The Beaumont Children
Baby Boomer: Suburban Australia
My sister, cousins and I had a reasonably free childhood once we came to Australia. Our home was in Elizabeth, north of Adelaide. We could play in the street in front of our houses or go to a nearby park which didn’t require crossing the main road. We older ones could walk to the local shops for ice cream or comics and sometimes to another park when the “Trampoline Man” came for a few days in the school holidays. Our suburb was pretty quiet except at around 4pm when the local factories let out and all the workers came home.
When I was around twelve my eldest cousin and I were both allowed to go to “the big shops” at Elizabeth Town Centre or the library alone.
Even though they allowed us our freedom I’m sure our parents worried about us and we did get into trouble if we went off without telling them where we were going or failed to return at the appointed time.
Naomi and I arrived in Australia with our mum on 23 January 1966. Three days later on 26 January, three young children, Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont disappeared from Glenelg beach not far from Adelaide. They were never heard of again.
By eguidetravel – https://www.flickr.com/photos/eguidetravel/5399982086/, CC BY 2.0, Link
If ever our parents needed a cautionary tale there was one. They impressed on us that we should not talk to or go off with strangers. It certainly made an impression on me because the eldest girl, Jane was the same age as me. To our parents’ credit, this didn’t stop them from letting us go places on our own but I know that mum always worried until we returned safely and I am sure my aunt and uncle did too although my cousins were not fond of walking so their dad would usually get a call to pick them up from wherever they had gone or be asked to drive them here or there. Naomi and I usually walked everywhere.
Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View 
Yes Wanda Beach murders in 1965 followed by the Beaumont family in 1966. You were lucky that your Mum didn’t try to curtail you. Although I think I had more freedom, a lot more freedom, than todays children, I think these events affected my mother deeply. They certainly were well known around Australia despite television not being common in homes and news wasn’t thrown at you every minute of the day as it is now.
Funnily I go to toastmasters in Qld with a man, Rupert Godwin who is fighting for a permanent memorial to be erected for the Beaumont children. https://www.facebook.com/7NewsAdelaide/videos/180288356208346/
There is a petition that can be signed as well. https://www.change.org/p/missing-beaumont-children-sapol-to-dig-the-sink-hole-at-mcintyre-road-stansbury/u/23640832
Hope you are safe from the fires where you are.
Thanks for joining in this months Times Past.
LikeLike
That is interesting . I am staying with friends until I feel it’s safe to go home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] Tales of Terror: Times Past […]
LikeLike
I remember me and Linda my best friend always going off to the play ground or the park totally oblivious to all the drama we caused because we were having fun and didn’t know the time. Everyone would be out looking for us in cars or on foot and we’d be in so much trouble. We didn’t understand at all. We’d just be upset about getting into trouble. I have the book “The Satin Man” It’s a very interesting book about a possible suspect in this case. It’s worth a read if you are interested in these sorts of cases.I always wish they found them so they could be laid to rest and their family members have some peace at last. What horrible tormented lives their parents must have had and look at all the things they all missed out on sharing as a family together. This happens to too many families who lose someone in a horrible way.
LikeLike
I read that at your house and it was a very interesting book. I wonder if we’ll ever know what happened to them and the other children that went missing in strange circumstances in Adelaide?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It gets more unlikely as the years go by because the person responsible and their associates are probably long dead.
LikeLike
Very likely we will never know. Sad.
LikeLike
[…] ago I wrote about the non event of the Adelaide Tsunami and another time mystery of the missing Beaumont Children. These were all news stories in their day that Australians my age remember happening but younger […]
LikeLike
[…] Tales of Terror: Times Past Throwback Thursday #35 […]
LikeLike