Colourful Florals

A tale of women in their Sunday best, dressed in floral frocks working the tobacco fields.

As told by Deb Hoskin In honour of Nan Lily Agius

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My Grandparents, like so many migrants, did not have a lot of belongings or money when they arrived in Australia. One item Nan did bring from Malta was her sewing machine.

Pop, Nan and family arrived in North Queensland in 1949. Pop gained employment on the irrigation channels in Clare and the family lived in calico tents within the work camp. Following a motor vehicle accident, Pop was unable to work for some time and to support the family, my Nan took on the job as camp cook which involved preparing meals for around 70 men. At that time, Clare was the temporary home to a significant number of single men who had left post-war Europe. Most of these workers hailed from The Netherlands, Italy, Malta, and Yugoslavia.

Every morning, Nan would wake at 4am to start preparing breakfast. As soon as breakfast was finished, she would start peeling potatoes in preparation for lunch. When not cooking, she took care of the workers’ laundry. Mum assisted her. When I think back, the days would have been long and the work arduous. The heat, humidity and working conditions would have been challenging with no washing machines, fridges, or any of the modern conveniences we are accustomed to today. Meat was kept in meat safes which were hung in the trees.

Nan would heat water, brought up from the river by my grandfather, in a copper. Even though the men worked in outdoor manual labouring jobs, their clothes all had to be washed, starched, and ironed (with a kerosene iron).

Later, Nan worked on a tobacco farm owned by the Aylmer family on the way at Millaro, about 1km from Clare. She is pictured here (on left) picking out young tobacco plants ready for replanting. Most of my Nan’s dresses at the time were those she brought with her from Malta. As we can see, she liked colourful floral designs, very fashionable of the day, and would match beads and other accessories. Nan would sew her children’s clothing and occasionally her own. Like so many of the women who worked on farms, Nan always dressed very nicely, even when working in the field. She would always wear a hat, not just to work in the fields, but when she dressed for town. She would buy her hats in Ayr, I am not entirely sure where, maybe Coutts’s. There was always an elegance, whether going up town or in the field.

Lily Agius in her Sunday best working the fields.

Image from recent Delta Yarns shoot, featuring floral frocks and a Tobacco Shed at Mt Alma Organics