Jeffrey Thrum

B. 1903 – D. 1985

Authors: Denise Noack

Chauffeur for Jack Mortlock, 1929–1942

Jeff Thrum was Jack Mortlock’s chauffeur from 25 January 1929 to 7 March 1942, but the Mortlock family had other chauffeurs before him. The first motorised vehicles arrived in South Australia in June 1899. The wealth of the Mortlock family, along with the need to move between city and country properties and businesses, ensured that they had many vehicles and chauffeurs to drive them. Arthur Henry Hoskin was a driver for Rosye Mortlock and obtained his licence on 10 September 1906, the first day they became available in South Australia.

picture of a driver's licence
South Australian driver’s licence No. 156 belonging to Arthur Hoskin, who was Rosye Mortlock’s chauffeur in 1906. Reproduced courtesy of Old Police Station and Courthouse Museum, National Trust of South Australia, Clare.
three people in a car
W. T. Mortlock’s Talbot at the Port Lincoln Hotel in 1908. Reproduced courtesy of Tumby Bay National Trust Museum.

By the 1920s, the Mortlocks had a fleet of vehicles across the state. Ranson Mortlock sometimes drove himself, as confirmed by his misdemeanours for ‘dangerous speeding’ and driving ‘under the influence of liquor’.1 Jack Mortlock had a series of chauffeurs: Richard J. R. Riley; Peachman, who is reported to have crashed Mortlock’s insured £1000 Minerva in January 1923 at Fulham; Lang, whose service of over two years was terminated on 16 January 1926 after arriving on the Martindale yacht ‘in drunken condition’; and Foale, who had promised ‘to give up drink’ in July 1928 but was reprimanded for ‘disobedience and lying’ in August 1928 and finally left on 23 February 1929.2 Temporary drivers were provided by the business Autocar in between the more permanent employees.

group of men
Chauffeur Richard J. R. Riley, standing in the middle of a group of businessmen holding his hat outside the Tumby Bay hotel in 1922. Young Jack Mortlock is second from left. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
Black and white photo of Jeff Thrum
Chauffeur Jeff Thrum in his driving uniform with one of Mortlock’s dachshunds. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

The longest serving of all Jack Mortlock’s chauffeurs was Jeff Thrum, referred to by his boss as ‘Thrum’, and he was paid £5 per week.3 This was a very lucky break for 25-year-old Thrum, who had just lost his job as a fitter and turner at the Holden factory at Woodville when 400 people were laid off during the Depression in early 1929.4 The position required an experienced driver, someone with knowledge of diesel engines, and a total abstainer. Thrum only met the last requirement but was selected for an interview with Mortlock and his business manager Ernest Scarfe from over 200 applicants.5

Thrum recalls, ‘[Mortlock] looked me up and down and I felt like I was on the auction block waiting for the highest bidder. He then nodded to the general manager, and I was asked to be there at 9 o’clock Monday morning ready to start work.’6

Initially, Thrum’s job was to drive Mortlock from his North Adelaide residence to his Currie Street office each morning. At this time, Mortlock had a five-seater Fiat, a large Minerva and a Crossley limousine that the Duke of York had used in Perth while on tour in Australia, which was brought out for ‘special occasions’. Thrum was also required to drive Mortlock to properties at Martindale, Yudnapinna, Tumby Bay and Coffin Bay and on interstate trips to Melbourne for Cup week, Queensland for holidays, and Sydney (along with the station managers) for stock sales.

black and white picture of car
The Royal Crossley limousine delivered to Jack Mortlock on 15 June 1927 and brought out for special occasions. Sydney Morning Herald, 22 March 1927, 14.

Much of the information we have about Thrum and his time as chauffeur for Mortlock comes from a small handwritten exercise book archived at the State Library of South Australia, Recounting Some of My Experiences While Chauffeur to Mr J. T. Mortlock, Pastoralist.7 Four photograph albums, titled Adventuring with Mr Mortlock, accompany Thrum’s journal.8

Thrum wrote, ‘When I started work for Mr Mortlock, he had a Graflex 1/4 plate box camera. I soon learned to operate it, and took some very interesting photos of our travels. When processed, there was always 2 copies taken off, one for the boss, and one for me. Now I have 4 albums full, and they bring back many happy memories.’9

picture of a single lens reflex camera
A Graflex 1/4 plate camera similar to that used by Thrum to record his adventures with Mr Mortlock. Source: Pacific Rim Camera, https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/gflxrbseriesb.htm.

Thrum’s memoir includes little information about his personal life. He was the youngest child of Mr and Mrs F. W. Thrum of Hyde Park, with an older brother, Ted, and a sister, Amelia. His father was involved in his church and in the 1920s worked for well-known Methodist Adelaide businessman A. E. Clarkson. Thrum played tennis for Manthorpe Memorial Church in a team with his future wife, Kathleen Lydia Forss, whom he married eight months after starting work as chauffeur for Mortlock.10 Kathleen was a music teacher, and she played piano at the Centenary Concert held at Mintaro in 1936.11 They had three sons: Allen Ronald (b. 1932), Victor Leslie (b. 1937) and Terry Colin (b. 1947).

