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| Laura and Allen Taylor |
So this is all that I know about him:
- His father was a market gardener, skilled at growing vegetables, and his mother was a midwife
- he was born at South Ecklin in 1902
- when he was 12 years old his oldest brother, David, was killed in action in France
- another brother served as a soldier in WW1 as well
- he married Laura Hancock in 1926 and his son Roy was born the same year
- in the 1930s he lived the western suburbs of Melbourne and worked as an assembler
- his younger brother George, who also lived in the western suburbs, was killed accidentally in 1934
- when he was 37 years old he enlisted in the army in WW2, serving as a sapper in the Middle East and Asia
- his son, Roy, also enlisted, in 1945
- after the war he lived at Red Cliffs near Mildura and worked as a foreman shed hand in some sort of fruit industry.
The photo of Allen and Laura in their garden is just about the only one I have of them and I quite like that it shows a playful side to his character. Laura has a fork in her hand and someone has tucked a dahlia under Allen's singlet. Allen looks very fit and strong. Who was the photographer I wonder?
This is the only other photo I have. It's Allen, in his army uniform, with his father Henry and his son Roy. Roy looks quite young so I think it must have been taken in about 1939.
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| Three generations. Roy, Henry and Allen Taylor, c1939. |
Maybe sometime a Taylor relative will read this blog and fill me in with more details about this branch of my family's tree.
You can read more gardening stories over at Sepia Saturday.
I hope you have some success with your search for more information for this family. It's amazing isn't it how many of our family happy snaps are posed in the garden.
ReplyDeleteBirth, marriage, and death years plus a few notations in between are only the bare outline of a person's life so I hope you do find out more about your Great Uncle Allen one way and another. That first picture of he & his wife shows he had a sense of humor, so there's a little extra piece of knowledge about him & his character. I wish I'd asked my father more about his father - my grandfather. He used to tell some wonderfully funny stories about him & luckily I remember a few of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth thinking about how the photographs ended up in your hands. That might give you an idea of the relationship between him and your grandmother. Thanks for sharing the photos.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Allen was a good man, shame you don't know more about him, but hopefully there is still someone around who knew him better, and maybe even has more photos.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see someone looking happy in a photo. Dahlias and Chrysanthemums seem to be the only flowers I remember from early on,
ReplyDeleteI like that first photo. I think Allen got his head from his father.
ReplyDeleteHow to take a singlet from backyard to formal - pop a flower in the 'lapel'. How very Australian. ;) Love it!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent choice for this weekend's theme, one of the best matches too.
ReplyDeleteA great photo and I wish you all the best with cousin-baiting :)
ReplyDeleteThe playful photo of Allen with the dahlia in his singlet reminds me of a photo of my husband's maternal grandfather as a younger man. He was peeking out through some flowers. He looked so fun and happy, but as an old man he was just a mean ol' codger.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, and they lived the life of gardening and birthing well!
ReplyDeleteIf you only have one photo of the couple let it be an informal and amusing one like this, which shows more of their character than a formal one. I can see why you like it.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it sad how so many relatives get forgotten while we're all still alive. I had a great-uncle living in a building near where I went to high school and never knew it until decades later. He was not on speaking terms with my grandfather who had died in the early 1950s. Because of family tensions from long ago I never met some relatives. The thread was broken. It's sad all you have are bits and pieces of information, but it's better than not having anything.
ReplyDeleteWow what a great site you have I'm so glad I found it. My 2nd Great grandparents were Henry Taylor and Martha Brown. Their son Henry was my great grandfather. Would love to share info on my branch if you would like. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kylie. I'm glad you found my blog. Please email me directly so we can chat about family.
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