| Name Index | HOME |
|
George was born on 30 December 1898, the son of George Smith Dixon and Minnie Augusta Drake, at Woodford, Essex.
George left home at 14, and in late December 1913 was apprenticed in sail (merchant marine) to Thomas Law & Co., Glasgow, a career choice engineered by his father, who was an insurance underwriter and knew the firm. In 1914 George sailed for Australia, first to Sydney, then to Tasmania, where he jumped ship in August, did a bit of farming, and then on September 11, 1914, still only 15, enlisted in the Australian Army, and on September 23 joined his regiment, the 12th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade, of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), as Private 529 George Manley Dixon. On October 20 he sailed from Hobart for Geelong, and then on to Europe. On March 2, 1915 he left Alexandria for Gallipoli, where he was wounded in the left forearm, wrist and foot on April 28, 1915. Three days later he was shipped to Valletta Hospital (Malta), and on May 4 struck off the danger list However, he contracted TB later in May 1915, and was dangerously ill. On June 3, 1915 the Australian High Commission in London wrote to his dad in Woodford, informing him that George had been injured in the Dardanelles. On June 11, 1915 he was transferred to the UK on the "Soudan", and by June 19 was out of danger. On July 1, 1915 he was admitted to Harefield Hospital, Middlesex, and given crotonate for treatment. He lost his Army kit and on June 17, 1916 was charged 19 shillings by an ungrateful |
Army. On July 10, 1916 he left his regiment and on August 8, 1916 left Portland, England, on the hospital ship "Marathon". He still owed 3 shillings for his kit. On September 24, 1916 he arrived back in Australia, and on November 11, 1916 was discharged from the Army at Hobart, due to his TB. The following day he was granted a three-pound per fortnight incapacity pension. He went to live at 36 Alma Road, St Kilda, Melbourne, and on August 30, 1917 his pension was reduced to 30 shillings a fortnight. In 1917 he went back into sail with Thomas Law & Co. By 1919 he was 3rd mate on the "Kinross-shire", sailing around Cape Horn and into Antarctic waters. In 1920 he was awarded his 2nd Mate's certificate, and in 1922 he settled in New South Wales. The following year George left the sailing ships and went to work for the Commonwealth Government Line as a seamanship instructor on the training ship "St George". He also went to visit his parents in England that year. By 1924 he was back at 36 Alma Road, St Kilda, and on March 29 of that year was awarded his war medals - the 1914-15 Star, the British War medal, and the Victory Medal. In 1926 he left the Commonwealth Government Line and went sheepshearing at Angledool, NSW. By 1929 he was a door-to-door salesman in Sydney, and hating it. He met Anita Kelly, an Irish Catholic beautician who was living in Manly, and they married there in 1929, at her church. Anita was pregnant at the time, although George did not know this. The marriage was the end of the first phase of George's life, and the beginning of his decade-long nightmare |
| George Manley Dixon |
b: 30 Dec 1898 c: 12 Mar 1890 St. Mary's, Woodford, Essex 1899 1Q West Ham 4a 407 son of George Smith Dixon and Minnie Augusta Drake |
| Anita Kelly |
b: 16 Aug 1895 Dublin, Ireland daughter of John Kelly, a farmer, and his wife Ann Whelan |
|
8 Nov 1929 George M. Dixon Anita Kelly | St Mary Immaculate, Manly, Sydney, Australia 18311/1929 Manly District |
Then they split. George moved by himself to a disgustingly squalid lodging house at 515 Glenmore Road, |
Edgecliffe, Sydney.
He was obsessed with Anita, yet hated her at the same time.
She was a little girl, yet very fiery and high-strung.
She was also a chronic liar and in and out of reality.
She was afraid of "Dick", as she called him, because, as angry as he was, and in perpetual torment, he would often fly into rages and beat her up.
Yet she was in love with him at the same time because he was educated, intelligent, and good looking, and funny.
Not a match made in heaven!
Yet they still wrote each other long letters, constantly.
