William Henry Lillicrapp Collection,
PictureNT,
PictureNT,
Date
1944,
Location
Elsey,
Description
Caption "Ain't love grand or am I troppo". WL/EMJ carved within a heart on a tree on Elsey Station.
Research has uncovered: W.L. stands for William Lillicrapp, also known as Bill. Born in Melbourne, BIll came to the Territory around 1936, working as a stockman on Elsey Station, before enlisting in the RAAF Base Darwin in 1940. A dig through the archives of the Gippsland Times and we find an announcement that Bill was engaged to (Edna) Maisie John on 13 January 1944. We're not too sure if Edna was in the Territory at the time of the carving in the tree, or whether they were apart. Either way, by 1946 they's left the Territory, were married and according to the Gippsland Times: "The Stork has had a busy time lately. He left a son at the Gippsland Base Hospital for Mr and Mrs William Lillicrap, of Bundalaguah." Wonder if the carving's still there?,