News Archive

Four generations of the Cullity familyhave graduated fromUWA. Among the undergraduates of 1913, the year UWA opened its doors to students, were two brothers, Jack and Tom Cullity - indeed it is a family legend that Tom was the first student through the door at the Irwin Street campus.

Their parents had sailed to Australia from rura lKerry in 1888. Being the youngest of four sons on a small dairy farm, their father saw no prospect of future ownership, so at the age of 19 he sailed to Australia to better himself. He married and raised a family in Fremantle, and he and his wife (also from Kerry) were convinced the education they had been denied in Ireland would be vital to the success of their children.

When Jack and Tom enrolled, study conditions in the small East Street home were testing. A family history, Cullitys, authored by Maurice Cullity, recalls evening gatherings around a table, with children doing homework. Jack often went for a walk, returning when the house was quiet to study until midnight.

After being awarded a Masters degree in English and History, Jack studied Law at Melbourne University. Graduating with a Master of Laws, he joined the Melbourne Bar and had a distinguished career as a barrister mainly in criminal law. He was esteemed by his peers who wrote and spoke of him ‘as an outstanding advocate in a particularly strongera of advocates'.

Tom qualified in civil engineering and became a successful timber merchant and plywood manufacturer. A method of rapidly seasoning timber in a kiln had been developed in the United States during World War I and when the Schoolof Engineering was seeking a final year volunteer to supervise the construction and operation of a kiln (utilising Western Australian hardwoods) Tom volunteered. His research formed his final year Engineering thesis and he went on to found Cullity Timbers that became a major supplier of plywood. When he retired, his son Denis (also a UWAgraduate) continued to expand the business.

Jack and Tom's younger brothers later followed them to UWA, Mick studying Engineering and Maurice Agricultural Science. Like his father, Mick established his own contracting company. His work took him around the State on a range of projects from the 1945 reclamation of land for the Causeway to portable housing in the North West.

Maurice Cullity was a science graduate who became a District Agricultural Adviser based in Bunbury. His appointment coincided with a revolution in pasture cultivation and he went on to oversee field officers, research stations and laboratory services in relation to the dairy industry. Since then, more than 30 Cullitys representing four generations have enrolled at this University and a proud tradition was born.

Note: Thanks to Dr Garrett Cullity who provided the above information.