Patricia (Trish)

Patricia Lorraine is the second child and eldest daughter of George AM and Hazel Bathgate. She was born in Dunedin at Queen Mary Maternity hospital in November 1947.

George & Hazel first lived in Northeast Valley, then Dundas St and a year or so later they built a new home in Kenmure Rd, Kaikorai Valley. Patricia still has a couple memories of living in the new house before the family moved to the farm at Outram in 1950. Lesley was born after the family moved to the farm. They intitially lived with Danny and Gran while the new house over the road was built for them.  Link to memories

Patricia attended Outram primary school and later Taieri High School where she was head prefect in her final year. Although doing OK with schoolwork & passing the required exams, she preferred spending time on sports, especially tennis and hockey and debating. It was while at high school that she developed a love for books and became an avid reader.

One of the things Patricia is grateful for in her childhood was that she and her siblings had two sets of grandparents and a close relationship with all of them. Hazel’s parents would drive the 18 miles from Dunedin most Sundays after they had a car, to visit and keep in touch. Grandma Doull invariably brought scones for afternoon tea as well.

Living across the road from the Bathgate grandparents was a bonus and the children were all close to their grandfather Bathgate as he looked after them quite often in the evenings when son George went to visit Hazel in hospital. Patricia has recorded some memories of Danny Bathgate here.

After high school Patricia attended the University of Otago where she studied maths on a post-primary studentship.  Her studies didn’t go very well as each year she failed one unit and had to repeat. However, she learned a lot about photography, developing photos, screening films & she did very well in the judo club, being South Island female champion in her weight class! (Poor Hazel, P wasn’t there to do all these things, she was supposed to be applying herself to her studies!)

In her third year she met Russell Hebbard, a cousin of a school friend and they were married on 21st December 1968, at first living in a flat in Clyde St Dunedin to be near the varsity. They moved to Mosgiel when Patricia got a teaching job at her old school, Taieri High, but moved to South Dunedin before the birth of their first baby and to be closer to Russell’s new job as a diesel injection mechanic. After Rhonda (1971), the first of their three daughters was born, they bought a house in Lochend St, Tainui. Two more daughters, Kathi  (1972) and Tricia (1976) completed the family.

In 1980, all five moved to Port Hedland in Western Australia where Russell had obtained work with Mt Newman Mining company (later to become part of the BHP Group). They lived in Cooke Point and when the company offered a home ownership scheme, they were one of the first families to participate.

Rhonda died on 24th Nov 1981 from leukemia (she had been battling this for 6 years) and the following year Patricia started work at CES (Commonwealth Employment Service).

Wittenoom refuel en route Perth

Quite soon afterwards, Russell suggested that she learn to fly before they got used to spending two wages – he knew she had always wanted to ever since she’d participated in a flying competition in Mosgiel in her schooldays and he wanted to learn himself.

Within a few months, they bought a Cessna 172, VH-ESQ which was looked after by Mike Perry from Perry Aviation, who used it as a backup training plane and it was also dry hired to flying club members. Having their own plane meant lessons were much cheaper and after getting her private pilot’s licence, Patricia went on to earn her Class IV Instrument rating (for night flying) while Russ also gained his restricted licence.

There were many fun days when the flying club had competitions like spot landing, right hand seat flying, sand bombing of targets and the favourite, cutting the toilet paper with the prop as many times as possible after it was thrown out and unravelled on the way down.

Above all that though, they would both later rate the feeling of freedom on their first solo flight as the best experience and something never to be forgotten. Kathi also learned to fly when joined Kent St High School’s aviation program.

Patricia also joined Mt Newman Mining in May of 1985, working as a payroll clerk. Russell died in Jan 1986 from heart disease, but Patricia and the other girls stayed in Port Hedland as then owned their house (being an employee herself). After four years in payroll, she obtained a position in the Crushing Computer Centre.

The plane was sold in 1986 but Patricia (now called Trish) had one more aerial adventure, a freefall parachute jump from 10,000 ft. There was a very rigorous 8 hours training beforehand, and the jump was over in no time at all, but what a thrill! The 6,000 ft of freefall went by in a flash, but once the chute opened, there was time to look all around and experience that feeling of freedom once again.

After that Trish joined the yacht club and studied coastal, off-shore and ocean navigation etc. Apart from the local Sunday races, there were overnight races to or from Hampton Harbour or Port Walcott. When a friend moved to Dampier, Trish helped him sail his yacht down there and joined him later on a trip to the Montebello Islands. Kathi was in Perth at school during this time, but young Tricia sometimes went along on sailing weekends. Trish was also supposed to go in the Dampier/Bali race c 1990 as co-navigator, but the yacht ran aground on the way to the start and had to withdraw.

In April 1993, married Stuart James Findlay and they moved to Queensland later that year. Stu died in Jun 2001. Kathi went back to Hedland with son Chris (1994) where Chris attended high school and then started an apprenticeship. In 2013 Kathi returned to QLD, and now lives in Brisbane. Tricia stayed in Port Hedland – she has three children, Todd (1992), Ashlee (2002) and Aidan (2010)

 

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