On 18 April 1998 at a celebration to mark 60 years since the college’s foundation, some of the children of the college’s early academic staff, met for the first time in a number of years. We came to be called the siblings because of the intense shared experiences from that early period.

Ten years later, Jenny Browning (Janet Howie) published a social history, Four Wives. This  focused on the experiences of four of the wives – Ella Howie, Gwenda Davis, Phyllis Voisey and Hilda Crossley – who came to Armidale with their husbands.

Later that year, UNE’s Dixson Library mounted a special exhibition, Families of NEUC: A Social History as part of the celebration of the college’s 70th anniversary. This examined the early days of the university through the eyes of the families that accompanied the first academics to their teaching posts in Armidale and the families of the staff that supported the running of the college

With the passage of time the college itself has begun to vanish into the mist of the past, becoming a simple addendum to the early history of the university.

That’s a pity. The early staff were all highly qualified and committed to building a new institution. They had to be, for the obstacles were considerable.

Today, the university takes pride in the fact that it has achieved maximum student satisfaction ratings for 13 consecutive years, something no other Australian university can match.

It should, but we should not forget that it was the during the 16 college years that the ethos of the place was created, an ethos that has continued despite some turmoil in the later institution.

Under pressure and with limited resources, the college out-performed the mother university in teaching, research and community outreach. Staff knew that they had to be better just to survive, and in many ways they were.

But in all this, what about the wives? Jenny Browning makes a convincing case that without them, the college would have failed. They had to deal with insecurity, loneliness,. financial pressures, with multiple roles as they supported their husbands and families.

Over the next few columns I want to take you back into that now vanishing past, telling you about the wives and children of the college, of what it was like to be there.

I do not pretend that this will objective history. Rather, I want to capture the feel, the taste of that time.

Jim Belshaw’s email is ndarala@optusnet.com.au. He blogs at http://newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com.au/ (New England life) and http://newenglandhistory.blogspot.com.au/ (New England history)