Between the wars

Olive's family was very fortunate in that they did not suffer direct loss during the horrific Great War of 1914-1918. Gordon and Norman were too young to serve, and their father too old.The only family members the Oakleys had to worry about were Olive's youngest sister Daphne, who went to England to nurse during the war years, and two of Olive's cousins, the St. John Clarke boys, who served in the A.I.F.
Harry's father and step-mother and his half-siblings Albert, Mabel and Percy,were living in Surrey,England, and his elder brother John was in Wales, but none of them were injured by bombing or other perils of war.
Although Harry's travelling drapery business proved to be prosperous, a number of factors- extended droughts, floods and the depression- led to it being sold to pay his creditors.
He was then employed by 'Sammons and Edwards' of Corowa, and he travelled the countryside on their behalf, selling farm supplies, Massy Harris machinery and insurance.
After WW1, harry Oakley joined the staff of the Farmers & Graziers Co-operative as a wool buyer. His district extended from Savernake to the upper Murray. His means of transport was initially a Model T Ford car, but he soon switched to a sulky and a pair of horses.
When visiting the Upper Murray district Harry would be absent from home for periods of six weeks or more. This lifestyle lasted until he retired in 1941 at the age of 76 years.
It is no wonder then that Olive was so close to her sons- they were her companions during the long periods her husband was travelling away. Her sisters also visited frequently, as did her cousin Ivy McCallum Robley who had grown up with the Bishops and was like a sister to Olive.The Oakley boys knew her as 'Aunt Ivy'.
Gordon after leaving school became apprenticed to Mr W.F Nelson in 1924. Mr Nelson was a respected builder and cabinet maker in the Yarrawonga district. Gordon used to ride to work on a bicycle across the old wooden bridge that then spanned the Murray between Yarrawonga and Mulwala.
Norman studied for three years at Albury High School, and then he also became apprenticed to Mr. Nelson.At the beginning of the Depression in 1929, the Oakley brothers finished their work for Mr Nelson, and went their own seperate ways for a time. Norman continued to work in Yarrawonga when he could find it, but Gordon was forced to seek work elsewhere in towns like Wangaratta.
In 1933, Gordon and Norman were both employed by well-established Yarrawonga builder Norman Hallett, and they remained with him until 1939 when WW2 broke out.Gordon was very quick to join the A.I.F and served the duration of the War, and Norm back home was involved in the construction of the Mulwala Explosives Factory.
Norman Meabry Oakley, aged 26, married 19 year old Ivy Ellen Brown at St. Cuthbert’s Church of England, Yarrawonga, on Saturday, April 24, 1937, just three days before the bride’s twentieth birthday. They were married by Anglican priest William Joseph Chesterfield, and Ivy’s brother Edward Semer Brown and Norman’s brother Harry Gordon Oakley signed the marriage certificate as witnesses.
I don't know what Olive would have thought of her first daughter-in-law. Ivy was a free spirit, and her upbringing was certainly different than Normans'...her family were timber cutters, hard working and hard playing...there certainly would not have been any discussions about Greek Mythology or the English monarchs in the Brown household!