It is clear from his recollections and photographs that Thrum loved his job with Mortlock. Along with having a secure income during the Depression, at a time when up to a third of the nation was unemployed, Thrum got to drive expensive luxury cars and meet powerful and important people, such as the Governor of South Australia, Sir Winston Dugan. In June 1935, Thrum drove Dugan through Mortlock’s northern property, Yudnapinna: ‘Before leaving, the Governor came back and shook hands with me thanking me for a pleasant journey. I appreciated that because not every governor would have thought of the driver.’12

black and white picture of two cars
Luxury Packards from 1937 and 1939 at Mortlock’s North Adelaide residence. Thrum is standing in his uniform by the black car. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
portrait of a man
Sir Winston Dugan, Governor of South Australia 1934–1939. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
two men standing
Thrum with Zane Grey, a famous big-game hunter from America. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
Thrum’s memorabilia from a trip to Queensland with Jack Mortlock in 1936, travelling via Sydney and staying at Jack Mortlock’s usual accommodation at the Carlton Hotel. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Thrum stayed and dined in some of the swankiest hotels across Australia, such as the Hotel Windsor in Melbourne and the Carlton Hotel in Sydney, and he holidayed with the boss locally at Port Lincoln, where he met big-game hunter Zane Grey, who was there to fish for great white sharks. When Thrum farewelled Grey at the Parafield aerodrome, his photographer insisted they have their picture taken together: ‘What a surprise—me standing beside a world celebrity such as Zane Grey. I really treasure that photo they gave me.13

The job took Thrum to interstate tourist destinations such as the Great Barrier Reef and Currumbin Sanctuary in Queensland and Jenolan Caves in New South Wales, and overseas to New Zealand, where he took a scenic joy flight and walked the Milford Sound.

Thrum’s practical skills extended to having a ‘free hand’ in making extensive modifications to a 1938 Ford Utility to enable better spotlight shooting for Mortlock at Martindale. The cost of fitting out was £600 but considered ‘well worth it’.14

Many of the Mortlock cars were not designed for station-driving on bad, corrugated roads. Thrum’s memoir documents many instances of breaking down and getting stuck. He was very good at problem-solving and improvised mechanical repairs to keep cars going.

men with a car
Jack Mortlock and Jeff Thrum behind the cabin of the 1938 Ford Utility that Thrum modified for spotlight shooting. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
car
One of the Minerva cars stuck on a mound at Yudnapinna station. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Thrum was the engineer on the MV Martindale, co-pilot in Mortlock’s Wizzo hydroplane races and also the cinematographer for many of Mortlock’s films. Thrum is credited as the cinematographer for Mortlock’s film Maori & Pakeha: Their First 100 Years (1940), which was shot during a two-month tour of the north and south islands of New Zealand and included footage of the 1940 Treaty of Waitangi celebrations. Thrum shot and edited the film and provided commentary at public presentations, which included wartime fundraisers.

‘I put on many film shows for Mr Mortlock in aid of the war effort. One important show he put on was for the National Geographic Society in Adelaide. It was the New Zealand film, and in the presence of His Excellency the Governor and his wife, the president of the society introduced Mr Mortlock, who was a member, and he in turn introduced me, saying I had taken it, and would present it to them. Well, there I was in my one and only navy suit, and all the VIPs in the audience in their dinner jackets.’15

filn still with car and man
Jeff Thrum kicking the wheels of the Packard 6 before leaving Mortlock’s North Adelaide residence in December 1939 for Sydney. The car was taken on the boat with them for their two-month tour of New Zealand. Film still from Maori & Pakeha: Their First 100 Years, dir. John Tennant Mortlock, 1940. Reproduced courtesy of National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra.

In the twelve years he worked for Mortlock, Thrum spent long amounts of time away from his family, being regularly away for weeks at a time, and up to nine weeks on some trips. Thrum was on call 24/7 to serve Mortlock, who usually insisted that they travel to Martindale late at night.16 Unlike some of Mortlock’s managers, Thrum’s family never accompanied them on the summer holidays to Coffin Bay, and he was relegated to a room at the front of the stables when staying overnight at the Martindale mansion.

Thrum was relegated to a room at the front of the stables when staying overnight at the Martindale mansion.

