At the beginning of 1942, the neighbourhood on O’Connell Road was quiet. At Werona, the Ray family were well known locally as orchardists, with Edwin Ray being a spokesman for the industry in Bathurst. The neighbourhood changed very much in April 1942 when a group of pre-teen boys moved into the next-door property of Karralee. We sadly have to report the death at the age of 103 of Miss Lorna Ray, Edwin’s daughter, who was a continuing and much-loved link between the family and the school next door.
Lorna puts most of us within six degrees of separation from the Lee family, who built Karralee and were one of the first ten white families to settle in Bathurst. The 1918 photo of Karralee shows one of John Lee’s granddaughters on a pony. When the photo appeared in “The Roar” a couple of years ago, Lorna revealed that the horse’s name was Prince, and when she was a little girl, she had seen Prince in a paddock on Karralee. By that time, he was a very old and retired horse. John Lee’s son Roland taught Lorna to ride a horse. She also met John Lee’s widow Hannah.
As well as Lorna, Edwin and Nell Ray had four other children. The eldest was Jean Edgecombe, who addressed the gathering for the opening of the Edwin Ray Agriculture Complex in 1986. Nan Hunt was well-known as an author of children’s books. There was a brother, Arnold, who was killed in an aircraft accident in World War II, and Kath Gibson.
When The Scots College Branch School opened in 1942, Lorna was living in Sydney, where she worked for some years as a personal assistant to a company director. Lorna was apologetic that she was not in Bathurst and did not have many stories about the branch school, but she did recall that the boys used to gather outside the gate to their property as it was out of sight of the school. There was also an incident where the boys lit a fire to burn off the long grass around Karralee. It was on a day of a northerly wind, and it was heading for the Ray family orchard when it was put out. There were also visits to the orchard by little boys who were attracted there by its abundance of fruit.
Despite the potential disruption to the peace and amenity of his property, Edwin Ray became a great supporter of the Branch School. The long grass issue was solved when he lent the school his horse-drawn slasher. He was on the local advisory committee that helped run the Branch School 1942-1945, and it was from this committee that the idea arose of founding a Presbyterian School in Bathurst. In 1946, this resulted in the opening of Scots School Bathurst. Edwin Ray became Deputy Chairman of the School Council. The Rev. Alan Dougan was Chairman of the Council. Lorna recalled that when not founding Scots or carrying out his pastoral duties, Rev. Dougan enjoyed a high-speed spin in his car on the local roads.
On retiring from full-time work in the early 1980s, Lorna returned to Bathurst. She took an interest in The Scots School and, from her residence next door to the school, observed the school’s farm develop after David Crofts became the Agriculture teacher in 1985. For many years, Lorna leased some of her property to the school to assist with the operation of the farm. Her interest also extended to calling the school if something was happening on the farm out of hours, especially things like one of the cattle not looking very well or a cow having a difficult birth. She was often present for a calving, and fell in love with one particular one who was named Blossom. This ensured that Blossom stayed at Scots for many years and enjoyed Lorna’s protection and patronage. When David Crofts left, and Libby Dawes took over in 2009, her relationship with Lorna was initially a bit rocky because Blossom was in poor health and had to be euthanised. The duties of the school Farm Hand included assisting with looking after Lorna’s property. In 1992, the farm was named the Edwin Ray Agricultural Complex and has since been renamed the Werona Agriculture Centre.
Lorna was a very private person and did not like a fuss being made over her. When her hundredth birthday approached, she was adamant that there was to be no party, cake or presents, and could not understand why anyone would want to celebrate getting old. She forbade any public mention or acknowledgement of the many generous donations she made to the farm. For many years, she made an anonymous annual donation of $500 to the Library, which paid for the subscription to “The Land”, and there were other contributions for things like publications on weed identification or other areas where she thought extra resources might be helpful. Up until mobility issues prevented her from doing so, Lorna would always attend The Scots School Speech Day and the Highland Gathering. There were also donations of trees to David Gates’ project to plant more of them around the College. Lorna was still receiving the only paper issue of the College newsletter “The Roar”, and she was always keen to receive the annual edition of “The Lion”. Lorna would read them all from cover to cover. Her friends knew this because Lorna would often discuss with them what she had read.
All who knew Lorna knew that she held strong opinions on most subjects and was not backward about coming forward with them. The proprietor of her local newsagency was sternly reprimanded for not stocking enough one hundredth birthday cards: “At my age, they are a necessity”. On the other hand, she also had a notable sense of humour. A third party got quite indignant when a new member of staff referred to Lorna as “Mrs Ray”. Lorna’s response was, “I didn’t know I had a husband. He must be a good one because I never know that he is around”.
With Lorna’s passing, the College has lost a very special and generous friend. Her life is a quite remarkable thread that joins the history of the Senior Campus site from the days of the Lee family, through the Bowe family, the founding of Scots in 1946, right up to Scots All Saints. The Archives staff have also lost a valuable resource. A phone call to Lorna or a visit always required a session afterwards to record the historical gems she had passed on.
Mr Andrew Maher
Archives
