| Home |
|
Des, the first child of E. J. Sykes and Selina Wilkes, studied law at Sydney University. He was articled to one of Sydney's legal firms
... that of Mr. C.F.S. Glasgow MLA, and finished his articles in 1931.
Having been admitted as a solicitor to practise in NSW, Des first worked in Broken Hill and then began his own practise in Wentworth. His income for the first year was £156, which was not so bad for a young man in those days. In due course he was in the fairly unique position of working as a solicitor in three states, having been admitted in Victoria after the depression. In 1932 he divided his time between Mildura and Wentworth, and later in South Australia as well. He took on a partner, John Duck, and between them they built up a good practise, specialising in land conveyancing.
Des inherited his father's car, an elderly and not terribly reliable Overland whippet which had constant break-downs. Des was always having to seek help to make it go. In Mildura he stayed at the 'Grand' at the top of a hill, allowing him to start it by rolling it down hill.
(from an article about Des on his 89th birthday, in the newsletter of his local parish in Adelaide)
Des set up an office as a Solicitor in Wentworth, and shortly afterwards opened an office in Mildura. Elisabeth Isobel (Bell) McLeod had been working at the Western Herald (later to become the Sunraysia Daily), next to Des's Wentworth office. She took on part-time work with Des, and as his business continued to expand, started full-time. She converted to catholicism, and in 1937 they married quietly in St. Francis Xaviers Wentworth church, and went for their honeymoon to Woodend. They built a house in Mildura and lived there for several years. Meredith Elizabeth was born in 1939, and Judith (Judy) Joan in 1941. In the early 1940s the family moved to Corduroy, a 370 acre block on a bend on the Murray river in Curlwaa. Meredith and Judy later attended the Loreto Convent at Marryatville, Adelaide. They moved to the Barossa valley in 1951 and in 1956, with wine grapes, sheep and cattle, then moved to 'Cherrytrees' in Snows Road Stirling in the Adelaide Hills, where they lived till their deaths. The girls boarded at Loreto in Adelaide, coming home by bus at weekends.
In Adelaide, Des worked with Stevens, Rymill, Boucaut and Jacobs, retiring in 1973.
Meredith married Andrew Cunningham in Adelaide,
moved to Nindethana station, north of Wentworth, and had two children;
Guy and Catherine. Several years ago they moved
to Keith.
Judy married Doctor Tony Ryan, moved to Melbourne
and had three children; Sarah, Christina and Alison.
Judy and Tony have since separated.
Des died 16/9/1992. Isobel died 16/7/1996
The Ford family
John Ford married Barbara Keys, moved into the
Ford's house at Cammeray, and had three children; Kenrick,
Sally and Christopher. In 1986 they sold the house
at Cammeray and moved to Mossvale, N.S.W, where they run a local
store.
Selina Ford became a Doctor and married Dr.
Bill Quilty. They had six children; William, Joanna,
Mary, Simon, Johnathan and Matthew,
and live in Shepparton, Victoria.
Maureen died in 1964.