These two photos have popped up from various sources amongst the Keady cousins at different times. As with many photos, unfortunately there are no captions on the back, no date, no description, nor notes on the people in them.
However, we can be sure of a couple of the people, and fairly certain that the photos were taken by Fred, who was an apparently an avid photographer, even doing his own developing. (Fred even took his camera when he was serving in the Army during WW II).
What do we know for sure ?
Fred Keady is standing on the right, leaning on the bike in the first photo, and standing on the left in the second photo. This was confirmed by Fred’s daughter Veronica. Looking closely you can see he is wearing the same shirt and hat.
Roy’s son Michael confirms that it is Roy standing on the left in the first photo, wearing a footy jumper.
Identification of the other’s requires a bit of an educated guess as to when these photos might have been taken. They certainly look like they are on the road with their swags and billys. Realistically the only time they are likely to have had to hit the road was during the worst strike at the Wonthaggi Coal Mine in 1934. The strike lasted for 5 months from March to July, 1934. All accounts from the time suggest the miners had a terrible time just surviving.
In 1934, Thomas Patrick (senior), Jack and Roy were all working at the State Coal Mine. Thomas Patrick (jnr) had left the mine in 1929, Bob in 1933 and it is unclear what Fred was doing. (Fred’s employment record show he started in June, 1927, aged 14, but his termination date just says, “LEFT”. Sounds like he might have done a runner at some stage because all the other employment records for the Keady boys are very precise as to their termination dates.)
Unless someone has a marked up copy of this photo which will help with identification, let’s assume they are all members of the Keady family on the road trying to survive during the 1934 strike.
The middle person in the first photo is most likely Thomas Patrick (jnr) as he is a similar height to Roy and Fred and has a rounded face, as in the other few photos of Thomas. He looks a little older too. While not working at the mines, Thomas was still living at 51 Cameron Street, Wonthaggi, the family home.
In the second photo, the middle person is definitely quite a bit older than Fred, and may well be Thomas Patrick (Senior). Which leaves Jack on the right of the photo.
Note of Explanation. There a quite a few versions of these photos circulating amongst the cousins which caused a lot of head scratching. It turns out some of them are mirror images of the above photos. Fred must have been mucking around in his dark room as he developed them. The give away is the chain sprocket on the bike, it is always on the right side of the bike !
Happy to be corrected on anything above if someone is fortunate enough to have a marked up copy or the original of the above photos.
Irrespective of the accuracy of my detective work, it’s worth keeping in mind what a tough year, 1934 must have been for the Keady Family in Wonthaggi. All the older members of the family in all likelihood had no work, and at home Lillian was still looking after Kevin (16yo), Jimmy (15yo), Molly (12 yo) and George (10yo).
Keady Family in Victoria 