Inavera Grimster

Inavera, William and their four children came to Darwin in 1945. William was an aircraft mechanic with the 201 Flight, servicing the Liberator bombers in the Airforce. In 1948 William was appointed to the Department of Native Affairs in the Northern Territory as a Superintendent at the Catfish Settlement (Hooker Creek). The family was transferred in 1950 to Beswick Creek (Barunga Community) where the lack of funds and unsuitable equipment was a problem. However despite all of this building continued sometimes structures had to be dismantled at one site before being erected at another. Their garden provided a varied diet and they used a goat herd to supply milk. When roads were impassable and supplies had to be transported they used pack mules. Ina taught the Aboriginal women to sew and cook and the basic child care at all of the settlements she was involved with, the day to day medical care and she supervised the cooking of meals for the elderly, nursing mothers and children. She also had to attend to the needs of her own six children while helping her husband. They moved to Snake Bay settlement on Melville Island in 1954 which was much the same as their previous transfers with old equipment needing maintenance and little money available for building. In 1955 they were transferred to Brisbane and retired there.Community Worke