As is the case with many rural towns, Proserpine has its fair share of strong women who have contributed significantly to their district. One such remarkable character was Bridget Ryan, affectionately known as Granny Ryan.
In response to the enticement of free land, newly married James and Bridget Ryan, aged only 16 and 18 respectively, decided to leave Ireland for Australia. James was a coach builder and Bridget was a school teacher – an achievement of no small means in an era where few were educated. Bridget described the perils of their long voyage at sea on the Zamora”: “It wasn’t just the battle of the waves, but one’s very survival in crowded, unhygienic conditions.”
Arriving in Brisbane, they found that the streets were not “paved in gold” and work in James’s trade could not be found, so they travelled to Sydney. Bridget took work as a housemaid for a pastoralist in the Blue Mountains and James worked as a station hand. When that work ceased, they travelled to Brisbane. James worked for a number of years in his own trade as a coach builder but there was no real continuity of work. In 1894, they were forced to take their family of six by boat to Bowen. Here the last link of the northern railway was being completed and James found work there.
In 1904, with a large family of nine to care for, the Ryans moved by wagon to try their luck farming in Proserpine’s Preston district. This proved a disastrous step. James was unaccustomed to farm life and land had to be cleared and cultivated with none of the modern implements and methods of today. Life became a struggle. But like most women of her era, Bridget was tough, resilient and resourceful.
According to the stories Bridget told her family, there would have been no recycling problem. Clothes were handed down; sugar bags were made into “woggas” covered with patches of clothing; flour bags were used for aprons, tea towels and bandages; home remedies catered for illnesses. Nothing was wasted - curtains made from rolled and pasted jam labels or newspapers were hung in doorways. Kerosene lanterns provided lighting. (Bridget remained terrified of electricity until the day she died).
The family battled for many years and when four of the eldest sons enlisted in World War 1, Bridget decided that they’d had enough of “that Godforsaken hole” and, virtually facing starvation on tea, flour and sugar rations from the police station, they moved to town. Bridget received a special military award for her four sons who fortunately all returned home from the war.
In Proserpine, James obtained employment as a blacksmith at the Sugar Mill and a home was built where Ampol Service Station now stands, the site known as “Granny Ryan’s Corner” until her death at the age of 95.
Life in town was much easier and more enjoyable. Bridget often spoke of the excitement at election times when they and their neighbours decked out their horses, dogs and cats with ribbons of their political choice and also at the St. Patrick’s Day processions when Bridget marched carrying a green umbrella. These days were greatly anticipated; a relief from the hardship of life. Granny Ryan joined women such as Mrs Jupp and Mrs Maltby in raising funds from bazaars, fetes and the annual ball and serving hot meals in the streets.
Bridget Ryan remained fiercely independent until her death. She read without glasses; recited her catechism and said poetry in public – and throughout her life always retained a yearning for “dear old Ireland.”
Bridget had twelve children, two of whom died in infancy.
Story courtesy of Proserpine Historical Museum and photo courtesy of Bridget’s granddaughter, Colleen Byrnes (nee Ryan)
