The man described as a “great worker for Goulburn” passed way at a Blue Mountains hospital on June 28, aged eighty-two. It followed his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer five weeks earlier.

Mr Jackson-Calway, or PJC as he was known around town, was a former Goulburn Chamber of Commerce president and the owner and operator of Marulan’s Big Pavlova and Goulburn’s Mocador Cafe. An enthusiastic golfer, he was captain and president of Goulburn Golf Club and in his spare time, a deacon at Saint Saviour’s Cathedral, where he started healing services. He and a hard working committee were instrumental in raising $2 million to construct the Cathedral’s bell tower. 

“He was a great worker for Goulburn and always had new ideas,” his good friend and former Goulburn City Mayor Tony Lamarra said.

“He was always very cooperative with people. Every Thursday I’d drop into the Argyle Mall and have a cup of coffee with him and (jeweller) Ange Zantis and we’d discuss Goulburn and how it could grow. He was a great man.”

Mr Jackson Calway at that time was running the popular Mocador Cafe. It had started off opposite the mall in 1974 (next to the current Zantis Jewellers site) and shifted to the mall when it was constructed in 1980. He and wife Effie were a team and ran the cafe with his brother, Michael and his wife, Judy.

In about 1984, he built the Big Pavlova at Marulan, manufacturing pavlovas, chocolates and cheesecakes and providing a popular cafe stop for travellers on the Hume Highway. The operation also supplied the Mocador but closed in 1991, the victim of the bypass.

The hospitality industry was likely far from his thoughts when Mr Jackson Calway arrived in Australia, age 17 in 1953.

His son, Michael Jackson-Calway, said his father came to the land of “sunshine and oranges” under the Big Brother Movement. The scheme, which gave assisted passage, was aimed at giving impoverished UK children a new start in Australia, primarily working on farms to address the labour shortage. The young Peter, who arrived by himself, started on a Nyngan farm.

“Some children had a terrible experience but for dad it was a very pleasurable one and he thoroughly enjoyed working on the various farms,” Michael said.

“Post-war England was a bit of a drab place and for Dad, coming to Australia was a big adventure and a great opportunity.”

His brother, sister and mother stayed behind in Hull, an industrial city, parts of which had been bombed during the war. Some came out later, either permanently or temporarily.

Mr Jackson-Calway met his future wife, Effie, in Armidale. Her parents ran a large Greek cafe in the regional city. They fell in love and married in 1959.

It was while working for T&G Insurance in 1964 that he was offered a job as regional manager in Goulburn. Effie’s sister, Nina Zantis, wife of Ange, was living here and the city was close enough to Sydney for the couple. Later, Mr Jackson-Calway worked for MLC, followed by a stint in Canberra, where he commuted daily.

But the hospitality industry beckoned.

“He got into it because of Mum,” Michael said.

“He fell into it naturally and he loved it. They worked in the kitchen (of the Mocador), making chocolates and pavlovas. The kitchen was very small so Dad had a factory for making pavlovas in Goulburn. It then moved to Marulan where it became high profile.”

It was here he earned the name “Pavlova Pete.”

He spent many years on the Goulburn Chamber of Commerce and was closely involved in the community until the 1990s when he became Yass town centre manager, charged with revitalising the main street. He later assumed similar roles at Mittagong and Campbelltown. In 1998 the couple moved to Katoomba and Mr Jackson-Calway commuted to Campbelltown to complete his contract.

In the Blue Mountains he also immersed himself in the community. He volunteered for Community Transport, the RFS and other organisations and was captain, secretary, treasurer and president of Leura Golf Club. 

“Probably his most outstanding qualities were his involvement in the community. He wholeheartedly threw himself into causes,” Michael said.

He remembered fondly how his parents had taken Michael’s partner, Tim into the family, calling them “our two boys.” His mother died in 2011.

In the final weeks, Michael said he had precious time to talk to his father about his childhood in wartime England.

“Although from early he only knew war, he only had happy memories,” he said.

”...He was very gracious and accepting of his diagnosis and said he only hoped it was quick and quiet. He declined very quickly.”

Mr Jackson-Calway passed away in hospital two weeks after his admission.

He is survived by Michael, Michael’s partner Tim Millett and a sister, Sheilah. His brother, Michael, predeceased him.

A celebration of his life will be held at Saint Alban’s Anglican Church, Megalong Street, Leura on Thursday, July 5 at 2pm.