MAJOR JAMES PERYMAN, 1925--1950
Surf Life Saving Hero
Major James Peryman,
(known as Jim), was born in Mosman,
NSW, on 25 November, 1925, the son of Mario Lemmers Peryman and his wife Phyllis
Irene, nee Moore. Jim Peryman died on 19 February, 1950 at North Cronulla. The
unusual forename ‘Major’ does not appear to have a family connection.
Jim’s father Mario was employed by the
Commonweath Bank. The family lived in Petersham until 1936 when Mario was
appointed bank manager at Cronulla. A site at 70 Cronulla Street, a former
butcher’s shop, was purchased in December, 1936. A building in the Art Deco
Style was constructed and banking operations commenced from July, 1938. The
Peryman family moved into the residence above the bank.
Jim soon joined
the North Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club. He competed at branch, zone, state and
national surf life saving championships and was a popular member of the club.
During WW2, Jim was in the RAAF. On
discharge in 1945 he held the rank of Flight Sergeant and was attached to Air
Observers School at Port Pirie. He returned to work for the Commonwealth Bank at
Hurstville.
In
1948 Jim Peryman was awarded the Meritorious Award of the Surf Lifesaving
Association when he jumped into the sea, fully clothed, to rescue a young girl
who had been swept off the Esplanade at the height of storms which severely
damaged parts of North Cronulla. In 1949 he was elected Club Captain of North
Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club.
On
Sunday afternoon 19 February, 1950, news of an accident at North Cronulla Beach
and of a person drowned, quickly spread along the main street.
Everyone was shocked to learn later that Jim Peryman, aged 24, was dead.
On patrol duty, he was beltman as his R & R team manned the reel and line. They
went to the aid of a young girl carried out in treacherous surf.
Jim had reached her and was about to bring her in when seaweed entangled
the line and he was dragged under. Two other life savers, Kevin Slade and Frank
Bergstrom, who had been supporting the girl, Daphne Knowles, stayed with her
after Jim disappeared. Daphne, aged 17, was brought back safely to shore on a
surf ski by ‘Ike’ Smith, boat captain of the club.
Peryman
was dragged under the water back to the beach after lifesavers had mistaken a
signal. They thought Jim had freed himself and that the weight was caused by
seaweed. They were horrified to discover Jim’s unconscious body entangled in the
weed. Attempts by several doctors on the beach failed to revive him. Jim was
taken by ambulance to St George Hospital where he was placed in an iron lung.
Sadly, despite these efforts, he did not survive.
During
the heavy swells of previous weeks massive amounts of seaweed had been floating
along the Sydney coastline causing problems at many beaches. On 7 January,
Mervyn Fletcher, aged 17, a junior lifesaver from Freshwater club, was competing
in an R & R event at a surf carnival at Dee Why.
Manning the belt, his line became fouled by seaweed and he was dragged
under. Tony Young (17), acting as
‘patient’, raised the alarm and lifesavers waiting for their events, raced into
the water. Finding Fletcher in a
great mass of seaweed, they had great difficulty in getting him to the surface.
Sadly, efforts to revive him failed after he was brought back to the
beach. On 11 February, Alan Williams, a Queenscliff beltman, was competing in a
senior R & R event at Maroubra’s annual surf carnival and had a narrow escape
when his line became caught in seaweed. Quick thinking by his team mate, acting
as ‘patient’, saved him from drowning. He swam around behind Williams and
allowed him slack line as other lifesavers supported Williams while he released
his belt.
On
the same day that Jim Peryman drowned, at Nobby’s Beach near Newcastle, another
lifesaver, R Graham, competing as a beltman in an R & R event, had to be
rescued, semi-conscious, by a surfboat crew after being dragged under water.
After being treated for immersion and shock by ambulance officers, he recovered.
The
need for a quick release belt had been discussed over many years and the Ross
Safety Belt, designed in New Zealand and standard equipment there for many
years, had been approved by the Surf Life Saving Association of Australia (SLSA)
in the previous two years but its use had not been enforced. Apparently, only
expense had prevented this type of equipment
becoming standard among the Australian surf clubs. Most of the 200 surf
clubs in Australia had one Ross Belt which cost 25/- each, 5/- more than the
canvas type. It came to light later, that Jim Peryman had the choice of the Ross
Safety Belt or the standard belt when he went to rescue the girl. He gave the
Ross Safety Belt to a more inexperienced clubmate to rescue a man who was in
difficulties at the same time.
Shocked
into action on Monday, 20 February, 1950, the SLSA decided that quick release
Ross Safety Belts must be used at all surf carnivals and in all lifesaving and
drill work. It would cost the Association ₤1,250 to replace belts now in use
with the Ross Belt. The Minister for Local Government (Mr. J J Cahill) said any
request for the NSW Government to finance the purchase of Ross Belts would be
considered. That week the Sydney branch of the SLSA distributed 100 Ross Safety
Belts to metropolitan clubs. The following Saturday, at Coogee Beach,
trials began to examine six other quick release belts, some of which
incorporated amendments to the Ross Belt.
