Recently Elizabeth Riley donated a copy of Brownhill’s History of Geelong to the society. Her sister and member of the society, Barbara Barfoot, has provided the backstory to how their family came to be in possession of this 1955 book.

Inside the front cover was a letter from the author to a Mr Knight and two articles cut from the pages of The Geelong Advertiser. The larger one was dated July 9, 1955 and the second, undated, was alerting readers of the upcoming publication of the book. The recipient of the letter from Mr Brownhill was Clive Hugh Knight. Clive Knight was born on November 16, 1913 and throughout his life he lived, with his wife, in Lidcombe which is about 15 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD.

Clive Knight was the eldest brother of Barbara Barfoot and Elizabeth Riley’s mother. Barbara wrote that she remembered him well, as she too was the eldest child in her family. She recalls that Clive was naturally gifted with writing and art. Barbara remembers that the family had many books with Clive’s pen and ink artwork, as well as notebooks with cartoons and drawings to which he added the inscription “this book belongs to …” on the front page.

Clive’s connection with Geelong and Brownhill’s book had its origins in the aftermath of the Second World War. At the outbreak of war Clive was in his twenties. He joined the AIF where he was promoted to Sergeant and he served in New Guinea. Other members of the family also served during that conflict. Clive’s two younger brothers also enlisted and were ‘Rats of Tobruk’ but both became prisoners of war in Udine, Italy for 3 years. Sadly Clive’s younger brother, Ewen, died there. The brothers’ younger Sister Mary Edna also enlisted and she was based in Albury.

After the war Clive Knight became The Purchasing Officer for Hycraft Carpets‘ Sydney Factory. A position he held until until his retirement. Clive married his wife Olive and the couple had two children, Gordon and Dianne. The family history suggested that Hycraft Carpets sent Clive to The Gordon Institute for training because of his art and writing but Barbara noted that he had studied Drafting at the Institute.

Another family memory confirms that Clive was more than an artist and writer. His brother Ian told Barbara that “Clive drew up the plans for a much wider loom which was adopted so Hycraft could then make much wider carpets”.

Barbara paints a wonderful portrait of her Uncle Clive. He was a great favourite of the whole family. He was very tall at 6’4” and Barbara wrote that “we all remembered the visits from Uncle Clive who was a quiet unassuming man with a dry sense of humour.” Clive was a regular visitor to the family’s home in Moolap as Barbara and Elizabeth’s grandfather and Clive’s father lived with them there.

Barbara adds that Clive loved walking and didn’t own a car, much preferring to utilise public transport. Barbara remembers an amusing story that highlighted his passion for walking and concern for others. One evening Barbara and Elizabeth’s father had driven Uncle Clive into Geelong to visit an old army friend. The family assumed that Clive would be brought home to Moolap, and so the family were surprised next morning to find he had walked home and slept on the old cane lounge on the front verandah, as he didn’t want to disturb anyone.

Barbara remembers Clive’s visits as a special time. Clive left Brownhill’s ‘big green book’ with the family for reference and she notes that “we all read it and used it for school projects”. She also remembers being told Mr Brownhill, the author, was an acquaintance of Uncle Clive.

So when Elizabeth was making the journey interstate, to be closer to family, the decision was made to keep the copy of Brownhill’s History of Geelong in the city where it was inspired and written down. The society is pleased to have been charged with keeping this important piece of Geelong history in the city and available for future generations to access.