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More about Ellen
JONES Photo Albums
Wedding Video
Ellen Mary Owen (nee Jones)
View Ellen's
Ancestors/Siblings
Descendants
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Birthday Images of Ellen
Cutting the cake at her 21st birthday party
June 1961
Ellen's uncle, Jack McNamara, giving her the 21st key
June 1961
Ellen with the key
June 1961
Looking at her presents
June 1961
Chatting with friends and relatives at her surprise 50th birthday held at her home at 18 Valerie St Taree
June 1990
Getting ready to blow the candles for her 64th (once they're lit)
June 2004
Ellen's 65th at daughter Sonia's Narara house
June 2005
70th birthday party with other residents at Lakeland Park, Buff Point
19 June 2010
Ellen at her 70th with family at Doyalson RSL
20 June 2010
With John at her 70th birthday party at Doyalson RSL
20 June 2010
Ellen's 75th at home with John at Buff Point - candles burning
19 June 2015
Ellen's 75th at home with John at Buff Point - cutting the cake
19 June 2015
Videos
On 18 November 2011, some of the residents of Lakeland Park Village put on a revue in the Community Hall. Ellen was one of the participants and these videos show the parts of the programme which featured her. At the start of the show, there was a power failure to one of the cameras. Rehearsal footage plus some footage taken on a mobile phone were used as a replacement. The rehearsal footage is shown with a coloured border around it.
1940 War Years
[2:18]
The Time Warp
[3:23]
You Can't Stop the Music / YMCA
[8:25]
Lakeland News
[4:55]
Ellen is also in
Funny Hands and Faces
[2:34] and her
Wedding Video
[8:49]
Images of Ellen
4 months old
About 18 Months
... and
another
Aged about 3 years with her sister Margaret
In school uniform - probably starting school
Clowning
Ellen always did a lot of volunteer work (such as helping at the Taree Salvos warehouse) and in the late 1980s she decided she wanted to do something more but also different - voluntary clown work. Where this idea came from isn't known but she set out to make it happen. She approached a nursing home on the edge of the Taree CBD called Karingal and explained her idea to them. She wanted to help cheer the residents by coming in dressed as a clown and moving around and talking to them. The home decided to take her on. She continued doing the work until that nursing home was closed, probably in the early 1990s. After moving to Buff Point, she became involved with a group of clowns which regularly visited Loretto Gardens Nursing home. Here are four of her costumes.
In the front foyer of 15 Commerce St, Taree with her original costume.
Note the toy clown
Possibly at Karingal Nursing Home in the early days.
There's the toy clown again
At her Uncle Tom's 80th birthday party at his place at 15 Scott St Punchbowl, c.1999. With her are her daughters, Sonia and Donna
At Loretto Gardens, Warnervale 2011
Images of Ellen
At Melbourne Cup day luncheon (2011/2012). She made the necklace, earrings and the fascinator
With friends at a Catholic Youth Organisation (CYO) ball
1960s
With her sister at Dee Why RSL for her Aunty Maggie's 89th birthday
1 October 2006
Watching TV at Buff Point
3 June 2015
The Ellen Owen Card Company
About three or four years after moving to Lakeland Park, some of the people there decided to form a craft group dedicated to cardmaking and, of course, Ellen joined it and so began the making of hundreds of cards. Among other things, they were sent out at Christmas to family and friends. Sometimes they would be notated on the back as being made by The Ellen Owen Card Company. This was commented on by John's sister Denise as
Item 63
on her list of "70 Memories for 70 Years" which she gave to John on his 70th birthday. Shown are a few of the cards with the first one being the card she gave John on their 47th Wedding Anniversary
Card 1
Ellen's card to John on their 47th wedding annioversary
Card 2
Card 3
Christmas Card
Card 4
Card 5
Card 6
Images of Ellen
In her school uniform
Bridesmaid for her sister Margaret c.1962
Ellen and her sister Margaret on the rocking horse made by their father, Roy Jones c.1946
A cuppa at Buff Point
Spinning
Ellen did many hobbies at home but her favourite pasttime was spinning. Her husband John said that he knew all was right with the world whenever he could hear the ka-thump, ka-thump of her wheel
Spinning on the side verandah at Buff Point
Some
work in progress
Ellen's first project, a cardigan both spun and knitted
One of her early projects, a scarf for John
Ellen's rug - spun and crocheted
Wearing her deliciously warm cardigan. She spun the wool and a friend did the knitting in thanks for some personal help from Ellen
A commissioned order, scarf and beanie spun and knitted by Ellen from Alpaca and Merino fleeces
Images of Ellen
In Cabramatta front garden
Jiving with one of the members of Cabramatta CYO (Catholic Youth Organisation)
Admiring her flowers before setting off for the church
11 May 1968
With Donna, Michael, Sonia and John at Taree railway station in the mid-1980s during Denise's visit from Perth
Craftwork
Ellen loved her craftwork and was involved with it for many decades. She did many types of embroidery including candlewicking, silk ribbon and normal embroidery. Cardmaking was another of her strengths as well as crochet, dollmaking and tassels.
