Harold Bradford

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Biography

Harold was born in 1901. ^[1] Harold's mother Elizabeth and father James ran the Tannymorel Royal Hotel from 1909 to some time after 1930. As a boy, Harold attended Tannymorel State School starting on Jul 9, 1906, aged 5y 0m. His school records show that he was not in school between 7/1907 to 1/1913. After returning he finally left in Jun 1915. His school records show his residence as Tannymorel, his parent's occupation as Farmer (while his brother's school record states Engineer), and his religion of Roman Catholic.^[2]

He was educated to Junior level at high school. Harold met Aileen when she was teaching at the local Mt Colliery School, and she stayed at his family's hotel at Tannymorel. When they were courting, Aileen's father, Thomas Gentner and Harold got on well together and decided to go into business together. They bought a garage in the Main Street of Beenleigh. Cousin Albert Lorisch built Harold and Aileen a beautiful home in Beenleigh next to the garage. Aileen had saved enough money to furnish the house, and Harold had enough for the purchase of the house itself. The Lohrisch family lived next door to the garage and there was a wonderful relationship between the two families. Harold and Aileen were married in 1928 at St Patrick's Cathedral, in the Valley and the reception was held at Aileen's parents' Harcourt Street home. ^[3] Harold was an excellent saleperson. He won many prizes for General Motors car sales at his garage. Each week he would go to Eagers in Brisbane two or three times to organise sales of cars. Record sales of petrol were made at the garage, and to catch the traffic coming up from the coast a "top shop" was purchased. Aileen and her father Tom shared the bookwork for the business, and there was always a girl to help with the housework and the children. Harold was killed in an accident near German Bridge (opposite Sterculia Ave) outside the Holland Park Hotel on his 37th birthday. ^{[4] [5]}He had been in the city doing business. The story goes that he was veering to avoid hitting some ladies getting off a tram, and he hit the tram. His wife and two small children were waiting at home with the table set for birthday dinner and birthday cake. ^[6] Harold is buried in Beenleigh Cemetery.^{[7] [8]}

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Government, Births, Deaths, Marriages. Birth registration: Harold Charles Bradford Birth date: 07/07/1901 Mother's name: Lizzie Wren Father/parent's name: James William Bradford Registration details: 1901/C/2713 Harold Charles Bradford Birth Index
2. ↑ Admission Register - Tannymorel State School, 01/02/1879 - 05/03/1951 ID ITM630224 Queensland Government. Pg 7, Line 249.
3. ↑ Queensland Government, Births, Deaths, Marriages. Marriage registration: Harold Charles Bradford Marriage date: 04/08/1928 Spouse's name: Aileen May Gentner Registration details: 1928/B/4113 Harold Charles Bradford Marriage Index
4. ↑ Queensland Government, Births, Deaths, Marriages. Death registration: Harold Charles Bradford Birth year: 1901 Mother's name: Lizzie Wren Father/parent's name: James William Bradford Registration details: 1938/B/40137Harold Charles Bradford Death Index
5. ↑ newspaper clippings about car crash in 1938: "KILLED ON HIS BIRTHDAY (1938, July 8). The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40987788
6. ↑ copies of police report of car accident and witness statements obtained from Queensland State Archives
7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122752789/harold-charles-bradford: accessed 22 November 2022), memorial page for Harold Charles Bradford (7 Jul 1901–7 Jul 1938), Find a Grave Memorial ID 122752789, citing Beenleigh Cemetery, Beenleigh, Logan City, Queensland, Australia; Maintained by III (contributor 47426837) .
8. ↑ Biography details taken from oral history told by Harold's wife Aileen Pryde in about 1998