100 years ago in Glebe & Forest Lodge this month: November 1920

By Rodney Hammett, Glebe Society Bulletin 9/2020 November

 

Nancy was celebrating her 18^th birthday, having been born in the same house on 12 November 1902¹, the second child of John Alexander Kerr, and Annie Sophine (née Carlson).

Wahroonga at 270 Glebe Point Rd had previously been named Carlson House by Annie’s parents – Carl and Catherine Carlson. Older Glebe residents would remember the house as ‘Royleston’, the child welfare home which became the renowned bed and breakfast Tricketts. See also Royleston in  the Dictionary of Sydney for the history of the house and its use as a child welfare home.

Nancy married William Michael Dixon in Melbourne in 1927. William had commenced as a medical student at Melbourne University in early 1917 but with men needed for WW1 he enlisted in December 1917, becoming a 2^nd Lieutenant in the Australian Flying Corps and having a few months of active service in England before the war ended. ²

William returned to his studies after WW1 but never became a doctor. Instead he became a salesman and manager, and with Nancy had a family and career in Melbourne. In retirement they went to live at Surfers Paradise where William died in 1967 aged 71. Nancy died 17 years later in 1984.

Notes: ¹ SMH; 29 Nov 1902, p. 1; ² WW1 Service Record;