Hartwig Keith (Doc) Norman
| Type of person | Individual |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1932 |
| Place of birth | Rose Park SA |
Hartwig Keith Norman Doc (an abbreviation of Dear Old Chap; obviously acquired in my latter years).
I was born on the 24th July 1932 at the Queen Victoria Hospital, Rose Park S.A, first born son of Norman and Mary Hartwig. I have an older sister Dorothy and a younger brother Bruce. Our father Norman (Norm), was a fitter and turner and skilled motor mechanic. Mother was a traditional housewife.
I attended primary school at Marryatville Primary School and secondary education at Unley High School. I played the usual sports for the school, was not particularly proficient at any of them, and did not distinguish myself at any of the sporting activities. Fortunately my scholastic record was a bit closer to the top than the bottom of the class. On leaving school I obtained a job in the office of National Radio, then in Grote Street Adelaide. After a couple of years, I decided I preferred a more active life and was lucky to find a very pleasant job in the Freight Department of Trans Australia Airlines. It Involved shift work with very generous penalty rates and no “all night shifts”.
In approximately 1950, my family moved to Waikerie on the River Murray to establish an Orchard, (which had always been my father’s dream), and I moved with them to assist with the task. We installed a water pump on the river, laid 10 inch concrete pipes up a 120 foot cliff and 500 metres across a sheet limestone flat to establish our watering system. Hard work. But in due time we had a flourishing young orchard.
On June 2nd 1956, the year of the great flood of the River Murray, I married Georgia and we took up residence in a little rented cottage overlooking the Waikerie pumping station. In those days the pumps were powered by three ships diesel engines and operated for three weeks of every month. It was like living in a passenger ship. Amazingly, after a couple of days, you didn’t notice the throb at all!
The following year, Dad’s health failed. Hard work doesn’t hurt you as long as you are young and stupid; not true if you have reached middle years.
We sold the block and Georgia and I moved to Adelaide, where I had obtained a job managing the office of a large furniture removal company. I stayed in that position for six years until the family sold the business to Grace Bros. of Sydney. I had, by this time taken an interest in aviation, so with the takeover of the removal business, I determined to obtain a Commercial Pilot’s License and Instructor rating, with a view to instructing full time.
During this period I took various jobs which allowed for daytime flying and study. In 1961 my daughter Kathryn was born, which gave us much joy. 1967 saw me fully qualified with Commercial Pilot’s License and “C” grade Instructor’s License. That same year, the airlines stopped intake of cadets for two years, hence I became an instant “Bush Pilot”. I flew crews in to Moomba when Moomba was a hole in the ground and the principle base was Gidgealpa.
As the first “mining boom” got going, I had close ties with the Geology Dept. of Adelaide University and this led to the National University in Canberra. They enjoyed my service, in as much as instead of dropping the Field personnel off at the site and coming back in a few days to collect them , I tied the aeroplane down and helped with the project for the several days of the job.
In 1971, I noticed that a 6,000 acre grazing block at Quorn was for sale, and, having just enough savings for the deposit, we bought it. I obtained a stock mortgage from Elder Smith and bought my first herd of cattle. Whilst they were growing and fattening, I built a two storey Spanish Mission house for Georgia on the block, where, as a family, we spent many happy days. Kathryn was still going to college, so the girls stayed at our Millswood house and I came down nearly every weekend. They, in turn, spent all holidays, long weekends etc. at the Ranch (as it became known). Kate and her friends learnt to ride horses, shoot firearms, and, in general, learned all of the bad habits of the many local boys who came out every time the girls were on the scene. They all became firm lifelong friends.
We needed saddles for our job, so I imported some saddle trees from America and made a few. Before long some of the local boys wanted one. I advertised in Hoofs and Horns magazine and the resultant orders convinced me to undertake saddle-making as a full time activity. It worked well with the Ranch. I would inspect the stock and water first thing in the morning, then make saddles all day and into the night. It created a cash-flow line without leaving the property and helped to keep the bank manager in a friendly frame of mind.
In late 1979, we sold the Ranch and returned to Millswood where I continued to make saddles. I purchased an old farm house on 3 acres of land at Gawler in 1980 to renovate, create a nice garden, and subsequently sell in a few years time. In March 1983, arsonists broke into our Millswood home while we were all out, and they set a fire which gutted the house. By good fortune, the Gawler house was quite livable, so Georgia and I moved our salvaged goods in to Gawler and Kathryn, (now well into University studies), secured a flat in Adelaide, and thus began a new way of life for us all.
The old house and grounds were a challenge. We built sheds, made an artist’s studio out of the old motor shed, built stables, and fenced horse yards, and spent many fun days collecting moss rocks from beside the roads in the Barossa hills. Georgia had a wonderful eye for decorative rocks, in particular those weighing about half a ton, which she urged me to pick up and put in the tray of our old yellow F100. These went to make up mounded garden beds, edgings, and plant adornments. I continued to make saddles through this period.
In April 1987, I was invited to join the Rotary Club of Gawler by prominent local businessman Michael Johnson. This opened doors to the Gawler community for me. Within the Club, I held various offices; including Secretary, Sergeant at Arms, Announcer at the annual Christmas Street Party, convener of the Rotary Village Fair (which it was said made me the village “Fairy”), and I served on many committees during the 23 years I remained a member.
I quit making saddles in 2006, and, in 2010, we sold our Gawler house and moved to suburban Adelaide where we share a large two storey home with Kathryn and her husband. We maintain contact with Gawler through Georgia’s love of films. She likes to go as often as possible to the Wednesday matinee with long term friends.
We really enjoyed our years at Gawler and hope we made some small contribution to the community in that time.
Keith Hartwig sadly passed away on Saturday 21st October, 2017.
References
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