I've been trying to find out more about the house that was raffled. It was located in Croydon Road, Canterbury (now listed as Surrey Hills) and you'd think the winning ticket holder would have been over the moon at winning a house valued at £600.
However, by mid-October 1917 no one had come forward to claim the prize! The winning ticket number was advertised a number of times, but what happened to the house remains a mystery.
Argus, 19 September 1917
Yea Chronicle, 18 October 1917
I've checked TROVE for all of 1918 but then it becomes much more difficult to search the newspapers, because very few are online after the end of World War One.
So, if anyone out there knows what happened to the house, it would be wonderful to hear from you. Who did have ticket number 66,120, the winning ticket? And did they ever get to live in the double-fronted brick villa in Croydon Road, Canterbury?
Just to remind you, here is the advertisement for the house being raffled:
Weekly Times, 4 August 1917, p.34
Croydon Historical Society might be able to find out.
ReplyDeleteHm. That'd be me, then. If only we had a street address for the house, then I could look in the rate books or check Sands and McDougall Directories. I must admit, I did wonder who donated the house and whether it was a family member. If only Linda's surname was something other than Davis!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog while searching for pictures of Paris around 1918. I am writing a blog about finding a biological father through DNA. It appears he was in WWI and his diary is in the Canberra War Memorial. I was hoping you would give me permission to use your postcards (with acknowledgement). I am doing the A to Z and have only uploaded to C. The pictures would be in P for Paris. The blog address is:
ReplyDeleteargonautsite.wordpress.com
Regards, Linda Curry
Thanks for getting in touch, Linda. Yes, please use the images. What an interesting quest! And quite emotional, I imagine.
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