ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collections

HMSS 0486 Canberra North (Men's) Probus Club Records

The Canberra North Probus club was formed on 13 March 1984 at a meeting held at the Daramalan Club. It was instigated by the Canberra City Rotary Club and the Canberra North Rotary Club.

Probus is an association, often linked to Rotary International, of retired and semi-retired people who join together in Clubs, the basic purpose of which is to provide regular opportunities for them to keep their minds active, expand their interests and to enjoy the fellowship of new friends. The Canberra North Group began when only men could join Probus and continued as a men only group until its cessation. A Canberra North Ladies Probus Group was formed mostly constituted of wives of the men's group. The annual Christmas lunch was jointly held.

As well as the usual committee positions, the group also had the position of Urn Master. The Urn Master was responsible for overseeing the morning tea at meetings.

The club had a membership of approximately forty members for most of its existence but numbers began dwindling in the 2000s as the demographics of Northern Canberra changed with older residents downsizing and moving, being replaced by a younger population and the deaths of several members between 2013 and 2016.  The club closed in 2017.

The following is the text of a speech given by club secretary Jim Maher at the final meeting as a brief history of and eulogy for the club.

"The records of the Canberra North Probus Club Inc. show that in 1984, Chris Norwood of the Canberra City Rotary Club and Charles Croker of the Canberra North Rotary Club saw the desirability of having a Probus Club in North Canberra, and with the agreement of the City Rotary Committee, called for expressions of interest in forming such a Club.

On 13 March 1984, Chris Norwood convened a Meeting at the Daramalan Club attended by some 27 potential Members. He introduced the President of the City Rotary Club and of the Canberra North Rotary Club who outlined the history of Probus Clubs. The District Representative for Probus and the President of the Belconnen Probus Club also spoke.

At the Meeting, decisions were made about the name of the Club, the venue for Meetings, and the date of Meetings. Nominations were called to form a Management Committee. Mr Keith Lawrence was elected the first President. Tom Hopkinson was elected Secretary, and five others to roles on the Committee. The Joining Fee was fixed at $5, still the same today, and the Annual Fee at $5. This has risen over the years to $30 today. Members were presented with Probus Labels.

As was the case in those days, it was a Club for men.

The second Meeting was convened at the Daramalan Club with more than 30 Financial Members. It was reported that at that time there were 280 Probus Members in Australia. Chris Norwood and Charles Croker were named Co-Patrons. The new President gave the first Career Talk at the Club.

It was decided that those who were Members at the time of the third Meeting on 8 May 1984 would be called Charter Members. Three of the forty Charter Members are still Members of the Club today. We lost Charles Croker recently.

Keith Lawrence, the first President, was made a Life Member of the Club on its 10th Anniversary held on 13 March 1994.

On the occasion of the 200^th Meeting which was held at the Downer Community Hall on 13 August 2002, Members were informed that at that time there were some 2200 Probus Clubs in Australia and

New Zealand.

The next celebratory occasion was the 250^th Meeting, held on 13 March 2007, still in the Downer Community Hall. At this Meeting the outgoing Secretary, GeorgeYuille, advised that he had completed the establishment of the Club Archives, going back to the very beginning of the Club.

It became a Club tradition that the wives of deceased Members be invited to these special occasions.

The next such occasion was the 25^th Anniversary held on 12 March 2009. Co Patron and Charter Member Charles Croker was made a Life Member to mark this occasion.

At the 300^th Meeting held in its new Meeting venue of St Margaret‘s Church Hall, Hackett, Tom Hopkinson, the first Secretary and a Charter Member, was rewarded with Life Membership for his outstanding service to the Club since its inception. It was determined he had held Management Committee positions of one form or another for some fourteen years.

It has been also been determined that, over the years, some 28 different Members have held the position of President, with some doing so on repeat occasions. These have been Alan Sellwood, George Adamson, Brush Gordon-Smith, Brian Newell and Howard Smith.

There have been a number of others who have given exceptional years of service on Management Committees, and these are –

Treasurer: Rod Chalmers, 11 years., Volker Hillig, 12 years., Angus Lamont, 6 years.

Speaker Seeker: Rob Forster, 6 years.

Outings: Wal Hopkinson, 4 years.

Membership: Jack Short, 8 years.

Urnmaster: Hugh Collis, 8 years.

Auditor: Charles Croker, 12 years., Rod Chalmers, 3 years (and Treasurer for 11 years).

Total years in a Committee Post: Tom Hopkins 14 years.

