Thornbury, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria.  It was in the middle of World War II and my parents, Charles Edward Keith Junor and Laura Frances Junor (nee Gronow) named me Margaret Mary.  My parents were married on the 16th December, 1939 and I was their first child.

 

My first home was at 20 St. David Street, Northcote, another inner suburb of Melbourne.  On the 22nd February, 1945 my only sibling, my sister Lorraine Frances was born in Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne.

 

When I was six (6) years old I started my schooling at the Wales Street State School in Northcote.  I started Grade 3 at the Helen Street State School in Northcote when we moved to 26 Oldis Avenue.

 

My father was the first employee of Bendix, who manufactured office and kitchen furniture in their rented factory in Collingwood, an inner Melbourne suburb.  They built a new factory in the Melbourne outer suburb of Clayton and offered my father a house so that he could move with the firm which he did when I was nine (9) years old.  I started school again at the Clayton North State School and then went on to the Springvale High School.

 

For as long as I can remember I always wanted to be a Typiste so I left school in May, 1956 when I was 14 years old and started a six (6) months training course for the Commonwealth Government at the Melbourne Technical College as it was then known.  In November, 1956 I started working in the Typing Pool of the War Service Homes Department in the old Rialto Building in Collins Street, Melbourne, later we moved into the new Commonwealth Centre on the corner of Spring and La Trobe Streets, Melbourne.   After working with War Service Homes for nine (9) years I started working in the General Office of the new Monash Teachers' College in Clayton, we had rooms in the Monash University and later moved into the new College.

 

In 1964 my sister Lorraine married Dutchman Gerrit (Gerry) De Jong and they had five (5) children, Julie, Christine, David, Michael and Jason.  In 1967 I met my husband-to-be Englishman Peter Norman Jones and he was a Musician (French Horn) in the Royal Australian Air Force Central Band.  He came out to Australia in 1966 and we were married in the Methodist Church in Clayton on Easter Saturday, 13th April, 1968.  I left my job at the Teachers' College and Peter and I started our married life in a flat in Werribee.  I soon got another job typing in the General Office of the Altona North High School.  After a year in Werribee we moved into a RAAF Married Quarter in Laverton near the RAAF Base.

 

On the 14th July, 1971 our only child, Glen Peter Jones was born in Werribee.  Glen was born with a serious heart condition.  Peter got out of the RAAF in 1973 and we went to England for three (3) months with Glen and I meeting Peter's relatives for the first time.  When we returned to Australia in April, 1974 Peter started teaching Instrumental Music (Brass) at the Tottenham Technical School and we lived in a flat in West Footscray for three (3) months then bought a Unit in Sunshine where we lived for about 17 months.  In 1976 we moved to Wonthaggi in South Gippsland in Victoria when Peter was transferred to the Wonthaggi Technical School.  We left Wonthaggi in March, 1985 after nine (9) years and moved to Casterton in the Western District of Victoria.  After spending nine and a half years in Casterton we moved down to Ulverstone in Tasmania where we lived for nine (9) months then returned to Victoria and stayed with my sister Lorraine in Bendigo in North Central Victoria for four (4) months.  We moved to Merino in the Western District of Victoria and after living there for 16 months we moved to Gisborne. 

 

On the 25th January, 1997 our son Glen married Trudi Marie Lawford in Casterton and on the 18th June, 2000 their son Brandon Alan Jones was born.  After 15 months in Gisborne we moved back to Casterton where we have now been living for the last nine (9) years.  Peter and I now live in quiet retirement.

 

MY HOBBIES.

 

I play Indoor Carpet Bowls with the Sacred Heart Indoor Bowls Club and the Dunrobin Indoor Bowls Club.  I have been the Ladies Singles Champion of the Dunrobin Club twice.

 

I have a collection of Teddy Bears, Teddy Bear ornaments, Gollywogs and a few other soft toys.  I also have a collection of souvenir spoons.

 

I have a small collection of Cymbidium Orchids and one of my orchids was the 'Champion Exhibit' in a section of the Casterton Uniting Parish Flower Show (Nov. 2006).