Faraday – A Community Rediscovered, by Robyn Howarth

I first met author Robyn Howarth in Lake Boga, Victoria, on one of my research visits to the Catalina Flying Boat Museum for my WW11 novel, On Gallant Wings. Robyn’s partner, David Mark, provided me with lots of support and information. I was delighted to meet Robyn and hear about her own writing project. So, it was wonderful to see her publish her story in 2024 about her experiences when she was kidnapped from her school in Faraday, Victoria, at only 10 years of age. This story was shared widely in the media at the time. Robyn was the oldest of the six girls who were kidnapped that day.

Faraday – A Community Rediscovered, is the result of many years of Robyn living with the aftermath of these events. In this compelling memoir, she tells her story through the lens of this childhood trauma and the effect it had on herself and her family.

Faraday, such a beautiful part of the world. A small hamlet in rural Victoria, nestled under the serene gaze of Mount Alexander. Once, families of many generations proudly farmed their land, knew and helped their neighbours, and, in the 19th century this community built a beautiful granite school building that would be known as the Faraday State School 797. It was a source of pride to the community and educated their children well. This school building provided the social hub for the community to gather, mingle, share stories and celebrate events.

In 1972, the unthinkable happened. A heinous event that was coined the crime of the century, and became known as the ‘Faraday Kidnapping’. Two masked men burst into the school room on Friday 6th October, 1972 and kidnapped the young female teacher and 6 female students.

This wicked act brought the Faraday community to its knees and thrust into the national spotlight in an insidious way.Their actions led to the closure of the school, and a loss of innocence was felt by the wider community. In the years that followed, Faraday was for ever known as ‘that place where those kids were taken’. People would shudder when hearing the name … Faraday.

Robyn Howarth, who was 10 years old at that time, tells her story of life on the farm, that heinous event and the aftermath, in the long road for justice. Telling the story through the lens of childhood trauma, and the effect it had on herself and her family.

It has taken Robyn 62 years to acknowledge with pride that she came from Faraday and was educated at Faraday State School 797.

After a short prologue, Robyn begins her story in January 1972, sharing her excitement about going into year 5, and being the only student in this grade, at her tiny school. Over the following chapters, told in different periods of time, we learn of the routines and daily rhythms of her and her family’s lives, as well as those of the township and community.

Robyn shares stories of her relationships with her siblings, parents and grandparents, and gives a glimpse into farming life in this part of Victoria in the 1970s. Life was often tough, she shares, but there was love, and fun, and things to look forward to. The school was a particularly important part of her life and that of the other families in the Faraday hamlet, especially the mothers, who would meet at the school gate. It was a central gathering point and the heart of this tiny community.

Robyn’s writing is easy to read, interesting and warm, and I was immediately drawn to turn the pages and wanted to know more about her childhood, all the while knowing that I was ultimately leading towards the day of the kidnapping. Robyn carefully builds to this point, giving hints that she now knows were signs of something terrible on the horizon, that at the time, passed mostly unnoticed.

When the kidnapping occurs, and in the scenes following this awful act of violence, Robyn continues to tell the story as her 10-year-old self, revealing internal thoughts and feelings that must still be so present for her, despite all of the work she has done in making peace with what happened. As we move away from the kidnapping itself, and the courage of the six kidnapped children and their young teacher, the hunt for the kidnappers begins.

We then move into a more procedural part of the memoir, which is a fascinating look into the continued trauma that a legal process involving numerous harrowing appearances at trial can have on victims of crime, especially on children. Robyn talks about her guilt, fear and post traumatic stress disorder, which of course was not recognised at the time. We learn more about some of the police officers and officials involved, as well as the two kidnappers and their families.

The scrutiny and hounding by the press is played out with honesty and grit, showing how journalists can continue to pressure wounds experienced by those whose stories become ‘public property’ and how their private lives become compromised and turned upside-down.

Whilst this trauma followed Robyn into adulthood, ultimately, her story is one of courage, strength, vulnerability and hope. It shows how she came to terms with what happened to her as a child; with her fear and distrust, and that she was able to come to love Faraday, and herself, once again.

A highly recommended read that is gripping, heartfelt and fascinating.

You can find Faraday – A community rediscovered on Robyn’s website and in some bookshops.

See an ABC article with footage from the time and an interview with Robyn here.

Helen

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