Sepia Saturday 487 - Dog and Trainer

Sepia Saturday  this week encourages us to consider the dogs in our life or past lives and maybe the training thereof.  I could bore you witless with tales of the Adorable Arwen.

Adorable Arwen

She is, without a doubt, the Apple of my Eye and walking companion par excellence.  She has us wrapped around her dew claw and we have to be careful not to give her too many treats or she will end up as tubby as me.

Let's have a look at some other puppies in the family tree.

My mother and father both grew up with dogs.  I desperately wanted a dog when I was very little.  A black spaniel, Dino, was duly purchased and given to me when I was about six I think.  But Dino did not like me one little bit so he had to go.  Then the dachshund across the road bit me on the knee when I went to visit Elizabeth-Anne, so I was a bit shy of dogs after that.  My friends had dogs who were all very lovely - Jill's beagle Jip and Judith's endless succession of dogs, the names of which are difficult to remember but Soxy is one that leaps to mind.  So, we had cats by and large when I was growing up and dogs came to me later in life (mostly because, in turn, my children begged for one).

Barb and Pete 1940

I have posted a photo similar to this one before of my mother with Pete.  It's such a great photo, isn't it?  I'm happy to report that on the back of this photo, it says 1940.  The back of the other photo says "Taken 6th March 1940 - Barbara 4 years Pete 11 months".  To the best of my knowledge, Pete did not belong to Barbara but I think was encountered during a walk.

I would love to know where it was taken.  And there are probably plenty of hints in the background of the photo.  The man with the dog does look as though he works at a garage, doesn't he?  

B.A.P. I have discovered was probably the precursor to BP - British Australian Petroleum.  If anyone has an idea of where this might have been taken please let me know.  My mother's parents were living either in Hampden Road Abbotsford or Campbell Parade Bondi.  I have looked at all the locations for BAP in Sydney at the time but am hard-pressed to place it.  It might be 648 Botany Road Alexandria but I don't think so.  I think it is more likely National Park Street Newcastle where my mother's aunt had a cake shop (perhaps Barbara and her mother walked her cousins to the local high school nearby) or in Katoomba.  

Jack, Barb and Bobby

I came upon this other photo of my mother probably taken about the same time.   It just says Jack, Barb and Bobby.  Jack would have been my mother's paternal uncle, Jack or John Patrick McLoughlin.  My grandfather, Thomas McLoughlin, was born in 1898, the eldest of seven children.  Jack was his eldest brother but they were five or six years apart in age so Tom may have been closer to his sisters -Margaret and Mary -who were older than Jack.  Again I am not sure where this would have been taken.  Jack and his wife were living at 4 Roslyn Court, 6 Queen Street Ashfield in 1937 according to the electoral rolls.  Their flat looked very similar to the one my mother and her parents eventually moved to in Nowranie Street Summer Hill.  Again, Bobby the dog I think belonged to Jack and Christina rather than Barbara, but I may be wrong. 

Jack and his wife Christina owned a photographic studio in Drummoyne - Alva Studios - and I think my mother would have loved to have been a photographer.  I have written about the Studios before here and here .  

I did a bit more research about Jack today and discovered the following.  

NSW Police Gazzette 1925 , p 398

This was further confirmed to be our Jack by searching the NAA naval records which you can see here.  Jack joined the Navy on 26 March 1925 for a period of 12 years.  His father John was recorded as living at The Grange in Irene Street Five Dock at the time.  Here is an article from the time extolling the virtues of life at HMAS Cerberus which was the Flinders Naval Depot rather than an actual ship.

MAKING REAL MEN (1925, July 16). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 26. Retrieved September 14, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244044581

Obviously, Jack and the Navy did not get along.  I am glad he found another career that suited him.  I think training in the defence forces would be very difficult.  Away from home and family.  Maybe being a sea dog wasn't for Jack.

While I was researching this I was thinking to myself "HMAS Cerberus?  I'm sure I've heard of that before."  And yes I had.  I have written about the Cerberus in connection with my paternal great grandfather Edwin Conner who served on the Cerberus from March 1919-December 1920.  Phrases like "small world" and "ships that pass in the night" spring to mind.

So now we have come full circle from dogs to training and back again.  For more stories about dogs and training go here.

Postscript:

Wonderful Jen Coates who set up the Australian Local and Family History Bloggers Facebook page was able to geo-locate the photo of Barbara and Pete really quickly on Trove.  Take a gander at this!

Lord and Fry Farm and Dairy Produce Merchants buildings, trucks
and workers, Newcastle, New South Wales, ca. 1928
https://nla.gov.au:443/tarkine/nla.obj-151650887



So it is interesting to see how much the building changed in just fifteen years.  Thanks so much Jen!  So my gut instinct was correct.  It was in Newcastle where my mother's mother spent a lot of time visiting her twin sister.

Lord and Fry...why didn't I think of that?  I was stuck on Ford.  Just goes to show that picking your search terms is really important to get results.  Jen used "?rd and Fry" whereas I used "ord and Fry" - what a goose!  Live and learn.