ROSEMARY DOBSON BOLTON – A Reminiscence
Rosemary Dobson Bolton was my godmother. In some respects this is a rather
old-fashioned relationship, carrying as it does some religious
connotations. But I think I always
thought of her more as a fairy godmother – one who bestows gifts, both material
and emotional – rather than playing an overtly religious role in my life.
I don’t remember discussing with either my mother or
Rosemary how it was that she became to be my godmother. I know they lived in a boarding house in Elizabeth Bay,
Sydney during
the war and that both their sisters were also there for some part of that
time. My parents were married some years
before Rosemary and Alec and so their children are several years younger than
me and my brother. For a brief time, we
all lived on Sydney’s
north shore, and shared some enjoyable family gatherings. I remember Ruth Dobson, Rosemary’s older
sister, visiting on a few occasions during this period, too.
I feel very fortunate that in our later years I got to know Rosemary
so well. This doesn’t always happen in
these relationships. As a child, I lived
in different parts of Australia
to her and her family, and then they moved to England to live. I visited and spent some time living out of a
suitcase in her daughter’s bedroom for around three months. I think this was a difficult time for her
daughter, but for me it was a gift. I
was living in a home in London,
and could come and go as I pleased.
Eventually we all ended up living in Canberra.
It was then that Rosemary, and her husband Alec, and I became firm
friends.
I was studying full time, trying to provide for myself in
whatever ways I could. Two things I
could do reasonably well were typing – I had my own IBM electric golf ball
typewriter – and cooking.
On an irregular basis, Rosemary would ask me to cook for the
family and invited me to eat with them.
I remember once that we were both shocked when the cost of the
ingredients for one meal was quite high – and my enthusiasm had to be
curtailed.
What I remember most about this time was that I typed the
poems for Moscow Trefoil by David
Campbell and Rosemary Dobson. Natalie
Staples, David and Rosemary were all interested in the poetry of Osip
Mandelstam, and this interest quickly extended to poems by Anna Akhmatova. Following Natalie’s literal translations,
both David and Rosemary took these and made their own versions of the poems in
English. I typed the iterative versions,
and eventually a manuscript was prepared.
Moscow Trefoil was published
in 1975 by the ANU Press.
Rosemary was a modest, restrained person. Her poetry has been described as being
austere, but I don’t find that quite the right description. She was gracious and elegant, careful and
dignified, and for me, this describes her poetry. Rosemary was wise, and often gave me good
advice. She was fun, too, and helped me
see the importance of simplicity – in all things. She was always encouraging and positive.
Rosemary provided an excellent role model for me in my
relationships with my godchildren – and she was always interested in how they
were going. This was a role we had in
common.
I will remember her for so many things and think how
fortunate for me it was that in the 1940s, my mother and she happened to live
in the same boarding house.
Meredith Hinchliffe
© July 11, 2012
