Donald Payze Eckersley OBE (1922 - 2009)

Born 1 Nov 1922 in Harvey, Western Australia, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Patricia Lilian (Waddingham) Eckersley — married 1944 (to Jan 1947) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Died Apr 2009 at age 86 in Harvey, Western Australia, Australia

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Biography

Don Eckersley OBE is Notable.

Don Eckersley OBE was born in Western Australia, Australia

Donald 'Don' Payze Eckersley was born on 1st November 1922 in Harvey, Western Australia, Australia. He was the third son of Walter Eckersley, a dairy farmer, and Ada Moss. ^[1]

Don was a farmer

As soon as he was old enough he began working with his father on the family's dairy farm.

Don Eckersley OBE is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Royal Australian Air Force 1941-1945
attained the rank of Warrant Officer

On 12th October 1941 Don enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for service during the fast-escalating Second World War. His next-of-kin was listed as Patricia Eckersley. The war over in Europe but still underway in the Pacific, he was discharged on 8th June 1945 with the rank of Warrant Officer and posted to the No.7 Operational Training Unit. ^[1]

Whilst based in Melbourne, Victoria in 1944, Donald married Tasmanian-born Patricia Waddingham. ^[2] When he was discharged from the RAAF Don took his bride to Western Australia, building a house on his father's dairy property for themselves.

Following the war, Don returned to dairy farming in Harvey, and subsequently gave a lifetime of service to primary producers’ associations in and beyond Western Australia, including as president of the Farmers Union of Western Australia (1972-75), president of the Australian Farmers’ Federation (1975-79) and inaugural president of the National Farmers’ Federation (1979-81). He also served for ten years as president of Harvey Shire Council, was chairman of the South West Development Authority, chairman of the Artificial Breeding Board, a member of the Western Australian Waterways Commission and a member of the Senate of The University Of Western Australia. ^[3]

In the Queen's Birthday Honours 1976, Don was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of service to primary industry. ^[4] Five years later, in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1981, he was created Knight Bachelor in recognition of service to primary industry. ^[5]

Sir Donald was inducted into the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia (RASWA) Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2000. ^[6]

He was further honoured through the awarding of the Centenary Medal in January 2001 for his 'service to the community through primary industry in Western Australia'. ^[7]

Aged 86 years, Don passed away in April 2009 and was buried in the Harvey Lawn Cemetery on 17th April. ^[8]

The following article was published in the Mirror on Staurday, 4th January 1947: ^[9]

"This love thy neighbor business is a fine ideal, but it can be carried too far. Ask dairyman Donald Payze Eckersley. Don's wife Pat took it at face value, coupled it with the adage 'distant fields look greener,' and gave her heart to an udder dairyman! Don, who'd thought marriage was in clover, took a poor view of the neighbor grazing in on his field of happiness.

"Don first noticed wife Patricia Lillian setting cold towards him in July. He married her in Melbourne while he was still in the RAAF, and after discharge brought her over to the West. They went to live on Don's father's dairy farm at Harvey, which Don managed. Later, they had a house built for themselves. Quite close by was Lancefieid, the property of Englishman Bryan James Henderson, who came out early in 1940. The Eckersleys and the Hendersons became quite matey, visited each other. And sometimes Pat visited Henderson without Don tagging along.

"In July, Pat refused to be a wife to Don any more. Don was bewildered, just couldn't see the point, until friend Henderson, who according to Don had stacks of hay, threw a party at the Adelphi one night. Don and Pat were numbered among the guests, but Don didn't see much of Pat during the night. Every so often he spotted her leaving the ballroom with Henderson. They'd be away about 20 minutes, and then refoin the party for a while. Next day Don tackled Pat about her leaving the scene of festivities. She passed it off as a joke, said she'd gone to Henderson's room with him. Henderson, she added, had told her his wife didn't love him any more. Don had a hunch Pat's story was just a stall. He accepted it, but it didn't eliminate his suspicions.

"During the week he noticed Henderson's car outside the Eckersley domicile every time he went to town. Pat offered several explanations, but Don made up his mind that he didn't want Henderson hanging around the place. He said as much. Pat blandly informed him that on several occasions she'd misconducted herself with friend Henderson. Don got Henderson over right away to thresh the matter put. Faced with the confession, Henderson remarked: 'I'm sorry. We couldn't help it. We're in love with each other.' There followed a long discussion. It was proposed that Don forgive Pat and she go to her parents in Tasmania for a while. Bat Pat didn't wanna go away. Things had gone too far already, she said, and if she went she wouldn't come back.

"Next day they had another conference, this time with Harvey lawyer Alec Ball as chairman. He tried to patch things uo, but to no avail. In the end Henderson and Pat both signed a confession of their misdoings. Later, Pat agreed to go to Tasmania, left Harvey one Monday afternoon with her plane passage booked and the money to pay for same. She promised to ring Don from Perth. Instead of the phone call she dropped in in person the following Wednesday— driven down from Perth by Henderson. She told Don she'd decided not to go to Tassie after all, and then went back to Perth with her boyfriend.

"Following Monday Don Eckersley himself came to Perth. He watched the Palace Hotel, saw Pat and Henderson arrive to gether. They wouldn't say where they had spent the week-end, but Henderson handed back the plane fare Don had given Pat. Latest development, Don told the Chief Justice, is that Pat and Henderson are living together on Henderson's farm. Harvey lawyer Alec Ball told how he had tried to save two marriages at the conference in his office. 'I told Henderson I considered his affection for Mrs. Eckersley a mere infatuation caused by his own vanity,' said Ball.

"Chief Justice decided Don should have his freedom, granted lawyer John Virtue's request for Don's bill to be sent to Henderson."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal roll: 415409 Warrant Officer Donald Payze Eckersley; accessed 28 Dec 2023
2. ↑ Victoria Marriage Index #10671/1944
3. ↑ Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia; accessed 28 Dec 2023
4. ↑ Australian Honours: OBE; accessed 28 Dec 2023
5. ↑ Australian Honours: Knight Bachelor; accessed 28 Dec 2023
6. ↑ Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia; accessed 28 Dec 2023
7. ↑ Australian Honours: Centenary Medal; accessed 28 Dec 2023
8. ↑ Harvey Lawn Cemetery; accessed 28 Dec 2023
9. ↑ Mirror (Perth, WA: 1921 - 1956) Sat 4 Jan 1947 Page 11 DAIRY ROMANCE WENT DEEPER THAN CALF LOVE; accessed 28 Dec 2023