# Timeline: 1930s Norman moves between lighthouses; Cath's schooling; Dick starts work; the family through to the eve of WW2. ## Events - **7 May 1930** — [Norman MacLeod](/people/norman-macleod-b1880) appointed lightkeeper on [Neptune Island](/places/neptune-island-lighthouse); family arrive with him. - **Jul 1931** — [Fran](/people/frances-louise-whillas-b1915) starts work at aunts [Nell](/people/helen-mary-whillas-b1876) and [Min's](/people/minnie-constance-whillas-b1889) shop in Rundle St. - **25 Sep 1931** — Norman McLeod buys 28 Cameron St, [Kingston](/places/kingston-south-australia). - **16 Oct 1931** — [J.H. Whillas](/people/john-henry-whillas-b1909) appointed temporary lightkeeper on Neptune Island; stays ~12 months due to staff shortage. - **10 Jan 1932** — [Cath](/people/catherine-mcleod-whillas-b1921) arrives on Neptune Is from Port Adelaide on MV *Yandra*. - **14 Feb 1932** — Cath leaves Neptune Is for Port Adelaide on MV *Lady Loch*. - **Aug 1932** — JH leaves Neptune on MV *Yandra*. - **11 May 1933** — Norman appointed lightkeeper on [Cape Northumberland](/places/cape-northumberland-lighthouse). **23 May** — Cath starts school at Pt MacDonald PS. - **4 Jul 1934** — Aunt [Fran](/people/frances-louise-whillas-b1915) starts work at COR, becoming ledger supervisor. - **Dec 1935** — [Dick](/people/richard-charles-whillas-b1920) finishes Intermediate level (yr 10) at Woodville HS (English, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geography, Bookkeeping, Typing, Shorthand). He was 15. - **Feb 1936** — Dick joins R.A. MacKirdy as a junior clerk. Cath starts year 7 at Woodville District HS. - **Mar 1936** — Norman leaves his lightkeeper position at Cape Northumberland — the last Archives entry on him. - **Apr 1936** — [Jack (JH) Whillas](/people/john-henry-whillas-b1909) marries Flora Cameron (Cam) in Murray Bridge. They can't have children but adopt [Ian](/people/ian-whillas). - **10 Jul 1936** — [Frances Johnston](/people/frances-johnston-whillas-b1849) (Dick's grandmother) dies in Blackwood, SA. - **Nov 1937** — Cath leaves school to take a job as a sales girl at John Martin's, Adelaide. - **Oct 1938** — Dick leaves MacKirdy and joins the SA Co-op Farmers Union (stays until joining the RAAF in Feb 1940). - **8 Mar 1939** — Norman makes a Statutory Declaration requesting replacement of his WW1 medals; gives address as care of the Lighthouse Service SA. - **26 May 1939** — Cath gives birth to [Catherine Normandy (Nan)](/people/catherine-normandy-whillas-b1939) on [Kangaroo Island](/places/cape-du-couedic-lighthouse). The birth certificate was later rewritten/legitimised after Cath and Dick married in 1943. - **1 Sep 1939** — Australia declares war on Germany. ## Notes & uncertainties - Cath boarded at PLC in Adelaide during primary school; hated it and left after one term to board with family friends (the Hopwoods) in Woodville, attending Woodville HS. In Aug 2024, Erika confirmed via WDHS records that Cath finished Pt McDonald PS in Dec 1935 (end of yr 7) and started WDHS Feb 1936, with residential address 22 Stanley St, Woodville (Dick's family home). - Although the SA Archives have no record of Norman after Cape Northumberland, Cath places him at [Cape du Couedic](/places/cape-du-couedic-lighthouse) on Kangaroo Island afterward. ## Related pages - [1920s](/timeline/1920s) · [1940s](/timeline/1940s) ## Sources - Whillas–McLeod family history spreadsheet (Rev 4), *1930s* sheet.