Nevertheless, Thrum praised Mortlock as a ‘wonderful boss … if his mother was with him the chauffeurs would dine apart. If it was only Mr Mortlock and myself, he would always sit me with him, and I had the run of the menu, same as he did’.17 And, after having worked for Mortlock for a year, Thrum was granted permission to drive one of the cars to and from work and to take his family out on the Sundays he was not required.18

Yet Mortlock’s generosity was inconsistent. When Jack went on his extravagant Eastern Tour in 1930, which had him away for some fourteen weeks, Thrum was left with a gratuity of £20, which only covered a month’s wages. Thrum’s memoir also records instances where Jack was quite bad-tempered with him—once after thinking he had laughed at him after a mishap and another time when someone had mistaken Thrum as Jack’s son. Thrum’s final conclusion, however, was that ‘Mr Mortlock … looked after me, and I did my best to serve him’.19

One of the many ways Thrum served the Mortlock family was in his discretion. Both Jack and Ranson Mortlock were known to be extremely heavy drinkers, and it is evident from Jack’s diaries that he would spend weeks at a time at the North Adelaide and Parkwynd private hospitals recovering from the ‘ill effects from over indulgence’.20 Thrum discloses none of this personal information in his memoir, other than the occasional anecdote about Jack not being able to shoot very well on some occasions.21

Thrum and Mortlock’s final big trip together was to New Zealand in December 1939 to January 1940 when Thrum drove Mortlock to Sydney in a Packard, which they then took to New Zealand. It had become complicated to obtain film to document the journey, and their luxury boat had to be diverted from its route to stay out of the way of ships carrying troops. Eventually, it was the war that ended Thrum’s employment with Mortlock. It had become increasingly difficult for Mortlock to continue as usual with some of his high-end leisure pursuits and extravagances. Petrol rationing had been introduced in the late 1940s, and either fuel rations had to be obtained or vehicles had to be converted to charcoal-gas producers. These were cumbersome and inefficient, and the refuelling process was messy.

The war also put an end to the extended holiday sojourns on the MV Martindale with Mortlock eventually lending the boat to the Royal Australian Navy on 13 May 1941.22 As the war progressed, and with the threat of the Japanese invasion on the horizon, Thrum was conscripted by the Manpower Directorate to leave his position as a chauffeur and take up a job making munitions to help with the war effort.

Thrum was rewarded for his service in Jack Mortlock’s will and was left £1,000, ‘enough money to buy my first car, a Hillman’.23 While certainly not as fancy as the many vehicles he had driven for Mortlock, this would no doubt have had a considerable positive impact on Thrum’s life in 1950 and enabled him to enjoy some of the freedoms he had experienced in the twelve years when driving the ‘boss’.

“Mr Mortlock … looked after me, and I did my best to serve him.”

clipping from a will
Bequest to Thrum of £1,000 in J. A. T. Mortlock’s will, dated 2 March 1950. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
two men
Arthur Hoskin (aged 92), Rosye Mortlock’s chauffeur in 1906, and Jeff Thrum (aged 72), Jack Mortlock’s chauffeur from 1929 to 1942, at the Martindale Hall Open Day in 1980. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Footnotes

  1. ‘Charges against Motorists’, Register, 15 May 1925, 12; ‘Dangerous Speeding’, News, 17 March 1930, 7; ‘Motorists Fined’, Advertiser, 4 April 1925, 22; ‘Police Court Adelaide’, Advertiser, 21 October 1924, 14. ↩︎
  2. J. A. T. Mortlock Diaries, 16 January 1926 and 28 July 1928, 23 February 1929, Tumby Bay National Trust Museum; ‘Motor Car Burned’, Journal, 16 January 1923, 1; Photograph B 60352, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide. ↩︎
  3. J. A. T. Mortlock Diaries, 25 March 1929. ↩︎
  4. Jeff Thrum, Recounting Some of My Experiences While Chauffeur to Mr J. T. Mortlock, Pastoralist, p. 1, PRG 646/1, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide. ↩︎
  5. Thrum, Recounting, 7. ↩︎
  6. Thrum, Recounting, 3. ↩︎
  7. Thrum, Recounting, 1. ↩︎
  8. Jeff Thrum, Adventuring with Mr Mortlock, PRG 646/2, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide. ↩︎
  9. Thrum, Recounting, 33. ↩︎
  10. ‘Family Notices’, Chronicle, 12 December 1929, 55; Mail, 10 December 1927, 9. ↩︎
  11. Thrum, Recounting, 80. ↩︎
  12. Thrum, Recounting, 9–10. ↩︎
  13. Thrum, Recounting, 24. ↩︎
  14. Thrum, Recounting, 7. ↩︎
  15. Thrum, Recounting, 47. ↩︎
  16. Thrum, Recounting, 28. ↩︎
  17. Thrum, Recounting, 36. ↩︎
  18. Thrum, Recounting, 67. ↩︎
  19. Thrum Recounting, 75. ↩︎
  20. J. A. T. Mortlock Diaries, 12 December 1930. ↩︎
  21. Thrum, Recounting, 16. ↩︎
  22. ‘HMAS Martindale’, The Sea Power Centre—Australia, https://seapower.navy.gov.au/hmas-martindale. ↩︎
  23. Thrum, Recounting, 76. ↩︎