The Frank Hawkes Bequest

The John Fawcett Foundation is happy to announce that the estate of the late Frank Alwyn Hawkes of 149 Coventry Road, Roleystone, Western Australia has made available a bequest of A$360,000 to support the Foundation’s cataract surgery and eye treatment of the poor in Bali.

The bequest will be paid in monthly amounts of $6,000 for a five year period, and commenced in November 2006. We most sincerely thank the Hawkes family for this support which will be put to work to return sight to hundreds of Balinese, both adults and children.

FRANK HAWKES 1924 – 2005

Draughtsman, farmer, glider, inventor, sailor, orchardist, amateur philosopher: Frank Hawkes was all these things in his 81 years.

In 1947, aged 22, Frank left his job at the Rover car factory in Birmingham, where he worked as a draughtsman, and came to Western Australia as an assisted migrant. He had no clear ideas of what he wanted to do in this new land, and was open to anything. When his boyhood friend and workmate, Ross Mill, arrived two years later, they teamed up and took whatever work they could find: making shop window models, building caravans and working with a construction gang.

When they heard there was money to be made dam sinking, they bought a Fiat crawler on terms, shipped it to Gnowangerup and started work In 12 months they had paid off the tractor and gouged out 1,000s of metres of earth for dam construction, working 16 hour shifts from four am to eight pm – taking turns at four on and four off. They lived in a small caravan, and ‘the boys’, as they were known, were often fed by the farmer’s wives.

Eventually, their thoughts turned to owning their own land, and in 1953 they bought 1 700 acres of virgin land east of Gnowangerup. Never afraid of hard work, in four years the partners had cleared the whole property and most of it was sown to pasture. In addition, they bought another 2 500 acres of virgin land and cleared 600 acres. Although they had intended to farm together, they split the land into two farms, as Frank and Ross found they had very different views on farming! While Frank wanted to farm scientifically, using all the latest Department of Agriculture recommendations, Ross preferred more conservative methods; so they remained good friends on neighbouring farms.

With all this effort, Frank and Ross somehow found time and energy to develop a new hobby – gliding. They built their first glider over three months, while still dam sinking, at a cost of 50 pounds. Ross was the first to crash, ending up in hospital with a broken leg. Frank patched up the damaged glider and continued gliding, until he eventually crashed it and suffered concussion.

Undeterred, Frank built a bigger glider - 24’ long, with a 47’ wingspan - which took him 2,000 hours to construct. A unique towing device was also built, and, after Frank got his instructor’s licence, this then became the basis of WA’s first country gliding club.

Frank gave up farming and returned to Perth in 1967, where wise investments enabled him to live simply – a habit he maintained all his life. He had lived in a caravan for many years, and continued this lifestyle in Maddington, where he looked after a neighbour’s orchard for the next five years. During this time he also practically single-handedly built a caravan park in Wittenoom.

In 1968 Frank joined the Perth 14’ Dinghy Sailing club and took up competitive sailing. A novice at first, he capsized often, but persevered and mastered the challenge. After a couple of seasons he put his inventive mind to work and designed and built his own boat, which was a radical new design. Over the next twelve years he was to design and build four more boats, each with new innovations.

Always versatile, he experimented with different sail designs, making his own sails, and spent hours making his own fittings. His contributions to the class were enormous, as many of his ideas are still used today. When he finally stopped sailing around 1990, in his late sixties, he was the oldest competitor in the club.

After years of living alone in caravans, in 1972 Frank made a complete lifestyle change and moved into a large old house in West Perth with several other adults and three children, to share an experiment in communal living. The ‘commune’, as it became known, had many ups and downs and changes of residents, but Frank saw it all as a positive learning experience. Work was shared equally, running costs came out of a central ‘kitty’ and house meetings were held every week.

Frank, often regarded as the ‘elder’ of the house, remained until 1982, when his father died: he then moved to Trigg, to the house his father built. Here he pottered around, making a few improvements, one of which was a beautiful wooden spiral staircase which he designed and built himself. But this life didn’t really suit Frank, who said he would die an early death if he continued in this way - he needed another challenge.

So his thoughts again turned to owning a block of land, but this time he wanted water and good soil. A friend told him of a block for sale in Roleystone. It was perfect – nine acres of fertile, loamy soil with an all-year-round creek, bordered on two sides by National Forest. Frank put all his money into buying the block, leaving nothing for living costs. Ever inventive, he sold a large existing shed, and was then able to live frugally on the proceeds until he was eligible for a pension.

His attitude to the land had completely changed from his farming days: he allowed no artificial fertilisers or hoofed animals, only ducks and chickens. Parts of the block were overgrown with bracken, and, rather than use herbicides, Frank spent nearly two years removing it by hand – he called it his form of meditation.

Starting from scratch, he built up a mixed home orchard, budding and grafting most of his own trees. In later years, Frank would sit under the trees for hours, to keep the parrots off his pecans!

As part of his view of ‘walking lightly on the earth’, Frank sold his car and bought an ex-GPO scooter. Always very fit and strong, Frank walked the perimeter of his nine acres everyday to keep in trim. In the last four years of his life he also took up golf, which he played with his old friend Ross and other friends.

Frank made many friends locally, and was known for his somewhat eccentric philosophy. He would lend a hand to anyone who asked for help, and always had time to talk to anyone who dropped in, expounding his many theories of life. He died after a relatively short illness in December 2005, in his home, overlooking his land, which is what he wished. Frank is missed by all who knew him.

Julie Woodman
Neighbour & friend of Frank Hawkes
May 2007