The '54 Originals

The above image and list capture the 15th of February 1954 initial student intake of St Joseph's Marist Brothers College, Salvado Road, Subiaco, Western Australia. Whilst the image shows the bulk of the first intake, a number of the '54 student complement, for a variety of circumstances, did not appear in this photograph.

Over the course of the SJC first term and academic year the student body grew to 132.

The photograph was taken by the Dease Photographic studios, Barrack Street, Perth.

The image's glass plate negative was lodged for preservation with the State Library of W.A. in the mid 1960's.

(Through negotiation we have been able to secure a thumb print device copy and are able to offer copies of the photograph to anyone wishing a print. Just contact the webmaster, Mike Quigley. BTW we can print at any size)

The student list was composed and crafted by Eugene Hegney, father of two '54 Originals. Gerald and Michael.

The annotation style used by Mr. Hegney is known as calligraphy, derived from the Greek, meaning "beautiful writing", a fitting description of his artistry which was rendered using special writing implements made by the calligrapher.

Mr. Hegney's expertise and talent are obvious; no doubt the reason the College's inaugural Parent's Group President Tom Perrott enlisted him to undertake the task.

We alumni are indebted to Mr. Hegney responding to Tom's request and his rendering of this iconic piece of SJC's 71 years of history.

Mr. Hegney's Story.

He was born in 1901 and died in 1995 following a full and productive life.

How and when did Eugene Hegney come to Western Australia?

The beginning of the Hegney Australian adventure.

In 1895 the Hegney Family travelled from the Eastern-Central County of Westmead, Ireland to Fremantle W.A.

The Hegney family consisted of dad, mum and 7 children, The family left Westmead as the Land Wars, which commenced in the 1890's, gave rise to continual unrest and difficulties for working class people as Irish landowner claimants sought to wrest back control of ancestral lands annexed by the English in the 12th Century. These disputations exacerbated existing poverty caused by the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840's, the effects of which lingered in Ireland for 5 decades.

Not the most conducive place to raise a family and there were fields afar that offered a better future, Australia and the USA

Settling into the new country

After initially settling in East Fremantle the Hegney family moved to Midland Junction 1902/04 where the family patriarch secured employment at the newly opened W.A. Government Railways Workshops.

That facility provided a wide range of engineering services to the State's extensive rail system and public works programs. Additionally, it was an enterprise that offered apprenticeships covering a broad spectrum of engineering disciplines.

The Young Eugene Hegney.

As a youth Eugene Hegney engaged in various professions from blacksmithing, to timber cutting to sheep shearing.

He was also a semi-professional boxer of some note fighting & winning for several bouts at the long- gone "White City" amusement park located on the Swan River foreshore west of Barrack Street, Perth.

An adventurous young fellow he travelled widely across the State, south to the timber mills, north to the emerging sheep farms around Geraldton.

Around the mid 1930's he ventured further north to Wydham in the west Kimberley region.

Here he was offered a position at the Wyndham Meat works,

A good move, as it was in Wyndham that he met and married his beloved Linda.

They had five children, Joseph, Mary (who died prematurely from a childhood disease), Gerald, Michael and Bernadette.

World War II and its impact on the Hegney's

With the commencement of World War II in 1939 and the Japanese invasions of Korea, Manchuria and the Sino- Japanese War (1937 to 1945), Australian concerns about possible Japanese incursions in the NW were heightened.

The Wyndham Meat Works was designated as essential to the war effort because apart from supplying chilled beef to Commonwealth countries, it had a canning works which produced "Bully" beef an ADF/Commonwealth armed services food staple.

In December 1941 Japan attacked the US fleet anchored in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.

As their forces swept south through Asia, in 1942 their air force targeted and bombed Darwin, Broome, Derby and Wyndham.

Evaluating the risk Eugene relocated his young family south to Midland Junction

A very sound decision as the Wyndham Meat Works became a prime Japanese target.

He took up a position at the W.A Midland Railway Workshops which had become a war effort engineering centre. In the midst of what must been a time of concern among the community, the ever-energetic Eugene built a family home in Wembley, which he rented out whilst the family continued to live in Midland, close to work.

Post War

When the War ended in 1945, the Hegney's moved back to their Wembley home.

Post war, Eugene continued to work at the Midland Workshops while earning extra income creating advertising posters called " Show Cards" for a number of local business clients.

His highly developed innate layout skills and beautiful sign writing were highly regarded and much sought after.

Upon retirement he formalized his talent by attending TAFE and gaining an accredited qualification.

He passed away at the grand age of 94 years in 1995.

(My grateful appreciation to Michael and Patricia Hegney for their assistance and guidance in the composition of this article)