Historical information

Ronald Horace Setford was born in April 1915 at 18 Church Street, Hawthorn, at his family’s home above their decorator shop. He was the second of three sons born to Horace Turner Setford (1880-1944) and Mabel Crofts (1887-1943). He attended Hawthorn West Primary School and then Swinburne before beginning work in his family’s business ‘Setford and Son’ in October 1930. This was formalised in April 1931 when he became a carpentry and joinery apprentice. In 1934 he graduated as a grade four carpenter. Ron worked in the family business until 1964 and then worked at J S Kidd and Co Pty Ltd as a storeman until his retirement in December 1973. Ron married Grace Muriel Agnes Perrey (1915-2001) in 1936 and they first lived in Kew around 1940, at 38 Marshall Avenue.

Ron served in the Citizen Military Forces as a sapper with the 9 Australian Army Transport Company, Royal Australian Engineers, signing up a week after Darwin had been bombed. He spent time in Darwin, Wayville (South Australia), Herberton and Grovely (Queensland). Afterwards he refused to eat rice, never spoke of the war, nor took part in any ANZAC day proceedings.

In 1941, Ron and Grace bought their block of land at 9 Tanner Avenue, East Kew, part of the Old Golf Links Estate, for £225. It was not until December 1945 that Ron started building their home and they moved in during May 1947. Ron and Grace remained there for thirty-seven years until the house was sold to their nephew in 1984. It has since been demolished.

Ron’s great passion was photography and in the early 1960s he purchased his Minolta camera. Slide evenings at Tanner Avenue were a regular occurrence. Ron made his own title slides, interval slides and end slides. As well as many holiday photos (around Australia and their world trip in 1966), he enjoyed photographing local landmarks, flowers, insects and family. One of Ron’s photography projects was to record the progress of the building of the Eastern Freeway. This was near their home, and he’d walk down to the works on a regular basis, dressed smartly, with his camera in hand. The workers thought he was an official photographer, and he was allowed on site to take his photos.

In 1984, Ron and Grace downsized and moved to Bayswater. Ron passed away on 31 October 1988 at the Maroondah Hospital in Ringwood East, at age 73. His ashes were spread on his beloved rose bushes at Tanner Avenue.

Lauren Thomson, 2025