George thought about returning to England, but decided |
|
against it.
Instead he went back to sheepshearing at
Angledool where, aside from the work, he spent his time playing cricket, fishing, and reading.
He liked Rafael Sabatini, especially "The Hounds of God" and "The Justice of the Duke", and essays about the Borgias, but his favorite book was "Dodsworth", by Sinclair Lewis.
He also spent a lot of time writing long letters in reply to the equally long letters from Anita, who still refused to see him.
Anita was then living at 91 Elizabeth Road, Sydney.
He would send her what money he could, and embarked on a campaign to win her back.
He was suffering from stomach problems, indigestion, and a great deal of remorse about the abortion and about his behavior.
At least, that's what he told her.
He left Angledool in his Chrysler and headed for Perth where his mother Minnie's well-off sister, now widowed, lived with her daughters at Point Walter.
The aunt offered him a billet, and he took it out of desperation, but he couldn't wait to get out.
The aunt wanted Anita to come West, where she could get a job as a hairdresser and she and George could live happily ever after.
Anita never came, but George did get a job, in fact a new career, in the refrigeration business.
By October 1931 he was back in Melbourne, at 529 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Money was his big problem. Money, money, money. His sister Phyll came out to Australia, loaned him three pounds to ward off absolute starvation, and he failed to pay her back. This caused major problems for Phyll, and a rift between them that never healed. Then, in 1932, Anita came down to join George in Melbourne. His campaign to win her back had succeeded. But, it wasn't long before she began to irritate him so badly that he started to beat her up again. In September 1932, in a room on Collins Street, Melbourne, he hit her and threw her against a wall. George was only 5 foot 8 but he was wiry, and very strong. This fight injured Anita, and she left immediately to return to Sydney, where she got a room at Springfield House, Springfield Ave., Potts Point. George followed her, and they tried living together yet again, in Springfield House. Anita left later that year to go into hospital for her injuries, and when she came back she took another - separate - room in Springfield House. George paid her board and also gave her a guinea a week from his war pension (which was 2 pounds 4 shillings and sevenpence). On January 1, 1933 George, with roses in hand, visited her for New Year's, they got into a fight and he threw her to the floor and injured her. Then he attempted to strangle her. At that time George was head salesman for Stuart, Walker & Co., of 174 Clarence Street, Sydney. They were a firm of Butchers' and Bakers' Supplies and Salt Merchants, and a large part of their organization dealt with selling refrigeration equipment. George had a staff of six salesmen, but he still wasn't earning much money. By May 1933 Anita, who was then living at The Laurels, Cremorne, Sydney, was also desperate money-wise, partly |
because George was slow in paying her.
She began embarrassing him by coming around to his place of work and making scenes.
On the afternoon of May 20, 1933, George hit her in a car in a street off William Street, seized her by the throat and attempted to choke her.
Again, she was injured.
The court ordered George to make payments, and Anita moved to 44 Macleay Street, where she was paying 2 pounds 10 shillings a week rent. In October 1933 she moved to 67 Macleay Street, a cheaper place. Even though she was selling beauty products and doing some radio broadcasts on beauty, she was making virtually no money, and had to rely on George. George had other commitments, and he himself was hardly making ends meet, so it was a Catch 22 situation. George moved to a boarding house "Wongarra", also on Springfield Avenue, in late 1933, and on November 14 and 21, 1933 the separation case was heard in court before the Hon. George Herbert Pike, acting judge of the Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He awarded for Anita, and on November 21. 1933 George and Anita were legally separated. Anita, afraid that George was going to skip the country, advised the passport office and Customs people about the possibility, and an alert went out in case George should try anything. He didn't. But he was forced to move into another, cheaper, room, at "Wongarra", then Anita started coming around there and complaining to the landlady. On December 12, 1933 she came around for the last time before the exasperated landlady kicked George out that day. George was seeing Mrs Phillips at this time, a married woman (separated) with a child. George was "maintaining" Mrs Phillips and her child at a flat at 15 New South Head Road, Sydney. Anita was incensed by this, by George spending his money on another woman when he should have been spending it on her. George countered her accusations by denying it, saying that Anita was watching too many cheap Hollywood movies. Anita began coming around to Stuart, Walker again, and George's managing director told him that this would simply not do. On December 21, 1933 the court ordered George to pay Anita 2 pounds 5 shillings a week for the rest of his/her life. Anita wanted to go for a divorce, but she never did (at least, not for decades). On February 12, 1934, George not having paid her again, the court ordered him arrested for contempt of court. He was never arrested. Anita got a new attorney, C.P. White, who made the judge order George's arrest again. George appeared without counsel. Again, George was never arrested. |
|
he was now having a new one with Miss Bonnie Lambton, his next door neighbor at Wylde Street.
