Elva FINLAYSON

(1917-2001)

Elva Margaret Hopkins was born at the home of her great grandmother in Charles Street, South Fremantle on 13 June 1917 to parents, Arthur (b.1887, Williamstown, Vic) and Jessie Mary, nee Smith (b.1887 Fremantle).

Her parents were married at the Beaconsfield Congregational church in Hampton Road, Beaconsfield in December 1915. Arthur enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on 28 February 1916 and left Australia for France on 9 November 1916. He returned from service in WW1, arriving in Fremantle three years later, on 17 October 1919, to meet an additional member to his family - his two years and four months old daughter - Elva.

Elva was the eldest of three daughters born to Arthur and Jessie Hopkins. Her sisters were Gwen Irene (1920 - 2007) and Stella Marjorie (1923 - 2009). All three attended Beaconsfield Primary school and Princess May Girls School in Fremantle. Both Elva and Stella were Prefects while Gwen was the Dux of her year (9th standard - the highest level at the school at that time).

As a child, Elva was frightened by thunderstorms. Her father after serving in WW1 suffered from shell shock and when there were thunderstorms during the night, he would wake up thinking he was on the battlefield. Elva’s mother had to contend with both her husband and her first child during thunderstorms.

In 1929 and 1930 Elva was one of the correspondents that wrote to ‘Miss Kitty’, in the Children’s section of the Sunday Times:

June 1929 (WA’s Centenary Year) “Dear Auntie Kitty.-This is the second time I have written to you, and I enjoy writing very much. I attended the ceremony which was held outside the Town Hall, and had it not been for the rain there would have been many more attendants to hear the proclamation, which was read by the Governor. I go to the Beaconsfield State School, where I am in the sixth standard…” Elva Hopkins, (13) Lilly street, South Fremantle. (reference)

Dec 1929: Beaconsfield School Ball was a pronounced success, and reflects great credit on the organisers…Some lovely sets marched, and wonderful individual costumes; rainbow Gwen Hopkins, and Elva Hopkins, the sun. (reference)

In the 1930s, upon completion of her schooling, Elva worked selling ham, bacon, butter and smallgoods, at Watsons Foods shop in High Street, Fremantle before becoming a Conductress on the Metro buses running between Fremantle and Perth. While working on the buses, she came in contact with a passenger who caught the same bus service each Sunday to Shenton Park. This man would always give the conductor on duty a banana from the bag of bananas he had with him. Among the Conductors he was known as ‘the banana man’. Had the banana man still been alive when Elva married in 1942, she would have recognised her father-in-law Donald James Finlayson (1884-1941).

Elva and Gwen attended many Old Time Dances at the Embassy Ballroom (reference) from 1936 until 1939. (reference) She met Malcolm Finlayson outside the Princess Theatre in Fremantle. He was a Projectionist at the Richmond Theatre and Gardens on the corner of Canning Highway and Silas Street, East Fremantle. This time he was going to the movies alone and he asked if he could sit with Elva and her sister Gwen. Elva had seen him before at high school – while Elva attended Princess May, Malcolm went to Fremantle Boys.

Feb 1942 Engaged: Elva Margaret, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mr. A. Hopkins, Lilly-street. Fremantle, to Malcolm Donald (Private) only son of the late Mr. and Mrs. D. J Finlayson. King-street. East Fremantle. (reference)

On September 26 1942, Elva married Malcolm Donald Finlayson (1915-1974) at the Beaconsfield Congregational church (the same church her parents were married at back in 1915) and they settled into Malcolm’s home at 4 King Street, East Fremantle (was 24) Elva lived in East Fremantle for the rest of her life.

Malcolm was a serving Army man. Both her sisters married Navy men. Youngest sister Stella married Walter ‘Wally’ Crowd, from WA, in 1943 and Gwen married Thomas ‘Tom’ Warburton, from Sydney, in 1944.

Donald Arthur was Elva’s the first child:

FINLAYSON (nee Elva Hopkins).On December 14, 1946, at Sister Bathgate's, East Fremantle, to Elva and Malcolm, of 4 King-street, East Fremantle—a son (Donald Arthur). Both well. No visitors till Thursday. (reference)

Marcia Joan followed, born June 1951, again at Nurse Bathgate’s Maternity Hospital, 20 Staton road, East Fremantle.

In the 1950’s, when son Donald was attending the YMCA in Fremantle, Elva joined the YMCA Ladies Auxiliary group. She then volunteered for nearly 21 years at the YMCA Op Shop in Cantonment Street. Some of the ladies she volunteered with, remained friends for the rest of her life. She also volunteered at the John Curtin High School canteen while both her children attended the school.  

