WILLIAM McCREATH was born on 12 February 1918, in Bundaberg, on Queensland’s coast.
Bill was the youngest son of WILLIAM JOHN McCREATH and ROSE ERBACHER. Bill’s parents travelled all over Queensland as his father worked in various meatworks as a slaughterman and butcher.
Their two older sons ROBERT and JACK were left in the care of their grand-parents and Aunt to attend school at the Christian Brothers College in Toowoomba. Bill used to say that some years he would go to 4 different schools and this resulted in his being “kept-back” In 1927.
Bill’s brother ROBERT aged 13, was killed in a car accident in Toowoomba.
Bill’s parents and two sons set up home on a small farm at the southern end of Greenwattle Street, Toowoomba
By 1930 Bill’s parents had settled down on a dairy farm called “MOUNT VIEW” at Rosalie Plains. Bill was about 13 years of age and went to school at the Rosalie Plains State School. This was a time of the prickly pear and tiger snakes, he could tell tales, of catching carpet snakes and bringing them into the class room, and causing a great disruption in the one-teacher school. And then getting the job of dispatching the reptile, and playing the hero, as he was one of the bigger boys.
Times changed, and the Great Depression was at hand. JACK and BILL were in their teens and looking for adventure. They went west looking for station work, and spent a year or more in the Winton area, and worked in the shearing shed on Ayrshire Downs, and as stockmen on Fermoy and Werner Stations, and left for home via Townsville and the coast.
They returned to life on the farm, milking cows twice a day by hand. In July 1940, JACK enlisted in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force in Toowoomba Their parents were getting on a bit, and looking forward to retirement.
BILL was engaged to ELSIE SIMTNO from BALGOWAN near MULDU. They got married at St Patricks Cathedral, Toowoomba on 31 May 1943, and moved back to the farm which BILL was purchasing from his parents. It was still war-time and coupons were the order of the day, and much swapping between one another, allowed a wedding dress to be bought, some petrol, and a honey-moon was spent with the PIKE family in Brisbane.
They returned to the farm which they affectionately called “ROSALIE” and milked cows and grew crops, and by 1946 there was to be an addition to the family. The war was over and restrictions were lifted and ROSALIE was put on the market and sold within a month.
BILL and ELSIE moved to Brisbane, where his parents and brother were living. The ZILLMERE SHOWGROUNDS went to auction and Bill purchased it. He sold off the grandstands and tin fence for roofing iron and timber, as there was a huge demand for building materials, after the war; and he subdivided the Zillmere Road frontage into building blocks.His move to subdivide further was stopped and the Council bought back the remainder for the present sports oval.
Both his children were born in Brisbane. MARGARET was born on 16 February 1947 and LEONARD on 4 November 1948.
BILL could not settle into city life. He had labouring jobs, at the Northgate foundry, Geebung sawmill, Austral Motors workshop, and as a storeman at Drysdale and Ridgeways, and in a pottery.
Before long he purchased a cattle property, of 4,200 acres with 100 head of breeders. It was called CLIVERDEN at KUMBARILLA on the Moonie Highway, about 30 miles west of Dalby. The drought of the 1950’s reaped havoc, and Bill lost most of his stock and was forced to sell off the rest, and finally had to put the property on the market, as they could not sustain the many years of drought. During this time Bill sold cypress pine to sawmillers, and gravel to Queensland Road Builders who where putting down an all-weather gravel road on the Moonie Highway, and got some work as a plant operator with them.
In 1954, BILL and ELSIE purchased a home on acreage in Oakey and he worked as a ganger on the JONDARYANSHIRE COUNCIL, and later for QUEENSLAND RAILWAYS as a fettler. Time passed by, and Margaret and Len had jobs in Toowoomba, and he transferred to the Railway workshops at Willowburn where he worked until he retired They bought their home in Gladstone Street, Toowoomba in 1964, where he lived for the next 30 years.
Together they saw Margaret and Len reach maturity, marry and then they became grandparents. LEN and his wile IMELDA, and their sons MICHAEL and NEVILLE always lived in Toowoomba and were great support for Bill.
Tragedy struck in 1979, when ELSIE died suddenly in Mount Isa, They were on a holiday to see Margaret and Terry and their two children, MATTHEW and WENDY. Bill never really got over her loss, and often got “the blues” as he called it.
However, he was able to cope with living alone, doing his own cooking and washing until about 5 years ago, when his health began to decline and moved to the Toowoomba Garden Settlement and later to the Epworth Nursing Home.
To sum up Bill. He was a simple man of simple needs and wants. He was a great gardener and had vegies all year round which he shared with his neighbours. He had little to say, and never a bad word about anyone, he did not swear and he did not drink. He found a love for latch hook work, and produced numerous mats, and wall hangings, This hobby filled in the long lonely days, after Elsie passed away; and his skill was remarkable, and was still at work up to a few weeks ago.
Bill passed away on Tuesday evening, 20 July 1999, at 6.30pm at the Epworth Nursing Home. He is survived by his son and daughter and 4 grand-children.