13/02/2021
Love my grandad!!! A living legend of a Porongurup 😍😍😍 So funny and vibrant in person too!
Porongurupian 💟
(Noun; one whom originated or resides in the Porongurup area, Western Australia.)
I was born two months premature on 13th February 1928 in Midland. I had two older sisters, Joyce born 1920 and Beryl born 1923. I would have had a third sister but sadly she died in my father’s arms at an early age of 2 or 4 years old.
My father’s vineyard was at the bottom of the hills and I loved going out in the foothills as a little kid. I remember playing in the mud between the vines especially when my father had ploughed the soil with his horses Captain and Major using a great big plough. My early childhood memories are of a beautiful life.
My mother and father always had Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties and I remember hiding outside the lounge room window straining my ears to hear my father’s jokes which were always risqué.
When I was 12 I went to Guildford Grammar School I spent two and half years there and didn’t like it very much. I found it quite overwhelming and pretty frightening. In 1942 the school moved into the country and was taken over by the Americans to be used as a hospital during the war.
When I was 15 I went to work for the Royal Insurance Company and I would sometimes go into the foothills of the Swan Valley and pick wildflowers for the ladies in the office. While I was climbing up a hill I would imagine I had a .22 rifle under my arm waiting up there for the Japanese to come over the hill. That was when I really fell in love with the hills.
When I was 19 I meet my first wife Joan, she was 17. Her grandmother said she had to be 21 to get married so we had a 5 year courtship. We met at the Insurance Company. She was a real doll I couldn’t believe she was interested in me.
Our eldest son Stephen was born December 1952, our 2nd son Mark was born February 1956 and our 3rd son Michael was born July 1957.
I had a career in Real Estate which a Policeman had to check me out to ensure I hadn’t been naughty so I could get my license. My Real Estate business was very successful mostly with subdivisions in the hills of Greenmount and Darlington. I was very passionate about land conservation and in 1999 was awarded an OAM for my conservation efforts.
Joan and I parted ways but we have remained good friends with close family ties.
I married my second wife, Lesley, in 1975. Lesley and I came down to live permanently in the Porongurup’s in 1989 because I wanted to retire at the age of 60, but I never did really retire. The Darlington Cricket Club helped me develop a cricket field on my Porongurup property and they would come down to visit and play cricket. I just love the game!
When we first arrived at our farm on the side of the Porongurup Range we lived in an old pioneer cottage, it was a real mess, sheep were living in it but there was a flushing toilet on the verandah and Lesley said that was good enough for her to live in. On our Porongurup farm we developed accommodation and wine with our label Millinup Estate Wines. I loved talking to our guests, showing them our beautiful region and sharing a vino at the end of the day.
Sadly, Lesley passed away from bowel cancer in 1995.
I will be 93 this year and when I look back on my life I see how blessed I have been. I grew up in a loving family, established a successful business, contributed much of my time to promoting the need for conservation, served as President and committee member on many conservation boards.
I have had two marriages to two wonderful women, I have three sons of whom I am immensely proud as well as their families whom I love with all of my heart.
The best advice I ever received was to go climbing in the Stirling Ranges with my young mates and I climbed every peak in the Range and the Porongurup and of course moving to the Porongurup years later.
And I would advise anyone to live the same way you do, your whole flammin life!!!
This is my little dog Scout, she is 12 years old and is tremendously good company for me.
Porongurupian;
Peter Thorn
Business;
thornsmountainretreat.com.au
porongurup.asn.au