The
drowning of Jim Peryman was reported nation wide. The Sydney Morning Herald
described the community’s ‘profound shock’ and called upon the clubs to
re-examine their organisation and equipment, especially the use of the Ross Belt
which might have averted the tragedies. The article called upon the public to
support the lifesavers ‘who give generously of their time and expose themselves
to real hazards in protecting patrons of the beaches – often from the
consequences of their own folly’.
At
the inquest on Thursday 23 February, 1950 the City Coroner returned a finding of
accidental death from drowning. It was also revealed that another club member,
Kevin Slade, had narrowly escaped a similar death. On the same day, soon after
starting patrol duty at 8 a.m. and engaged in a rescue, his line had become
fouled by seaweed. He was dragged under but managed to slip the belt when a
surge of water slackened the line. The Coroner expressed ‘the greatest
appreciation of the wonderful efforts of these voluntary associations in the
saving of human life’ and that ‘ the whole of Australia must recognise the
dangers undertaken by these young men’.
The
funeral of Major James (Jim) Peryman took place on Tuesday 21 February, 1950.
All businesses in Cronulla were closed as more than 4,000 people saw the funeral
leave the Cronulla Church of England for the Woronora Crematorium. Officials of
the SLSA and metropolitan surf clubs were among the 500 people crowded into the
church. Jim’s coffin was carried in the North Cronulla surf boat in a trailer
towed by a lorry. They were covered
with wreathes and bunches of flowers. The procession of about 1000 cars was
about four miles long and was preceded by an escort of two police motor cycles.
Hundreds of people lined the route from the church to the crematorium at
Woronora and about three hundred lifesavers most of them from the local clubs of
Cronulla, North Cronulla and Wanda, marched ahead of the procession.
In
September, 1951 the Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society made a posthumous
award to Major James Peryman for heroism. It was received by his parents Mr. and
Mrs. M. Peryman of Cessnock where Mr. Peryman was newly appointed as manager of
the Commonwealth Bank. Jim Peryman’s legacy is that the Surf Lifesaving
Association of Australia, under their President, Judge Adrian Curlewis, made
quick release belts mandatory and, without doubt, saved lives by their efforts
to devise the best possible solution. A memorial fund was established and a
swimming pool constructed at the North Cronulla Club and named in his honour.
In
2006, to celebrate the centenary of the Sutherland Shire, the Council published
‘Faces of the Shire’ to recognise 100 of the people ‘who have embodied the
spirit of the Shire over the past century’. Jim Peryman was recognised as one of
those special individuals.
Jim
Peryman’s father, Mario Lemmers Peryman was born in 1897 at Rockdale, NSW, the
son of Sidney Tozer Peryman and his wife, Sara Ann Essie, nee McCrae. He was the
middle of five children. He enlisted in the AIF 1915 and served with the 19th
Battalion in Egypt, France and Belgium. He was commissioned ‘on the field’ in
1916 and discharged in 1919.
On
7 January, 1925 at St. Stephen’s Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney, Mario Peryman
married Phyllis Irene Moore. Phyllis was born in 1896 the daughter of Samuel
Moore and his wife Phyllis Mary Ann. They had three sons - Major James, Sidney
John, Michael and a daughter Mary Ann. Mario Peryman was employed by the
Commonwealth Bank and was Manager at Cronulla from 1936 to 1950 when he was
transferred as manager to the Cessnock branch. After his retirement, he and his
wife returned to live at Cronulla.
Mario
Lemmers Peryman died on 9 March, 1991 at Narrabeen and his ashes were interred
at Woronora Cemetery on 4 December,1991. Phyllis Irene Peryman died on 23
September, 1980 and her ashes were interred at Woronora Cemetery.
Mario’s
father, Sidney Tozer Peryman, was born on 26 June, 1864 at Richmond, Victoria,
the son of Frederick George Peryman and his wife, Caroline Agnes nee Tozer. On 5
April, 1892, at Maitland, NSW, Frederick married Sara Ann Essie McCrae. They had
five children – Mona Arline (1893 -1963), Miriam Rheta (1895 -1985), Mario
Lemmers(1897-1991), Maisie Olga (1904 -1930) and Malcolm Frederick (1908 -1983)
who were all born in Rockdale.
Sidney
Tozer Peryman died in Rozelle, NSW, in 1935. Sara Ann Peryman died in 1954.
Colleen
Passfield 2018
Click
on the name MAJOR JAMES PERYMAN, 1925—1950, at
the heading of this story. You will be taken to the database entry for Jim
Peryman and his family.
References:
NSW
BDM
Victoria BDM
Trove –
News papers
AWM –
Service Records
Ancestry
Australia, Electoral Rolls
Sands
Directories
Faces
of the Shire
North
Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club
Woronora Cemetery Online Index