The Club, over the years has had the good fortune of having volunteers to fill the position of Urn Master, and cater for its own morning tea arrangements. In the most recent years these have been Hugh Collis, about 8 years, and Rod Nichols for the last 3 years, with time to time assistance from John Gifford and Jack Accinelli.

On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Club in 2014, two more Charter Members, George Adamson and Charles Speldewinde were presented with Life Membership medals. Together with Tom Hopkinson, all three remaining Charter Members still with us today, had become Life Members. As I said, we lost Charles Croker recently.

Club Membership over many years hovered around the forty mark, but in recent times has been declining. The inner north demographics have been changing over the past few years, with older residents moving on, and replaced with a younger population. This has affected the Club’s catchment area for new Memberships. It has been pleasing that a number of Members, originally from the inner north but having moved to other areas, have remained Members of the inner north Club. The loyalty of Members to the Club has remained strong over the years.

The Club held its 350^th Meeting on 12 April 2016.

In 2010,2011, 2012 and 2013 we were fortunate to have several new Members join the Club. These included Alan Asquith, Rod Nichols, Peter Ryan, David Bayley, Alan Steel, Jack Accinelli, Ed Miller, Denis Bridgewater, Bob Vickery, Vic Woodhouse, John Clark and Howard Smith. The records show the newest Member is John Gifford.

Then our luck ran out.

Around that time, we lost several long-time Members including Rex Hubbard, Roy Wheeler, Laurie Fitch, Roelof Veenstra, Angus Lamont, Alan Sellwood, Wal Wark, Alf Rendell, Ted Pickering, Norm Edwards, Rob Forster, and Francois Posthumus. I noticed in the Archives a funeral card for Cec Harris, who died some years earlier. Cec was a Teacher at the Queenstown, Tasmania Technical High School in my years at that school.

Then something rather astonishing happened, in that for two months short of three years, we had no deaths at all. Bearing in mind the advanced age of many of our Members, I thought this rather remarkable. But I feared a mass exodus at some stage!!!!.

At that time, I quietly thought our promo should be “for assured longevity, join the Canberra North Mens Probus Club!!!”

In that time, several of our Members entered full time care. These included Peter Searle, Charles Croker and Jack Short, all residents in the Calvary Care Unit. Bert Folkard initiated what we called The Calvary Chapter, of visits each month to keep our colleagues involved with the Club.

Sadly, in late 2015 our luck again ran out again. Over 4 months we lost Peter Searle, Maurie Beatton, George Yuille and Jack Short.

Late in 2016 we lost John Newton and Charles Croker.

You will all be aware that following the death of Peter Searle, events brought us to the situation we have here today. Putting it simply, a fall in active Membership over the months of 2016, the advancing age of Members and their inability to attend Meetings meant we had to face the fact that the Club would have to close.

The October 2016 attendance was the pivotal month when we had only 13 Members in attendance. Such a low attendance as an ongoing likelihood made it difficult to justify asking Guest Speakers to attend our Meetings to address us. As an example of the situation we faced, we found at that time that the Membership consisted of some 8 in their nineties, 14 in their eighties and 7 in their seventies. Indeed, a number, including me were on the brink of moving to the next category!!!

We also experienced a down turn in attendance at the Canberra North Ladies’ Annual Christmas Lunch.

Thirty attended in 2014, 17 in 2015 and 11 in 2016. Including wives!  Friendship Lunch attendances, never great in recent times, finished with Howard and I at the 2016 Lunch.

It was time to go!!

Incidentally, in relation to Guest Speakers, I have calculated that, assuming 11 Speakers per year for 33 years, the Club has been addressed by Speakers on some 363 topics.

I shall finish with the story of my own experience with Probus.

I have been retired from the ACT Public Service for some twenty years. Over those years, I have met with a few former work colleagues from time to time, but the passing of time has meant we really have little in common these days.

In joining Probus about 9 years ago, I found myself meeting monthly with a new circle of acquaintances, who soon became my friends. In fact, I found two former working life colleagues in Charles Speldewinde and Rob Forster were Members of the Canberra North Club at the time I joined.

I found promotion to the Management Committee very swift. I was soon President and then Secretary!!

In the role of Secretary for a number of years, I had reason to get to know all our Members more closely than I think would have been possible on a casual, monthly get together basis. I had to have regular contact with them regarding Club business.

I regard my fellow Probians as the most important group of friends now in my life. I am hopeful that we can retain this friendship under our new gathering arrangements.

Finally, I thank Tom Hopkinson and Doug Poulter for introducing me to Probus, and to all my now group of friends. They encouraged me to join, over several glasses of red on a social occasion.

It sounded like a good idea at the time.

Indeed, it has proven to be so."