FRIDAY FACT William George Capper 1907-1988 was born in Melbourne and employed by the Victorian Railways as a 14 year old. He was pensioned off at 19 because of ill health due to heart disease. George was given 5 years to live - told not to smoke and no physical work. He enrolled in the Victorian School of Arts and became an artist. He purchased a Malvern Star bike and set off in 1936, heading to Broken Hill, Western Queensland, then onto Townsville. He mostly camped along the wayside and sometimes painting or taking photographs. His parents had died but his brother provided a home for him in Melbourne. He headed off again in 1938 this time riding to Western Australia and the Northern Territory then home again. During WW2 he flew to Darwin and worked on the wharves then enlisted in the RAAF working as a photographer and was transferred into the army. He was posted to an Army War Graves Unit photographing war graves in PNG; Borneo and Siam (Thailand) until he was discharged in 1947. He finally settled in Richmond and opened a photography business then was an agent for AMP. He was elected as an Alderman and was involved in promoting road safety for children and young cyclists. He was bachelor and made a bequest of $10,000 towards establishing a cycle-way across Ham Common from Richmond to Clarendon. [thanks to Doug Scott :) for the question]
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:41:46 +0000
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