Whittaker Street, Mortlake

Peter & Blanche Whittaker

 

Peter Whittaker was born in 1868 in Altrincham, Wilmslow, England.  He arrived in Brisbane in March 1891, where he joined the Royal Australian Artillery the following year.  In 1904 he resigned with the rank of Corporal.

He married Blanche Bushell in 1898.  They had four children – two sons, Eugene and Norman,  and two daughters, Hilda and Myra.  The family lived in Tennyson Road, Mortlake in a house called “Alameda”.

In 1917 he worked as a labourer on The Old Tyser* and later as a fireman at Australian Gas Works until moving on to the Mortlake AGL.

He was an active member of the Concord community and was instrumental in persuading the Council to install the punt from Mortlake to Putney.  He fought hard for this and was rewarded by having Whittaker Street, Mortlake, (between Hilly Street and Tennyson Road) named after him.

He was a Justice of the Peace for Queensland and later New South Wales.   Also a member of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, NSW.

He died on 12th August, 1938.

His son Norman served in WWII, became a POW and worked on Burma Railway.  He was an accomplished musician, playing the cornet and bugle.  He joined Burwood Band and won solo soprano cornet in Champions of NSW.  He was secretary of the Concord Citizens Band, which performed regularly at Cabarita Park and elsewhere.

His bugle is in the Melbourne Museum.

Supplied by Ada Booth (daughter of Hilda)

 

Similar Posts

  • Bloomers and Bicycles

    What do bloomers and bicycles have in common? While today’s models parade the catwalk in panties and other underwear, this would have been unthinkable in the 1800s. So too would the wearing of panties themselves. Today’s panties originated from the various “bifurcated” undergarments known popularly in the 19th century as bloomers, knickers, drawers, pantaloons and…

  • Did you know . . .

    COMPUTERS:   The personal computer is 70 years old this year, although the original machine bears little resemblance to those of today.  On June 21, 1948, Manchester University scientists switched on Baby, the first computer to use a stored memory facility.  Baby was 4.87 m long and 2 m high.   Today, the same computing power is…

  • Care and Compassion

    During WWI approximately 160,000 Australians had been wounded, some of them permanently incapacitated.  They would need to be restored to health and those unable to resume their former occupations needed to be re-trained and supported.  Many needed assistance for the rest of their lives. During that time Eadith Walker formed a close relationship with soldiers…

  • The Flying Parson

    Leonard “Len” Daniels was born in England in November 1891. Like a great many of his contemporaries, he joined the British Army soon after the outbreak of the First World War. Unlike most of them, Daniels served his country in India. At some point, he asked for and obtained a transfer to the Royal Flying…

Add your first comment to this post