A short while ago, a friend of
mine who runs a Vintage store created a theme of “Weddings” for her shop and
was looking for old wedding photographs to add to her window display. I had found
a bundle of very beautiful photos in an opportunity shop for her, but after the
month’s display, they were returned to me. I became fascinated by these
beautiful photos and wondered why they had been discarded. They were in
excellent condition, and more importantly, they had names and a date written on
the back. I did some random searches on ancestry.com.au, but could not find any
one researching these names, so I did a bit of sleuthing of my own.
Three of photos show the wedding of
Arthur Leslie RODDA to Frances Kathleen (Nancy) HOSICK that took place in April
1933. The wedding took place at the Scot’s Church in Sydney, while the
reception was held at the nearby Petty’s hotel and the photographs taken by the
“La Dore Studios – Orange [NSW]” show
the luxurious interior of this then prestigious establishment.
The groom, Arthur Leslie RODDA was born in
Bourke, NSW to parents George James RODDA (?-1894) and Anne Amelia COWLING
(1862-?) in 1888. Arthur Leslie served in World War 1, and his war diaries are
to be found in the “Records
of the European War Collecting Project, established by the Trustees of the
Mitchell Library in 1918”, entitled “Rodda diaries, 1917-1919” as a part of the collection of the State
Library of New South Wales. A
biographical note on the catalogue entry describes Arthur Leslie RODDA in the
following way: “Arthur Rodda, a bookkeeper from Bourke, N.S.W.
enlisted in Dubbo, N.S.W. on 12 Oct. 1916 aged 28 and embarked from Sydney on
board HMAT A68 Anchises, 24 Jan. 1917. He served with the 35th Battalion in
France and Belgium. He entered hospital 27th Oct. 1917 and did not again see
active duty. He returned to Australia on the Adriatic, 29 April 1919”. The National Archives of Australia give his
Service number as ‘3491’. According
to The Australian Cemeteries Index, Arthur Leslie died on 6 May 1972 aged 84
years and is buried in the Presbyterian section of the Castle Hill Cemetery.
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| Frances Kathleen Hosick inside Petty's Hotel |
The bride, Frances
Kathleen HOSICK was born in Hay, NSW in 1906 to parents Frederick Harold HOSICK
(1874-1957) and Kathleen Lismore MOORE (1883–1940). Her
father Frederick was at the time of the marriage, the station manager at Toorale Station near
Bouke, NSW. Frances’ two sisters, Freda Mary born 1908, and Alison Lismore born
1912 were both born at New Angledool, a locality in upper western NSW near the southern border of
Queensland, served as her bridesmaids.
 |
| Hosick sisters
Two more sons were born to
Frederick and Kathleen in Argentina; Frederick Alexander (Sandy), 1920 in
Buenos Aires and Robert Daniel (Bob) in Pamplona in 1918. Both served in World
War II, with Sandy being taken as a POW, while Robert Daniel, served in the RAAF.
A description of the
wedding including details of the dress, flowers and wedding party was found on
Trove, and nicely adds the colour needed to these beautiful photographs.
 |
RODDA - HOSICK Wedding Party
L-R:
A search of the Ryerson
Index found that Frances Kathleen RODDA (HOSICK) passed away on the 7th
October 1994, with a death notice appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald on the
8th October.
Another photo in the group
I acquired shows Alison Lismore HOSICK who went on to marry Daniel "Keith" Lovedale BOYD in 1937 at Chatswood NSW, with her sister. The notation on the
verso reads “To The Rodda’s, Love from Ali”
 |
| Alison and Katheen Hosick
The youngest sister, Freda
Mary HOSICK married George Alfred SHARLAND, an engineer from Burwood, in
Hornsby, NSW in 1951. The brothers, Frederick Alexander married Marie Teresa
O’MARA at Elizabeth Bay in Sydney during 1941, while Robert Daniel married
Marjorie Jean FOWLER in 1944 in Sydney, NSW.
According to the Australian
Electoral rolls, before the marriage, in 1930, Arthur Leslie was working as a
bookkeeper and was living with his mother in Bourke, NSW, while his wife to be,
Frances Kathleen had been living in Ben Boyd Road, Narrabeen, NSW in February
1933 and was working as a Stenographer. The 1937 Australian Electoral Roll
shows the couple living in Glenary
Avenue, Bondi, NSW with Frances engaging in Home Duties while Arthur Leslie is
described as a “Merchant”. At the time of this wedding the electoral roll shows
the still unmarried sisters living with their parents at Toorale Station near
Bourke.
I have made many additional discoveries regarding
the Hosick family and this information can be found on have my newly created basic ancestry public Member Tree “Rodda – Hosick Family Tree”, my user name being OtteryL .
Due to the 100 year rule, I cannot check to see
if any children were born to these couples, however the image of their weddings is
of elegant, poised and beautiful women and I would dearly love to reunite
these images with a close family member.
SOURCES:
Ancestry.com.au Family trees
Australian Electoral Rolls on ancestry.com.au
Australian Cemeteries Index
National Archives of Australia
New South Wales BDM Historical Indexes
Photographs in personal collection of author
Queensland BDM Historical Index
Ryerson Index
State Library of NSW Manuscript collection
Trove
Wikipedia
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