H is for Home

 Myrtle Doris Weeks, Trittons, William George Busby  3 Responses »
Jul 222012
 
Due to the Second World War, my Grandmother Myrtle stayed living with her mother, Violet Weeks, in Violet’s house on the corner of Craig and Cochrane Streets, Red Hill even after her marriage to  William George Busby in 1939. 
Corner of Cochrane and Craig Streets, Red Hill

My Grand-Aunt Gladys and her husband Walter Trost also lived in the house so my mother, born in January 1940, had plenty of relatives at home. Walter was in a reserved occupation and did not go away.


While her husband William was away, in Darwin then New Guinea and Borneo, Grandma worked towards the idea of a home of their own with their daughter, Violet, my mother.


You have heard of girls putting together a Glory Box ready for their marriage? 

Well my Grandmother put together a Glory House!

 
While William was away, Myrtle gradually put on lay-by furniture, and utensils ready for their new home. She used a firm, Trittons,  which was well known in Brisbane, but which sadly no longer exists






Among the treasures Mum and I have inherited were lots of lay-by receipts like the one below.

Grandma made regular payments off items for their future: a bedroom suite, a kitchen dresser and table and more.

Ready for time after the war when they could be a family together in their own home.

It took time after the war. Getting yourself back into civilian life was not easy. Granddad was trying to find out if he could take over the payments of the house which had been lost when his father had an accident but that was not successful. (This is a whole other story that I still need to do further research upon.)


In 1949, this deposit was paid on 1 James Street, Fortitude Valley. The house was owned by William’s uncle Edward Courtenay and it was to become William and Myrtle’s family home for the rest of their lives.