Mervyn (John) & Nannette (Netty) nee Barrett Hall

Nanette (Netty) Hall nee Barrett

In the Winter of 1935 on the 22nd August, Nanette graced the world with her presence. Born to Elizabeth and William Barrett in Wangaratta, Nanette with parents and sister Judy, and two brothers Jimmy and Billy, the family lived along the Buckland River on the Mt. Buffalo Road.

Nanette attended Porepunkah Primary School and finished her schooling at Bright High School. She enjoyed school and excelled in all subjects. As a child Nanette would stand at the Mt Buffalo bus stop and sell posies of flowers to the passengers travelling to the Mt. Buffalo Chalet.

After leaving school Nanette worked as a Nanny and housemaid on a cattle station at Narromine, NSW. The station children called her ‘Netty’ and when Nan’s grandchildren were born, she wanted them to call her ‘Netty’.

When Netty moved back to the mountains – her home – she worked as a housemaid on Mt. Buffalo and in Bright. She would ride her horse to work, leave it in the stables during the day before riding home again after a day’s work.

Just short of her 20th birthday Nanette surrounded by family and friends, married John Hall in Bright. They raised five children – Chris, Jenny, Bev, Lyn and Colin. In 1966 Netty and John purchased their forever home and farm in the Buckland Valley. The surrounding hills, mountains and trees became etched into the family. It was a busy time of life for them.

John usually started his day around three or four in the morning and then Netty set to running the household. With five kids ranging from three to ten years the Hall family was established in the Buckland Valley. In 1978 John and Nan took over the bush leases of the upper Buckland Valley from Selwyn Timbers, who in turn had taken over the leases from Syd and Jack Beveridge.

For Netty there was never enough hours of sunlight especially considering that there was no electricity. A wood stove for cooking and heating, a kerosene fridge, a meat safe, Tilley lanterns for light, a copper for washing clothes and a farm to run was Netty’s life in the early days.

There were many Walnut trees on the farm so after school and on the weekends, the kids would help Netty pick up nuts. After tea Netty would sit and shell the nuts – always going for the perfect half! Netty would sell the nuts to the local restaurants. Netty often stayed up late after the kids had gone to bed to make or mend their clothes or knit their winter woolies.

To say great excitement stirred in the household when electricity was connected, is no understatement.

As the children reached school age and had to get to school, Netty and John took on her first business endeavor – the Buckland School Bus run. This started with a little green Morris bus with Netty as the driver and John as the mechanic. There was only one simple rule for each child travelling on the bus, this was to say ‘good morning’ and ‘good-bye’ every day. Over time the school bus route grew from the Buckland out onto the Mt Buffalo Road, onto Porepunkah and Bright. Netty provided a service to many children taking not only her own children but over the years, her grandchildren as well.
If one business was not enough Netty and John decided to take on the cleaning contract for local motels including the Red Carpet, Bright Haven, and Bogong View. Netty would use the hours between the morning and afternoon school bus runs to clean the motel rooms. At times Netty would also do weekend work at the motels.

If running a household, two businesses and a farm was not enough, Netty decided she wanted to ‘learn the computer.’ When learning the computer, in her typical fashion, she mastered it quickly. So much so, that she decided to copy a full novel called ‘Man Shy’ which was about a rogue red cow that she could relate to in the bush. Netty then went on to have her copy of the novel printed and bound. She added her own family’s photos of mustering cattle in the bush and finally gave each of her kids a copy!

Netty had a full schedule and lifestyle but the importance of nurturing her children’s health was not going to be missed. She loved her kids to be competitive at school sports, so a training regime was put in place. On the way to school, rather than allowing her children to take the bus she would have them run from the house to the bridge – 2 miles away! – then pick them up and take them to school. And in the afternoon, they were dropped off the bridge so they could run home again!

In the summer the family would swim in the Buckland River at Picnic Point, doing laps up and down in the freezing water. High jumps, usually for the horses, were set up in the back yard. She would then cheer her children on with joy as they competed in various events.

Netty was savvy to say the least. But her true passions were the bush, her horses, her garden and her little dogs – Salo, Tilly and Jessie. Netty absolutely loved and adored her gardening time. She started remodeling a small area at the back verandah and over the years extended the garden to encompass the entire back yard, which got a little bigger and bigger each year. She was in her garden any spare moment she had and bit by bit she created a beautiful oasis of shade and colour. For many years the entire Hall family, kids and grandchildren, cousins and friends spent many days under the trees sipping tea and coffee with a side of biscuits or cake. There were countless birthday celebrations - Easter, Christmas, and the scurrying of little children running along the garden paths. A passion she looked on with love, pride and the thought – ‘well, what area shall I add next?

