Lester Malen Rumbelow
1914 - 1992
Photographic Portrait, News Limited
Descendant of Malen Rumbelow 2nd
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.
Students of Loveday Bay School, Melville and Lester Rumbelow, end of front row. Dulcie Rumbelow back row.
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.
He played cricket for the local team. He spent several years on the Narrung School Committee, where his daughters were students at the school. He was a crew member on the paddle wheeler "Jupiter" when it was taken out the Murray Mouth and up the gulf to Port Adelaide on it's last journey.
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.
During his 64 years as a professional fisherman, (mostly in the Coorong and Murray Lakes) Lester saved many people who crossed the Coorong to the Young Husband Peninsula in canoes, or too much luggage and too many people in very small boats, and were stranded when bad weather set in.
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.
Name RUMBELOW, LESTER MALEN
Service Australian Army
Service Number S112991
Date of Birth 14 Oct 1914
Place of Birth ADELAIDE, SA
Date of Enlistment 04 Mar 1943
Locality on Enlistment NARRUNG, SA
Place of Enlistment NARRUNG, SA
Next of Kin RUMBELOW, PEGGY
Date of Discharge 15 Oct 1945
Rank Private
Posting at Discharge 8 BATTALION VOLUNTEER DEFENCE CORPS
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.
Plucky Rescue After Winch Breaks
When the iron winch holding the cable moorings snapped in several pieces, the Narrung punt, with three motor cars and nine passengers aboard, drifted rapidly downstream with a strong current on Sunday, and was saved from probably disaster when the broken winch wedged fast against a stout jarrah post.
After five hours in mid-stream and a perilous rescue effort by local men, the passengers were landed, cold, wet, and hungry, in a motor launch.
At the time of the accident the punt was travelling towards Narrung in a strong wind and current, and was ap-proaching midstream. After the cable had been made fast by Mr. B. G. McNicol, of Narrung, Messrs. Lester Rumbelow, of Victor Harbor, Bob Broadbent and Jack McNicol set out in a small dinghy to reach a motor boat; but the current swept them past it into Lake Alexandrina.
Swirling past the stranded punt, the dinghy was caught on the punt cable, disaster being averted by Mr. Syd Scott, who pushed it off with an oar. The motor boat, moored 200 yards from the punt, was reached at a second attempt, the rowers finding it almost impossible at times to move against the current.
There were further difficulties in store, however. When passengers were being taken across the current a loose rope from the dinghy became entangled in the propeller of the launch, which began to drift. After the rope had been released, the engine, which had become wet, would not work, and a repair was anxiously made as the launch slowly drifted with the current.
The motor cars were rescued when Mr. G. A. McNicol effected temporary repairs to the winch and set the punt working again.
On Sunday and Monday motorists had to make a detour of 35 miles over bad roads to reach the Meningie main road.
Narrung Punt In Difficulties
MOTORISTS GREATLY INCONVENIENCED
When the iron winch holding the cable moorings snapped in several pieces, the Narrung punt, with three motor cars and nine passengers aboard, drifted rapidly downstream with a strong current on Sunday, and was saved from probable disaster when the broken winch wedged fast against a stout jarrah post.
After five hours in mid-stream and a perilous rescue effort by local men, the passengers were landed, cold, wet and hungry, in a motor launch.
At the time of the accident the punt was travelling towards Nar-rung in a strong wind and current, and was approaching midstream. After the cable had been made fast by Mr. B. G. McNicol, of Narrung, Messrs. Lester Rumbelow, of Victor Harbor, Bob Broadbent and Jack McNicol set out in a small dinghy to reach a motor boat, but the current swept them past it into Lake Alexandrina. Swirling past the stranded punt, the dinghy was caught on the punt cable, disaster being averted by Mr. Syd Scott, who pushed it off with an oar. The motor boat, moored 200 yards from the punt, was reached at a second attempt, the rowers finding it almost impossible at times to move against the current.
There were further difficulties in store, however. When passengers were being taken across the current a loose rope from the dinghy became entangled in the propeller of the launch, which began to drift. After the rope had been released, the en-gine, which had become wet, would not work, and a repair was anxiously made as the launch slowly drifted with the current.
The motor cars were rescued when Mr. G. A. McNicol effected temporary repairs to the winch and set the punt working again.
On Sunday and Monday motorists had to make a detour of 35 miles over bad roads to reach the Meningie main road.
Adelaide Advertiser - 7th & 9th November 1992
" Of the Coorong, passed away 6th November 1992 at S.C.D.H. Dearly loved father of Carlene & Valerie (dec). Loving grandpa of Suzanne, Len, Alison & Garry.
Step grandpa of Garry, Lynette & Bill. Greatpa of Sue-Ellen, Danielle, David, Richard, Grant, Tamara & Corey. "In Our Hearts Always"
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.
Unknown Publication
Garry Hera-Singh, Rumbelow's Hut, Unknown Publication.
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"