Item MM 2060 Negative - Ena Esson Minding Brother Tom in his Play Pen, Annuello, Victoria, 1922

Summary

Ena Esson minding her brother Tom in an outdoor play pen made of tree branches.

The Esson family left Annuello in 1926. Annuello is a small town near Robinvale located near the Victoria / New South Wales border.

It is best known for being a returned soldiers settlment town after World War I under the Australian government's soldier settlement scheme. The scheme's aim was to encourage soldiers to acquire land and become farmers in order to set up a life for themselves and develop rural areas. In the case of Annuello, the scheme was not a success. Soldiers were allocated small lots of farmland, conditions in the Mallee region were unforgiving and most of them had little farming experience. This set many of them up for a time of great hardship and failed farming efforts. It often resulted in many of them leaving the town.

Description of Content

A girl minding a baby in a playpen constructed from branches. The baby is trying to reach a cat which is outside the pen.