Caroline Hammat
Third generation Australian Phyllis Facey recently celebrated her 100th birthday with family and close friends at her Millicent home, Blue Gum Park.
Phyllis Corbyn Canobio was born April 2, 1924 in a guest house in the South Gippsland town of Korumburra, Victoria, the fourth and final child of John and Grace Canobio.
When she was born her brother William (Bill) was eight years old and her sisters, Roma and Beryl, were six and one.
She was taken home to the family farm, Glen Garvin, on Canobio Road.
Mrs Facey’s grandfather, John Giacomo Canobio, was the first Italian migrant to reside in South Gippsland.
Born in Villa de Terano, Lombardy, in 1840, he arrived in Australia on board the Morning Light ship.
In 1875 he married Welsh woman Mary Ann Harris and settled on a 320-acre property at Jeetho in 1878.
Mr Canobio became a local bush veterinarian and was a good judge of cattle and horses.
He bred prize-winning Welsh show ponies and Ayrshire cattle.
In 1898 he became an Australian citizen and he died in 1901.
Phyllis’ father, John Canobio, was born on the Jeetho farm and he married Grace Irving from Daylesford.
They settled on Glen Garvin at Bena, which was part of Mr Conobio’s father’s original settlement.
He kept breeding and showing of Ayrshire stud cattle started by his father, and continued in the family until the early ’60s.
The girls would wear the winning silk ribbons in their hair to school with pride.
From an early age Phyllis was taken to the milking sheds morning and night where she slept in a box while other members of the family milked the cows.
By the age of three Phyllis was able to help milk by hand herself, although her chief job was washing the cow’s teats.
The children all rode ponies to school, a four mile trek to Krowera School, up steep hills and down deep gullies.
Bill started school in 1922 and once Roma began it was Bill’s job to dinky his younger sister as there was only one pony available.
When Beryl began school another pony had to be found.
Phyllis rode dinky behind Bill or Roma for her first year of school until Bill, then Roma, left and the younger two had a pony each.
There were strict family rules when riding to school.
The children were never to cross the creek if the water was flowing over the bridge, and never to ride through the creek when the water was over the horses’ knees.
These rules extended the four-mile trip to five or six miles and the girls, Phyllis and Beryl, did not always follow the rules.
On one occasion they crossed the bridge while water splashed over it, thinking they were in time to take the risk.
When they arrived home early, their father suspected the reason and both the girls were in trouble that night, and the bridge was gone the next morning.
Every Saturday, after milking, it was the girls’ job to scrub the verandah around the entire house on their hands and knees with a scrubbing brush, cloth and bucket.
Following this, every window in the house had to be washed with their mother saying “a healthy girl is a busy girl.”
Beryl and Phyllis were keen netballers, or basketball as it was called then.
They competed against schools in the area and Phyllis still displays the cup she won playing in the grand final against Jeetho School.
It takes pride of place in the home’s trophy cabinet alongside Blue Gum Park cattle trophies.
Through exhibiting Ayrshire Cattle ‘Pop’ Facey and the Canobio family became friends and would visit each other regularly.
Mr Facey’s son, Jim, became friends with Phyllis for many years and he proposed when she was 19.
The couple married in December 1943 in Melbourne.
Phyllis still has the watch he gave her when she was 15, a necklace when she was 16, and pearls when she was 21.
After the birth of their first son, Norm, the family moved to their new home at Blue Gum Park.
Phyllis’s first question on arriving was “where are all the hills?”
One of the challenges in those early years of married life was when her brother-in-law Laurie, and father-in-law ‘Pop’, took the cattle to exhibit at the Adelaide show followed by the Melbourne show.
During this time Phyllis and Jim remained home and were responsible for milking 36 cows by hand, morning and night, for six weeks.
Like his mother before him, Norm was carted to the shed and slept in a box during milking times.
By the time Phyllis’ second son Arthur was born, milking machines had been installed.
For many years, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, Phyllis looked after five men at Blue Gum Park, ‘Pop’, Jim, Laurie, Norm and Arthur.
Hardly a week went by without a buyer of cattle staying at the homestead.
The spare bed sheets were washed nearly every day ready for the next buyer and were the first to wear out.
It was one of the buyers who was horrified that Phyllis didn’t have running water in the house, when the men had everything outside.
Her answer even now is “the farm must come first.”
In her early years at Blue Gum Park there was no need for a car licence as everything was delivered.
Grocery store owners Ross Orchard and Don Stark would phone on Monday morning for the order and it was delivered by Jack Kent later in the day.
Eventually Phyllis sat for her driving test alongside Laurie and Bert Gamble on the same day.
Having her licence allowed Phylllis to share the school run with her neighbour Hazel Spehr and it was put to good use driving her sons to their sporting games in Millicent and Mount Gambier.
In her spare time Phyllis would help with the preparation of the show cattle.
Nothing was ever too much trouble for Phyllis.
Sadly, Jim Facey died in November 1985.
Once Phyllis approached 90 years of age the family thought she should have a cleaner in to wash the windows before Christmas each year.
When the doctor asked her if she was still doing her own housework she sheepishly told him she didn’t do everything herself now, she had cleaners cleaning the windows at Christmas and her daughter-in-law now mowed the lawn.
Mrs Facey’s niece and family travelled from South Gippsland for the celebrations.
Her great-grandson Jack facetimed from Renmark to sing happy birthday with his whole class joining in, before travelling to Millicent for the celebrations.
Other grandchildren and great-grandchildren helped with the decorations, memorabilia and of course farm duties.
Member for Barker Tony Pasin and Member for MacKillop Nick McBride both dropped in to congratulate Phyllis on her 100th birthday.
Cards and letters acknowledging the milestone were received from King Charles II and Queen Camilla, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, state premier Peter Malinauskas and the Governors of Australia and South Australia.
Mrs Facey enjoyed her day and said
“Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my 100th birthday.
“I’ve had a lovely week, spending time with dear friends and family.”
