Beyond the Fibro… The Discovery
144 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington, 2020
When we first bought our 1906 Paddington cottage with the white picket fence on Latrobe Terrace, the first thing I did was look for remnants of the past… some possibility of an historic discovery, not unlike the one Under the Lino of 86 Heussler Terrace, our Milton home which had become famous because of what was hidden within.
Not a skerrick of nasty floor covering was found, not a scrap of old newspaper. Polished floorboards throughout. Fresh paint. New fittings. Part of me was delighted, because it meant I didn’t have anything to renovate, but the rest of me was disappointed. Someone else had done all the work, and found all of the secrets. Or so I thought…
One day, we noticed a trail of ants wandering around the tiles in the downstairs shower cubicle, so we followed them. Our little exploration showed soft spots in the timber, and then, a little more found rot in the timber… from a leaky pipe in the ceiling. The whole bathroom had to come out! Seems that perfect little house wasn’t so perfect after all!
We had a couple of lads helping us out at the time, and together we ripped the walls out. The little bathroom had been tacked on to the back of the house, with the plasterboard covering the original weatherboard timber. There was a leak from the upstairs shower that had rotted half the wall and floor - we were lucky the whole shower base hadn’t fallen through!
What we discovered on those weatherboards were names. 23 in all, signed with nikko pen or scratched directly into the green lead paint on the back of the house.
Under those names was the word, ‘Cherbourg’.
I couldn’t believe it. Another mystery was born! The ghosts were obviously following me, and needed to tell some stories. So I did the only thing I could do. I put a post up on a very focussed social media page and waited…
Caylie Jeffery to the Cherbourg Aboriginal Community
Hi guys, I am a local Brisbane writer and historian who was lucky enough to be involved in a wonderful project called Under the Lino, about old money and bank books I found hidden in my 1912 home in Milton. We recently sold that home and bought a 1906 cottage in Latrobe Tce, Paddington.
We have been renovating that cottage, and as with our last house, have been incredibly fortunate to find some blasts from the past... this time, in the form of names written on the original weatherboards that have been hidden under bathroom fibro. I would very much like to hear the stories of the people who used to live in this house, and who have left their messages here for me to find. I have a feeling that these stories need to be told and I would like to help tell them. The names are as follows...
Margaret Jerome
Margaret Blair
Ted
Les & Sue
G. Deen (Westbrook)
Geoff
Royce
Teddy Hopkins
Barry & Margeret
Vince Blair
Robyn Davis
Sue Toby
Zon-boy 1972
Gerome Blair
Warren Cobbo
And the words ‘Cherbourg’ twice and ‘Black-on-Black’ written twice.
I have no idea when most of these names were written, or whether those people were visiting here or lived here... I would very much like to hear the stories of any people in the Cherbourg community who have stories to share with me.
In terms of trustworthiness, my Godparents are the recently passed Uncle Steve and Aunty Pam Mam. I will cherish all stories shared with me and gain full permission before sharing them with others.
Your help would be appreciated, PM me any time.
Caylie Jeffery
#BeyondTheFibro
Guess what happened next?
144 Latrobe Tce, Paddington, 1980
