and running of the hospital and retired from there as Director of Nursing in February 1980. She spent her retirement years in Cammeray where she and her sister Joyce jointly owned a home in Carter Street.
Jean was awared an Honorary Life Membership of the pioneer family history organization, “The 1788 to 1820 Association” (the period of Governor Lachlan Macquaries’s term of office) for her voluntary woek as membership officer and committee meember for many years.
To qualify for membership of this association it is necessary to verify that at least one of the applicant’s ancestors immigrated to Australia during the above period. There were, in fact, two ancestors - George Howel and Hannah Hill who arrived as convicts in the NSW Colony in 18092 and 1804 respectively. Both were ancestors of Mary Ann Traves (Jean’s maternal grandmother).
Had it not been for Jean’s keen interest and diligence in researching and recording her own families’s history, much of the information concerning George and Hannah may not have come to light.
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