Group portraits at Stewarts Gully

15 November 1935

Page 20 of photography album. Group portraits at Stewarts Gully, and sailing vessel, Dolfin. [Top left] A group portrait of six people, standing in front of some trees. Caption: Evelyn, Connie, Edie, Merlin & Betty Stuarts Gully 15-11-35. [Top centre] Sailing vessel, Dolfin, sail unfurled, in a body of open water. Caption: Dolfin 15-11-35. [Top right] Seven unidentified people sitting on a wooden see-saw. Caption: Stuarts Gully again. [Bottom left] Group portrait of seven people, seated together on a fallen tree. Caption: Stuarts Gully again & Roger & Win. [Bottom centre] Portrait of an unidentified person, standing in front of a tree. Caption: [Illegible]. [Bottom right] Group portrait of unidentified people, standing and crouching on railway lines. Caption: Stuarts Gully again 15-11-35.

Contributors note: "The photographs in the album were taken by my father, Edward (Eddie) Walsh. He was one of ten children. His father, George Senior, died due to workplace poisoning when Eddie was 16, and to compensate the family for their loss, my father was offered a position at George's place of work, Bunting and Co. The family was very religious, and during World War II, was a conscientious objector. He was imprisoned at the detention camp at Balmoral, in the Hurunui. As he was very mechanically minded, my father worked on the forestry blocks fixing the trucks, which meant he had some freedom from the detention camp. At the time of his imprisonment, he was married, with a son. My mother had relocated to the area and was helping a family with six children under five – a set of triplets, twins and a singleton. Before moving to the Hurunui, she and her son lived with her mother-in-law in Vogel Street. Having a husband as a conscientious object was very difficult for her when meeting other women whose husbands were fighting in the war."

Creator: Eddie Walsh

Contributor: Walsh Family

Source: Entry in the 2025 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt.

Reference ID: CCL-PH25-2021

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

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