On March 13, 1936 the court found in favor of George, and his payments were dropped substantially, from 2 pounds 10 shillings a week to one pound 17 shillings and sixpence. This was a major triumph for George. Anita was now living at 6 Barncleuth Square, King's Cross, Sydney. On June 19, 1936 Anita brought yet another suit, and George was ordered to pay defaulted monies on pain of imprisonment. He didn't pay, and he didn't go to jail. On June 22, 1936 Anita brought another suit. She was waiting to go into St Vincent's Hospital for an operation, and was unable to work. Her landlady, Mrs Evans, was about to throw her out for long-term failure to pay rent. By January 8, 1937, when Anita brought her next suit, Bonnie Lambton (George's principal squeeze) had moved to 7c, 9 Greenknowe Ave., Potts Point, Sydney. In 1937 Anita suddenly threw in the towel and left Australia for Bulawayo, Rhodesia, and then on to England. George left Stuart, Walker and went to Gordon Brothers, a big refrigeration company at 301 Castlereagh Street, Sydney. By 1939 George was living at Orwell Street, Potts Point, and on November 25 of that year his car was broken into and his war medals were stolen. George already had a plan, and in order for that plan to be realized he needed those war medals. He sent away to the government, and got them replaced. In 1940, lying about his age again (he was too old), he applied to become an officer in the Australian Navy. The War was on, and instinctively, George realized that his only hope lay there. And he was right. This marked the end of his 10-year nightmare - the Depression and the Anita period - and the beginning of a new George Manley Dixon, a man who found himself at the age of 40, a more than respectable Naval officer who became somewhat famous and highly accomplished and decorated. He also found Judith. On September 1. 1940 George was appointed a probationary and temporary sub-lieutenant with the RANVR (Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve), with Sydney as his home port. On September 14 the "temporary" label was removed and he reported for duty. On September 14, 1940 he embarked on the "Cerberus", as an additional officer, for passage to the UK, where he was to be based at the London Depot. On September 15 he joined the "King Alfred" for training, and on December 14, 1940 he was confirmed in rank, effective as from December 19. At the same time he was promoted to Provisional Lieutenant, RANVR. On New Year's Day 1941 joined the "Berkeley", and on April 17, 1941 moved to the "Nimrod", as an additional officer, for his H/F course. On July 2, 1941 he joined the "Antrim" (also known as the "Stella Capella"). On August 8, 1941 he was notified that he would command the "Leyland" (also known as the "Eaglet"), and on August 15 assumed command. He was also floated as an additional officer on the "Cormorant". |
On October 23, 1941 he joined the "Cilicia" as an additional officer.
On February 5, 1942 he was awarded his W/K certificate (F), competent to take charge.
On September 10, 1942 he received notice to join the "Victory", but never did so.
Instead, on September 23 he joined the "Saker II" (later called the "Asbury") as an additional officer, going aboard on September 26.
Around this time he was transferred temporarily to LST (Landing Ship Tank) 5.
