Fire at De Boos Street Temora 1930
I have in my possession an old fire/smoke damaged book titled "The Old Gray Rosary".
My father (John William Hingerty 1923- 2008) always told me that the book was saved from 'the house fire' in Temora.
He probably also told me who owned the house and when the fire occurred, but I didn't remember any of the details.
While researching other aspects of the life of the Hingerty family in Temora, New South Wales, I remembered about the fire and thought I might investigate one day.
Then, in a series of email exchanges with fellow Hingerty descendants, a house fire in Temora was mentioned and my interest was once again piqued- thank you CP and MT for the memory prompt!
According to the Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser of 24 January 1930 a wooden building in deBoos Street Temora, owned by Thomas Hingerty (1868- 1940) and his family burned down.
The book I hold isn't listed among the few items saved....
What I also find interesting is the number of house fires there were in a small country town like Temora. The newspaper report says there had been 3 in 12 days, and a quick scan of the topic 'Fire AND Temora' in the TROVE newspaper collection, results in pages and pages of incidents.
Returning to the book, I took a closer look and realised that the book had been a prize awarded to Frank Hingerty (Francis Patrick Hingerty 1893-1946, son of Thomas Hingerty).
The prize sticker sets the date at 13-12-6 so it was most likely an end of year school award for the 13 year old Frank.
Frank received the book for "General Improvement".
The book is set in the USA and tells the story of a Catholic slave in a Protestant household. It contains many pages explaining Catholic pious practices often in quite flowery language....... I wonder if the teenage Frank ever read it.....
My sister Janet (Hegarty nee Hingerty) holds a silver milk jug/creamer given to her by our father. She was told that it too came out of the house fire.
Do you have any Hingerty memorabilia damaged by fire, flood or other pestilence?
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Wow! Thank you for sharing. It certainly assists one travelling through these ‘unprecedented’ times to reflect on the numerous challenges faced by one’s ancestors. Strength is provided by their stories! Thank you!!
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