1994 Wool Awards, Armidale. Ellen created the snake on the dress out of loose black sequins - many, many hours of work
The dress from
the back
Some of Ellen's crocheted rugs
Individual rug - Side 1
Side 2
It's a bit hard to tell the difference in these photos
Three cushions made by Ellen with candlewicking work on the front
Ellen's one and only piece of gold work. It was not her favourite type of embroidery but she liked the finished product
Ellen's one and only piece of stump work. She claimed it was the hardest type of craftwork she had ever done. After all it was actually embroidering onto wire
Embroidering and beading flannel flowers for the Toukley Catholic Womens League
Embroidered handdrawn house
Embroidered handdrawn garden gate
Ellen's 'Angel' dolls
One of the more than 30 'Patchsig' bears made by Ellen (with a little help from John) to sell in the shop
Roaring 20s doll decorated by Ellen. She was inspired by the movie 'The Great Gatsby' to dress it in this manner
Silk Ribbon Embroidery. One of Ellen's favourite pasttimes
Ellen's Silk Ribbon Embroidered house
Ellen's Silk Ribbon Embroidered cushion
Ellen's hamper lid made with Ribbon Roses
Ellen's bouquet made with Ribbon Roses
Ellen's bits and pieces. From pin cushions to embroidery to hat pins
Ellen's Torso doll work
Ellen's Torso doll work with tasselling
Some of Ellen's tasselling
Ellen's crazy patchwork. Lots of beading there but a bit hard to see
Ellen's patchwork bag Side 1 with items in the pockets being scissors and needles
Ellen's patchwork bag Side 2 with items in the pockets being a tape measure and a pin cushion
Dolls inside Ellen's doll cabinet
Other craft items inside Ellen's doll cabinet
Images of Ellen
Ellen with a big smile
At the steakhouse in Brisbane
Ellen with her Aunty Nellie (aged 79), 2005. Ellen knitted the pink rug for her
Christmas 2008 at Buff Point
Working in Craft
Following the closure of the florist shops in Newcastle, Ellen and John decided to move to having a craft shop. They initially opened in Valley Fair in Taree but this proved to be too far from the main CBD and so they relocated to Buttsworth Lane, just off the main carpark. This was more satisfactory but was only profitable enough to sustain the landlord. They decided to close the shop and move into the the market and fairs style of selling which was much more successful.
They travelled to Craft Shows and markets to sell their goods and as time progressed moved more into selling beads and jewellery findings and associated products like crystals. The good part about this was they received a tax deduction for touring the country and so visited many places they otherwise would never have gone to. They travelled everywhere between Adelaide and Brisbane. About 2005 they decided to stop the travelling and just attend local and regional markets as they slowly cleared the stock. They continued in this vein until 2008 when they retired.
Ellen at Wingham craft market showing some of her bears for sale.
Manning River Times
17 - 18 July 1998
Behind the counter of the stall at the Bendigo "Craft Alive" on 3 July, 2004
Note the notice on the wall. Ellen conducted the Bead Looming workshops.
Another view of the
stall
Ellen's certificate for her training course in Small Business Management which was conducted over 200 hours
Images of Ellen
Ellen at Dave and Margaret Gillatt's home in Seaford Rise, SA
6 June 2003
Ellen riding the rocking horse c.1946/1947
In the snowfields in the late 1950s
Showing off in the toy car
c.1942
Education
When she was a child, Ellen suffered from rheumatic fever and as a consequence missed many months of school and so her educational results when she left school were not as optimal as would have been hoped for. After moving to Taree, in her usual determined fashion, she took positive steps to try and improve the situation by attending courses at Taree TAFE.
One such course was the "Women's Re-entry Programme". In this course she studied communications (20 hrs), computer awareness (16 hrs), carpentry (24 hrs), basic maths (4½ hrs), window dressing (4½ hrs), business awareness (7½ hrs) and remedial massage (4½ hrs).
Ellen working on a coffee table which she made as part of the basic carpentry lessons
The Chronicle Extra,
11 December 1986
Newspaper article giving some details about the course.
The Chronicle Extra, 11 December 1986
That beautiful table in 2015
Another course Ellen attended was the "Certificate in Women's Clothing Assembly". In this course she learnt how to design and assemble clothes as well as fabric design and fabric printing (silk screen). She topped the class and was awarded a trophy for it.
Ellen in her TAFE class with her work around her. She designed and printed her top and the blue and white patterned fabric on the workbench
as well as designed and made the blue garment with the appliqué
Ellen's Certificate in Women's Clothing Assembly completed at the North Coast Institute of TAFE in
December 1992 with Distinction
Ellen being presented with her Certificate and Trophy at the Taree TAFE Presentation night on
27 April 1993. She designed and made all the clothing she is wearing
The trophy she received for topping the college
The trophy's plaque
Images of Ellen
Ellen cooling off at Commerce Lane, Taree
Ellen at her daughter Sonia's Tascott home
With John's sister Denise at her Waratah home
13 December 2009
Ellen with grandson Matthew David Hughes at daughter Sonia's Tascott home
February 1998
Updated : 29 Jul 2015