George Bewsher (1882-1969)

George Bewsher was born in Albany in 1882 to Frederick Bewsher and Mary Bewsher nee Walker and attended the Christian Brother’s St Patrick’s School in Irwin Street, Perth during his childhood (reference; reference). George and his brother Edward were keen sportsmen. Edward was a champion long distance cyclist and George was involved in horse racing both as a trainer from 1904 to 1940 and as a jockey from 1904 to 1929 (reference; reference; reference). George also rode with the Bunbury Hunt Club and played football with the Lumpers Football Club (reference; reference). 

George came from two early Western Australian pioneering families. His paternal grandfather, Corporal William Bewsher, his wife and children came to Western Australia in 1863. William was part of the Pension Guard, British soldiers on a pension given for long service or meritorious deeds. William had paid his dues. Serving in the Lancashire Fusiliers, he had fought in the First Carlos War in Spain, the Crimean War and the Indian Uprising. As a pension guard, William completed seven years of military service in Fremantle, after which he was entitled to a free parcel of land. At the end of his service, he settled in Bunbury and was working for Miss Diana Bunbury for the last thirty years of his life (reference; reference; reference). William passed away in 1900 (reference).

George Bewsher’s maternal grandfather, Mr James Harris, was also an early colonist, having arrived in 1850. James was a locksmith and gunsmith living in Stirling Street, Perth (reference). 

George Bewsher’s father, Frederick Bewsher, ran a saddle making business before joining the police force at thirty years old (reference; reference). As a police officer, he served in many parts of the state including Fremantle, Albany, Kojonup, Bunbury, Perth, Williams, New Norcia and Kurnalpi (reference; reference; reference; reference; reference; reference; reference; reference; reference).

In 1905 George was in charge of a racing stable in Guildford. By 1908, George had moved to Bunbury. A letter to the Harvey Murray Times in 1941, recalled how George won a hurdle race in Bunbury on a mare called Tortoise in 1908 and won ₤20 (roughly equivalent to earning $15k today). He was also working as a groom for E. Krachler (reference; reference; reference).

In 1909, George married Ingeborg (Belle) Anderson. Belle was the daughter of Oscar and Lilian Anderson of Boyanup. After Oscar died in 1930, Lilian married Harry Hislop of Bunbury in the same year (reference; reference).

George and Belle moved to East Kirup Mill by 1912 (reference; reference). George continued to work as a horse driver until he enlisted for service in 1915. He embarked in 1916 with the 11th  Infantry Battalion - 13 to 23 Reinforcements. He served mostly in France and was transferred to the 51st Battalion then to the 1st Anzac headquarters. He returned to Australia in 1919 (reference; reference; reference). George and Belle continued to live at Kirup after the war. In 1925, George was elected to the executive committee of the Australian Timber Workers Union for East Kirup (reference).

In 1929, when George and Belle moved back to Bunbury, George returned to training horses. George Bewsher and his wife Belle probably moved into 15 Ednie Street in 1929 when they moved from Kirup to Bunbury (reference). A recent article in the Dardanup Times discussed an interview from 1955 with Thomas Tyrell, an old racing identity, where Mr Tyrell had named George Bewsher as one of the best horsemen of those days in the district (reference).

In 1937, George and Belle won second prize in the Western Australian lottery which was worth  ₤1000 (reference). This was a substantial amount as the average annual salary was around ₤250 (reference). George, who was a sustenance worker (somewhat equivalent to the present ‘work for the dole’), was reported to have received the news “without any outward trace of excitement, merely, remarking that the money 'would come in mighty handy.” It seemed that his  greatest ambition was to own his own home as he did not want to travel or leave Bunbury (reference).

Although they were still at 15 Ednie Street in 1942, they were living in Spencer Street by 1954 (reference, reference). 

True to his word, George did not live a lavish lifestyle after his lottery win. He continued to train horses and in 1939, two of the horses he trained won the Mount Barker Cup and the Forest Hill Purse (reference). In the late 1940s, he was a trainer with the Pastimes Football Club and was given a special presentation in 1947 for valuable services rendered to the club (reference). In 1949, George was Father Christmas for the children of the football club but his beard did not meet the expectations of one lad who complained to his mother “Gee Mum! he aint got much whiskers!” (reference).

George was 87 years old when he died in Bunbury in 1969 (reference). Belle was living in St. James when she died at the age of 91 in 1983 (reference).

George and Belle had four children: Eileen (b.1909); Frederick (b.1912, died as an infant); Edward (b. 1913) and Gordon (b. 1920). George was also the father of Eileen May Stephens (b. 1905) whose mother Alice Stephens, charged George for maintenance (reference).

Eileen Bewsher married William H. White in 1933 and they ran a delicatessen called Whiteys at 62 Victoria Street from 1937 until 1949 (reference; reference; reference). William died after an illness in 1952 and Eileen moved to Sydney (reference; reference).

Edward Bewsher married Ursula (Margaret) James from Perth in 1939. In 1943 he enlisted in the army and served in New Guinea. When he returned from service, he and Margaret lived in Orange Avenue, Perth (reference).

Gordon joined the navy in 1938 and was a stoker on HMAS Penguin. He was discharged in 1940 and married Olive Hughes from Pingelly in 1943 (reference). Olive enlisted in the WAAF in 1942 and was discharged in 1944. After the war, Gordon and Olive lived in Bentley (reference).

Researched by Gaye Englund for the Museum of Perth