ARTHUR'S MEMORIES OF KURRAJONG HEIGHTS

MEMORIES OF THE PECK FAMILY
by
Arthur Poole
Great Grandson of Henry Peck
& Grandson of Ted Peck

‘My grandfather [Ted Peck] was a speculator. [When he died, my grandmother] was left with all this schmozl, as was common in those days. He drank a lot more than water. Rum was a pretty widely used beverage in those days. He was addicted to that, and so were some of the boys, but not Ernest. Fortunately the girls stuck with grandmother. The boys did too in a sense.
H E Peck & Sons [Ted Peck] had a big orchard stretching from the present CWA site [next door to St David’s cemetery] down to the Church of England. It was called Uplands after the stone house in Queen Street. He built that. When his father died, grandmother was left with properties dotted all over the place, including Mt Tomah.
He took over Uplands, 27 acres, joined Cherry Park on top of the hill. He helped grandmother no end. Took that off her hands. A good worker. Pretty heavy drinker. Liked whiskey. My father and he were good friends. My father was not an educated man. He came from Mt Tomah to work with Ted on Uplands. He married Ted’s sister, Clara.
Ted made a lot of money dealing in property. From Tomah Street to behind the hotel, all that land, and on the left side to Warks Road, except for five acres. He had all that under orchard. I’ve heard said he had 80 acres of orchard at one time here.
My father told me there was very little between Kurrajong and North Richmond that didn’t pass through Ted Peck’s hands. He would buy unimproved land, put orchards on it and sell it. My father worked for Ted Peck for 50 years.
I wanted to work for him too. When I left school, I worked for him for one week in about 1930-31. It was a pretty tough time. Mum said, “I don’t think so. You’ve got Dad, Cyril and Maurice working for him. I don’t think you should.” That burst my bubble. I was very disappointed.
The other five acres, near Tomah Street, were owned by Mrs Daniels, the wife of Rev. Lennon Daniels, an Anglican minister based at Wilcannia. This land was rented out to the Peck’s and used for growing fodder for dairy cattle. It became my first business venture. I grew crops, peas and beans, a few passionfruit and turnips. Sold them at Sydney Markets. I kept the land until 1939 when I bought Woodside.
I cleared land by hand and ended up with 20 acres. Don’t know how I did it now. My wife’s father would come for a week, work like a nigger, then thank me for having him!
When Mrs Daniels died, I dug her grave at the Anglican church at Kurrajong Heights.
I drew up a plan of the cemetery [St David’s]. There hadn’t been a plan ever. Headstones make upkeep of the cemetery very hard. These days, the only thing approved for this cemetery is cremations.’

From interview conducted with Arthur Poole by Pamela Mawbey
October 2000