Australia and the Early Years
Honor Hassell (left) and her sister and mother in the garden at Hillside, the Hassell family home in Western Australia, circa 1924
Details of Honoria Ethel Hassell’s early life are drawn from a variety of sources generated over time, some of which are now housed in the permanent collections of the Western Australia Museum. Her forebears, namely the Hassells and the Cliftons, were prominent pioneering families instrumental in opening up Western Australia in the 19th century.
Honor was the youngest of ten children born to Albert Young Hassell and his wife Ethel, née Clifton. Honor’s early story is one of loneliness and semi-neglect by busy parents, followed by love for a man of whom her family disapproved: Frank Anderson did not fit Albert’s and Ethel’s idea of a good match for their daughter whom they had brought up to be a society wife, destined for a life of comfort, tea parties, embroidery and gardening. They warned Honor against her choice - would they ultimately be proved right or wrong?
My Dusky Friends
Ethel’s travel case
AY cornflower
Hillside
Frank’s family background was very different. The Andersons and the Hassells had little in common - except a great love of flowers.
James Crowe memoir
Fred’s drawing instruments
