Robert and Lyn on their wedding day.
Our local legend this week has the juice of stone fruit and the rich soil of Kingsvale running through his veins. His family were long time residents of the village and fruit growers through and through.
Robert Fitzpatrick was born towards the end of the war in 1944 to parents Robert Edward and Norah Fitzpatrick (Ryan). They had met at a dance at Murringo and married in 1936. Robert said he came along when his parents had been married for quite some time and as a consequence was an only child.
Robert said that his dad used to tell him the cow milking story. His grandfather had Robert Snr and Percy, his brother take part in a cow milking contest because they often complained that it took up too much of their time. Boys being boys, they couldn’t resist the competition. Of course, the one who was the quickest at the task of the daily milking got the job. His grandfather had the last laugh. Robert said he remembers the land army girls taking care of him as a small child. He also said that he remembered his father digging up 44 gallon drums of fuel because it had been rationed during the war and people stored it underground, as it was a precious commodity.
Robert with his dad and grandfather.
His dad bought his first tractor during the war. It was a Case and had steel wheels, rubber tyres were added after the war, as rubber was needed for the war effort. He said that his parents did it tough when they first came to the village. Living quarters were rough. They had worked for Bill Dickenson on a soldier’s block, ‘Derwenthaugh’. After around 5 years he wanted to return to the city to live, so Robert’s dad bought the land. Another block was purchased later. He joked that his dad rode a motorbike with a side car but his mum, was reluctant to get in it, so he had to buy a small car. Growing up in Kingsvale, Robert went to the 1 teacher public school before travelling to Young on the bus to the Christian brothers. He finished school in 1961 after two years at St.Pat’s in Goulburn. Robert spoke very fondly about growing up in the village life where people gathered at the local hall for regular parties and dances. Mass was sometimes celebrated in the hall. Bands came to Kingsvale, kids slept in cars while mums and dads danced, then they were invited in for supper. Games nights such as ping pong, quoits, and darts happened regularly.
In later years, Robert spoke of how the young ones attended dances at the Young Town Hall and would get themselves a bit of ‘dutch courage’ before they were able to ask a young lady to dance. Of course, they were all done up in their suits and ties. The tennis courts were also a popular venue and night comps were the order of the day. Robert remembers playing with his dad. “I remember well, Paddy, the last of the draught horses and how he used to pull an old tank around on wheels, that was used to burn sticks in from under the trees. Sparks would fly but Paddy was a gentle giant. Nothing fazed him.” By this time Robert and his dad were partners in the business. He said that he was very excited when the first prune harvest came to fruition, to be disappointed when told by dad that it took 3 years for the profits to come back.
He moved to Petal Falls in 1985. He said, “I called it Petal Falls after watching the peach blossoms fall during the spring. Some people thought that a waterfall was somehow involved and would even argue and say but where are the falls, have they moved? They used to be here.” They solved the problem by placing a water feature at the front of the packing shed. They had bright pink boxes which they packed their fruit in and although they copped a fair bit of flak over the colour choice, Robert said because of their visibility they sold well at the Sydney markets. He said that it was a given, that if the quality had not been good the pink boxes would not have helped. Second grade fruit was sold in different boxes and under the Malarah brand. This stood for ‘Margot and Lynne and Andrew and Robert at home.’ The fruit was packed onto a train in Kingsvale in the early days. It has been quite some time since trains have used the line but we may see trains running through Kingsvale again, if a recent press release from the NSW Government comes to fruition. Bateups from Cootamundra carried for a time before the output was too much to handle. Maddens Refrigerated trucks have been transporting the bulk of fruit produced in the district since the late 80’s. Prunes were planted 25ft apart each way and ploughing and harrowing were needed because of the lack of irrigation. Sod culture became the thing, herbeciding and slashing, trees were planted closer. OH&S and Quality Assurance meant that trees had to be shorter as well. 600 trees could be planted per hectare. Fertilization and irrigation were a distinct advantage but profit margins were affected by rising wages.
Lyn and Robert working side by side at Petal Falls.
The first busload of U-Pick customers proved to be quite hilarious with people spread out all over the orchard. This was soon remedied by using roped off areas. Robert’s father passed away suddenly at the age of 64 in 1973. Robert took over the orchards. His mum lived until the grand old age of 97. He joked, “I hope I have mum’s genes”. He joined Apex in 1968 and enjoyed the community work, such as painting houses and repairing things that was a part of this organisation. OH&S put a stop to many activities. He said he particularly liked meeting nights because Joyce Powell cooked 7 veges with their meal. Robert enjoyed going to conventions. Prince Charles spoke at one in Geelong. He remembered Peter FitzSimons as a guest speaker here in Harden. Robert, Paul Mc Carthy and Nic Nadycz were all presented with their life membership of Apex on the same night. Robert later joined Rotary and over the years was president of both organisations.
Paul McCarthy, Co founder of Apex Ewen Laird, Nic Nadycz and Robert receiving their life membership of Apex.
Robert met Lyn through a blind date organised by Mavis Cassidy. Lyn’s husband Richard had passed away after a car accident. She had two children, Andrew 5 and Margot 4. Robert and Lyn married in 1981. Margot is married to Adam Wells from Wombat. They have two children, Abby and Blake. They now live in Melbourne. Andrew lives in Young and has 3 children Molly, Harry and Charlotte. Lyn and Robert have worked side by side for the bulk of their marriage, working 7 days a week for half the year during the fruit season. Robert credits Lynn with the success of the front of the packing shed as he said she did a wonderful job for so many years. They sold pitted and stemmed cherries, frozen, canned, pies, jams and dried cherries. Robert said, “There was no wastage as the sheep got the rest. They diversified by going into figs, prickly pears, plumcots, persimmons, quinces and strawberries. They were the first in the area to get a computerised stone fruit grader which weighed and graded fruit without doing damage.
They both joked that they had put their fair share of vets and doctors through university by employing them throughout the fruit season. Bill Taylor arrived one year with 9 of his vet mates. Geoff Harris from Canowindra travelled with Lyn and Robert around the USA where they discovered a peach variety, Ryansun. They were the first to grow this variety in Australia. They had a couple of other trips overseas with Ian and Zita McLeod before retiring in 2015. Robert said, “It was hard work but a joy.” He has been recovering from a bout of ill health but he and Lyn are now starting to enjoy their new home and beautiful garden. Robert likes making objects for the garden and what would a new house be without a fruit tree or three. Being an only child, Robert has always had a dog and his blue heeler, Buster, is never far away from him. He spends time reading fruit books. (You can take the boy out of the orchard but you can’t take the orchard out of the boy!) dogs and woodworking.
Robert with his blue heeler, Buster.
We are so pleased that you chose to spend your retirement in the Twin Towns. You have been a part of this area all your life. Always a gentleman, Thank you for being a local legend.