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chat. Or was Jessie a dreamer, and ever aware of the manly chests that her vests in Footscray
would enclose?
It seems that the youngest of the three sisters, Lily, stayed at home, helping her mother, who
was widowed in December 1914 when Lily was 20 years old. If so, Lily had every opportunity
of getting to know her Uncle Jack, to hear his tales of the Boer War and of gold-mining in South
Africa, to be entertained and even captivated by him.
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Jack was 32V4 years older than Lily: he was 59 in November 1920; she was 26 in March that
year. Her mother, Fanny, was 60, almost the same age as Jack, and maybe when Jack called at
168 Ballarat Road Fanny believed he was calling to visit her.
Towards the end of 1920, Louie moved in, having been abandoned by Harold, and young Dick
married, although he didn't move out. Other moves then were the formation of the Communist
Party, and of an air service in Queensland called Qantas
Dick was working then as a fitter and turner for a manufacturer of farm implements called T
Robertson down in Spotswood, a suburb south of Footscray and on the rail route to
Williamstown. His future bride, Eliza Adelaide Thompson (known as Addie), was employed in
an ammunition factory, and they first met at the Spotswood Station during the war, presumably
after work. Addie was two years younger than Dick, and being 'church-minded' used to go to
Spotswood Methodist Church. Her father, Henry Thompson, was a bottle-blower at the
glassworks in Spotswood, and she was the only daughter she had six brothers. Her home was
in Spotswood, at 19 Forrest Street.
Theirs was a simple courtship, although carried out against the dark confusion of war and
growing casualty lists, and local dramas like the flu epidemic, strikes and floods. There were
more strikes in 1920 as living standards failed to improve, and few in Footscray were interested
when the 26-year-old Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor) laid the
foundation stone of Canberra's Parliament House. Of greater interest was the first film featuring
Dad and Dave - On Our Selection.
But despite much social unrest and the pressures of being the only man in the Honeycombes'
house in Ballarat Road, Dick proposed to Addie and was accepted. They married in St Mark's
Church, Spotswood (C of E), on 27 November 1920, two days before the unhappy Louie's
31st birthday. He was 24, and she, now employed on home duties, was 22. The witnesses
were, 'GA Thompson', a sister or brother of the bride, and 'J Honeycombe', who must have
been Jack, as the signature is not that of Jessie. Jack presumably stood in for Dick's dead
father. Was Richard also there? And Jane? Perhaps. Would that we had a photograph of the
event.
Soon after the marriage, in 1921, Dick and his bride moved with his mother and all three sisters
to a larger house in Ballarat Road, number 236. And there Dick and Addie and Fanny and
Louie remained for 20 years.
Jessie was also there until 1933, when she wed her Oscar. Lily had escaped in 1921 when she
married her Uncle Jack.
It was of course a scandal, and would have been if known about. But very few people outside
the family were probably aware of the true situation, or of the couple's consanguinity. Jack had
been away for many years and 'Uncle' need not have meant a blood relationship, the title being
accorded male adults, usually single, who visited frequently and were close friends of the
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