The Doily Dress – Bessie Bewes’ Fancy Dress

One of the things I remember from my childhood visits to Sans Souci, where my Grandparents lived, was looking at some of the photos they had.  The album was a crusty cream colour, and filled with very old photos, mainly of my mum and aunt as children.

One photo I remember vividly was of my grandmother dressed as a “Doily”.  I can remember her telling me this, and me not quite understanding what she meant.  She had gone to fancy dress party, and had pinned crocheted doilies she had made all over the dress.

I knew the photo was taken during World War 1, because it was before she started going out with my grandfather, Reg Powell.  He had told me that their first date was November 11, 1918.  It was Armistice Day, the day World War 1 ended, and he asked her if she would like to go in to the city to see the celebrations.

The photo ended up in my mother’s collection, and now I have it (somewhere). 

I was recently looking at the Trove website[i] and I found that the newspaper “St George Call”, which was the local paper around the Kogarah/Rockdale area at the time of World War 1 was available and had some article that explained a little bit more about my grandmother’s Doily Dress.

My grandmother had moved to Sydney when she was about 14 to live with her sister and brother-in-law.  They resided in the Kogarah area.  Bessie had completed her schooling and was sent there to help her sister who had three small children. 

Kogarah School of Arts[ii]

On Wednesday night the 18^th of September 1918 a dance was held at the local School of Arts, this was held by the Kogarah Soldier’s Club, and was a Masquerade Dance.  To quote the St. George Call “The success of the evening is shown in the takings at the door which amounted to £16,”.

The Amati orchestra supplied the music, and the M.C. for the evening was a Mr. Sears.

The St. George Call also mentions that Miss B. Bewes was among those in fancy dress and that she was described as “Weldon’s Crochet”.

On reading this, my mind immediately went back to Grandma’s Doily dress, so I did some investigation on Weldon’s Crochet.

From 1875 to 1954 there was a Weldon’s Ladies’ Journal that supplied dressmaking patterns.   This journal was published by the owners of a pattern company who produced multiple patterns and various types of Victorian needlework.

Weldon’s Ladies’ Journal June 1914

Thanks to the glories of the Internet I was able to look at the magazine and have an idea of what my grandma was reading and how she came up with the idea of a “Doily Dress”

Weldon’s crochet patterns

Less than two months after wearing the Doily dress grandma went out on her first date with my grandfather, and on January 28, 1922 they were married.

I have no idea if Reg was at the Fancy Dress dance, but he was a local man who lived in the area, and if it wasn’t this dance I suspect it was another held in the area.

As I grow older I think a lot of my grandparents and the little snippets of information they shared with me, and those who know me will understand how those memories send me off on quests for more information and detail. 

Family stories need to be shared, and I hope that my grandchildren will have similar memories of the “snippets” I tell them.

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[i] http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper?q=

[ii] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SLNSW_796478_School_of_Arts_Kogarah.jpg

Nothing Stops Lorna from going Overseas

(Kevin get’s Paternal Ancestors)

In 1985 Lorna Brady and her husband Alan went on month’s tour of Europe and Great Britain.  It had been a dream of Lorna’s to travel for many years but a conversation way back in 1949 had cast doubts on the likelihood of Lorna and Alan ever travelling overseas.

In June 1949 Lorna Powell was in the late preparations for her wedding that was to occur on July 2nd.    Her fiancée, Alan Brady, work at the same company (Fauldings) as a storeman.  In fact it was due to his constant visits to the office area, where she worked, to “buy stamps” and repeatedly asking her out on a date that had brought them together.  Now with less than a fortnight before the wedding ceremony all was in place and arranged.

One afternoon after work Alan started a conversation.  He stated that they could not get married.  Lorna was devastated.  Alan said that it was due to the fact that his name really wasn’t Alan Brady.  He said that he had run away from home when young and changed his name.  He was worried that when they would go to visit the minister to sign the papers prior to marrying that all this would come out and they would not be allowed to marry.

Alan told Lorna that he was born illegitimate and that although his parents married later, he had had a very rough childhood and ran away from home when he was 13 and had changed his name so that they, his family, could not find him.

Lorna sat there listening to Alan tell her about his childhood and she made a decision.  She wanted to marry Alan Brady and nothing was going to stop her.  She told Alan that when the minister asks Alan his father’s name, he was only to say the Christian names.

