Robert George CRUST and Margaret Ann Catherine GLENNAN
Robert George CRUST (1923-1993), son of William Charles CRUST and Audrey Ethel BROOKS, was born on 7 August 1923 at the Cottage Hospital, Edward St, Charleville, Qld.
Margaret Ann Catherine GLENNAN (1928-2016), daughter of Peter Francis GLENNAN and Mona ANDREWS was born on 23 April 1928 in Elizabeth Lane, Randwick, NSW. |
These and other photos of Robert and Margaret's family can be viewed and saved at a higher resolution from their PHOTOS PAGE |
Robert spent his childhood in Charleville, Queensland. He and his older brothers enjoyed amateur boxing, and practised in a gym at their boarding house.
Robert had a good singing voice and won a radio contest singing "Home, Home on the Range". The Charleville Times reported on 15 March 1935 that at a Farewell Dinner for the president of the Warrego Amateur Rugby League Club held at the Hotel Dalton, "Young Bobby Crust was the surprise of the function. Possessed of a splendid voice, he showed no signs of nervousness and he was called back time after time before the company would be satisfied." Bobby was eleven at the time.
Bobby with his brothers, Charles (Timmy) and Harold joined the "Charleville Boy Comrades" in September 1931. The Comrades appeared to be similar to the Boy Scouts.
When Robert was about 13 his parents separated and his mother left Charleville to make a new life in Sydney. Her plan was to leave Robert with her sister Edith until she could set herself up in Sydney, however he misbehaved so Aunt Edie contacted Robert's father who came and got him and took him to Tatong Station in Winton where he left him to work as a station hand. Bobby's education ceased. He was paid 14s 4p a week and lived in a shed by himself about 200 yards from the main house. He had to get up before dawn to round up the horses and milk the cows. His job included riding the fences, crutching sheep and during droughts he would cut down mulga all day long to feed the sheep. His father came back to get him about two years later.
Bob then worked on cattle stations in Queensland and the Northern Territory including 6-8 months at Escome Downs. He worked at Elliott Station in Longreach, Qld where he mostly did scrub cutting. His meals consisted of dry meat and damper.
Robert had a good singing voice and won a radio contest singing "Home, Home on the Range". The Charleville Times reported on 15 March 1935 that at a Farewell Dinner for the president of the Warrego Amateur Rugby League Club held at the Hotel Dalton, "Young Bobby Crust was the surprise of the function. Possessed of a splendid voice, he showed no signs of nervousness and he was called back time after time before the company would be satisfied." Bobby was eleven at the time.
Bobby with his brothers, Charles (Timmy) and Harold joined the "Charleville Boy Comrades" in September 1931. The Comrades appeared to be similar to the Boy Scouts.
When Robert was about 13 his parents separated and his mother left Charleville to make a new life in Sydney. Her plan was to leave Robert with her sister Edith until she could set herself up in Sydney, however he misbehaved so Aunt Edie contacted Robert's father who came and got him and took him to Tatong Station in Winton where he left him to work as a station hand. Bobby's education ceased. He was paid 14s 4p a week and lived in a shed by himself about 200 yards from the main house. He had to get up before dawn to round up the horses and milk the cows. His job included riding the fences, crutching sheep and during droughts he would cut down mulga all day long to feed the sheep. His father came back to get him about two years later.
Bob then worked on cattle stations in Queensland and the Northern Territory including 6-8 months at Escome Downs. He worked at Elliott Station in Longreach, Qld where he mostly did scrub cutting. His meals consisted of dry meat and damper.
Margaret spent her childhood and young adult life in the Balmain district. Until she was 12 she lived at 14 Percy Street, Rozelle.
