From Austerity to Prosperity: Trittons in the 1940s.

Guest blogger: Mary Howells - 2022 Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame Fellow

The years of the Second World War came with challenges. While there were soon shortages of materials and staff, the business continued to operate. A number of the Tritton family members served during World War II. *

Tritton’s daughter Nelle, divorced her first husband and married the former Russian Premier, Alexander Kerensky, in a secret ceremony in Pennsylvania on 21 August 1939. Germany invaded Poland and war was declared by Britain on 3 September, creating a tumultuous time for the couple. They moved to Paris where they lived until the Nazi invasion in June 1940, when they had to flee (1).

Her mother Eliza’s charitable work became more demanding. She had been elected president of the Queen Alexandra Home and Margaret Marr Memorial Homes Committee in March 1939.  In June 1940, she and Roy Tritton’s wife Irene, initiated a Trittons staff Comforts Fund. The group made pyjamas, undershirts, handkerchiefs, socks, scarves and caps; all sent to the men at the front (2).

Grandson Ken Tritton recalls the Tritton’s factory making ammunition boxes, which had to be finely dovetailed timber pieces; no nails or screws could be used, in case of abrasion with the ammunition in transit. Ken also recalls that the American mail service operated from back of Trittons in George Street.

Queensland’ State Advances Corporation began planning its post war construction program in 1943, intending to build 1000 new homes annually. A meeting of the Trades and Labour Council in February 1944 suggested that the cost of furniture should be included as part of a housing loan.  Trittons was asked to provide an estimate for the cost of furnishing a two-bedroom workers’ dwelling. Trittons estimated a house could be furnished for £109.16.8d (approx. $220).  No evidence has been located of contracts between Trittons and the Queensland Housing Commission, and the cost of furniture has never been included in a housing loan. Nevertheless, by 1949, Trittons had a backlog of furniture in storage destined for the Queensland Housing Commission (previously State Advances Corp) (3).

The war in the Pacific ended in August 1945, and a celebratory exhibition was held in Trittons Art Gallery in October 1945, featuring Australia’s war artist from WWI, Albert Henry Fullwood. The exhibition was opened by the president of the Queensland Art Society, Professor James Vincent Duhig (4).

Tritton’s daughter Nell and husband Alexander Kerensky were on their way back to Australia by this time, having evaded capture by the Nazis in France, escaped to England and later to America. Nell suffered a mild heart attack in New York. They sailed to Melbourne in November 1945, where Alexander applied unsuccessfully for a post at Melbourne University.  They then flew home to Brisbane to stay at Elderslie. Nell’s health continued to fade, and she died on 10 April 1946. Kerensky stayed for a short time with the Tritton family, before securing a position at Stamford University, California (5).

Fred Tritton was devastated by the death of his daughter. Eleven months later he suffered a stroke and died at home on 13 March 1947: aged 81. He was buried in South Brisbane Cemetery, alongside his eldest daughter Lillian and son Frederick Charles. He had left instructions with the Directors, that every staff member, apart from the executives, were to receive the equivalent of one weeks’ wages, on the event of his death, in appreciation of their ‘loyalty and honest endeavors to make the business a success’ (6).

Mary Howells

The Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fameopen_in_new is an initiative of QUT Business School, State Library of Queensland.

Other blogs by Mary Howells

• Fred Tritton - From Second-hand Dealer to Furniture Manufacturer (1886-1910)
• Trittons - Gold Medal Manufacturer (1910 – 1930)
• What Depression? Trittons prosper during the early 1930s
• Fred Tritton: Renaissance man
• Trittons: Flourishing through the fifties
• Tritton’s Legacy
   

References

* Cyril was a probationary lieutenant with the Light Horse; Roy served in an administrative role with the Air Force (reputedly on aircraft recognition); their nephews Walter Grey served in city recruiting, and Joseph Henry (both sons of Fred Tritton’s brother Joseph Walter) served in the AIF, while their cousin Flight Lieutenant Norman Charles (son of Charles, deceased eldest son of Fred Tritton), served in the Air Force. Norman Corbett Tritton (son of Joseph Walter) had been appointed as the private secretary to the Prime Minister Robert Menzies, in May 1939.  

1. Names searches www.naa.gov.au in WWII and Air Force records; ‘Brisbane Man, secretary to Prime Minister’, Courier Mail,  4 May 1939, p.3; ‘Secret Wedding in USA, Ex-Russian Premier and Brisbane Woman, to make home in Paris’, Newcastle Morning Herald, 23 August 1939, p.10; See also De Vries, Susanna, Nell: the Australian heiress who saved her husband from Stalin and the Nazis, a biography based on the lives of Nell Tritton and Alexander Kerensky, Boolarong Press, 2020.
2. ‘New President’. Telegraph, 29 March 1939, p.18; ‘Fine work by Tritton’s Comfort Fund’, Telegraph, 30 July 1940, p.6; see also Michael Rogers, (Anglican archivist), ‘St John’s Cathedral archives blog ‘Anglican Focus’ 5 August 2020 on Eliza Tritton OBE. https://anglicanfocus.org.au/2020/08/05/eliza-tritton-obe/ accessed 1 February 2023.
3. Memo from the undersecretary of public works in relation to planned building and furnishing homes, 15 Sept 1944; State Advances Corp, Post War Reconstruction File ITM1623086, Queensland State Archives; ‘Trades and Labor Council, Delegates Meeting’, Northern Miner (Charters Towers), 18 February 1944, p.2; ‘Tritton’s seek Premises’, Courier Mail, 20 September 1949, p.5.
4. ‘Exhibition of Fullwood’s Art’ Courier Mail, 23 October 1945, p.2.
5. De Vries op.cit pp. 214-222; ‘Kerensky in Brisbane’, Worker, 19 November 1945, p.18; see also Australian Dictionary of Biography, Judith Armstrong ‘Tritton, Lydia Ellen (Nell) online.
6. De Vries op.cit p. 223; Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search, Fred, Lillian, Fredrick Charles and later Eliza, all buried together at South Brisbane Cemetery; Lydia Ellen (Nelle) was cremated at Mt Thompson Crematorium- see ‘Funeral Notice’s, Telegraph, 11 April 1946, p.6; Typescript letter, signed by FW Tritton, held by Ken Tritton; Frederick William Tritton Death Certificate #45262, Queensland State Archives Ecclesiastical File ITM2823302.
7. ‘Death Last Night of Mr F W Tritton’, Telegraph, 14 March 1947, p.2; ‘Mr F W Tritton Left £86,765’, Courier Mail, 3 July 1947, p.1; Will of Frederick William Tritton, Queensland State Archives Ecclesiastical File ITM2823302; Reserve Bank of Australia, Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator online.
8. ‘Trittons George St, Another Burley Sign’ – advertising Central Queensland Herald (Rockhampton), 22 July 1948, p.11.
9. ’Fivefold Rise since 1945’, Brisbane Telegraph, 19 September 1949, p.2; ‘Tritton’s seek Premises’, Courier Mail, 20 September 1949, p.5; ’Johnsonian Club in New Home’, Courier Mail, 28 June 1937, p.12; ‘Firm’s plea fails’, Courier Mail, 23 September 1949, p.5; ‘To convert 62 Buildings for Housing’, Telegraph, 13 November 1947, p.5.