Lily Hay (1872-1949)

Lily - Lilian Edith Guilfoyle Rundle was born in 1872 at Brompton, an inner suburb of Adelaide (reference). At the time of her birth, her parents, Josephine and Elisha Rundle were publicans at the Gasworks Hotel in Chief Street, Brompton. Elisha was the son of John Rundle, a Hindmarsh councillor and a founder of the Brompton and Bowden Methodist Mission in the same neighbourhood as the hotel (reference). Josephine Rundle was 13 years older than Elisha and was a widow twice over. 

Josephine and her first husband, Robert Ingham, took over the licence of the hotel, then known as the Brickmaker's Arms, in 1863 and renamed it. Robert died at the hotel and Josephine took over the licence in 1864. She then married Thomas Coombes, who took over the licence in 1867 but also died at the hotel. When Mr Coombes died, his partner, William Thomas, took over the hotel only to die there the following year. In a book titled "Death at Josephine's Gasworks Hotel", author David Coombes presents convincing evidence that Josephine may have been a serial killer who was responsible for the deaths of these men plus that of Josiah Maarsen, who was a lodger at the hotel at the time of his death. Josephine and Elisha left the hotel after Josiah Maarsen's children challenged his will, leaving everything to Josephine and Elisha. Although they won the case, their reputation was left in doubt and patronage of their hotel plummeted (reference).

Josephine came to Western Australia in 1898 and was 92 when she died in Bunbury in 1919 after being cared for by Lily in her final years (reference).

Lily married Albert Hay in 1901 and they were happily married for almost 50 years (reference; reference). 

Community Worker

During Lily's time in Bunbury, she was always involved in the community. Lily and Albert were pioneer parishioners at St. David's Church in South Bunbury (reference). Lily was an active member of the church's Ladies Guild and organised interesting functions for the church, such as a Juvenile Tea Party and a paper fancy dress ball where all the costumes were made of paper (reference; reference; reference). 

In 1910, Lily started a subcommittee of the Australian Women's National League in Bunbury and became the inaugural secretary (reference). The League was a conservative political women's group that aimed to promote women's interest in politics and oppose the socialist influences in the Labor movement (reference)

Lily was also an active member of the Country Women's Association (C.W.A) for many years, where she used her skills to contribute to the general community in many ways. For example, she took part in a cooking demonstration in 1933. She was presented with a long service badge by the association in 1948 (reference). 

Love of Flowers

Lily was passionate about gardening, especially growing flowers. The flowers in her garden must have been prolific and varied as she could use them to decorate several rooms at a time for functions (reference). She was a member of the Bunbury Horticultural Society formed in 1933 and won many prizes for flower displays at their shows (reference; reference; reference). Lily was also on the judging panel for the Harvey Horticultural Society Annual Show (reference). Such was her love for flowers that Lily requested no flowers be placed on her grave when she passed "as she could not bear the thought of them wilting on the sun." (reference).

A Great Cook

Lily's cooking ability was well known throughout the district, according to a 1933 article in The South Western Times. It stated that Lily was "one of the best pastry cooks of Bunbury" (reference). The article was announcing a forthcoming cooking demonstration by Mrs Hay for the C.W.A. This demonstration turned out to be the most popular event the C.W.A. had staged. Lily showed her prowess by producing enough sausage rolls and jam tarts to provide the large number attending with afternoon tea (reference).

Lily also won a prize for bread at the 1908 Bunbury Show and made cakes for special occasions like weddings and Christmas celebrations (reference; reference; reference).

In 1935, Lily was listed as one of the "willing old hands" that regularly organised catering for the Bunbury Agricultural Show.

Lily was 76 years old when she died in December 1949. This was just three months before the Hays would have celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary. In her obituary, Lily was described as "a respected and well-loved figure of Bunbury" (reference).

Family

Albert and Lily had seven children together: Ailsa (b. 1901), David (b. 1903), Eldred "Dick" (b. 1904), Lilian "Bridie" (b. 1906), Forrest "Barney" (b. 1908), Patricia (b. 1911) and Beryl "Maeve" (b. 1913) (reference).

Ailsa married Alexander (Alec) Lambert in 1927 (reference). They lived in Riverview Terrace, Mt Pleasant and Alec was a member of the Melville Road Board from 1944 to 1952. Alec Lambert Park in Brentwood is named after him (reference).

David married Olga Owen in 1931 and they lived in 60 Stockley Road, Bunbury (reference). David worked as a mechanic at Rural Motors until he started his own business in 1938 (reference). He was a Town Councillor from 1941 to 1948 (reference; reference). David's youngest son Malcolm was well known in Western Australia as the founder of the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation (reference).

Dick married Annette (Annie) Watts in 1936 and they lived at 56 Forrest Avenue, South Bunbury (reference; reference). Dick worked for his brother Barney driving buses. In 1950, Dick and his brother Barney drove overland to Melbourne with Bill O'Neill, Vic Freeman and Frank Buswell to pick up two new buses (reference). The trip took five days each way (reference).

Bridie married Harry Farrow in 1942 and they lived in Beach Road, South Bunbury (reference; reference).

Barney married Dora Britza in 1934 and they lived in South Bunbury. Barney had more than one occupation as a young man. In 1929, he was a bus driver with Henderson's Bus Service and worked at the wheat sheds. While working at the wheat shed, Barney had a finger amputated after his hand was caught in an elevator chain and crushed (reference; reference). Following this, he became the local worker's union representative for the area (reference). In 1940, Barney owned the Hayway Service Station and later became an auctioneer and went into real estate (reference; reference). Albert served on the Bunbury Shire Council for many years and as Mayor of Bunbury in 1961, he was the first to propose leaving the lights on for astronaut John Glenn as he passed over Western Australia. Bunbury council agreed, but the Lord Mayor of Perth said, "the idea was morally wrong, a waste of public money and he could see no scientific contribution coming out of the suggestion". The Premier, Dir David Brand, agreed with Barney (reference).

Patricia married William "Bill" Harrison in 1937 and they lived in Kishorn Road, Canning Bridge (reference, reference). 

Maeve married Tim Kreitling sometime after Patricia's wedding in 1937 and before their first baby was born in 1938 (reference). They moved to Eaton just after it was established and were founding members of the Eaton Bowling Club (reference).

Researched by Gaye Englund for the Museum of Perth.