IT STARTED as a cunning plan to hide a precious book of hand-written poetry to save it from a fiery end, but it became a Phoebe family mystery spanning more than 40 years.
From 1916 to 1954 Ernest James Phoebe wrote poems inspired by the sad, triumphant and amusing events in his life and the lives of residents in the Glenormiston district.
But one night his wife and mother of their 13 children, Charlotte, threatened to destroy Mr Phoebe's book 'The Glen Reciter' by throwing it into the fire.
To save his treasured exercise book full of stories and memories, Mr Phoebe smuggled it out of the house and entrusted it to neighbour and friend Basil O'Sullivan.
It was the last time anyone saw the book - until now. The mystery was finally solved this week when Terang farmer Robert Phoebe, 70, was reunited with the poems penned by his father.
“It was a great surprise,” Mr Phoebe said of the discovery.
“We knew the book went missing but we didn’t know where.”
Turns out the book was still being kept safe by the O’Sullivans — only they didn’t know it.
Basil’s wife Nell O’Sullivan, who now lives in Terang, found the book and offered it to the Phoebes.
It’s thought the book became mixed up among Basil’s possessions after his death and has only just resurfaced.
“They must have just forgot about it, “ Mr Phoebe said.
“I was relieved to find it. I’ve known about it all my life but when (his father) passed away nobody seemed to know where it was.”
The book has served as a window into the past for Mr Phoebe’s son David, 33, who also dabbles in poetry. Unfortunately, David never knew his grandfather who died before he was born.
“I think it’s fantastic,” David said.
“It’s good looking into the past. I didn’t know my grandfather at all. Some of his poetry is quite funny, some of it is quite dark but it’s pretty well written.”
Flicking through the pages of the yellowing exercise book, vivid stories from daily life in the Glenormiston district during early last century spring to life.
From tales about Anzacs and the Russian quest to reach the moon to the day Glenormiston won the football premiership in 1955, and the 1952 Melbourne Cup — Mr Phoebe drew inspiration from events everywhere.
The heroic efforts, lessons learnt and lives lost as fire swept through the area in 1926 are immortalised in the poignant poem The Heroes of Noojee, while other poems are amusing, like the mischievous adventures of O’Reily’s Goat.
Other poems document significant moments in Mr Phoebe’s life, like the joy of a daughter’s wedding and the sorrow of the night his two-year-old daughter Nola died from polio.
David said he planned on scanning and saving the poems electronically to distribute to family and historical societies, while the original exercise book would be kept in a safe, but not so secret place this time.
While this part of the mystery has now been solved, the search is still on for a second book of poetry penned by Mr Phoebe.
Containing much more lurid tales, the book is also thought to have been hidden for safe keeping and has yet to resurface, but the family is still hopeful of finding it again.
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