Leslie John Short (1908 - 1958)

Born 30 Mar 1908 in Bristol, Gloucestershire

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 28 May 1958 at age 50 in Brisbane Qld

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Biography

Leslie John Short was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, in 1908, and arrived in Melbourne with his mother Nellie Cave and brother Harry, in November 1914. They had sailed from London aboard the Indrapura. Les is shown in the shipping records as being 6 years old, Harry as 11 years old, and Nellie as 31 years old.^[1]

Les was an accountant, and he and Belle lived at one stage in Yarrawonga, where their daughter Joy was born. Belle recounts that Les stood for the local State seat in Yarrawonga as an Australian Labor Party Candidate. Belle also said they would often go to Canberra to listen to Parliament.

When they moved to Melbourne, they had a small shop in the beach side suburb of Elwood. Les and Belle made their own ice-creams and people came from all over Melbourne to buy them she said.

Because of Les's asthma, their doctor advised them to move to Queensland, and they moved to Warwick, and subsequently to Brisbane, where they had a corner store in Windsor. Belle reported that Les was treated with doses of cortisone for his asthma, which were obscenely expensive at ten pounds per dose, at a time when that was probably about the equivalent of the weekly wage.

Les died at the age of 50, which Belle says was from cardiomegaly caused by the massive doses of cortisone he had been having.

Sources

1. ↑ Public Record Office of Victoria. Inward Overseas Passenger Lists VPRS 947/P0000, Oct-Dec 1914, page 9. Accessed 8 August, 2021. Unassisted Passenger Lists 1852-1923. https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/passenger-records-and-immigration/unassisted-passenger-lists