Family portraits of Walsh family and a family home

1936 to 1937

Page 55 of photograph album. Family portraits of members of the Walsh family and Roland's house. [Top left] Exterior view of Roland Walsh's home in Shirley. Caption: Rol's house, 1936. [Top right] Group portrait of children. Caption: Ray, Rona, Norma, Shirley S & Grame. 1937. [Bottom left] Portrait of Janice, holding a small purse in her hand, standing in a garden. Caption: Janice 1937. [Bottom centre] Portrait of Alan, standing in a front garden. Caption: Alan 1937. [Bottom right] Roland Walsh, standing outside his house, with wife Florence, and daughter, Lilian. Caption: Rol and family 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-PH25-2056

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

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