Beatrice Bush, White Bay c1980. Photographer Barry Flakelar.
12 Balmain locals were asked to choose a photograph from our collection and invited to tell us what the image said to them. This week, Hannah Parkes on Beatrice Bush, the White Bay paperseller.
I must have been quite young, around seven years old I imagine, but I still very clearly remember sitting in the back seat while my mum and dad would buy their daily paper from ‘the paper lady’ ( I now know her name was Beatrice) on Victoria Road.
Mum and dad were insistent the paper had to come from her, so gaining access to the daily news relied on traffic light changes, traffic conditions and whether she was available for a sale. It could be quite a stress, but much more interesting for a kid than heading to the shop.
My Dad Roger said ‘the paper lady’ stood for the ‘dying of an era in Balmain’.
“What she stood for was a working class suburb. She was a character doing what she could to make it,” he said.
“She always wore Dunlop’s, she never looked angry, everyone tried their hardest to get their paper from her, even if it caused much consternation with the traffic. That would never happen now,” he said.
Hannah Parkes
Can you tell me please, the names of Beatrice Bush parents ?
Many thanks, regards,
Jill
Hi Jill
we have short film on her which I will track down and let you know shortly
Hi there, this is great!!
I remember Beatrice with great fondness also, I used to work at Pyrmont ( Hardboards Australia )
Just off Glebe Island bridge and would buy my paper from Beatrice every afternoon. That was back in 1980.
I saw where there is a short film on her, I would love to view this if possible please.
Many thanks,
Debra Moncrieff
Did anyone track down the film on Beatrice???
Hi Debra I believe we have a copy in Local History called “The Paper Queen
Bush” Beatrice, 1925-1996.
There was a country & western singer who wrote a song about Beatrice. Her bottle of milked tea we presume??? Cigarettes & gum boots. I think she lived in one of the semi attached houses at the end of Storey Street/Abattoir Road/Lilyfield Rd.
Recently Beartice’s family started a page on facebook for her, many memories are coming out of the woodwork, this lady was truly amazing and her family are keen to hear our memories of her.
Beatrice bush is my nan my dads name is phillip bush herr son I never met herr shee passed a year before I Wass born I wishh she met me????????
Beatrice Bush was a descendant of my Clarke family from Somerset, UK.
Can anyone help me find a link to the reported film about her please.