Irene Good (1896-1991)
Irene ‘Rene or Nenie’ Good was a teacher who worked at East Fremantle Primary and Bicton Primary schools. She was an amateur artist who won many Royal Show prizes. Her family lived in St Gerard’s, a large rambling home on Canning Highway in Bicton, from 1944 until 1968.
Irene Mary Rooney was born at Outtrim, Victoria on 8 May 1896. Her parents, Charles John Rooney (1870-1955) and Sarah Ann Hillis (1874-1953) were Irish. The family relocated to New South Wales in the 1870s. Charles and Sarah met in Victoria and married in Korumburra in about 1895. Their first child Irene was born soon after.
Charles travelled to Albany on the S.S. Woolhara, to work at a timber mill in Denmark. He was accompanied by Sarah and 8-month-old Irene. For many years the family stayed there while working in the mill, a lolly shop and a billiard saloon. By 1900 they moved to Albany. In later years, Irene remembered travelling around Albany with her father in a two-wheeled trap, pulled by a little black horse, as he lit the gas street lamps.
Irene started school in Albany, and three siblings were born there: Dick, Will and Eileen. By 1903, they had moved to Kirup, where sister Lillian was born. The next move was to Capel, where the family stayed, from 1905 to 1914, on the Capel River (Stirling Estate). Five more siblings, Madge, Sheila, Phil, Jack and Syd were born during this period.
In 1914, Rene completed a short, 6 months course at Claremont Teachers College and became a teacher. In 1915 her family moved to Bunbury. She rode her bicycle from Bunbury to her first teaching post at Picton School where she taught for 5 1/2 years. Joy Good, remembers taking Irene back to Claremont Teachers' College to visit the War Memorial. Irene knew the names of the fallen soldiers listed from the First World War as she trained with them. Her most memorable posting was at Parkfield School. She travelled to this tiny school by buggy, bicycle or occasionally by sail in her father’s dinghy or neighbour’s car. The school was a converted farm cottage, built from slabs, and she was expected to teach all grades.
Miss Rooney commenced at the school on 4 April 1921, staying until July 1924. She boarded with the Maitland Clifton family but found it lonely, so she went home on weekends to Bunbury. Although Miss Rooney often took the children on nature walks through the bush and to the estuary, she didn’t like snakes and in February 1922 wrote to the Education Department:
‘You will understand, Sir, that both the children & myself go in fear of the horrible things and on days when we have visits or indications of visits – the children cannot give their full attention to their work as the walls are full of cracks & the floor a mass of holes, where a snake can appear at any time… so I wish very sincerely that some measures might be taken to mend the walls and floor to at least keep these reptiles outside – which it is absolutely impossible to do as things are.’
The Department took the complaint seriously, abandoning the old building for a new one. To commemorate the occasion of opening a new school in 1923, she lined the school children up on the veranda for her father to take a photograph of her with them.
Irene transferred to Bunbury in 1924. At this time that she possibly studied Art at Perth Technical School under W.J. Linton (Linton was Art Master there between 1902-1931).
In 1926, she met George Philip Good (1893- 1970), an engineer on a South African ship, the S.S. Erica, trading between Capetown and Bunbury. They married in 1927 and moved to a remote farm ‘Warren Glade’ where they lived with little income until 1934. During the Depression, George took on sustenance work, helping in the construction of the Nornalup Road. Four children were born during this time; Peter John (1929-2002), George Philip (1930-2006), Mary Margaret (1932-1984) and Robert ‘Bob’ Charles (1933).
Warren Glade was ‘abandoned’ in 1934 when the Good family moved to Manjimup followed by Geraldton in 1936. In 1937 Rene had her last children, twin boys James ( 1937-2014) and William.
In 1941, George was asked to join the RANVR as his engineering expertise was required for the war effort. For the duration of WWll the family lived in Blencowe St., West Leederville, and George, given the rank of Lieutenant Engineer, was second in command of the engineering division at Fremantle.
In 1944, the Goods purchased a house and two acres of land at 318-320 Canning Highway, Bicton. The house was built of Fremantle limestone and Marseille roofing tiles, with high ceilings and wide verandahs. An outhouse contained a stable, carriage area, a laundry and a pan toilet. (Night carts were still much in use at the time.) A well was sunk, using pipes but proved unsuccessful. George and Irene lived in this house for 25 years.
During this period, Rene returned to teaching and taught variously at Beaconsfield, Palmyra Convent, Bicton, Mosman Park and East Fremantle. To reach these schools she travelled by tram and bus.
As the children completed their education and joined the workforce, Irene was able to resume her loved painting hobby. She exhibited at the Perth Royal Show, winning many first prizes.
In 1968 the Goods sold their Bicton home and moved to Melville Heights. The house was demolished in the 1970s and two blocks of flats are built there now. Information on this is location on the Ghost History section of the Streets of East Freo website.
Rene continued her painting even though her eyesight was deteriorating. George died on April 25, 1970 and Mary moved in with her mother. When Mary died in 1984 a succession of housekeepers looked after Irene. In an endeavour to keep her mind active she took up china painting and writing.
One of her legs became gangrenous and was amputated in Fremantle Hospital in 1989. Ever cheerful, she kept her mind on the possibility of returning home.
At a ceremony to unveil a plaque at the school’s site in 1989, she met up with most of her pupils from Parkfield in 1923, and was photographed with them, the youngest being in his 70's. In April 1990 she attended Picton School's 100th Anniversary and sat in her wheelchair chatting to people she'd last seen over 70 years ago. She clearly remembered them all and discussed incidents of school days.
Irene died on April 23, 1991 just days before her 95th birthday. She is buried in Fremantle cemetery with her husband.
Many thanks to Dianne Good for sharing photographs and information about her grandparents and to Dianne’s sister, Jane, for photos from her Instagram page (reference).
Information in this article has been taken from:
An obituary written by George Good Jr in 1993 and information provided by Irene’s granddaughter, Louise Good.
‘Parkfield School (1869 – 1937), Harvey History Online 17.1.2021’, by Maidee Smith, (c1979), with additions by Irma Walter & Heather Wade (2018), using records from the WA State Records Office (reference).
The original article was published on Streets of East Freo