Artisans From England
Ethel Margaret Mason, second of the seven daughters of Edward Mason and Margaretta Bourne Chisholm, was born on 18 March 1881 in Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales. The Mason family moved around New South Wales frequently due to Edward Mason’s employment, therefore the children tended to receive their schooling from a governess at home.
When Ethel was about twelve years old, the family finally settled in Adelaide, South Australia. The Mason’s were living in Coglin Street, Brompton, South Australia on 23 February 1903 when Ethel, then 21 years old, met and married Joseph McAllister, a 26 year old brick moulder, also from Brompton. Joseph and Ethel McAllister had a family of seven children; Estelle Ellen, Joseph Edward, Violet Ann, Florence May, Harold Leslie, Ethel Margaret and Gordon Henry. The family lived in a cottage at 68 Chief street, Brompton. The house was left to Joseph and his brother William when their father died in 1900. The property was later transferred to Joseph after the death of his mother in 1905. |
Ethel remained close to her sisters and, although they all married and had families of their own, they would still get together as often as possible. Ethel was reputedly a very good cook and the McAllister household was frequently crowded with relatives and friends who loved her apple pies and scones. Sunday nights, after church, were often spent having a sing-a-long around the piano followed by Ethel’s custards sprinkled with coconut. Once the children had grown up, married and left home, Ethel began to fill her time making children’s toys for charity. She collected old black stockings from the nurses at the local hospital to make her gollywogs. She would also make other soft toys, such as teddy bears, dogs, cats and rabbits, and give them away to children’s homes and hospitals.
Ethel was widowed in 1951 when she was 70 years old. For the next ten years she lived with her children, visiting with each one in turn. She spent a lot of time with her eldest daughter, Estelle, at Glandore, South Australia. Quite often Estelle would hear the doorbell ring and it was Ethel saying “Hello Darling, I've come home.” Eventually Ethel decided it was time to go into a nursing home and she moved into Resthaven at Leabrook, South Australia. She continued to make her toys and often taught the other residents how to make them as well. Her fingers were always busy and she would even do sewing for the matron of the home. She loved to entertain the other residents and apparently played Queen Victoria in one of the shows that the home put on. |
For the last two years of her life, Ethel suffered from a stomach ulcer and gallstones. She died on 24 July 1965 at the Resthaven Nursing Home in Leabrook, South Australia at the age of 84 years and was buried on 26 July 1965 in Dudley Park Cemetery, Dudley Park, South Australia.