Ivy with her eight children. Joan is at left.
Inspired by her remarkable mother
Noted Newcastle teacher and activist Joan Dawson recalls her mother with a mixture of gratitude, awe and admiration. Ivy Lavinia Oliver was six in 1911 when her family moved from Cornwall, England, to settle on a small property at York Lea, near Casino, on the NSW North Coast. Her mother died when Ivy was 15. Ivy's teacher at York Lea encouraged her to sit a test for a scholarship to Hawkesbury Agricultural College. She was offered a scholarship but it seems her parents didn't let her accept it. When she was about 20 her family was…
