Laslett family history

William and Alice Lasslett of Footscray

William Arthur Lasslett was born in 1887 at Footscray the seventh child of William Vevers Lasslett and Ann Matilda Lasslett née Lawson of Footscray (page 126).

A Carpenter, he lived in West Footscray.

On 7 March 1914 at St. John's Church of England, Footscray he married Alice May Halliday (born 1892), a Dressmaker of Footscray, the daughter of James William Halliday, a Pattern Maker, and Amelia Clara Halliday nee Baster.

In 1959 a book celebrating Footscray's First 100 Years was published and carried a small note on William on page 51. Under the heading "No Street Lights if Full Moon!" it says:

Gas Lamps - which replaced the old kerosene lamps of an earlier stage - illuminated local streets until about 40 years ago. They were spaced well apart and their glow offered little illumination on the darkest nights. They were extinguished not long after midnight.

A Kingsville resident who was born here 72 years ago, William Lasslett, was a lamp-lighter for Footscray Gas Company - which provided the service for the council - as a youth. He remembers how, if there was a full moon, the gas lamps would not be lit at all. He started lighting up around Yarraville at 4 p.m. each day, and resumed the round, to put out the flare, shortly after midnight."

William was buried in Footscray Cemetery on 3 August 1980.

Family of William and Alice Lasslett

Sons

WILLIAM JAMES - born 16 February 1916 at Footscray. On 12 May 1945 married Marie Joan Coverdale (born 2 May 1924 at Flemington. Jim died at Sacred Heart Hospital, Moreland on 7 March 1989.

See chapter Jim and Marie Lasslett of Keilor on page 185.

GEOFFREY HALLIDAY - born 1 June 1930 at Footscray. A Clerk. On 8 April 1950 at St Paul's Church Kingsville he married Mabel Zelma Frew (born 24 December 1929 at West Footscray) the daughter of William Thomas Archibald Frew and Thomasina Mabel Frew nee George.
Children:
Geoffrey William - born 4 January 1952 at Carlton. An Electrician. Married Cecilia Margaret Hudson (born 17 November 1949) on 23 October 1971. She is the daughter of Frederick Malcolm Hudson and Mary Therese Hudson nee Clifford.
Children:
Grahame Paul - born 4 May 1972.
Gavin Russell - born 17 April 1973.
Gordon Malcolm - born 9 September 1959 at Footscray. A Structural Steel Worker.

Daughters

VEVERS LORNA.
NELLIE MAY.