Today we had the pleasure of uniting two Tweddle babies. Historian Jim Hevey was brought to Tweddle on the night of his birth on the 8th of August 1939, not expected to live through the night.
Incredibly, 1938 Tweddle baby Lawrence Franklin recently met a Tweddle staff member in Yarraville after recognising the well-known Tweddle logo on her car.
Today we heard some wonderful stories of their shared history of Melbourne’s west, including Footscray, Spotswood, Seddon, Altona, and Yarraville.
Lawrence, born on the 12th of January 1938, said that his dad used to ride his bike from where they lived near the Footscray side of Seddon station, to deliver expressed milk to Lawrence who was being cared for at the Tweddle Baby Hospital.
Lawrence played footy for Seddon and Jim played footy for Spotswood, although Lawrence says he only played a few games! They were both educated in Melbourne’s west. Jim went to Spotswood State School and Footscray Tech, and Lawrence, Footscray City Primary and Footscray Central.
We loved hearing about the stories of old bluestone homes and quarries, bread delivered by horse and cart, Jim as a baby being kept warm in a box on an old stovetop, working for Shell Spotswood for 35 years (and ten months!) and old ads in the Bacchus Marsh Gazette.
We are grateful to Jim who in 2015 researched and captured a great deal of Tweddle’s history. Jim updated the book for Tweddle’s Centenary. The amazing book is published online on the Tweddle Historical Centenary website.
We are reminded that every day at Tweddle, we are supporting wonderful babies, toddlers and parents through our programs to thrive, and go on to contribute to their families and communities for generations, like Jim and Lawrence.
You can find Tweddle’s history captured in Jim’s tribute at:
