Letty Matthews
Letty Matthews
My first recollection of St. Johns Wood was when I was a child. I was born in 1920 at my Aunt's house at the corner of Warbuton and Rosalie Streets, Bardon. (Then known as the Soudan Estate). After my grandparents arrived from England they bought two blocks of land in 1888 at the Soudan Estate which is down behind where Government House is now. They were some of the first to build there and had ten children, most of whom also settled in that area of Bardon. As a result I had lots of cousins to play with and we would often walk to St. Johns Wood on a hot day and swim in the creek.
I was married in June, 1942 to Roy Matthews and we lived at Kalinga for the first three years and had our first son, Allan. My husband's uncle, who worked for the lands department, told us that there was land for sale at St Johns Wood and we had a look. As a result we purchased the lot at 78 St Johns Ave for 70 pounds in 1945. Roy built a temporary dwelling at the back of the block where we lived until the house was built. My husband built the house himself and it took approximately six years as he was away working a lot and building materials were very hard to get after the war.
What I remember about the area in those years was that the roads were not sealed. We had no water on at that stage and I remember the men getting buckets of water from the Freeney's house on the corner of London Street and St Johns Ave on washing days. I don't think the Franklin's shop was open until a few years later. The milkman, the baker and the iceman delivered to the door.
Our family consisted of Roy, myself and our four children. Allan was a toddler when we first moved in and Beth and Colin were born whilst we lived in the temporary dwelling. Our youngest, Jill was the only one born after we moved into the house. It was a good environment for the children to grow up in and was close to the relatives in Bardon. I would often take all four children and walk over to visit my mother, usually with one or two in the pram. My husband did not work in the area. He was a boilermaker and did a lot of work with Evans Deaken Shipyard.
In the early years of living in the Woods I would walk up to the terminus and do the shopping at the local 4 Square grocery shop, Frank's fruit shop and the local butcher. Later on, when Woolworths came to Ashgrove, I would catch the tram and shop there. Going into Brisbane city for an outing would be via tram or bus.
We made our own entertainment as many families would come over and we would have a sing-along on the family piano, which had belonged to my grandparents. We would also walk down to Ambassador picture theatre near the bridge when there was a good family movie on and we would often go to the Ashgrove picture theatre. There were plenty of areas for the children to play in. The bush across the road from us was a favourite of the local kids and they would be exploring the bush, building cubbies and hiking up the mountain. Another spot where they would gather was the creek. Going to Greenlanes swimming pool was always on the agenda and on rainy days they were out making mud dams in the gutter beside the road. They never got bored, that's for sure. But with four active children there were always many cuts to heads and feet and broken limbs. Mr. Johnstone or the ambulance were kept very busy around our area.
We had holidays away every year, first at Scarborough, which had been a favourite camping area for our family for many years. Later on we would holiday at Toorbul as my brother had a holiday house there and we would camp at the camping grounds and did a lot of fishing.
We had a Model T Ford at first, but my husband had to use it to get to work so our main mode of transport was either tram or bus.
There were many memorable occasions living in the Woods. Guy Fawkes night was a favorite, as all the neighbours would build their own bonfire across the road and it was a good family night of fun. I remember Christmas time when the truck would come around with Santa and there were people singing carols. We could hear the fireworks from the Ekka and would also see some of the higher fireworks going off.
The area had a country feel about it and people talked with each other and were friendly. People were willing to help their neighbours in need. That is the Australian way of life. There was also a lot of wonderful wildlife in the area.
The greatest challenges were the floods of course and we also had many bushfires across the road. One of our neighbours at the back, Hannigans, had their house burn down late one night. It was very frightening as they thought that Mrs Hannigan was still in the house, but thank goodness she got out.
I lived in the Woods for 64 years, from 1945 to 2009, and it had its good times and some not so good, but I still have a lot of fond memories of the area. I only left because it was getting too much for me to look after and I am now living in a low set unit at Cleveland, close to my youngest daughter. I think that living at St. Johns Wood was a wonderful place for bringing up children and so handy to everything.
I was married in June, 1942 to Roy Matthews and we lived at Kalinga for the first three years and had our first son, Allan. My husband's uncle, who worked for the lands department, told us that there was land for sale at St Johns Wood and we had a look. As a result we purchased the lot at 78 St Johns Ave for 70 pounds in 1945. Roy built a temporary dwelling at the back of the block where we lived until the house was built. My husband built the house himself and it took approximately six years as he was away working a lot and building materials were very hard to get after the war.
What I remember about the area in those years was that the roads were not sealed. We had no water on at that stage and I remember the men getting buckets of water from the Freeney's house on the corner of London Street and St Johns Ave on washing days. I don't think the Franklin's shop was open until a few years later. The milkman, the baker and the iceman delivered to the door.
Our family consisted of Roy, myself and our four children. Allan was a toddler when we first moved in and Beth and Colin were born whilst we lived in the temporary dwelling. Our youngest, Jill was the only one born after we moved into the house. It was a good environment for the children to grow up in and was close to the relatives in Bardon. I would often take all four children and walk over to visit my mother, usually with one or two in the pram. My husband did not work in the area. He was a boilermaker and did a lot of work with Evans Deaken Shipyard.
In the early years of living in the Woods I would walk up to the terminus and do the shopping at the local 4 Square grocery shop, Frank's fruit shop and the local butcher. Later on, when Woolworths came to Ashgrove, I would catch the tram and shop there. Going into Brisbane city for an outing would be via tram or bus.
We made our own entertainment as many families would come over and we would have a sing-along on the family piano, which had belonged to my grandparents. We would also walk down to Ambassador picture theatre near the bridge when there was a good family movie on and we would often go to the Ashgrove picture theatre. There were plenty of areas for the children to play in. The bush across the road from us was a favourite of the local kids and they would be exploring the bush, building cubbies and hiking up the mountain. Another spot where they would gather was the creek. Going to Greenlanes swimming pool was always on the agenda and on rainy days they were out making mud dams in the gutter beside the road. They never got bored, that's for sure. But with four active children there were always many cuts to heads and feet and broken limbs. Mr. Johnstone or the ambulance were kept very busy around our area.
We had holidays away every year, first at Scarborough, which had been a favourite camping area for our family for many years. Later on we would holiday at Toorbul as my brother had a holiday house there and we would camp at the camping grounds and did a lot of fishing.
We had a Model T Ford at first, but my husband had to use it to get to work so our main mode of transport was either tram or bus.
There were many memorable occasions living in the Woods. Guy Fawkes night was a favorite, as all the neighbours would build their own bonfire across the road and it was a good family night of fun. I remember Christmas time when the truck would come around with Santa and there were people singing carols. We could hear the fireworks from the Ekka and would also see some of the higher fireworks going off.
The area had a country feel about it and people talked with each other and were friendly. People were willing to help their neighbours in need. That is the Australian way of life. There was also a lot of wonderful wildlife in the area.
The greatest challenges were the floods of course and we also had many bushfires across the road. One of our neighbours at the back, Hannigans, had their house burn down late one night. It was very frightening as they thought that Mrs Hannigan was still in the house, but thank goodness she got out.
I lived in the Woods for 64 years, from 1945 to 2009, and it had its good times and some not so good, but I still have a lot of fond memories of the area. I only left because it was getting too much for me to look after and I am now living in a low set unit at Cleveland, close to my youngest daughter. I think that living at St. Johns Wood was a wonderful place for bringing up children and so handy to everything.