On January 6, 1943 he was temporarily granted the rank of acting Lieutenant-Commander, and placed in command of LST 27. On March 19 he left the "Asbury" and as from March 20 was based out of the London Depot again, leaving there on June 30, 1943. On July 1, 1943 he joined the "Asbury" again, as an additional officer, and at the same time was placed in command of the "Drake IV" (also called LST 409), of the 2nd LST Flotilla. In July 1943 he took part in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. He was awarded the DSC "for gallantry in the face of the enemy". His commendation included phrases such as: "an outstanding officer", "whose boundless energy has been an example", "his excellent work after his ship was near missed by a mine on the eve of Operation Husky resulted in her taking part in that operation. His coolness under shell fire and air attack has been an example to all". George would probably have won a whole slew of medals, but the Admiral of the Fleet, a conservative who didn't like George's buccaneering style, blocked any greater award. On July 14, 1944 he was named acting Lieutenant-Commander again while still in command of LST 409, and on September 30 his promotion to acting Lt.-Com. finally came through. On January 1, 1945 his DSC was mentioned in the London Times. On February 2, 1945 he received notice to join the "Drake IV", but as he was already in command of this vessel the order was canceled. On February 22 he took command of the "Seaborn" (also called the "Anse"), a ferry transport. On April 8 he joined the "Bifield" and on June 7, while in London celebrating the end of the War, he was appointed to command of LST 3508. On June 14, 1945 he received his DSC medal. On May 5, 1946 he joined the "Kuttabul" as an additional officer. On May 25, 1946 his DSC insignia arrived from London. He was placed in command of LST 3008 in June. On June 25, 1946 he was made acting Commander, and on that day placed in command of LST 3017 and recognized as Senior Officer of the 10th LST Flotilla. On December 5, 1946 he reverted to acting Lt.-Com., and on January 1, 1947 was placed firmly in command of LST 3017. When on leave during the War, George had left his home at Potts Point and moved to 12 Templeton, 33 Wolesley Road, Point Piper, Sydney. It wasn't until 1947 that he got a telephone, FM 7310 (later 36-7310). He would keep that phone number until 1972. On March 8, 1947 George's father died in Cornwall. George was executor of the will, but couldn't get to England to do the deed. On July 10, 1947, in Sydney, he signed a power of attorney, making his mother the executor. On September 11, 1947 George went to Government House in Sydney, where the Governor-General of Australia formally presented him with the Distinguished Service Cross. |
|
On October 3, 1947 he would be awarded his Return From Active Service badge (Number 35220), and on July 4, 1951 his Australian Service Medal would be issued.
But, more significantly, on July 31, 1947 George was placed in command of LST 3501.
He and 3501 would become a famous team in Antarctic history.
Tim Bowden's book "The Silence Calling: Australians in Antarctica, 1947-97" [Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1997] tells a lot of stories about George's involvement, as does the earlier "Fourteen Men: the Story of the Australian Antarctic expedition to Heard Island" [Melbourne: Cheshire, 1949], by one of the LST 3501 crew, Arthur Scholes. Several editions of "The Navy" magazine ran articles about George, including photos. George wrote many of these articles himself. "The Navy News" published similar pieces, as did "PIX", which, again with several photos, described George as "the genial skipper of the Antarctic ship". In essence, George was the skipper of the LST 3501 which took scientists and equipment down to Antarctic bases during the 1947-49 period. His skill and daring with LST 3501 were astonishing, highly praised by the government and in the press, and became legendary in Navy circles. His previously-mentioned romantic and fearless buccaneering style and peerless ability to lead his men by example during tough times reminded his crews of Sir Francis Drake and insured that his name would be remembered long after his death. Phillip Law was the scientific leader of the first ANARE (1947-48). Two ships took the expedition south. The main one was the "Wyatt Earp", skippered by Capt. Karl Oom, and the second was George's LST 3501. In 1946 the Australian government had acquired six LSTs (ships that carried and landed tanks on the beach through their massive side doors). In 1947 George selected 3501 for the voyage south, and hand-picked his crew. The ship was painted bright orange. George's first major press came in the "Adelaide Advertiser" of Sept. 1947. On October 31, 1947 the 3501 left Sydney for Melbourne. On November 2, 1947 there was a ceremony on board during the trip to Melbourne, in which George received the ship's company from Lt.-Com. John Burgess, the executive officer on board. On November 17, 1947 the LST 3501, captained by George Dixon, left Station Pier, Port Melbourne, Williamstown, for Fremantle, Western Australia, with 14 scientists and 112 crew on board. They arrived at Fremantle on November 25, 1947 and spent three days in Western Australian waters practicing beach landings. Amid much news coverage the crew was entertained at Fremantle Town Hall with beer and sandwiches. On November 28, 1941 the 3501 set out on the 3,500 mile trip to Heard Island, a hostile and rarely-visited dot on the map which lay in very cold Antarctic waters. |
During the voyage and even after he was at Heard, George sent off several telegrams to Judith.