In 1934 Margaret aged 6 started Kindergarten at St Joseph's Catholic School and in this partial photograph of 2nd Class, Margaret is at the end of the middle row but only her head and shoulders remain. Margaret was never fortunate enough to own a doll, her family being too poor to afford one. Maybe that's why the photo was torn. Her sister Gwen and her used to use bricks wrapped in blankets as their dolls. She attended high school at St Augustine's Catholic School leaving in 2nd year aged 14. |
In 1940 Margaret and her family moved to 4 Ewenton St, Balmain where they would remain until 1957. It was a beautiful house, built around 1872 and situated on the water overlooking Cameron's Cove and Darling Harbour. The house was leased by Margaret's mother, Mona, who ran it as a boarding house. It was a very large house even having a ballroom where many dances and parties were held. Sadly in the 1970s the house was demolished and replaced by townhouses.
In 1940, Bob now aged 17 came to Sydney to visit his mother who had a mixed business shop in Balmain. It was here that he met his future wife, Margaret who worked after school in the shop. At the time, Margaret was only 12 years old but she was instantly smitten with Bob and four years later when she was 16, Bob asked her to go to the pictures with him. The rest is history, Bob was Margaret's first and last boyfriend and they were happily married for 44 years.
While in Sydney, Bob got a job with shipbuilders, Poole and Steel at Morts Dock in Balmain working on Corvettes. One of his jobs was to paint the drought figures on the side of the ships. (These ships contained the asbestos that in later years caused him to develop asbestosis).
In 1941, the bush called and he returned to the Northern Territory and got a job at Burrindoora Station where he worked for about 8 months driving cattle down to Newcastle Waters. He was run out of town by the police for knocking off beer from the hotel so he went to Alice Springs where he tried to enlist, in first the air force and then the army, but was rejected due to perforated eardrums. When the officer learned Bob had been working on the docks in Sydney (an essential service to the war effort), he rang through to Poole and Steel and arranged for Bob to return to his old job. Bob worked there until 1946 and from 1946-1952 worked at Morts Dock, Mort St, Balmain as a wharfie.
Margaret started full-time work in 1942 at Colgate-Palmolive, Balmain, where she worked as a finisher and later a clerk. She worked there until 1952 when she left to start a family.
In 1940, Bob now aged 17 came to Sydney to visit his mother who had a mixed business shop in Balmain. It was here that he met his future wife, Margaret who worked after school in the shop. At the time, Margaret was only 12 years old but she was instantly smitten with Bob and four years later when she was 16, Bob asked her to go to the pictures with him. The rest is history, Bob was Margaret's first and last boyfriend and they were happily married for 44 years.
While in Sydney, Bob got a job with shipbuilders, Poole and Steel at Morts Dock in Balmain working on Corvettes. One of his jobs was to paint the drought figures on the side of the ships. (These ships contained the asbestos that in later years caused him to develop asbestosis).
In 1941, the bush called and he returned to the Northern Territory and got a job at Burrindoora Station where he worked for about 8 months driving cattle down to Newcastle Waters. He was run out of town by the police for knocking off beer from the hotel so he went to Alice Springs where he tried to enlist, in first the air force and then the army, but was rejected due to perforated eardrums. When the officer learned Bob had been working on the docks in Sydney (an essential service to the war effort), he rang through to Poole and Steel and arranged for Bob to return to his old job. Bob worked there until 1946 and from 1946-1952 worked at Morts Dock, Mort St, Balmain as a wharfie.
Margaret started full-time work in 1942 at Colgate-Palmolive, Balmain, where she worked as a finisher and later a clerk. She worked there until 1952 when she left to start a family.
Robert and Margaret were married on 8 April 1950 at St Thomas's Church of England, Rozelle, NSW.
Margaret was a Catholic and Bob was not religious at all so when they decided to get married this became a problem. Margaret wanted to get married in the Catholic Church but because Bob was not a Catholic they were not allowed to marry in front of the altar but rather to the side. My mother gave the parish priest an ultimatum, you either marry us in front of the altar or you don’t marry us at all. He wouldn’t budge, so they married in the Church of England. The priest came to the house on the day of the wedding and tried to convince Mum to reconsider, as in the eyes of the church she would not be married. She asked again to be married in front of the altar and the priest refused. My mother was a determined and feisty young woman.