Wedding and 21st. birthday cakes were one of Elva’s ‘specialties’ and over the years she made, iced and decorated many cakes for special functions. With icing sugar, she would make intricate decorations (roses and leaves etc). When her hands became affected by arthritis, reluctantly she gave up the cake decorating. Among the last cakes she made were for both her children’s weddings in 1972. In her later years, she made cakes for her grandchildren's birthdays with plain icing finishes on them.

Over the Christmas school holidays in early 1961, Elva took her children by train to Albany for a week's holiday staying in a caravan at Middleton Beach. The train trip was on the day train which left Perth at 8.35 am and arrived in Albany at 9.50 pm. Then a taxi trip to the caravan park. For much of the week the weather was wet, the caravan leaked. Son Donald has not shown any interest in caravan holidaying since. On the other hand, daughter Marcia and her husband caravanned around Australia for a number of years. The highlight of the trip for Donald was the overnight train home (with a sleeping berth bed). Donald went to inspect the train before departure from Albany and was invited by the driver to ride on the engine. Back to Elva for the okay and then back to the X class locomotive. The train left Albany at 6.00pm and Donald returned to the sleeper compartment around 10.15pm at Katanning to be dressed down by Elva for being away so long.

Son Donald later went on to work for the Railways in their Perth office. In 1970, Elva was complaining that she couldn’t read the time on the clocks properly (nothing wrong with her eyes) and the railways were selling off their old clocks for $2 each. Donald bought a clock (15 inch diameter face, platform clock), took it home with him on the train and asked Elva if she could see that clock okay? Elva thought it might pull the wall down. It didn’t and indeed when the family moved to Gill Street, the clock was a prominent feature on the lounge wall. The clock is still in the family, still on a lounge wall and still keeping good time.

The family moved from the King Street home to Gill Street in July 1971. Both children married in 1972 and Malcolm died on 8 September 1974.

In 1975, Donald and his wife were going to South Africa and England for holiday and as Elva had never been out of the South West of Western Australia and was recently widowed, they asked her would she like to come on the trip. Well, she took to overseas travel like a duck takes to water. A trip to Bali with Marcia and a number of coach trips (both day and extended) around WA followed. On one of these trips she met and became good friends with a lady named Ethel Jackson. Ethel’s husband was not a traveller due to a medical condition and Elva and Ethel teamed up. They did tours to the Eastern States (including Ayers Rock which Elva proudly told people that she had climbed ‘The Rock’ aged over 60 years!), New Zealand and they also went to the UK and Europe.

At her 80th. birthday, a gathering was held at home for her. (see photos of her with Gwen and Stella plus Donald and grandchildren Bruce and Rachel).

Granddaughter Rachel spent an afternoon with Elva in June 2001 (just a month before her death) and wrote down a number of family stories as told to her by her grandmother:

“Before her hands became too bad Grandma did a lot of cooking, especially cake decorating. I can remember birthdays at Grandma’s house - we always had a lovely cake (for quite a few years mine had a Garfield cat on it) and fairy bread, little sandwiches and pies and butterfly cakes. She always made a cake that suited our interests at the time.

In around October of every year, Grandma would begin preparing the traditional Christmas cake. She made cakes for Aunty Gwen, Dad, Aunty Marcia, Mrs Mac (next door neighbour) etc. and of course herself. The special thing about the cake was the good dose of brandy that each contained. She would keep them all wrapped in foil and inside a tin until Christmas Day when it would be opened, doused in more brandy and then eaten. The cakes were always delicious + aromatic ! Before the currency change over (1960’s), she would put silver coins in the cakes. (She kept some of the old money for the cakes)

Her favourite colours were pink, mauve and blue (pastels). I can remember one school holiday at Dad’s/Grandma’s when every morning she would come out wearing pink or at least some pink on her outfit. Everyday I would comment “pink again” and we would have a laugh. Towards the end of the week I think she was doing it on purpose so that we could have a laugh. At the time I really hated pink. She once told Aunty Marcia that she couldn’t buy any clothes for me because she always wanted to choose pink.”

Elva had her 84th birthday in June 2001 and went into Fremantle Hospital for a knee replacement in mid July 2001. Other complications occurred while she was in hospital and she died at Fremantle Hospital on 21 July 2001.

Elva Finlayson had lived in East Fremantle for 59 of her 84 years. She is buried next to husband Malcolm, at Fremantle Cemetery.

Prepared by Elva’s son Donald Finlayson. With thanks to Elva’s granddaughter Rachel for her contributions and to friend Eileen Geraghty. 2021