On June 29^th, 3 days before they were to be married Alan and Lorna went to the presbytery of St. Andrew’s Church in Sans Souci to sign the marriage declaration.  The minster asked Alan what his name was, and he replied Alan Brady.  The minister then asked if he had a middle name and Alan replied Louis.  This was true, but Alan had not used it nearly 15 years.  The minister then asked what his father’s names were and Alan replied, Theodore William.  The minister recorded on the declaration, Theodore William Brady.  He then asked Alan what his mother’s name was, and Alan replied Mary Agatha Price.  The minister asked if his parents were alive Alan honestly stated they were deceased.

After Lorna gave her details both her and Alan signed the declaration.  Lorna afterwards told Alan they had not lied, as the minister had not asked what Alan what his father’s surname was.

3 days later they were married.

July 2, 1949

Now that they were married Lorna decided that Alan needed to legally change his name to Alan Brady.  Alan had told her his name was Frank, and he had been known as Frank Vetter, but that he thought his mum’s maiden name was Price. And this would have been the name he had at birth.  Lorna wrote off to the South Australian Births, Deaths & Marriages registry asking for a copy of the birth of Frank Louis Price, son of Mary Agatha Price.  She got a return letter stating there was no such birth recorded.

Lorna now decided that they didn’t need to worry about legally changing Alan’s name, as they now had two pieces of paper stating he was Alan Brady, their marriage certificate and Alan’s discharge papers from the army.  There were more important things like starting a family.

Around 1975 Alan received a letter from the Red Cross stating that someone was trying to contact him.  This person stated they had lost contact with Alan during the war.  It was Alan’s sister Mary.  Alan had last had contact with Mary during the war when his father had died in 1943.

When Mary and her husband visited Alan and Lorna at their home in Greenacre one of the first things they asked her was, what was Alan’s mother’s name?  Mary told them it was Mary May Brice.

The dream of going overseas had been Lorna’s for some time and by the early 1980’s it was now within sight – her children were all married, and she was soon to make the final payment on their home loan.

Lorna now started to put in place the groundwork for her going overseas.  Alan and her needed passports, and to get passports you needed birth certificates.

Hers would be easily obtained but Alan’s would show the different name. Lorna again wrote away to the South Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages for a birth certificate for a Frank Louis Brice.  What came back was a birth certificate for Lewis Frank Brice, born October 22, 1916 in Flinders Street, Kenttown, South Australia.

Lorna now decided that Alan needed to legally change his name.  On July 6, 1982 Lorna and Alan went into Sydney to the Registrar-General’s office.  Alan was to make a Statuary Declaration stating that he had been using the name of Alan Brady since the 1930’s.  He had to say in the declaration that he abandon his birth name and he assumed the name of Alan Louis Brady, and this was to be used for “myself, my wife and issue”.

Alan had to sign the declaration in both names, once as A L Brady and once as L F Brice.  Most likely the only time the two names were ever listed together.

There was one witness to the declaration – Lorna!  In fact the original document, stamped and sealed by the Registrar-General’s Office is completely in Lorna’s handwriting.

With the Statuary Declaration and Alan’s Birth Certificate in her hand Lorna now had all the paper work needed to get Alan a passport.

On April 30^th, 1985 Alan recorded the following:-

We arrived at Heathrow Airport about 7-15 in the morning.  We were advised to wait until most of the passengers got off the plane.  The plane crew managed to get me a wheel chair and in it we reached the custom area nearly ½ mile where we got of the plane.  We sailed through customs and picked up our cases without being looked at and on a special air bus for London in a couple of minutes.  The trip took about ½ hour and we arrived at the Royal Kensington Hotel and settled in.  I was tired with Jet Lag.  But Lorna a genuine Tourist decided to hop on a bus and see London town straight away.

When Lorna, my mum, made a decision to do something, there was really nothing that would stop her from achieving it.  Alan, my dad, on the other hand was more of an “if happens it happens, if it doesn’t it doesn’t” type of guy.  But their love for one another was incredibly strong and got them through many trials during their life together and this one I’ve just describe is a perfect example, it was always the two of them together, no matter what!

Sydney Airport April 29, 1985

A postscript to this story:-  in 1983 on a visit to Sydney I went to the Registrar-General’s Office to look for Certificate of Titles on some of my ancestor's properties.  I walked in to the building and asked the lady at reception where I could look up the indexes.  She pointed me towards a row of filing draws.  Unfortunately she had made a mistake and sent me across to the general indexes.  I looked for "Brady, Kevin" and could not find anything.  I then looked for "Brady, Alan" and I found the reference for Dad’s Statuary Declaration of three years before.  I’ve been on a journey of researching my father’s family ever since and I thank mum daily, for if it wasn’t for her wish to go overseas I would never have known about my father’s name and his ancestors.

Kevin R. Brady

August 23, 2014