Trunk and Cradle

These two items may not look much different from any old trunk or simple wooden cradle that might be found in a historic collection. In a way, that is exactly the point. These items belonged to the Tenney family, a family whose early story was shared by many others in the South West. Markings on the trunk tell of the family’s journey here in 1922 from Bulong, east of Kalgoorlie, to the Group Settlement block at Karri Hills. Thomas Tenney Senior was a carpenter and used wood offcuts to make this cradle for his baby son. In 1932, after ten years of hard work, Thomas Tenney Senior died, and his widow and son had to forfeit the property. They moved into Manjimup where they lived in a very humble cottage, and their only income was from Thomas Junior’s work as a labourer. His mother died in 1949 and Thomas Junior continued to live in the same cottage, which never had electricity, until he died in 1968. The Tenney family are buried in unmarked graves at the Manjimup.