I never knew my uncle Athol. He was born in 1919 and grew up in Ultima in the Mallee region of Victoria. My grandfather Robert Leary, his wife Emily and sons Ivan and Athol lived in Dillon Street opposite Cuttle's Store where Robert worked.

In 1911 Mr & Mrs Leary arrived in Melbourne from Ireland. They had married in London on the way. Ater a short stay in Melbourne during which time Mr Leary worked on the cable trams, they came to Ultima at the invitation of Mr Herbert Cuttle Snr. Ater working for a period with Cuttle's Mallee Stores the Learys "Selected" a government block of land at Boinka (pronounced bow-in-ka), a locality between Ouyen and the South Australian border.