Interview with Maurie and Ruth Pacey
As you walk along the waterfront near the Empire Bay marina there is an old, well-kept cottage that has many a story to tell. Sitting on Maurie and Ruth Pacey’s verandah you realise how they would have witnessed a change to their world over the past 50 years.
Ruth was born in 1935 in Ashbury, Sydney. When her father retired in 1939 the family moved to Empire Bay and settled in a house on the waterfront along Shelly Beach Road. This became Ruth’s childhood wonderland. In those days Ruth can remember Empire Bay been a small village with no cars, no medical services, and a daily ferry service to Woy Woy and once a fortnight ferry service to Gosford. There were two ferry services. The Produce Ferry from Kincumber (the “Protestant Ferry”) and the Bensville Orphanage Ferry known as the “Catholic Ferry”. The ferry service was an important contact to the outside world.
Ruth attended Empire Bay Public School from the age of five (1940) with teacher Mr Jones. She recalls Mr Jones’s definition of Friday’s sports afternoons as the time to clean the school and sweep the rooms. Growing up, Ruth remembers days swimming in the baths, riding bikes, fishing and walking to Killcare beach. Can you imagine asking the kids today to walk to Killcare Beach for a surf!
In those days summer was busy with holiday makers filling up the boarding houses and holiday rentals.
Ruth’s mum was a nurse, and as there was no doctor at Empire Bay, her mum was called upon to attend to many medical emergencies. From removing fishhooks, to “laying people out” after they had died. Sadly, in one episode, Ruth’s father had a heart attack and the doctor was called. The doctor could get to Davistown but not across to Empire Bay. Ruth remembers her mother frantically running to neighbours to organise a boat to fetch the doctor across Cockle Channel. Unfortunately, it was too late.
In 1947 Ruth and the family moved to Fairfield where they settled into a busy Sydney lifestyle. A far different scene from the quiet life of Empire Bay. High School at Parramatta, then joined the GPO, Martin Place.
Maurie, born in 1932 in Leichardt, enjoyed the suburban life of Sydney growing up.
In the early 1950’s, Ruth enjoyed the famous Vic’s Cabaret dance hall, Strathfield, one of the last big dance halls in Sydney. It was at Vic’s Cabaret Night Club where Ruth met this lovely, good looking young fella called Maurie Pacey. It’s wonderful to see them both smile at each other as they reminisce the dancing and courting days.
They married in 1956 (Hurstville), and Maurie laughs when he recalls catching a nice flathead on his first day of his honeymoon. Maurie worked in the Sales Department of Cumberland Newspapers. Ruth still maintained some contact with Empire Bay as her Aunty owned the shop at Davistown. This was Maurie’s first contact with the area. After moving around various suburbs of Sydney, raising 3 daughters, Maurie and Ruth decided, in 1973, to purchase a home on the waterfront in Empire Bay. This allowed Maurie to travel to work (Gosford, Newcastle, Parramatta) and still enjoy the relaxed homelife. Fifty years later they are still appreciating the quiet lifestyle around the Bay.
Before the Rip Bridge (1974), Empire Bay was an isolated small holiday village and the locals had to be self-reliant. Maurie and Ruth recall the Tuesday and Thursday “hoy” games at the Progress Hall, the weekly card games and regular dance nights. They witnessed the dramatic changes to Empire Bay with opening of the Rip Bridge. The families could gain easy access to entertainment and work away from the Bay, the need for local infrastructure like sports fields, and medical services disappeared, and the traffic and outside world discovered the place.
They have been very active members of the community, Maurie serving as Progress Associations Treasurer for 5 years, and President for 4 years. Maurie also played a major role in establishing the tennis courts along Shelly Beach Road.
As the Empire Bay community changes to suit this modern world, and new families discover this paradise, it is very important to stop and remind ourselves of those early days. To realise there are eyes and minds from an earlier time that are silently watching the community change. We owe them much.
by Robert Thompson