Obituaries Australia

Joseph Harry Green died in hospital on July 22, and so passed another of the original pioneers of the district.

Born in England on July 29, 1892, son of William Joseph and Alice Margaret Green. Came to South Australia in December 1892.

His father was a baker by trade, but worked on construction of Happy Valley reservoir. He came to Waikerie on the paddle steamer bringing original pioneers to establish Waikerie Village Settlement on March 18, 1894.

Harry Green then was 1 year and 9 months old.

Later the same year after discontent among the settlers, a party, including the Green family moved to Ramco.

Land had to be cleared and channels laid, outlets made of local scrub pine, and a pumping station was established around 1897.

During this preparatory period, settler's lived on Government rations, supplemented by local products.

In 1908 Blizard Green and Co., set up their own packing shed with a Bagshaw stemmer and grader (an improved version of the Ramco Village Association grader or winnower which had to be turned by hand) and later, around 1910, put in a Brockhouse stemmer and grader driven by a 10 h.p. Hornsby engine.

Handling all Ramco grown dried fruit, in the vicinity of 200 tons, and in addition, in 1912, Harry Green and younger brother Will, carted some 200 tons of dried fruit from the Waikerie area to be processed and packed at the family packing shed.

Their conveyance was an iron wheeled Betendorf American trolly with three horses. About 2 tons per load was all that could be dragged up the sandhills separating Waikerie from Ramco.

After packing the boxes of dried fruit, it was transferred via a small rail line across the road and down a shute into the waiting paddle steamer for transport to the city.

Two years later, in 1914, Mr William Joseph Green was appointed the foreman in the building of the Waikerie Co-operative packing shed, he also helped in setting up the grading machinery.

Mr. Green senior died in 1915, and in 1916, Will Green junior enlisted in the A.I.F. and went overseas in the first world war.

The late Harry Green carried on the family fruit property and packing shed until around 1919 when the Ramco Co-operative packing shed came into being.

After spending some years on a fruit block which he purchased in the Waikerie area, Harry Green left the district in the early 1930's and took up a position of dried fruits inspector with the Department of Primary Industries at the Nyah West packing shed in Victoria for some 12 years and also with the Customs Department in Melbourne before going to Western Australia in 1947.

It was while living in W.A. that his wife died in 1952.

Returning from W.A. in 1967, he spent the remaining years in retirement in Waikerie.

Harry Green is survived by a son, living in W.A., and a daughter living in Victoria, and 8 grandchildren.