Of Tragedy and Valor
Lester Rumbelow

Lester Malen Rumbelow was born in Adelaide on 9th October 1914, one of nine children to Walter Malen and Ethel Rumbelow. Lester attended school at the Loveday Base School

He lived in the Narrung district until 1923 when his father returned to Victor Harbor to fish commercially. Lester left school in 1928 and fished with his father for rock lobster at Victor Harbor and as far away as Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island. All fishing was under sail and all thirty pots were lifted by hand. Prices varied with most selling for six pence to a shilling per pound.

Late in 1931, Lester was sent by his father to Lake Alexandrina to teach several new fishermen to sail and handle small ketches of twenty five to thirty feet. During his visit he struck up a fishing partnership with the late Frank Pierson which lasted until the second World War.

Lester was 18 when his father was tragically drowned when The Ferrett was wrecked off Waitpinga Beach, SA, in a storm on December 23rd 1932. After his father’s death, returned to live at Narrung and fish the lake.

He married Euphemia (Peg) Fenton in August 1939. Lester and Peg raised three girls.

Lester began discussions with other fishers concerned about the imminent completion of the Goolwa Barrage, and structures right across the lake system and what that meant for the fishery.  This original group of commercial fishers would form the Southern Fisherman’s Association to protect the interests of the fishers in the Lower Lakes and Coorong. 

Lester became a member of the voluntary defence corp and later enlisted in the Australian Army in 1943. He was attached to 8 Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps when discharged in 1945.

He fished with the late George Brumstal who drowned in lake Alexandrina in 1946. Tragically Lester participated in his search and retrieval.

Lester spent all his time on The Coorong which inspired him to erect the hut in the 1930s - just four posts with some cladding on the walls, a corrugated roof and hessian rugs on a dirt floor. This 3.5 by 4 metre space, with a kerosene fridge, gas stove, table, chairs, bed and small rainwater tank as the only creature comforts, was Lester's home for his last 30 years. The hut was never meant to be anything but a shack. Lester had no requirements other than a break from the elements.

There his hospitality and friendly greetings were experienced by many fishermen and travellers from far and wide. His 'Coorong Rock buns' and 'cup o' tea' were a widely known treat.

Lester spent the last twenty seven years camped on the shores of the Coorong at Pelican Point. From 1946 to 1992, Lester worked in partnership with W H (Bill) Ayres of Meningie. His day began at 4 am, seven days a week during the season, when he would row up to eight miles a day to set and later retrieve his nets before the pelicans got to his catch of mulloway, bream and mullet. 

Lester received the highest decree given by the Grand Lodge of England in 1973 for long and devoted service.  His name was placed on the Honour Roll and he received a Certificate from the Queen. 

The Last Grand old man of the Coorong died on 6th November 1992.

The beauty of The Cooroong is unique, as is the wildlife. Another unique feature is the families who seek a livelihood from its waters and cherish its fragile existence. One such family is the Rumbelows, a family who has fished one area or another of the south coast for generations. Lester Rumbelow, who called himself the last of the Rumbelow fishers, left his legacy in the form of Rumbelows Hut.

Lester Rumbelow had an innate knowledge of and respect for the waters and ecosystem that nurtured his catch. It was a harsh existence. It was an era when men were made of steel and boats were made of wood," says Lester's grandson Garry Hera-Singh. Garry inherited the hut through his aunt on Lester's death in 1992. When you consider Garry's heritage of a Rumbelow on his mother's side and his paternal grandfather also a lifetime fisherman - there wasn't much chance of any other career. Garry has fished the lakes and Coorong for the past 22 years

During the fishing season (spring and summer), Garry's young family in Meningie will only see him for a few hours a day.

Lester spent all his time on The Coorong which inspired him to erect the hut in the 1930s - just four posts with some cladding on the walls, a corrugated roof and hessian rugs on a dirt floor. This 3.5 by 4 metre space, with a kerosene fridge, gas stove, table, chairs, bed and small rainwater tank as the only creature comforts, was Lester's home for his last 30 years. The hut was never meant to be anything but a shack. Lester had no requirements other than a break from the elements.

Lester's day began at 4 am, seven days a week during the season, when he would row up to eight miles a day to set and later retrieve his nets before the pelicans got to his catch of mulloway, bream and mullet. 

