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- George Whitehaven Baxter
George was the fifth child and youngest son of Charles Farquharson and Jessie Minnie Baxter (nee Millsom) and was born in Perth WA on 26 August 1910. Soon after his birth he was taken back to his parents' property 'Whitehaven', near Quairading. His father purchased Whitehaven, in 1904, which was to be his home for the first four years of his life. In 1914 his father was elected to the Legislative Council of the WA Parliament and the family moved to Perth. George was given the middle name of 'Whitehaven' after the farm. The house they purchased in Mt Lawley.'
They travelled from Quairading to Perth in a Studebaker sedan, which was loaded with not only the fanuly of seven and their luggage, but also two pet kangaroos and two caged cockatoos. It took all day to drive the 170 kms, over the gravel roads, and after numerous flat tyres they finally arrived in Perth around midnight. The family temporarily resided in St Alban's Av, Highgate. In 1915 the family moved into their new residence at, 23 Vale Road, Mt Lawley. The house was also called Whitehaven and was to remain the family home until 1952.
George commenced his education at Highgate Primary School, Lincoln St, Highgate, and completed his education at Perth Boys High School, James St, Perth. After leaving school he obtained employment, as a shop assistant at Bernson's Furniture Store, is Stirling St, East Perth.
Sometime around 1929, he lost his job at Berinson's and went to work on the farm at Waeel Siding, with his older brothers Russell and Bob. Their father purchased this property after he sold the 'Whitehaven' in 1924. In 1930, Russell left the farm to go dairy farming, however, George continued work on the Waeel siding farm until late 1934 or early 1935, when he decided to head north to the East Kimberley's. At Wyndam he obtained work at 'Vestys Meat Works' and after some time with Vesty's he worked on a couple of cattle stations in the area. While at Wyndham he met Kathleen Griffith, who was also working in the district. He and Kathleen were married after he returned to Perth in 1942. In February, of that year the Japanese bombed Wyndam and he along with some of the local the population was evacuated south. At about the same time he was called-up for military service and was enlisted in the army. He served, as a sergeant, in the War Graves Registration Unit at Swan Barracks.
Following his discharge from the Army in 1946, he applied for a Soldier's Settlement Block and in the interim worked at Berrison's until he was allocated a block. In late 1949 or early 1950 he was allocated an established farm, located about 13 kilometres west of Kellerberin. This property was originally owned Caleb Massingham but it had been allowed to run down before it was taken up for the Soldier's Settlement Scheme. Incidentally, in 1913 Caleb Massingham was one of the persons along with his father, Charles, who attended the inaugural meeting in Kellerberin to form a political party. At this meeting formed the Farmers and Settlers'Association, which was later to become the Country Party and in turn the National Party of Australia.
George worked this farm until the mid 1960's when he sold it and purchased a smaller property at Quejedda. A few years later bought a property at Forest Field and after selling that he began a career as a real estate agent. He eventuallv became a licenced Real Estate Agent and owned a business in Beaufort St, North Perth, which he operated until the time of his death. He was a Freemason and a member of the Lodge of Fraternity. In 1980 he was elected Master of the lodge as was his father and his brother, Norman before him. George a very kind and easy going person but unfortunately he was a heavy smoke and suffered from emphysema, this may have been a contributing factor to his early demise on 30 December 1984 at the age of 74 years.
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1910 - 1984 (74 years)
