Doris Emily Lockwood

  General Notes:

Doris was educated in the NSW State Education system, she started her first school was the Kogarah Superior Public School. At this time the family were living in Paine Street Kogarah. Doris stayed at this school while her parents moved to Connemarra street Bexley, Warialda Street Kogarah for six years and then to Forest Road Kogarah.
During the Railway Strike in 1917 Doris went to Granville to live with her Grandmother Jemima Barber, she attenede Rosehill Public School at this time. in 1919 her family moved to Leichardt and Doris completed her schooling at Leichardt Public School. Doris completed her education at the age of 14 and went to work in a shirt factory.

The family next moved from Leichhardt to Merrylands and lived, for about two years, in Cumberland Road, which is an area now known as Greystanes and then moved for about twelve months to a house in Merrylands Road. Doris worked at the shirt factory for a while and then moved to the Lipton Tea factory, which was in Kent Street, Sydney where she worked for a short time. While Doris worked here it was her job to pack, not Tea, but Jellies.
In 1922 Doris started work in the office of the Ladies Underclothing (Lingerie) section of the Grace Bros store at Broadway in Sydney. Doris worked in this section for two yearsand then moved to a section known as The Bought Ledger Office where she worked for a Miss Barron for about six years. At that time the wage paid to a senior office worker, at the age of 23 was Three Pounds and One Shilling ($6.10) per week. Shortly after Doris began in this position wages were cut to Two Pounds and Nineteen Shillings ($5.90) per week.
In 1923 the Lockwood Family moved to Macquarie Road Auburn, then on to Simpson Street, Auburn and finally to Harrow Road Auburn. It was while the family lived at Harrow Road Auburn and she was working at Grace Bros that Doris chose, at the age of 17, to marry.
Doris and George announced their engagement on Doris's 21st birthday and were married, at the Methodist Church, in Harrow Road, Auburn on Saturday 8th March 1930.
Doris and George set up their first home at 24 Edward Street, Botany, New South Wales where they were living when the first of their four children was born, on Sunday 22nd February 1931. Shortly after this Doris and George moved from Edward Street to a home at 121 Bay Street, Botany.
This was a bigger house and allowed Doris's aunt, Edith Walton, with her husband Alf, join them. Doris and George were living here when their second child, Valma Doris Keep, was born on Thursday 15th December 1932.
Thursday 13th December 1934 saw the Keep family move to Norval Street, Auburn, where they shared a house with Hilda, who was Doris's sister, and her husband Nug Smith. At this time the Great Depression was in full swing and it was a very commonsense move to share rentals wherever possible. During the period that the family lived at Harrow Road their third child Thelma May Keep was born, on Monday 5th April 1935.
On Friday 3rd July 1936 the Keep family made their last move when they moved into their own home at Hammondville, which is located just outside of Liverpool, New South Wales. The conditions that were required for families to qualify for housing at Hammondville were that the parents had to be out of work and they had to have at least three children. Doris and George qualified on both counts. This house was to be the family home for the next forty two years had very humble beginnings.
The home they moved into was a three roomed weatherboard cottage which had no bathroom, no electricity, was unlined, with an open front verandah and one cold water tap out in the garden area. The toilet was outside and was some distance down the yard.
Even with all of its shortcomings Doris and George thought the house which was set on one acre of ground was great. It was a very humble home and the family suffered many setbacks. This was home to the family when the fourth child, Brian William Keep arrived on Wednesday 29th November 1938. Brian was born at a Private Hospital in Liverpool.
By mid 1938 the house had been connected to the electricity supply and the front of the house was extended during 1939. Doris and George had by now cleared and fenced their block, set up a vegetable garden with a fowl run and later purchased a dairy cow.
In 1956, at the age of 50, Doris obtained her Drivers License and bought a Ford Prefect for transport. This car was later replaced with a Morris Minor. Doris used the car to drive George to work and back after he recovered from an accident, when he was knocked from his cycle on the way home from work. The car was also used for family outings.
After George passed away in 1973 Doris stayed at the Hammondville home, in which she had shared so much with George until her failing eyesight and other medical problems made it impossible for her to live alone. The home at Hammondville was sold and Doris moved to Wollongong to live with her daughter Thelma on Friday 7th April 1978.
During a trip to Coonabarabran, which is sited in North Western New South Wales, Doris made an application for a residence at the Cooinda Hostel, which was both a Retirement Home and Hostel. Cooinda had been built and opened in 1977 just down the road from Valma's home.
Doris moved to Coonabarabran and took up her residence at Cooinda in January 1992. The hostel is set among spacious grounds that are well cared for and to use Doris's own words "It is a marvellous place to live." Doris stayed at Cooinda where she had her own room but went along to the dining room for meals.
Over the years Doris found herself to be more and more reliant on blood transfusions to keep her going and the occurence of these seemed to be getting ever closer. Doris lived at Cooinda for ten years until her death in 1992.
(This is quoted from the web site of Keith and Margaret Collier

Doris married George William Keep on 8 Mar 1930 in Methodist Church, Harrow Rd, Auburn, Nsw, Australia.⁷¹ (George William Keep was born in Newtown, NSW, AUSTRALIA,⁷¹ died on 4 Feb 1973 in Liverpool, NSW, Australia ⁷¹ and was buried in H47a Farden of Sanctity, Crematorium of Leppington, Nsw.)