Group portraits of family and work colleagues, and a new house

1935 to 1936

Page 21 of photograph album. Group portraits of Bunting & Co staff, Walsh family portraits, and a house that Jack Walsh built. [Top left] Unidentified workers from Bunting & Co, during a break. Caption: Smoko 1935. [Centre] View of pet dog, Ross, lying in the backyard of the family home in Vogel Street. Caption: Ross 1935. [Top right] Group portrait of unidentified workers, seated on planks of wood. Caption: The boys. [Bottom left] Group portrait of the eight Walsh brothers: Reginald, Jack, George, Roland, Ernest, Eddie, Arnold and Colin. Caption: Us. [Bottom right] A view of a house that Eddie's brother, Jack, a builder, constructed. An unidentified person is visible standing in the covered doorway, and a child is standing outside, looking back at the house. Caption: The house that Jack built 1936.

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-PH25-2022

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

No known copyright