Daisy Hinschen (née Andersen) was born on October 8, 1900. At age 21, she married Richard John (“Whitty”) Hinschen, a member of a local family. After a short time up north, the Hinschens settled on their cane farm at Hamilton Plains just over the present site of Shepherd’s Bridge.
Daisy and Whitty had no children but took a very active part in many different community organisations. They were known for their consideration towards young people and it was not unusual to see Whitty drive his car to transport the bride and groom to church while Daisy capably handled the wedding catering. As the years passed, Daisy’s renown for her catering and organising ability ensured that hardly a function was held in Proserpine without her being at the hub of things. Practically every wedding was an “Aunty Daisy” wedding and as such was sure to be trouble-free.
When guests arrived for the reception - usually at the Diggers Hall or the Showgrounds Pavilion - the meal of cold meat and salad would already be laid out on the tables. Ever popular wine trifle of home-made cake and custard with fruit salad were standard desserts - the fruit salad freshly cut that morning and mixed in a baby bath!
Families and friends were always on hand to help set up tables and chairs for the reception and would arrive with a beautiful array of cakes and sweet tarts for after-dinner coffee. At a time when toasts and reply speeches were the ‘norm’, Aunty Daisy was often asked to respond on behalf of ‘the ladies’ and this she would capably do before briskly returning to her domain - the kitchen. Daisy’s night’s work was not complete until everything was back ‘ship-shape’.
When her husband, Whitty, died on 3rd May 1953, Daisy threw herself further into community work. For over forty years, Daisy’s voluntary work was spread over the Ambulance Committee for thirty-two years (in 1959, she received a Meritorious Award for her ambulance work); the Hospital Auxiliary; the Queensland Country Women’s Association and the North Queensland Society for Crippled Children of which she was the local secretary. She was an active member of the local branch of the RSL Auxiliary and in 1968, the RSL awarded her a Gold Badge and Life Membership. And yet, in the midst of all this, she still found time to enjoy a relaxing game of bowls.
The Proserpine Shire had been the exclusive domain of men for nearly seventy years when Daisy became the first woman candidate to contest the elections in the shire’s history held on April 29, 1961. She was one of three candidates for the town division and was beaten into third place by just a handful of votes, Messrs FW (Dick) Dray and BJ Lewis being elected. It would be another eighteen years before the first woman, Eileen Watson, was elected to council.
Aunty Daisy retained her interest in social and community work throughout her life so it did not come as a surprise that, in June 1969, the Governor, Sir Alan Mansfield presented her with an MBE for her many years of community service.
Daisy died on 21st January 1975 and is buried in Proserpine Cemetery.
With so many organisations now calling for an ever-decreasing number of volunteers, our town could well do with more of the likes of “Aunty Daisy”.
Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum and “A Slice of History” by Delys Jeppeson.
Aunty Daisy Hinschen