After they were married Bob needed a more secure job because there was always union trouble and strikes on the docks, so in 1952 he got a job as a builder's labourer with Lever Bros, Balmain, (later became Unilever) where he worked for 23 years. In 1967 he was presented with a gold watch for 15 years of service.
Bob became a member of the Masonic Lodge in 1953. He was a member of Lodge Aurora where he rose to the rank of Worshipful Master. He retired from the Masons in 1985. See his Degree of Installed Master.
In 1957 Margaret, Bob and their two small daughters, moved to the corner of Evans & Roseberry Sts, Balmain where Margaret along with mother Mona, ran a corner shop mixed business. But around this time supermarkets were starting to emerge so in 1958 they moved to a large federation house at 33 Todman Avenue, Kensington NSW, where Margaret took advantage of the many bedrooms and turned the house into a boarding house and Bob continued to work at Lever Brothers.
With the birth of third daughter Julie, Margaret and Bob decided they needed to move to a house all to themselves - with no boarders, so they purchased a block of land at 21 Dan St, Eastwood and built a new home. They moved into their new home in October 1960.
With the birth of third daughter Julie, Margaret and Bob decided they needed to move to a house all to themselves - with no boarders, so they purchased a block of land at 21 Dan St, Eastwood and built a new home. They moved into their new home in October 1960.
After moving to Eastwood, Margaret had various jobs. She worked as a Night Cleaner at Berger Paints, Rhodes then as a Shop Assistant at Woolworths Top Ryde, a fruitshop at Top Ryde, and Red S at Marsfield (where Woolworths is now).
In 1975 Bob and Margaret became self-employed Contract Cleaners - cleaning houses, office buildings in Crows Nest and the Denistone East & Ryde-Eastwood Bowling Clubs. In 1976 Margaret became a small business owner with her sister Gwen. They started a sandwich shop called Crusty's at Milsons Point and after a few years sold this and bought a Coffee Lounge at North Sydney. Food businesses were hard work and after a few years they sold the Coffee Lounge and decided to buy a gift shop called Artistique Gifts in the Eastwood Arcade, and a Jewellery Kiosk at Bankstown Square. By 1983 Bob's health deteriorated due to the autoimmune disease Lupus and they were forced to retire.
Robert and Margaret had four daughters, Susan, Janet, Julie and Karen.
Robert died after many years of illness, on 8 November 1993 in Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, NSW of cardiorespiratory arrest, renal failure, diabetes, lupus and asbestosis. He was aged 70. He was cremated on 12 November 1993 at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, North Ryde, NSW and his ashes were scattered into Sydney Harbour at Balmain.
My father was a hard worker and a wonderful bloke who enjoyed having a beer or two with his mates and having his four daughters and their families around him. He was 5ft 8-1/2in tall, slim build, with straight brown hair and grey-green eyes. Margaret was a character with some quirky ways and could be feisty when she needed to be. She loved being around her family and loved her grandchildren. She had straight brown hair which she always permed, brown eyes and was 5ft 5in tall.
Margaret had a stroke (bleed on the brain) on 17 Feb 2013. She was left unable to walk and her dementia had worsened. She spent 5 weeks in Ryde Hospital and then became a resident at San Antonia Nursing Home at Ryde. On 17 November 2015, Margaret sustained a spiral fracture to her left femur even though she was bed ridden an unable to walk. After recovering in hospital she was moved to Estia Nursing Home where she received excellent care until her death.
