Studio portrait of Walsh family

About 1920 to about 1921

Studio portrait of the Walsh family. Back row: Reginald Walsh, Jack Walsh, George Walsh junior, Roland Walsh, Ernest Walsh. Front row: Eddie Walsh, George Walsh senior, Effie Walsh, Lillian Jane Walsh, Arnold Walsh, Phyllis Walsh, Colin Walsh.

Contributors note: "Reginald played the church organ, and owned a shop and house in Hornby. Jack was a builder. George junior was a vegetable farmer. Ern was a Presbyterian minister and was well known for his radio sermons. He moved to Auckland. Arnold was a postman. The entire family was quite musical, but my father Eddie was not. 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."

Contributor: Walsh Family

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

Reference ID: CCL-PH25-2101

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

Copyright status: Out of copyright

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