A teenage couple were inundated with gifts after losing nearly everything they owned after a fire gutted their temporary Narrabundah flat, reported The Canberra Times on this day 56 years ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The cause of the fire was unknown. Mrs Carol Bray, 18 and her 19-year-old apprentice plumber husband, lost wedding presents, including sets of valuable crockery and cutlery, cooking utensils, books and all their clothing in the fire.
The young couple received gifts including clothing and other items for their 13-month-old son, money, eggs and a big cake. Others offered accommodation.
The biggest material gift came from the Department of Interior.
A branch spokesperson said the family had been allocated a two-bedroom flat on a distress basis immediately after Christmas. In the meantime, the couple had resided with Mrs Bray's parents in their home in Sixteenth Street, Narrabundah.
That front page also carried the news the preliminary plans for a large public park on the foreshores of Lake Burley Griffin between Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and Parkes Way had been completed by the National Capital Development Commission.
It was billed as a future place of quiet enjoyment in the heart of the national capital, featuring a wide variety of plants.
One of the world's leading landscape architects, London-based Sylvia Crowe, had drawn up the design, which was to be known as Commonwealth Gardens.
The project was expected to take 10 years. The area is now Commonwealth Park.
