WHEN Caroline Talbot (nee Fernie) arrived in Australia on board the Largs Bay passenger cargo ship from Scotland, at age 7, she recalls feeling that she had become an Australian as soon as her feet hit the ground in her new country.

She consciously modified her slight accent, to gain ready acceptance at school, and never looked back.

The rest, as they say, is history, with her brilliant career in the service of her adopted country earning the Newhaven resident a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) honour in the General Division in this year’s Australia Day awards list.

“I’m naturalized now of course but I’ve never really thought of myself as anything other than Australian,” said Caroline this week.

“But yes, I remember it well,” she said of the family decision to go to Australia and the six-week ocean voyage, on the cargo-passenger ship the Largs Bay, through the Suez, by Malta to Egypt, Colombo in Ceylon, then Fremantle and finally Melbourne.

“It was like a holiday. But I hadn’t thought too much about it until I went to the Immigration Museum a couple of years ago and they had a ship’s cabin set up from the same era and it just transported me back.

“Mum and dad had lived through the war in Scotland and dad worked on developing Rolls Royce jet engines.”

The family lived in Paisley, effectively an outer suburb of Glasgow, just six miles from the Rolls Royce factory in Hillington.

Archie Fernie, an aircraft engineer, together with his wife Betty, had been recruited by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermen’s Bend and with his three children; Caroline 7, Doug 5 and Gordon 3 made the big move to Australia in the early 1950s.

“He was coming to a job, which made it easy, and they loved being in Australia from the outset, so did we.”

They settled in Montmorency, which was a pretty quiet place in those days, but she joined the Guides, where she was introduced to community service, and it became a way of life for Caroline.

“One of the first things I did with the Guides was work at a Children’s Home at Diamond Creek. I loved it.”

As well as introducing her to the mutual benefit of community service, the Guides provided the perfect entrée to her new country with new friends, the opportunity to explore on camps and at jamborees and all the fun that comes with it.

After school, Caroline found a good job with prominent Melbourne retailer Buckley and Nunn, in the clerical department, and got busy as a Guide leader, and also at night school to improve her administration skills.

As well as a home in Melbourne, the Fernie’s had a holiday house at Phillip Island where Caroline’s father indulged his main passion, for sailing, by joining the Newhaven Yacht Club.

As luck would have it, Bruce Talbot, a local professional fisherman, was also a member. Caroline and Bruce met and married in 1968, moved to the Island, with sons Darren (1969) and Chris (1973) arriving in short order.

“Honestly, it wasn’t that easy moving here for me. I was so busy in Melbourne, and it just seemed so quiet down here.”

But Caroline got involved in administration at the yacht club, at the time they were building the marina, also helping out at the weekend with cups of tea and sandwiches. She joined the Cubs at Bass, as a leader, and when there was no Cub pack at Newhaven, she started one.

She also joined the kinder committee and followed that through with the kids to the Newhaven Primary School and on to the Wonthaggi Tech and Wonthaggi High School where she also served long spells on the two school councils.

“The best way to get to know people was get out there and get involved. And it’s absolutely true what they say, you get so much more out of volunteering than you ever put in.

“In fact, I never thought of it as volunteering. You saw something that needed to be done, or a friend roped you in to give a hand, and away you go.

"But working at places like the visitor information centre was a real pleasure, talking to visitors from everywhere including overseas. I loved that." 

In 2011, Caroline Talbot’s highly regarded commitment to the community earned her the region’s highest honour as the Bass Coast Shire Council’s Citizen of the Year.”

“I was very humbled by that, to received the thanks of your own community like that was pretty overwhelming. You don’t do it for that, but you also look at things like that as being recognition for the work you have done with others as well.

“Working with other people for the good of the community is really the best part of volunteering and everyone should do it.”

So, what does it feel like to receive National recognition on Australia Day?

“It’s a bit emotional really,” says Caroline as she tears up a little just thinking about it.

“It’s an honour,” she said, noting that it was something for her family to treasure as well.

“It’s nice for the family too. They’ve always been a part of it, coming along when I’ve been out doing things and ultimately getting roped in.”

Caroline Talbot has been awarded an OAM “for service to the community through a range of organisations", including but not limited to the following:

• San Remo District Financial Services Limited - Bendigo Bank. Company Secretary. Founding Board Member, 2000-2023. Member, Education Scholarship Selection Panel.
• Bass Coast Health, Former Chair, Community Advisory Committee, and Member, 2012-2018. Volunteer, Auxiliary Member and Treasurer, San Remo Opportunity Shop.
• The Royal Victorian Honorary Justice Association. Board Member, South Gippsland Branch. Fellow, since 2021. Justice of the Peace, since 2000.
• Phillip Island Patchworkers. Committee Member, 2000-2018. Founding Member, since 1995.

Community involvement

• Former Volunteer, Phillip Island Information Centre, Bass Coast Shire Council.
• Morning Tea Conveyor, Probus Club of Cowes and Former Vice-President.
• Former Committee Member, Newhaven Community Hall.
• Member, Sisters and Misters of Song.
• Volunteer Radio Operator, Westernport Safety Council, Newhaven Yacht Club, 1980's.
• Newhaven Primary School: Assistant, Kids as Catalysts program and Former Panel Member. Volunteer, annual Fete, and Presenter, Bendigo Bank Fred Borg Award. Former Fundraiser, Multipurpose Hall, named in the nominee's honour. Business Manager, 2000-2020. Employee, 1995-2020.
• Education (other): Part-time Administrator, Dudley Primary School, 1986-1995. President and/or Councillor, Wonthaggi Technical School, 1982-1994.
• Scouts Victoria: Cub Leader, c1970-1984. Founding Member, Newhaven Scout Group, 1973-1984. Medal of Merit. Long Service Award with Bar.
• Awards and Recognition include: Australia Day Citizen of the Year Award, Bass Coast Shire Council, 2011.