Irene Good
(1896-1991)
Irene ‘Rene or Nenie’ Good was a teacher who worked at East Fremantle Primary and Bicton Primary schools. She also was an amateur artist who won many Royal Show prizes. Her family lived in St Gerard’s, a large rambling home on Canning Highway, Bicton from 1944 until 1968.
Irene Mary Rooney was born at Outtrim, Victoria on 8 May 1896. Her father, Charles John Rooney (b 1870 NZ-1955) and her mother, Sarah Ann Hillis (1874-1953) were both Irish. The family relocated to New South Wales in the 1870's. Charles and Sarah met in Victoria and married in Korumburra, c.1895. Their first child Irene was born soon after.
Her father, in search of work, travelled to Albany, where he found a job at a timber mill in Denmark and his mother, Sarah and Irene, aged 8 months, joined him, travelling on the S.S. Woolhara.
The family stayed in the Denmark area for a number of years and Irene’s parents worked in the mill and ran a lolly shop and a billiard saloon. By 1900 they moved to Albany. In later years, Irene recalled travelling around Albany with her father, in a two-wheeled trap, pulled by a little black horse, as he lit the gas street lamps, using a taper on a long rod.
Irene started school in Albany, and three siblings were born there: Dick, Will and Eileen. By 1903, another move had been made 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.
Joy Good, remembers taking Nenie back to Claremont Teachers' College to visit the War Memorial and that Nenie knew all of the names of the fallen soldiers listed from the First World War as she had trained with them.
Her first teaching post was at Picton School, to which she used to ride to on a bicycle, from Bunbury, her family having moved there in 1915. She taught at Picton for 5 1/2 years.
Her most memorable posting was to Parkfield School, at the head of the estuary. She travelled to this tiny school by buggy, by bicycle or occasionally by sail in her father’s dinghy or by a neighbours 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 and stayed until July 1924. She boarded with the Maitland Clifton family but often found it lonely, and being part of a large family, she went home to her family in Bunbury, whenever she could on weekends. 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 complaint was taken seriously and the Department decided to abandon the old building for a new one. To commemorate the occasion of the opening of a new school in 1923, she lined the school children up on the verandah for her father to take a photograph of her with them.
Rene transferred to Bunbury in 1924
It may have been at this time that she also 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 until 1934, with little income. 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 and the Good family moved to Manjimup and then in 1936 to Geraldton. In 1937 Rene had the last of her children, James ( 1937-2014) and William.
In 1941, George (Snr) was asked to join the RANVR - his engineering expertise was required to help the war effort. For the duration of WWll the family lived in Blencowe St., West Leederville, and George, given the rank of Lieutenant Engineer for the duration of the war 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 Huwe 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 work force, Rene was able to resume her loved hobby of painting. Over a period of years, 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. Please see our Ghost History section.
Rene continued her painting although her eyesight was deteriorating after 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 site of the school 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 previously. She clearly remembered them all and discussed incidents of school days with each.
Irene died on April 23, 1991 just days before her 95th birthday. She is buried in Fremantle cemetery in the same grave as that of her husband.
Thank you to Dianne Good for sharing photographs and information about her grandparents (19.1.2021) and to her 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
‘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)