Margaret died aged 87 on 2 March 2016 at Estia Nursing Home, Ryde of Uraemia (2 days); Recurrent Cerebrovascular Accidents (years); Hypertension (years) and Dementia (years). We gave her a fabulous send-off that really reflected who Margaret was and what she loved. We had 'The Men's Shed Chorale' perform songs she would have loved. The funeral was a big family affair with lots of involvement from everyone. The Celebrant was her granddaughter, Rebecca Hinks, her daughter Karen performed "Time after Time" and instead of Hymms we sang songs she would have sung with gusto. We will miss her forever. Margaret's funeral took place on Wednesday, 9th March 2016 at 10.30am in the East Chapel, Northern Suburbs Crematorium, North Ryde, NSW.
See Margaret's Death Notice in the Sydney Morning Herald.
See Margaret's Order of Service.
See Video of Margaret's Funeral.
See Margaret's On-line Memorial on the Heaven Address website for White Lady Funerals.
My father was a hard worker and a wonderful bloke who enjoyed having a beer or two with his mates and having his four daughters and their families around him. He was 5ft 8-1/2in tall, slim build, with straight brown hair and grey-green eyes. Margaret was a character with some quirky ways and could be feisty when she needed to be. She loved being around her family and loved her grandchildren. She had straight brown hair which she always permed, brown eyes and was 5ft 5in tall.
Margaret had a stroke (bleed on the brain) on 17 Feb 2013. She was left unable to walk and her dementia had worsened. She spent 5 weeks in Ryde Hospital and then became a resident at San Antonia Nursing Home at Ryde. On 17 November 2015, Margaret sustained a spiral fracture to her left femur even though she was bed ridden an unable to walk. After recovering in hospital she was moved to Estia Nursing Home where she received excellent care until her death.
Margaret died aged 87 on 2 March 2016 at Estia Nursing Home, Ryde of Uraemia (2 days); Recurrent Cerebrovascular Accidents (years); Hypertension (years) and Dementia (years). We gave her a fabulous send-off that really reflected who Margaret was and what she loved. We had 'The Men's Shed Chorale' perform songs she would have loved. The funeral was a big family affair with lots of involvement from everyone. The Celebrant was her granddaughter, Rebecca Hinks, her daughter Karen performed "Time after Time" and instead of Hymms we sang songs she would have sung with gusto. We will miss her forever. Margaret's funeral took place on Wednesday, 9th March 2016 at 10.30am in the East Chapel, Northern Suburbs Crematorium, North Ryde, NSW.
See Margaret's Death Notice in the Sydney Morning Herald.
See Margaret's Order of Service.
See Video of Margaret's Funeral.
See Margaret's On-line Memorial on the Heaven Address website for White Lady Funerals.
Sources
1. "Birth Certificate : Robert George Crust". Registrar-General, Queensland.
2. "Birth Certificate : Margaret Ann Catherine Glennan". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW.
3. "Marriage Certificate : Robert George Crust & Margaret Ann Catherine Glennan". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW.
4."Interview with Robert George Crust during the 1980's at his home at 21 Dan St, Eastwood.
5. "Death Certificate : Robert George Crust". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW. (Withheld for privacy reasons)
6. "An after dinner chat with Margaret Ann Catherine Crust (nee Glennan)", at her home 21 Dan St, Eastwood on 14 July 2009.
7. "Death Certificate : "Margaret Ann Catherine Crust nee Glennan". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW. (Withheld for privacy reasons)
Updated 29 Oct 2017
1. "Birth Certificate : Robert George Crust". Registrar-General, Queensland.
2. "Birth Certificate : Margaret Ann Catherine Glennan". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW.
3. "Marriage Certificate : Robert George Crust & Margaret Ann Catherine Glennan". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW.
4."Interview with Robert George Crust during the 1980's at his home at 21 Dan St, Eastwood.
5. "Death Certificate : Robert George Crust". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW. (Withheld for privacy reasons)
6. "An after dinner chat with Margaret Ann Catherine Crust (nee Glennan)", at her home 21 Dan St, Eastwood on 14 July 2009.
7. "Death Certificate : "Margaret Ann Catherine Crust nee Glennan". Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages, NSW. (Withheld for privacy reasons)
Updated 29 Oct 2017