He had met Judith during the War and they had moved into 12 Templeton together.
She changed her name to Judith Dixon, even though George was not able to marry her, being still married to Anita as he was.
Aside from the telegrams, he also sent off his articles to the various papers and magazines.
Going through amazing weather (60 foot high seas at times), they made it to Heard on December 11, 1947.
George's daring landing on the beach at Atlas Cove amid an indescribably savage storm is the stuff legends are made of - and this one did pass into folklore.
3501 left Heard on December 11, bound for Kerguelen.
At 9.42 a.m. on December 29, 1947 George dashed off one of his many telegrams to Judith at FM-7310 in Point Piper, Sydney: "Job Heard Island completed Penguin bit seat out of pants Home three weeks Love George". They went back to Heard, then on Jan. 4, 1948 sailed back to Australia, arriving in Melbourne on Jan. 18. George was highly praised by a grateful Australian government - "inspired leadership", etc. After re-fitting they went off to Hobart, leaving there on March 3, 1948 for Macquarie Island, where they stayed from March 7 to March 25. They got back to Hobart on March 29, then on to Melbourne on April 2. On May 20, 1948, his Antarctic duties done, George left the LST 3501 and the next day joined the "Kanimbla", which was employed in trooping. On November 8 he moved over to the "Penguin", as an additional officer. If he did actually serve on the "Kanimbla" it couldn't have been for long, because he took the HMAS cruiser "Shropshire" to England that summer. This was part of the Antarctic Victory Celebrations, and George acted on the trip as senior watchman. His real mission, though, was to bring his mother back to Sydney. He stayed three months in Bude, sorting out his late father's affairs, and wrapping up the probate. He also put 30 Fairfield Road on the market. In order to get the house into shape he hired a housekeeper, Betty Heddon, a highly attractive young girl from a poor and very large family in King Street. Given George's acknowledged libido, his charm, his degree of fame and his rank, the fact that he was 49, he might - MIGHT - have had something going with young, pretty Betty Heddon. One thing seems to be for sure. George asked Betty to marry him. She turned him down, much to the surprise of the neighbors, who all thought George was more than a good catch. Would George have proposed to a girl with a son? If it's true, then it was probably a ploy to get her into bed. After all, it was 1948. And, if he did propose, he knew that he was legally married still - to Anita. So he was safe. On the other hand he was living with Judith in Sydney. Would he betray Judith? You bet he would. Especially as she was 12,000 miles away. There is a reason this Betty Heddon episode is important. In later years, after George had died, Judith was heard to say that he'd had a son, whom he had come to be bitter about, and whom he disowned. It was also heard from one of George's best friends that his son had showed up in Sydney on one occasion. |
|
Yet there is a murky veil over the truth here.
One can only surmise, and one may surmise wrong.
Did George have a son? Probably.
It wasn't by either of his two wives.
It wasn't by Mrs. Phillips, or Bonnie Lambton, or any of the women he had affairs with in the 1930s in Sydney.
Yet the hints persist.
It may have been by Betty Heddon.
If so, that's why this three month stay in Bude, Cornwall in the summer of 1948 is worth examining.
