Jillian Santich

My Story – 16 High St Fremantle – West End Fremantle

From leaving school, I started my first employment at APT shipping at the above address in 1973.

I was 16 years old at the time. I commenced as a junior in the role encompassing mail dispatch and recieval, which entail walking to Fremantle post office three times daily. Outgoing mail required franking at our premises. Other role was switchboard relieving on a switchboard of 40 extensions.

My office was a partitioned nook on the left hand side past the safe office, which included my desk and the switchboard and operator. On one occasion late in the day, when everyone had left, I had to go upstairs to the stationary cupboard and the door knob on the room behind me (first door on the left, top of stairs) commenced to turn violently back and forth. I never returned upstairs after hours.

A few years later I moved to the typing pool (out the back door on the left) which had 5 women in one room. My job was typing manifests, bills of lading, etc. After a few years I moved upstairs to the first room on the right operating the telex machine (extremely noisy) sending and receiving messages to all other agents through Australia and south east Asia. To talk with the other agents was via typed message and you would ring a bell on the machine to get a prompt reply.

APT shipping employed approx. 40 people at this time involved in import and export of cargo through Fremantle Port Authority. The ships also carried a max of 11 passengers booked via APT Fremantle own travel agent in the building ( 2 sisters), these berths were well booked.

APT were an agent for a Norwegian company Called Knutsen Line which owned approx 11 ships. The ships were all named after his daughters , e.g. Astrid Bakke, Ellen Bakke, Kristin Bakke, Anna Bakke, etc.

The staff included:

Mr Willian – Senior manager / director, his sub manager / director Mr Jones, Mr Burnell – director.

2 captains: Capt Christensen (Danish) and Capt Haggland ( their primary role was shipping cargo distribution and ship balance)

There were no women in any form of management role, all female roles were secretarial or typists/ switchboard, travel agent, a male dominated workforce.

This was a very enjoyable working environment with everyone very friendly. It was unusual for anyone to leave the business, most people remained at the company for many years. On exclusion was the mystery of the biscuits being stolen, the company set a trap and a lady was caught and dismissed.

The company finally split after about 8 years later , while I was there and half the people move into the building on the corner of High and Mouat St working for Beaufort Shipping. I worked there for another 2 years before leaving (1983) and getting married, children. Beaufort Shipping eventually moved into the P&O building on Phillimore Street. I am not sure how long APT remained after I left.

Fremantle at this time in the west end was largely made up of businesses in support of Fremantle Harbour. Most of the buildings in the west end were, customs, shipping companies, freight forwarders, freight storage. Crime at the time in the Fremantle , west end was virtually non existent.

The building on the east side of my building was customs / quarantine offices. The building on the west side (unsure of who was in there) but was subsequently taken over by APT.

Two buildings west of APT contained an office company with the Cellars restaurant in the basement. This was a common location for unofficial management meetings.

Across the road was 2 small shops, one a watchmaker and the other a shoe repairer, both the men who operated these two businesses would be often seen at the front of the building chatting. Alongside these was the Roma restaurant, still there today.

Along the High street, west end were numerous hotels and banks. So the west end was a very busy business hub with Fremantle being a very busy shopping hub. There was also the army surplus store, Watsonia butchery shop, Bodkins Bootery and Bousefields which both still remain to this day.

Jillian Smith (nee Santich) August 2021