Alfred Westcott Badger  
Timeline  
     

Alfred Westcott

Alfred Westcott BADGER born 25/2/1860 died 21/1/1945 Sheet
1882   m. Lavinia Selena SELWAY b. circa 1860 d.1897        
1883     Ethelwyn Howard            
1888       Hedley Gordon          
1893         Howard Mostyn        
1896         Howard dies    
1897 Terowie Lavinia Dies          
1898           m. Alice CUST b.1860 d. 1940  
1899             Howard Cuthbert    
1900               Leila Alice  
1907 Georgetown                
1912 St.Peters                
1915 Balaklava                
1915 Pinnaroo                
1918 Laura                
1921 Mt.Lofty Alfred president of the S.A. Baptist Union
  Myrtle Bank                
                Leila marries Robert Maxwell WILSON b.1894 d 1967  
1925 St.Peters           Howard dies Brian Robert WILSON  
1940           Alice dies      
1942       Hedley dies          
1944                 m. Priscilla Emma Lambert BADGER b.1874 d.1959
1945   Alfred dies              
1956     Ethylwyn dies            
1959                 Priscilla dies
1967               Robert dies  
                   

 

Alfred, the eldest son of the second family, left home sometime in his teens and went to Adelaide where he joined the Post Office. He presumably started as a messenger boy, b1,lt he was very keen on telegraphy and quickly became proficient in Morse Code. He had been named' Alfred' but his daughter, Leila, records that he hated being ' A. Badger', so later on he legally adopted the second name 'Westcott', a name associated with his mother's people in England. He always referred to himself as A.W.B. In 1882 at the age of twenty-two, Alfred married Lavinia Selway, daughter of William Henry Selway and Jane Singer Pool, who had arrived from England on 1 September, 1845. Leila records that the young couple came together through their intense love of music. Lavinia played very well and Alfred possessed a strong, clear tenor voice. He loved to sing anywhere at anytime and his wife was able to play his accompaniments. It was a life-long sorrow to him that he never learned music or had his voice trained. He couldn't read a note of music and had everything in Tonic-Sol-Fa, including his church hymn book. While he was working at the GPO in Adelaide he often slipped into Stow Church when he knew the organist would be practising, just to listen to the music. He struck up a grea-t friendship with the organist, who offered to teach him without charge. He was unable to accept the offer because they had no piano or organ and could not afford to buy music, but he never got over his disappointment. Their first home was at Kingston Terrace, North Adelaide, where the rent took 10/- per week out of Alfred's salary of 22/6 per week. Later they moved 10 South Terrace and three children were born. The third child, Howard, was a darling baby and his mother adored him. Then tragedy struck. One night in June 1896 they were awakened by the screaming child, who had what was then known as convulsions. Alfred grabbed his bicycle and raced off to the home of Dr. Verco at the corner of North Terrace and Charles Street. He awakened the doctor and his coachman but by the time the doctor was dressed, the horses harnessed and they arrived at South Terrace the baby had died. Prostrate with grief, the mother never recovered and died in hospital the following year.

The tragic end to Alfred's first marrIage has already been described. Alfred did not remain a widower for long, being remarried in July 1898 to Alice Gust, daughter of William Gust and Alice Glasgow. There were two children of this marriage, a boy and a girl. Details are shown in the accompanying chart.
Alfred's career in the Post Office took him as postmaster to a number of places, mainly in the country -Terowie (1897- 1907), Georgetown (1907-12), St. Peters (1912-15), Balaklava (1915), Pinnaroo (1915-18), Laura (1918-21). In each of these places, except Balaklava, where he refused to stay, he was a staunch worker for the Baptist cause, serving variously as secretary, choir leader, deacon and lay preacher .
Like his father, Alfred took an active interest in the affairs of the SA Baptist Union and was its President in 1921.
On completing his term at Laura, he retired and lived briefly at Mt. Lofty and then Myrtle Bank, but after the sudden death of his son, Howard, in 1925 he returned to St. Peters and remained there until his wife's death in December 1940. A few months before his death he was married for a third time to Priscilla, the widow of his brother Henry.