Betty Heddon did have an illegitimate son, there's no question about that. His name was Christopher. However, some say Christopher's name was originally Christian. If it was, indeed, Christian, then one can almost predict that the name was given in honor of Fletcher Christian, another old Navy buccaneer. It's tempting. Yet, one or two things militate against George being the father. Young Christopher, or Christian, is generally reckoned to have been born in 1944, not, say 1949. That's a noticeable difference. Yet it doesn't rule out George having got to know Betty Heddon during one of his wartime trips to Bude. The other thing is local scuttlebutt, which says that the baby was the son of a U.S. Ranger. The Rangers were based at Bude in 1943-44. It's hard to say, for sure, but not impossible, by any means. Young Christopher was raised with Betty's mother. Then Betty married, after the War and went to live near London. Young Christopher went with her and changed his name to that of his adopted father. We know the name, but it's not fair to give it out. Christopher now lives in Cambridge. Is he or isn't he the son of George Manley Dixon? He would know. He might let us know. George sailed back to Australia, and a neighbor of his mother's, Mrs. Brimmicome, drove Minnie to Heathrow, put her on the plane, and George met her at the other end - in Sydney. Mrs. Brimmicome's daughter, Julia Shepherd, has, in her attic, a little painting of a cow in a field, with a tree in the background, signed by "Manley Dixon", which George had once given to his father as a present. |
George got his mum into a nursing home owned by his friend Walter Haddon Burke, and Minnie would die there in 1953.
On December 3, 1948 George re-joined LST 3501. On December 16 the name of the ship was changed to HMAS "Labuan", and on December 31 George was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander (his seniority is from that date). In 1948-49 he skippered the "Labuan" on the ANARE Relief Expedition to Heard and Kerguelen. Again he got a lot of press, and wrote several articles. They left Melbourne on Jan. 21, 1949, and the expedition was again a success. The Australian government named Mount Dixon on Heard Island after George. It is 706 meters high. On June 14, 1949 George joined the "Hobart, and on March 29, 1950 the "Rushcutter", for recruiting duties. On November 3, 1950 he went on six weeks unpaid leave. He would remain with the "Rushcutter" until 1956. Being the famous skipper of the old LST 3501 he was the right man to recruit, and to make speeches all over the country, speeches about the Navy, about sailing, and about the Communist menace. On November 9, 1955 the 3501 (now, of course, the "Labuan") was sold to Byrne and Boyle of Balmain, Sydney, and in 1956 it was scrapped in Hong Kong. On May 3, 1956 George joined the "Kuttabul" for recruiting duties. For the rest of the year, and in 1957, he was between the "Kuttabul", the "Grafton" and the "Penguin". On October 12, 1957 George transferred to shore duties. In November 1957 he became secretary-manager of the Middle Harbor Yacht Club, at the Spit, Sydney, His friend Walter Haddon Burke was the commodore there. George served 18 months, resigning in March 1959. He had formally retired from the Navy on May 14, 1958. In 1961 he decided, after long pressure from Judith, that he wanted a divorce from Anita. He was about to enter the final stage of his life. |
|
Judith was born in 1912, the daughter of Herbert Butler and Mary Odlum, of Ashfield, Sydney, Australia.