The bush and horses went hand in hand. Exploring, wandering and embracing the majestic mountains on horseback bought vibrancy to Netty’s life. Her love of and opportunity to ride grew with the years. Once her children were grown, Netty became John’s right-hand man, assisting him with cattle work.

Then, in her late ‘50’s Netty sought another challenge. In 1991 Netty decided to take up endurance riding and to no-one’s surprise, excelled at it. Her training included checking the cattle, riding up and down countless hills deep in the bush in the Buckland. She wouldn’t have just one horse, but two – Meggie and Claire, whom she loved dearly. Wherever she went she would ride one and lead the other, often swapping between the two so they would be both fit and ready for the ride. Netty won many local races and qualified to compete in the open section of the Bright High Country Ride – a distance of 80km and after that she never looked back. For three of the next four years Netty placed 1st in the lightweight division with her best time being 4 hours and 11 minutes. The year she missed 1st place followed a nasty scrape with a pine tree branch which knocked her off her horse, but she climbed back on and raced the riders to the finish line to place second. Only after that did she go hospital for stitches to her wounds!

One of her biggest achievements was competing in the 100 mile (160km) Tom Quilty ride with one of her grandchildren. Endurance riding was a passion and a hobby she shared with the family. Netty accomplished 1140kms over 13 rides as a fully qualified rider. She didn’t just love horses and riding for herself. She spent much time with John and her kids in the bush, at endurance riding and at Pony Club. On a Pony Club weekend Netty would have each of her five children’s horses washed, groomed and gear polished (as well as the kids!) ready for their 15km ride into Bright. Leading up to special Fancy Dress days Netty spent numerous hours coming up with fancy dress ideas and then making all the costumes. When the grandkids came along, she loved attending Pony Club and encouraging them all the way. The Bright Pony Club had a very strong and loyal supporter in Netty.

Throughout her married life, Netty’s determination and great sense of humour has endeared her to all who knew her. She was a caring and kind wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, reliable bus driver, endurance horse rider par excellence, and a student, parent and supporter of the Porepunkah Primary School..

Netty’s long and full life reflects her selflessness and giving nature. She was the eternal optimist, always making the best of every situation. Netty gave so much in time, energy, support, love, hard work and spirit. Her life’s work and legacy are reflected in her love for John, her 5 children, 12 grandchildren and her 20 great-grandchildren.

Mervyn John Hall was born in Bright on the 8th of June 1933 and passed away on Thursday the 12th October 2023 at the ripe old age of 90.

When John left school at a very young age he worked in a variety of jobs, mostly associated with men on the land, stock and the bush.
From there he went north and worked as a stockman on several cattle stations. He often talked about his time up North. “It was hard tough work, the environment was harsh, the food was basic, there were long hours in the saddle, but it was wonderful and carefree”. He loved it.

On returning to his hometown John married Nanette Barrett on the 2nd of July 1955 and proceeded to have five children in quick succession. As the family grew, they purchased their first home in Porepunkah, just across the road from the timber mill.

John had several jobs in his early years of marriage life. Just to name a few, there was chopping firewood for the Mt Buffalo Chalet and working for the SEC in Mt Beauty on the Rocky Valley Dam. But he always wanted to be his own boss, so eventually he purchased a log truck and went into the business of carting hardwood timber from the Buckland Valley to the Selwyn Timbers mill in Porepunkah. This led to the purchase of Hepburn’s farm in the Buckland Valley. Some years later, when a farm down the road came on the market, John and Nanette decided to expand their farming operation and purchased the property to complement their leased country.

Their first lease was the Yarrabulla run. They drove their cattle to and from the Buckland Valley farms via Goldy Spur, around the back wall of Mt Buffalo down to Yarrabulla. Later they purchased leases from Selwyn Timbers that had once belonged to the Beveridge Brothers. Stretching from the Lower Buckland to the Twins, Mt Selwyn and Mt Sarah in Gippsland. While John was doing his 12 hour days carting timber from the Buckland he would check his cattle from the truck window, salting them along the way, knowing where they were and how they were doing.

John loved being in the high country and was a great supporter of the MCAV, travelling to numerous meetings throughout Victoria with other MCAV Members.

John and Nanette continued to run Hereford cattle in the Buckland Valley for over 50 years, then in their 80’s they retired back to Porepunkah.

Until his last days John kept an interest in the Buckland, especially the cattle on the bush runs. There was plenty of discussion on where the cattle were grazing, how well they were doing, what the season was like and how much they were worth. Always willing to give added advice when needed.

The Buckland Valley was in his blood.