Historical information

Mr James de Graaf in 1929 with his 1925 T FORD. James’ father Jacobus de Graaf arrived in Melbourne from Holland in 1853 and married Eliza Twite, aged 16 years. James married Caroline Kink in 1885 and came to live at 13 Charles Street, near Elgar Road soon after. James rode to and from work in Richmond until the train timetables were suitable for his work schedule. He then would put his bicycle in the guards van and from Richmond would still have to ride a distance. Eventually he worked in the timber trade in Box Hill. One of his recreations was the training of gun-dogs and he also boarded gun-dogs for some local owners.

Physical description

A black and white photograph of a man standing in front of a Ford motor car. He is wearing a 3 piece suit and and a hat. The registration no. of the car is 9743.