Grandparents – Paternal father’s line of Irving Family
Stanley Loftus Hall was born in 1894 in Sydney, New South Wales. His father, Walter, was 26 and his mother, Kate, was 24. Stanley married Elsie Kathleen Johnson on 7 August 1918 in Sydney. They had four children during their marriage. Elsie died in 1954 aged 54 and Stanley died in 1958 aged 64.
Photographs of buildings in Riley Street, Sydney. Shown left is Viola Terrace in 1900, shown right is a current view of 118 Riley Street, Darlinghurst.
Stanley Loftus Hall was born on 24 August 1894 in 118 Riley Street, Sydney, New South Wales, to Kate Fulbrook, aged 24, and Walter Irving, aged 26. Refer to the above picture that shows a current view of 118 Riley Street, Darlinghurst.
Half Fan Chart showing the parents and grandparents of Stanley Loftus Hall
Stanley was baptised in St Peter’s Parish, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 23 January 1895 in the presence of his parents Walter and Kate Irving of Petersham and Reverend I.H. Mullen.
Just 1¾ years later on 9 October 1896 his father Walter Irving aged 28 died in Bourke, New South Wales of Pleural Pneumonia. In March 1897, his sister Marian May Irving was born to the widowed Kate Fulbrook. Two years later Kate married Henry Hall at St Andrews Manse, Dubbo, New South Wales. Her two children Stanley Loftus and Marian May became the stepchildren of Henry and were known by the surname Hall.
Elsie Kathleen Johnson was born on 11 April 1900 in Liverpool, New South Wales, her father, James, was 44, and her mother, Mary, was 36. She was the ninth child of 13 children.
Half Fan Chart showing the parents and grandparents of Elsie Kathleen Johnson
Siblings of Elsie Kathleen Johnson
- Maria Johnson [1883-1953]
- James Johnson [1886-1966]
- Bernard Johnson [1888-1942]
- Annie K Johnson [b.1890]
- Lucy Johnson [b.1892]
- Laura Johnson [1894-1982]
- George Arthur Johnson [1896-1944]
- Francis C Johnson [b.1898]
- Edward Cecil Johnson [b.1902]
- Albert Johnson [b.1905]
- Ellen D Johnson [b.1908]
- Frederick Eric Johnson [1909-1927]
Military Service
When he was 21 years old Stanley Loftus Hall joined the Australian Military Services on 4 January1916, in Armidale, New South Wales. He initially served in the 33rd Battalion, B Company. Stanley then joined the 1st Battalion and embarked from Sydney, New South Wales aboard HMAT A74 “Marathon” on 4 May 1916. He returned to Australia on 10 January 1918.
On a damp Sydney morning, during the First World War, lines of Australian cavalry and infantry march down to the docks while others arrive by tram (Source: NFSA Website – click above picture to see a short silent movie of a 1915 embarkation)
Elsie Kathleen Johnson married Stanley Loftus Hall, in the Registrar General’s Office, Chancery Square, Sydney, New South Wales, on 7 August 1918 when she was 18 years old and he was 24 years old. At the time of his marriage Stanley was employed as a packer.
Residences and Occupations
Four months after their marriage, Stanley and Elsie were living at 137 View Street, Annandale, New South Wales, Australia. Stanley Loftus Hall was employed as a grocer.
Their four children were born while living at 137 View Street, Annandale
Half Fan Chart showing the descendants of Stanley Loftus Hall and Elsie Kathleen Johnson
During the period from 1924–1928 the family moved to Auburn, New South Wales. The following newspaper clipping from 15 March 1928 indicates Stanley’s involvement in a row at a Parramatta shop. The suburbs of Auburn and Parramatta are nearby to each other in western Sydney.
Crisis and Depression
The Depression, set off by the October 1929 Wall Street stock market crash, hit the New South Wales economy with great severity. Unemployment, already high at 10% in mid-1929, was 21% by mid-1930 and rising, hitting almost 32% in mid-1932. Factory output fell almost 10% in 1929-30 and another 30% in 1930-31. The New South Wales Government, which had borrowed heavily for public works, also had the highest level of public expenditure in Australia, especially because of social services payments. In 1930 the budget rapidly went from a surplus to a deficit greater than all the other Australian states put together.
It was during the 1930’s crisis and depression that that a young Stanley Loftus Hall and his wife Elsie moved with their family to Katoomba, New South Wales.
In 1930 they were living in the main shopping strip at 204 Katoomba Street, Katoomba. Stanley’s occupation was fruiterer, while Elsie was responsible for home duties.
The following photographs, show the location of the shop on the corner of Katoomba and Waratah Streets, Katoomba. In addition to selling fruit and vegetables the shop also provided Soda Fountain drinks, Fry’s Chocolate Creams and Cordials. In the thirty years before 1930, the shop had been run for different periods by Mr. M.A. Davidson and then by Mr. A. Rutledge.
Soon the 1930’s depression caused Stanley to move his family from Katoomba to Cowra, New South Wales where they stayed until 1937-8. It was during this time that his camp was burnt by bush fire at Cowra in 1934.
In 1938 he and his family returned to Sydney, New South Wales, they were living at Rose Street, Darlington.
During the 1940’s he was employed as a Storeman and living at Brighton Street, Croydon. In the 1950’s Stanley was employed as a Labourer living at Vimy Street, Earlwood, New South Wales.
Stanley’s father Walter Irving died on 9 October 1896 in Bourke, New South Wales, at the age of 28. Walter was buried in the Church of England section at Bourke General Cemetery.
Elsie’s father James Johnson died on 5 September 1941 in Liverpool, New South Wales, at the age of 85 and her mother Mary O’Neill died on 28 August 1945 in New South Wales at the age of 81.
Elsie Kathleen Hall died at hospital on 2 June 1954 in Burwood, New South Wales, when she was 54 years old. Elsie was buried in Zone D, Section 16B, Grave 1695, at Rookwood General Cemetery.
In the following year, 1955, her husband Stanley married Mary Ann Gibson née Chambers who had been widowed since 1950. Stan and Mary, his new bride, continued to live at Vimy Street, Earlwood.
Stanley’s mother Kate Fullbrook died on 15 July 1956 in North Sydney, New South Wales, at the age of 86.
Stanley Loftus Hall died on 12 October 1958 in Earlwood, New South Wales, when he was 64 years old. Stanley was buried in General Plaque, Lawn 1, Grave 0108, at Woronora Cemetery, 121 Linden Street, Sutherland, New South Wales.
Mary Ann Hall died on 6 September 1972, when she was 84 years old. Mary was buried in General Plaque, Lawn 1, Grave 0108, at Woronora Cemetery, 121 Linden Street, Sutherland, New South Wales.
Your comments are always welcome
Comments can be left by clicking the blue “Hall & Johnson” heading at the top of this page.