1. About 1907 in Victoria or South Australia
2. 19 September 1942, Manly, Sydney, New South Wales

1. Unknown, about 1907 in Victoria or South Australia. She and John separated in Western Australia in the mid 1930s
2. Phyllis May Turner, 1913, Kirribilli, Sydney, New South Wales from whom he separated in about 1948.

1. with Unknown, Margot, 1930 probably Western Australian possibly South Australia
2. with Phyllis May Turner, John Spencer, 1944, Ashfield, Sydney, New South Wales

For some reason John, as he preferred to be called or Keith as his family called him, bitterly resented his family particularly his sister and he avoided them most of his life. The only time I am aware of him voluntarily contacting his sister is when he wanted information on the family history that he did not remember himself. I have copies of letters to his sisters asking questions about things he professed to me to remember for himself.

It was a good idea that John decided to leave the timber getting in the Rubicon or he might have died there in the fires of Black Friday 1939 as did some of his cousins. When he went to Melbourne he made his living as a salesman but one of the ideas he put into practice with a friend during the depression was:

"We put an ad in the paper suggesting that if the mugs sent us a pound (about a week's wages), we would send them 100 ways to save their marriage. Well, we did send them 100 ways to save a marriage. 100 recipes.". Enough said.

John was an extremely good salesman and followed this profession in one way or another for the remainder of his life. He did not join the forces during the 2nd World War because he was pronounced medically unfit. We have a copy of the certificate, however, he did help the war effort by going back into timber getting with his soon to be wife Phyllis May Turner.

The achievements of which John was most proud were his dancing and his tennis. He danced in competitions everywhere he went and in the mid-1930s coached the winners of the Western Australain State Finals. With his tennis he wagered that he could not work his way through A, B & C grade tennis in 3 years. The other man should have known John better. Give him a goal like this and he'll work extremely hard at it. He did work his way through all 3 grades, playing against Davis Cup Champions and being asked to make himself available for Davis Cup selection. He continued to play tennis until the year before his death at 81 ... cigarette hanging from the right corner of his mouth.

Unfortunately John did have his dark side. When he separated from his first wife, he lost contact with his daughter Margot and, when he separated from his 2nd wife Phyllis and his son John came to live with him, he seems to have successfully stopped Phyllis from contacting her son causing them both considerable pain.

As an amusing aside, John travelled throughout New South Wales in the 1940s and 50s selling lingerie for a company he owned. He would go to places such as hospitals and sell, on order, to the nurses. The nurses would pay the garment off over time and when the order was almost fully paid up he would have the goods made and then despatched when fully paid. While he was doing this he visited Narranderra Hospital where one of the nurses was June Turner (no relation to his wife). June later married Gordon Edwards. Gordon being the ex-nuptual son of John's wife Phyllis and thus John's son's half brother. What a small world it is.

1. All of the information on this page is garnered from discussions with John, his son John and his sister-in-law Sybil Turner McCredie.