John Gibbeson

MY STORY – JOHN GIBBESON

19 May 2023

It is a cold autumn day (10°C) outside here in Central Victoria and a good time to fulfil my promise to David Wilson to write a bio for the Asquith Pioneers website.

I may not be in the first, but I am one of the first of the second Asquith cohort (1961 first year intake) to write a biography, hopefully I will not the last as I believe it is very timely that this excellent web site should be accessible for all Asquith BHS alumni and staff. As we all get older, connecting with past and past colleagues, even if an absence of sixty years or more, is a fulfilling part of life’s journey.

As I critically look backward on my five-year journey through Asquith; my biggest takeaway was independence; that is accepting taking full responsibility for my own life and future. I never understood the school motto of “Grow in Wisdom” until much later in life, after-all, crediting a seventeen year old with wisdom really is an oxymoron. However, it does have real relevance later in life as well as knowing yourself. 

My days at Asquith were unspectacular; I was I was a mediocre student coasting by doing just enough work to get a B grade pass in exams. My reports consistently said “John can do better if he tries harder” additionally, I didn’t have much interest in the arts or school clubs and activities except for photography. I eschewed sport, particularly PE because I resented having to lug the heavy kit to school because there were no lockers; I never did PE even once in fourth and fifth year because I made sure from day one that I was not on the roll and quietly did homework or revision in an empty classroom instead. However, I did become a fanatical cyclist and avid Western Bulldog AFL supporter later in life.

When I look back at the freedom of the 1960s; as a 15 and 16 year old I had a great time. It was okay going into the city and Kings Cross and other seedy places with one or two mates for a night out to folk concerts and the like it was astounding. There were rules of course, but we only got into serious trouble if you really goofed off, and were caught. Alcohol was always there and there was never any problem buying it. Even in Queensland where the legal age was 21, as a fifteen year old there was no problem for a buying alcohol in bars and bottle shops.

I was fortunate enough to pick-up a Commonwealth Scholarship in the 1965 Leaving Certificate and enrolled at UNSW when still sixteen. I loved university, made a lot of good friends, and met some very talented and influential people; I was on the Students Union Council in my final year. 

I am still in good health and still have a passion for my wife and family, engineering, the hydrocarbon processing industry and doing stuff!

I retired in 2015 after working in the fossil fuel industry for Esso/ExxonMobil/Exxon for 37 years. I joined Esso in Sale, Victoria in 1978 and worked as a Process Engineer, Onshore and Offshore Maintenance Manager, Industrial Relations Manager, Operations Manager (Esso Suez Inc.) all with an implied role also as a mentor particularly to young graduate engineers which was deeply rewarding. It was a unique and fantastic experience being part of the Bass Strait oil and gas field development and operation. Prior to Esso I worked for seven years as a Process Engineer with Monsanto, at the APL plant at Lidcombe and later at the main site at West Footscray in Melbourne.

My first job after completing a BEng degree in Chemical Engineering at UNSW in 1969 was a Process Engineer at the new Alcan Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter for two years.

I have been very fortunate in enjoying a very satisfying career working with some great and seriously clever people and for three great companies (albeit, none were Australian owned). However, sadly as I look back, all the facilities that I worked on (that were virtually brand new at the time) have been either sold, demolished, or are currently undergoing decommissioning and removal.

I have four children, the youngest 42 and ten grand children (ages from 8 to 21), my wife Lillian and I were married in Sydney in 1975 just prior to me being transferred to West Footscray with Monsanto.

We are a close family and our children are all successful in their own fields, and a new generation is currently in the school and university system. I particularly try to be a good granddad, as I never really had a grandfather.

After living in Sale for twelve years, Lillian and I developed a taste for country life and not long before I retired, we bought a small cottage in Castlemaine, Victoria as a weekend getaway. We completed a major renovation on the cottage in 2019 and moved in on Christmas Eve 2019 never suspecting that three months later in March 2020 with the onset of Covid we would flee Melbourne and make that little cottage our home during the lockdowns. In the meantime, Lillian’s twin sister and my brother (separately) also moved from different parts of NSW to Castlemaine. Castlemaine is a unique and wonderful town and very important in Australia’s history; gold was first discovered in Victoria at Specimen Gully in July 1851 not far from the present township and it very rapidly became the largest alluvial goldfield in the world and later a major manufacturing centre.