Carrow next

 CARROW - PORT NEILL The McBride family moved to Carrow, now known as Port Neill, on the West Coast in 1907. Originally called Mottled Cove, the area named as Carrow was officially proclaimed a town in 1909. According to the Sands and McDougall register for 1909 and through to 1912 the family and other pioneers were recorded as being located at Waratta Vale, half way between Tumby Bay and Port Neill. From 1913 till 1917, William McBride is listed as a farmer and contractor from Carrow. While they did clear land and grow wheat, William and the eldest sons, John, Vin and Paddy were contracted to sink bores, build dams and irrigation systems. Frank was living in Halbury in the Claire Valley and running a general store there in 1913. Len and Annie went to school, walking 3 miles there and back each day. As usual, the whole family was involved in establishing the new town. Elizabeth is mentioned on p. 28 of the book Wheatstacks and Waves by KD & RW Freeman, as being the secretary of the Mutual Improvements Society. A letter written to the Catholic newspaper Southern Cross in 1913 by Len gives some insight into their lives in Carrow. Annie (Peg) also wrote her memories of that time, if you go to Annie Melinda, you will find her memoir.

By 1917 the family was on the move again, having been granted a contract in Berri and surrounding district in the Riverland to sink bores and construct irrigation channels and systems for the new Returned Soldiers Settlements. However, while most of the family made the move to Berri, Uneata had met her future husband Wilf Abram Carr and married in 1912. Uneata stayed in the Tumby Bay district with her new family.