Harry Hughes - Words of Wisdom

This week we caught up with Harry Hughes, a very wise, humble and hardworking man.

Age: 88

Where were you born? Wellington, NSW

If you could describe your life in one sentence, that would it be? Too short. *smiles*

What are the most important lessons you've learned in life? To listen and not talk too much.

What’s the secret to a happy marriage? Well I chose a gooden and she chose a good one too *smiles* We’ve been married 65 years; I remember asking her to marry me in 1953. I met her when I was the Boss of the Post Office in Coolah and Olga was a Telephonist. I saw her and I thought, ‘Oh, she’s not too bad.’ *smiles*

What were your hobbies/interests growing up? We used to do a lot of rabbiting and swimming in the creek. We were lucky we had a nice creek running around the edge of the farm, which is where we all learnt to swim.

What events were the most memorable in your life? Well it’s not necessarily a good one but I can remember I nearly drowned in the creek in Manildra, my older brother pulled me out, I was very lucky there, I think I was only two or three years of age and I just went out too far.

What’s your naughtiest moment growing up? I did some awful things, I remember taking my brother to school on a bike, he was sitting on the front on the handle bars and I put the brakes on and of course he kept going *laughs* he wouldn’t have forgotten that either, it took a bit of skin off him.

What was your first job? When I left school, I started work with a Bush Plumber, working on windmills and things like that. I sat for the PMG exam and passed it easily enough and started work as a Telegram boy in Molong. The only claim to fame was I passed the Morse Telegraph test at 17 years old.

Did you get an allowance? No, I can remember when I was a Plumber, I would get 12 shillings a day which was pretty good. When I joined the PMG it was about five pounds a fortnight. We were supplied with uniforms luckily, there wasn’t much money left over, I used to try and save one pound per fortnight, and I would keep a pound to spend for myself. A pair of nice trousers were about two pounds.

What took you a long time to learn? Morse coding. It’s a very slow process, you can’t learn overnight. You can learn what each letter is but then you’ve got to be able to read it with the clicks. I can still do it now, last year I was out at the National Field Days and we had a line connected to Beechwood in Victoria and people could write a message and you could send them to Beechworth and send it to people.

What are you most proud of? My wife and family. We have six kids, they are all good kids, and she’s [Olga] is still learning…*smiles*

Who is the person who influenced your life the most? Why? Olga’s father, he was my boss at one stage, He was a very sensible man, he looked after the junior members of staff.