Mandurah Museum celebrates pioneering woman: Violet Sutton

For most Mandurah residents, Sutton Farm and The Corner Store (now home to The Bridge) are notable historical landmarks.

But for the Sutton family it's where their grandmother lived and worked.

On the exhibition open day, many of Ms Sutton's grandchildren gathered to reflect on her life.

In the 1920s Violet and her husband lived and worked at Sutton's Farm. When her husband died in 1925, Violet stayed at the farm with the help of farm workers. As a single mother with seven children and no government assistance she could not continue farming and was forced to leave.

Violet inherited a cottage on the corner of Pinjarra Rd and Mandurah Terrace from her mother Ellen Cooper. Her cousin, Charlie Wearne, lent her the money to build a store on the land next to the cottage. The Corner Store has had a central role in the social and commercial life of Mandurah people.

Violet's youngest grandchild Shane Sutton recalled how his "gran" went from Year 1 to Year 10 without missing a day of school.

"It became a bit of a competition between all the cousins to see who could do it but most of us got sick," he said.

"One of my older cousins, Elizabeth managed to go from Year One to Year 12 and never missed a day of school."

He also made mention of living and working at Sutton Farm for the first 19 years of his life.

"Since that time Mandurah has just grown to a city, which is really vibrant."

Mandurah museum curator Nicholas Reynolds said the exhibition made him think about his own grandmother.

"As we put this on in celebrations of Women's History Month it made me think about my own family," he said.

"I think there's a lot of women in all our families that fill these special roles."

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The Violet Sutton exhibition will be open until April 6. The museum is open from 10am to 4pm from Tuesday to Friday and from 11am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information visit, https://www.mandurah.wa.gov.au/explore/whats-on/calendar/museum/womens-history-month