Pamela Millicent Brinsmead

Pamela Millicent Brinsmead was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1923. She was the daughter of Horace Clowes Brinsmead and his wife Ivy Ernestine McDonald. Horace was an Englishman, the grandson of John Brinsmead, the piano maker, but one who, under the influence of his Uncle Horace, travelled to Australia and Tonga before WWI and settled there after. He rose to fame as Australia's first Controller of Civil Aviation. Mother Ivy was the daughter of a prominent Labour Party politician from Queensland.

Pam was younger than her sister Margery, and older than her brother Clive. Pamela passed away in Geelong, Victoria, Australia on November 14, 2014 at the age of 91. Clive gave the eulogy reproduced below at her funeral in Geelong on December 20th, 2014 (with our thanks to nephew Andrew Brinsmead for sharing).

Eulogy for Pam Brinsmead by her Brother Clive Brinsmead

I was the youngest of my family and grew up with two loving and caring older sisters, Margery and Pamela , whom I have known for 89 years.

As young children we lived in Kew, Camberwell and Canterbury. My childhood memories are a little vague: Father was away a lot and unfortunately died in 1934, following a plane crash on a flight to England.  Sadly our mother died 5 years later in 1939.

It was left to our dear grandmother Mary to raise my sisters and I, and we enjoyed a wonderful time together.

Pam chose a career in nursing and trained at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne.

She was a girl with a strong personality and something of a rebellious nature. She loved her chosen profession but hated the discipline of living in the nurses home and having to be in at 10.30 every night.

Pam nursed at the Alfred Hospital (where she swore she had been institutionalized) during the war years and then moved to Sydney for work, where she shared a flat in Kings Cross with her lifelong friend Margaret Parsons. Our Aunt Betty Brinsmead had a flat in the same building, who was very kind and helpful to Pam.

After my graduation I remember spending a holiday in Sydney with two friends.  In typical fashion Pam lent us her flat and on one day, she hired a yacht to take us all for a days cruise on the harbour

Our grandmother died in 1948, and we left Sunny side Avenue. As with many Australians of that time, Pam and Margery decided to travel to England in 1950. They had a tremendous time, but Marge came home in 1952. Pam had taken a position as stewardess with the Union Castle line and stayed based in England for another ten years. Later in 1952, I took myself to the United Kingdom and stayed for 6 Years.

During that time Pam transferred to the P & O, regularly sailing to and from Australia. We enjoyed many good times together whenever she was in port.

I had a motorcycle in 1954 and when in London Pam was happy to ride on the pillion. It was quite a sight, I imagine, to see us setting out from Bayswater, complete with bow and arrows, to go to Hammersmith where she competed at the local archery club

We went on ski trips to Westendorf and Bad Gastien in Austria. We were not great skiers but it was great fun and not that expensive in those days.

Pam had a tremendous capacity for making friends and I remember, I think in 1956, she turned up in London with Richie Benaud and Neil Harvey and thoughtfully offered them the use of my car to drive to Manchester. The Australian team had a terrible time there, but at least I got my car back.

I returned to Australia early in 1959 and a year later was posted to Cockle Creek in Newcastle. At that time Pam decided It was time to come home so she landed up in Cockle Creek to look after me.

We found a very nice flat in Merewether and Pam resumed her nursing as a sister at the hospital in New Lambton. She joined the local fencing club and I'm told she became very good at it.

However the Cockle Creek smelter was finally commissioned and we had to pack up and return to Melbourne.  It was a memorable trip in my VW.  Being Pam, we not only had a surplus of luggage, but her Siamese cat and two kittens as well.

On our return to Melbourne we needed a place to live so we purchased a flat in Hawthorn and tried to settle down for a bit. Pam felt her light had gone out so she left nursing and with the help of Margery and Sid she established a toyshop in Carnegie. The shop prospered for many years but eventually closed.

It was during this period that Pam developed her love of sailing, and participated as a crew member on Widgeon, owned by brother in law Sid. Widgeon won three races to Davenport and was also successful around Port Phillip

By this time I had married Elspeth, and we were despatched to Bunbury in WA.  Pam decided to return to Sydney and resume her nursing career 

During her 40 odd years in Sydney, Pam had an amazing life. In addition to her nine Sydney to Hobart races she had a world tour with Keith which included a flight from US to UK in the Concord and later  a trip around Australia on the QE2.

If you compete in the Sydney to Hobart ten times, you get a special plaque, and Pam was greatly disappointed that she wasn't able to compete in a tenth race, and so she missed out. Her knees were causing her pain.

After racing and being on the starter boat for the Sydney to Hobart Races, Pam became an active member of the NSW coast guard.

She told me an amusing story of her test for getting her certificate to drive the Coastguard boat. Apparently she had to jump into the sea fully clothed and be pulled back into the rescue boat. This she did, but it was difficult because of her bad knees and yet she succeeded. Later on,  the Coast Guard crew were appalled to find she was 84 - they had her down as 75.

There were bad times however – somewhere along the line Pam's knees packed up and she had two total knee replacements. Some years later, when Keith died, she neglected her own pain and finished up with a third knee replacement, which took three months in Hospital. After that Pam decided it was time to retire from Sydney and come back to live among her family in Victoria

With the help of Robyn and Margery a suitable House was found in Bannockburn. Pam was able to sell her flat in Vaucluse and start a new life. I remember she told me all she wanted was a little cottage in the country near Robyn and Margery, with a cat and a few chooks. What she     got was a large house and garden with a cat and some chooks and lived there for about 6 years which she loved.

Pam was very well looked after in Bannockburn by Margery and Robyn, who lived nearby and by her god-daughter, Sandy. Elspeth and I visited regularly, as did a number of Pam's yachting friends from Sydney and elsewhere.

In typical fashion Pam became involved in craft work which she was very good at, played Mah Jong, and made many friends in Bannockburn, as well as being involved with her family of nieces & nephews not to mention a host of Godchildren.

She also became involved with race control at the Geelong Yacht Club and spoke to Probus clubs about her yachting.

Despite her advancing years, Pam's mind stayed sharp, and in 2012, she surprised us all by competing on the Television quiz show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", and winning $50,000!

As well as a good life, she had a great retirement. Pam truly lived life to it's fullest, pursuing all her passions with great enthusiasm.  She enjoyed her time with us, and we will miss her dearly.

Nephew Andrew Brinsmead prepared a video presentation of Pam Brinsmead's life. Click below to see it play