My brother was recently
caught up in the middle of an unseasonal bushfire in the Adelaide Hills. Thanks
to his many years (about 20 years) of fire brigade volunteering and training,
and that of his son, they had taken many measures to ensure the safety of their
house and themselves. (Their neighbour’s house was sadly lost).
Our grandfather John Raikes
GARRETT (1908-1992) and his father Lewis Raikes GARRETT (1876-1939) were also
involved in fire brigades, at Eastern Hill in Melbourne and at St Kilda. I’ve written a little on this previously and there is a photo of father and son fire fighting together in that post.
Lewis married the beautiful
lady in my last blog post, Constance Edith TERRY (1871-1925).
What I hadn’t known was that
Lewis’ father in law, Alfred TERRY (1823-1881) was also an avid fire fighter.
Alfred was a prominent
brewer and so I was sure there must be an obituary somewhere for him. I didn’t
expect to find this:
…In his last hours he was very anxious
about one thing…he hoped his men would maintain the honor of their corps and
run for the Britannia Fire Associations Challenge Cup, which they hold and
still keep. To the late Mr Alfred Terry’s exertions the efficiency of the
Carlton Brewery V. F. Brigade was mainly due…
…“If a fire was any where near his
place he was the first to be there, and the last to leave.”
The Britannia Cup was again
won by the Carlton Brigade.
Searching further, I found
Alfred had invented a “jumping sheet” or fire escape to prevent injuries in
those who had to jump from burning buildings.
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