Wayne Hawthorne, Naracoorte Community News
A UK author of more than 10 books, Gill Tee led an interesting life before moving recently to the Naracoorte district.
Gill told Naracoorte Men’s Probus Club members how she spent most of her life living in England, but that she has also lived in Spain and now Australia. She can speak French, Spanish and even a bit of ‘Strayan’.
Probus heard how Gill was adopted and lived in a small, terraced house near the London suburb of Richmond-upon-Thames. Aged three, she moved to a bigger house in a village just outside London.
She told of childhood memories, including her school days. Gill loved school and did well in her exams with the final two years spent studying English Literature, French and History. A love for music and fashion developed in the sixties.
The family had wonderful summer holidays, towing their old caravan down the narrow, overcrowded roads of England. Caravanning also took them to France, Italy, and Switzerland which, at the time, was seen as quite adventurous.
Probus heard about her close encounters with celebrities. Not only, as a teenager, was she present at an early rehearsal of a then unknown band called the Rolling Stones, but she personally delivered the Sunday newspapers into John Lennon’s hands!
After training as a shorthand typist, she initially, worked for real estate agencies in both secretarial and sales roles. Then she moved to an insurance company, specialising in vintage and veteran cars.
Among her clients were the four members of Pink Floyd. – Roger Waters, Dave Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason. Payment was in cash, usually hand delivered by Nick Mason!
After working one summer at a hotel in Port Isaac in Cornwall, the village where Doc Martin was filmed, she and a friend hitchhiked through Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and then to Spain, luckily, with no trouble. In Spain, Gill soon found work as a cook in a bar. While her cooking skills then were basic, she did manage to cook sausages, burgers, and chips as well as the shepherd’s pie for which she became famous!
In Spain she met and married Bob, a young Scotsman. Their daughter Deborah was born back home in England. After her divorce when Deborah turned 18, Gill bought her own house and found work as a secretary with a management consultancy. She then found a job with a real estate agency closer to her home and stayed there 20 years.
Gill and her current husband David met through online dating – she in England, David in Sydney.
They exchanged e-mails and spoke by phone. After some months, David flew to the UK, returning to Sydney only to put his affairs in order before flying back to be with Gill. They married two years after his UK arrival.
After some enjoyable holidays in Cornwall, they purchased an old chapel that had been converted into a home. Gill found a part-time job in a real estate agency and started writing novels. Her books were detailed and displayed.
After 13 years in England, David hankered to return to Australia. Despite the Covid pandemic, they settled in Strathalbyn where Gill discovered a Facebook page called ‘Adopted in the UK’. Her birth mother was quickly traced and found to be still alive in England. Contact was made, and eventually a happy visit to meet her in the UK arranged.
After two happy years in Strathalbyn, a tree change was needed. David had spent happy childhood holidays on his uncle’s farm outside Naracoorte, so the South-East was targeted. A home on a small acreage now gives them the space they want while being relatively manageable for two oldies.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
