DCM > Women > Tribute > 2003 > Phoebe Lee

Phoebe Doreen Lee (1904 - 2000)

"She didn't walk around her garden, she.jogged around, bare feet fully connected to the earth," Gaye Lawrence, Pine Creek Council, Nominator to Centenary of Federation Peoplescape.

An example of a hardworking pioneer, Phoebe Lee spent more than sixty years in the Pine Creek area , and plants from her nursery, "Gran's Nursery", are now greening thousands of gardens all over the Northern Territory.

Phoebe Doreen Budarick was born and educated in Murray Bridge , South Australia . She came to the Northern Territory in 1929 and in 1937 married Bobby Lee in Darwin . They had two daughters, Marie and Joan, and lived at Brookwood near East Arm.

Doreen and her daughters were sent to Victor Harbour in South Australia after the bombing of Darwin and, on returning to the Territory in 1942 , settled at Esmeralda Station near Pine Creek. It was here that Phoebe worked hard, establishing a large fruit and vegetable garden and breeding 100 pigs, 500 laying hens and 150 goats whilst educating her children via correspondence school. They regularly sold their produce to the local stores.

It was in 1959 that the family first exhibited livestock, farm produce, cooking, preserves and sewing at the Darwin Show. They went on to win numerous prizes over the years, including the coveted Barclay Cup for the most exhibits and prizes in the show for nine consecutive years. Phoebe and her family were also consistent prize winning contributors at the Katherine and Adelaide River Shows.

During the 1960's and 70's she provided fruit and vegetables to the Frances Creek Iron Ore Mine and in 1971, well into her 60's, Phoebe started up a plant nursery that became affectionately known to all as 'Gran's Nursery'.

"She sold all her plants, regardless of size or type for $1. All her plants were suitable for the tropical climate and home garden. People coming to the Top End and establishing gardens flocked to her nursery for her healthy, budget plants. They drove away with their boots full and may have only spent $20. Mrs Lee was also a seed saver. She grew Chinese vegetables that she had kept the seeds from that went back to the early days." Gaye Lawrence, Pine Creek Council

In 1981 Bobby Lee passed away after a long illness. Phoebe was forced to give up her farm in 1990 following a bad fall. Phoebe then went to live at the Red Cross Hostel in Katherine where she died in 2000, just short of her 96 birthday.

In 2001 Phoebe was nominated to the Centenary of Federation Peoplescape project which saw a figure representing her become part of an estimated 5000 figures displayed on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra.