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On a recent Little Darwin expedition to North Queensland , the hunt was on to find the last resting place of New Zealand born writer and poet , Effie Pike, the subject of the above 1937 newspaper article. She was the mother of Glenville Pike, who became a prolific writer, historian , author , publisher and artist , well known in the Northern Territory and Queensland .
By Peter Simon
Under the nom de plume, June Eversleigh, she contributed to London newspapers , had completed two novels , one accepted by a Hollywood film company as a scenario . In the past four years she had been living in North Queensland collecting information for novels . The trio had been living in a miner's hut, the nearest neighbour five miles away , from where their provisions were brought in by packhorse. Effie had not "seen " a shop for two years . Near their hut was a pool in which they swam , creeks said to be infested by crocodiles , but none had been seen . Effie also wrote songs, the latest , Let Me Whisper a Love Story to You , which would be played at the weekend on Cairns radio station, 4CA. Four years previously , members of the Cairns Art Society had been impressed by the artwork of young Glenville, despite having not received any tuition . His mother intended to get art lessons for him . In several weeks the three would leave for Sydney and Effie intended to go to America the next year . I first met Effie, her "sister" and Glenville in Darwin in the l950s when they used to come to the Northern Territory News , where I worked as a reporter. The editor , Jim Bowditch , urged me to buy from Glenville the latest copy of his North Australian Monthly, which he owned and edited , and hand painted Christmas cards he made , because the Pikes lived like "church mice" . There was a time when they offered to sell their rural property to me at the 22-mile , south of Darwin . My wife looked at the primitive tin structure in which they lived , with a packed earth floor in one part, a wood burning stove , and flashed a very meaningful glance , NO! On the recent trip to Cairns I went to Mareeba , where Glenville, who had died in 2011, aged 86, had lived with his second wife , noted the street named after him , and toured the cemetery in the search for further information about Glenville and Effie , Dorothy. At the large Cairns cemetery , not certain that it was the last resting place of Effie , I tramped all over the site, finding many interesting gravestones in the process . A council worker on a ride on mower was chased and eventually directed me to another man , far away, on a tractor , saying he would be able to help . As I drew near the tractor it was driven away...more footslogging and later it was found parked next to a low building with , of all things , a large vegetable garden . Sure enough , the tractor driver inside was the key to the hunt for Effie . He pulled out a folder, ran his finger down a page and directed me to a numbered grave , a short distance away, where I photographed the plaque below .  |
