South West Life

May Gibbs, the author of "Snugglepot & Cuddlepie" and the "Gumnut Babies", who received an MBE for her contribution to children's literature, spent some of her childhood in a beautiful part of Harvey in the south west.

May was born in England, but was brought to Australia at the age of four by her parents who wanted to try their hand at farming in Australia. They arrived in Adelaide in 1881 aboard the ship SS Hesperus, and they stayed in South Australia for four years before taking up some land on the fertile "Harvey Estate", a stretch of land along the Harvey River.

The Harvey Estate had been established only a few decades earlier by the first Governor of Western Australia, Governor Stirling, who set up the "Harvey River Settlement" on 12,800 acres of fertile land.

One of the first things Governor Stirling did was to establish "The Hut", built on the banks of the Harvey River by convicts. It featured a shingled roof, pit sawn jarrah walls, and hexagonal pavers for flooring.

"The Hut", which today is known as "Stirling's Cottage", was sold a number of times over the years, and was eventually sold to May's parents.

While May's parents worked the land, she and her brothers (Bertie and Ivan) would take long walks through the bush - exploring. Swimming in the river, turning over rocks, examining flowers and birds nests.... they became intrepid explorers.

May was able to explore even further when she was given a pony at age nine. This enabled her to travel further, explore more parts of the bush, and visit farms and stations further out. There was no school in the area, so May and her brothers were home-schooled. At an early age, May showed a talent for drawing.

But it was a struggle to run the Harvey farm at a profit, and after only two years the family packed up and moved to Perth.

Later in life, May would describe her time in Harvey as the happiest two years of her life. She loved the Australian bush, especially the flowers. It is widely believed that these happy times inspired May's stories and illustrations.

May often travelled back to Harvey, as her uncle and cousins were still there, and she would continue to wander through the bush and experience the scenery.

Her first book, Gumnut Babies, was published in 1913. During World War I, she did postcards which were popular with the troops overseas. Perhaps her most well known work, Snugglepot & Cuddlepie, was later published in 1918, and is still in production today.

May married in 1919 and moved to Sydney, where she remained until her death. When she died, she left her archives, copyright, and royalty rights to the Northcott Society (formerly the NSW Society for Crippled Children) and the Spastic Centre of NSW.

And what happened to Stirling's Cottage?

Over the years it unfortunately fell into disrepair and by the late 1960's only a few stones remained. A lone pine tree marked the site but even this was blown over in a storm in 1985.

However, a replica of Stirling's Cottage has now been built. It also features extensive landscaped heritage gardens and orchard, a tearoom, a May Gibbs feature room, and more. Situated next to the Harvey Tourist Bureau and the peaceful Harvey river, it is well worth a look.