She was a reporter of some note in Sydney. They had no children. |
| Judith Esme Butler |
b: 1912 Sydney, Australia daughter of Herbert Butler and Mary Odlum |
|
22 Nov 1962 George Manley Dixon Judith Esme Butler | Sydney, Australia |
On September 7, 1961 the Registrar in Sydney sent a letter to Anita in Bulawayo (her last known address) and it was forwarded on, finally reaching her on December 14, 1961, at "Springmead", The Slip, Westerham, Kent, England, where she was staying temporarily, and broke, as always. She was now 66 and hadn't seen George in a quarter of a century (he had once, during the War, sent her 16 pounds while she was still in Bulawayo, but that was the only contact they had had in 25 years). Anita replied, begging more time until she could get out to Australia to appear in person at the trial. That was the last thing George wanted, so he tried an offer of three pounds a week for the rest of her life. She turned it down, or rather her solicitor did, Knocker & Foskett, of Sevenoaks, whom she had managed to hire after New Years. Almost (but not quite) with loaded gun in hand, she sailed from Liverpool on March 13, 1962 to do battle. As soon as she arrived in Sydney, on April 17, she found lodgings at Tudor Hall, 106 Elizabeth Bay Road, and hired Joseph H. McDougall & Co., solicitors, to represent her. It was just like the old days. George and Judith had bought a little shop on the Pier, in Rose Bay, next to the Pier Restaurant (which would later become the famous Doyle's Seafood Restaurant). They sold sweets and jellies, things like that. On July 20, 1962 Anita brought a suit against George for back alimony, under the mistaken impression that he was co-owner of the Pier Restaurant. This suit was settled out of court in the following manner. She wouldn't contest the divorce, and he would pay her 2,250 pounds and her costs. The divorce was heard on October 16, 1962, in the Supreme Court of NSW, before Judge Coram J. Dovey, case number 2997/61, Dixon v. Dixon. On October 25, 1962 the decree nisi came through, and on November 16, 1962 the decree absolute was granted. George was now free to marry Judith, with whom he had been living for 20 years. George was now almost 64 and Judith was 50. She had never been legally married. The wedding took place very quietly at the Registrar General's office in Sydney, on November 22, 1962. On April 24, 1963 George joined the Rose Bay chapter of the NSW branch of the RSL (Returned Sailors', Soldiers' |
and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia), badge number 35865.
He joined on the strength of his having been a private during World War I, rather than having been an officer during World War II. Interestingly, George was never registered to vote in government elections, even though he could have.
By 1972 Judith was having respiratory problems.
She was a chain smoker (George smoked, but he didn't drink).
They decided to move north, to Queensland, to the sunny Gold Coast, where George and Judith jointly bought 18 Bauer Street, a large bungalow in Southport, for $21,500.
Their good friend at Templeton, John Adrian Jackson,
helped them move, did a lot for them. Doreen Murphy bought 12 Templeton for $50,000, but died soon afterwards. Her sister, Phyllis Richmond, moved in, but in 1995 would move to Perth. On December 14, 1995 the flat would be sold at auction by a Double Bay real estate agent.
George had cerebral arteriosclerosis for years, which didn't stop him from playing bowls on a regular basis at Southport Bowls Club. On June 13, 1978 his doctor Owen Lloyd saw him alive for the last time. George wasn't particularly ill, it was just senile decline. Judith looked after him and was with him when he died suddenly at 11 a.m., June 18, 1978, at home, of a heart attack. Dr Lloyd was around within five minutes. There was no post-mortem. George was cremated at Allambe Gardens, in Nerang, at 12 noon on June 20, 1978. He had wanted to be scattered at sea, but it never happened. Interestingly, despite the fact that Owen Lloyd had been George's doctor for two years, he didn't have any recollection at all of his former patient when asked about him 20 years later. George didn't leave a will. Everything went to Judith. On July 20, 1978 18 Bauer Street was transferred into Judith's name alone, and she lived there with her dog "Duchess", slowly losing her reason and abusing the home help. She was taken to Pindara Private Hospital where she died of lung cancer in 1982. Her friend John Adrian Jackson arranged for the funeral. Judith was cremated and now reposes in a niche a few spaces down from George, at Allambe Gardens. Judith had drawn up her will on March 25, 1982, and it was proved in Queensland in 1983. She left the house to Mr. Jackson, who was stunned. It became his on August 24, 1983, but he didn't need it, so he sold it on December 6, 1983. Judith's sister, Dorn Grey, a widow, died in Brisbane on June 29, 1989. We assume Anita went back to England after the divorce, but we have no clue what happened to her. |
| George Manley Dixon |
Died 18 Jun 1978, at Southport, Queensland, Australia Cremated on June 20, 1978, at Allambe Gardens, Nerang, Queensland, Australia |
| Judith Esme (Butler) Dixon |
Died 29 Jul 1982 Cremated on 31 Jul 1982 |