Walk a mile in Edo Iori’s shoes and you will discover the history of Rouse Hill

WHEN Edo Iori arrived in Rouse Hill in the 1930s his mode transport was a horse and buggy. He now hopes to be around to ride the first Sydney Metro service in 2019.

Edo Iori, one of our oldest residents, can tell you a story or two of what life was like living in Rouse Hill during the late 1930s until today.

WHEN Edo Iori arrived in Rouse Hill as a child his mode transport was a horse and buggy and family washing was done in a kerosene tin with water his mother had to carry home by hand.

McMansions, mobile phones, shopping malls were impossible to imagine. And a train to the patchwork of paddocks and farm cottages was a far-off dream.

But having turned 90 on Monday, Mr Iori hopes to be around for long enough to ride the first Metro service when it opens in 2019.

One of the oldest residents in Rouse Hill, the retired poultry and vegetable farmer is astonished at the changes he has seen in the 80-odd years since his family arrived from Tuscany in Italy.

Mile End Road, Rouse Hill in the late 50s.

Some of them leave him scratching his head. Mobile phones or the internet hold no interest. He thinks “young people have their heads stuck in their phones too much’’ and “I have too much of a life to concern himself with that.’’

And it’s a life that has never been easy.

His father managed to save up the 80 pounds fair to bring his mother and 25 pounds for Edo to come to Australia.

What Rouse Hill looks like from the air today.

“It was the 1930s and the depression then,’’ he said. “Dad was only earning two-pounds-10 a week. So it took him a good five years to get us here.’’

Not long after his arrival to Australia and moving to Merriwa and then Smiths Lake, Pacific Palms, Edo’s brother Jack was born.

One of his fondest memories of his childhood is how, despite the “miserable conditions’’ his parents lived in during their first years in Smiths Lake, the love they had for each other was unconditional.

Edo Iori aged 9 or 10 at Smiths Lake, Pacific Palms on the North Coast of NSW.

“The things my mum put up with when we came over here including living in a shed where there was a fire place at one end and our sleeping area at the other,’’ he said.

“We had no water and she had to carry water from 100 metres away. We had no copper and had to boil all Jack’s nappies in a kerosene tin.

“We also had no fridges or safes and lived off spaghetti everyday, however, I have never seen two people as happy as they were despite all that.’’

Edo started school when he was 10 at Pacific Palms and after moving to Rouse Hill in 1938, he and three of his cousins were the only Italians at Rouse Hill Public School.

Edo Iori aged 17 in front of his parents’ house on Mile End Rd, Rouse Hill.

“I never enjoyed my school years, as I was always getting in trouble and having to stay back to fix up my spelling mistakes as spelling was my worst subject,’’ he said.

“I do remember having a friendly wrestle with a boy called Johnny Andrews and I managed to put him down. After that I got a lot more respect from the other kids at school.’’

Edo Iori in his early 20s ploughing on the Rouse Hill Farm.

Edo met his wife Pauline, as a result of his brother Jack being born. She was the daughter of Jack’s godparents and close family friends.

The Iori family, well known for being successful vegetable farmers in the area, owned 54 acres along Mile End Rd, which they sold back in 1972.

Edo Iori in his early 40s collecting eggs on his poultry farm.

Property prices were one advantage previous generations had over their great-grandchildren.

Mr Iori said he remembers the days when you could build a home with a bathroom, two bedrooms, a lounge room and kitchen for 1800 pounds.

“Now everyone has to build and live in their own castle and houses are so expensive,’’ he said.

The father of Michael, Robert and Lynette, is also the proud grandfather of 10 and great grandfather of 16 with two more great grandchildren on the way.

Edo with his father, brother and their wives worked hard as poultry and vegetable farmers who “never had enough hours in the week to do all the work that needed to be done’’.

“We used to work seven days a week and did not get paid much for all the work we did as we put it all back into the business,’’ he said.

Pauline and Edo Iori, worked hard as poultry and vegetable farmers who “never had enough hours in the week to do all the work that needed to be done’’.

“I would say we got half the basic wage.’’

A treat for him and his family once married was a trip out to Parramatta Park in the old Commer truck with some sandwiches because that was all they could afford at the time.

“Shopping for us was once a fortnight to Parramatta and it wasn’t until the early 80s that supermarkets started popping up in Baulkham Hills and Riverstone,’’ he said.

“Our only restaurants tended to be Chinese, however there were a lot of milk bars around, but it was all based on what people could afford those days.’’

To this day Edo still starts his day with a coffee and a banana, freshly picked from his own banana trees of course.

He still enjoys his meat and three vegetable meals and doesn’t mind the occasional pork roast, “as long as it is done well’’.

To this day Edo still starts his day with a coffee and a banana, freshly picked from his own banana trees of course.

These days Edo still lives in his own home and enjoys pottering about, looking after his own fruit and vegetable garden in the backyard.

He celebrated his 90th birthday on Monday with close friends and family, and his children have also planned another celebration later in May.