Not much has changed for Garry who continues the tradition of static net fishing but has deferred to a boat with an outboard "I still rely on some of my grandfather's knowledge of when and where to fish. Always watching the seasons, nature's signs and the weather for important clues where the fish might be tonight," he says.

Prior to his death, Lester shared with his grandson many words of wisdom and much knowledge of The Coorong, particularly prior to the introduction of the barrages "Many of the changes in Lester's view were for the worse. Reducing the estuary by roughly 90 per cent of its original size had a profound impact on the bird and fish populations of the region." 

Garry continues the family's respect for the environment. "The aquatic ecosystem is the engine room that drives the abundance of birds and fish every year. A healthy ecosystem delivers a healthy and sustainable fishery. Unfortunately the over extraction of water from the Murray Darling Basin catchment has meant that only about 27 per cent of the natural flows make it to the Lower Lakes and Murray Moth area. Most of the birds and fish relied on the annual fresh water pulses for reproduction and growth rates

"In 1998 the Lakes and Coorong fishery produced the first environmental management plan for a commercial fishery in the world The plan identified several areas the fishers needed to address. The first was an independent audit of the fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council certification process which is sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The second was the need for specific monitoring." 

Such monitoring included not only bird numbers but visitors, pellation, unusual events or sightings and the like.

Around six years ago Garry began to count the migratory birds on a daily basis - Cape Barren Geese flying overhead and the rare Eastern Curlew, Stints, Sanderlings and Sandpipers on The Coorong sandbars. That information has been collated and is now used to confirm trends in conjunction with the National Parks and the annual Australian Migratory Bird counts. "Unfortunately the quantitative data confirms what the fisherman already know - The Coorong is going down the gurgler at an alarming rate." 

As his grandfathers before him, Garry understands the intricate needs of The Coorong "What the waterway needs is another 1956 flood to bring life back to the levels of its former glory"

Man Drowned in Lake

•  The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) 

•  Mon 14 Oct 1946 

When he fell from his boat on Lake Alexaudrina at 9.30 a.m. yesterday. George H Braunsthal, about 42, fisherman, of Narrung, was drowned.

It is thought that he over-balanced during a heart attack, as he had been suffering from that trouble lately. His son saw that the boat was drifting and notified the Narrung post office, which contacted local residents. 

Messrs. W. T. Lawrie and Lester Rumbelow set out from the Point McLeay jetty, but when they arrived they found Braunsthal caught in a fishing net which had been running out. They took the body to the Narrung jetty and attempted artificial respiration for two hours without success. Braunsthal leaves a widow and four children.

Obituary - Lester Rumbelow

Well known Lakes and Coorong professional fisherman, Lester Rumbelow, passed away on 6 November from complications of cancer.

Lester Rumbelow fished the lower lakes and Coorong from 1932 to 1992. He had seen many changes in the fishing industry during his six decades of fishing; the most significant and detrimental of these being the building of the barrage system (1935-1940).

Born in 1914, he lived in the Narrung district until 1923 when his father (Walter Malen) returned to Victor Harbor to fish commercially. Lester left school in 1928 and fished with his father for rock lobster at Victor Harbor and as far away as Cape Borda, Kangaroo Island. All fishing was under sail and all thirty pots were lifted by hand. Prices varied with most selling for six pence to a shilling per pound.

Late in 1931, Lester was sent by his father to Lake Alexandrina to teach several new fishermen to sail and handle small ketches of twenty five to thirty feet. During his visit he struck up a fishing partnership with the late Frank Pierson which lasted until the second World War.

Lester then became a member of the voluntary defence corp and fished with the late George Brumstal who drowned in lake Alexandrina in 1946. From 1946 to 1992, Lester worked in partnership with W H (Bill) Ayres of Meningie.

Lester spent the last twenty seven years camped on the shores of the Coorong at Pelican Point. There his hospitality and friendly greetings were experienced by many fishermen and travellers from far and wide. His 'Coorong Rock buns' and 'cup o' tea' were a widely known treat.

Lester's favourite quip about fishing: 'One net set in the right place is as good as ten nets in the wrong place'. 

He will be sadly missed by all.