"I am attaching some photos of my family's baskets, as you can see the first one is of my uncle Eric Ballard in 1937, he was only 22 years old there. The basket trade involved all my Father's family, his siblings, his Father Gordon Ballard.
From there Gordon's father John Ballard who had a basket making factory in behind George Street. There is the York Street Car Park covering the area where the factory was.
John's father James Ballard was a convict from Kent, England and his family were basket makers over there. They harvested the willow and James apparently brought some willow pieces over with him which was planted at Distillery Creek. \
The family had a big barn there and when the harvesting of the willows were done, they would have a workers party to celebrate, people would come as far at White Hills to join in. Of course all this was many years ago.
The second photo is of me taken when I was 2 years old. I popped this in as these items were made for me by my Grandfather Gordon Ballard.
The third one is of my Grandfather Gordon Ballard and it was taken in the early 1960s. He died in 1963.
The fourth photo is of Dad taken in 1958 with an example of his baskets. They were washing baskets made of cane and they last forever if looked after. Grandfather and Dad decided to work more with cane as they found that the willow would eventually crack after a few years of use. they imported the cane from China I think. Dad still did like to use willow as a decorative feature and if he got special requests for it.
The next one is of my children in 1984, Rebecca and Scott with a giant dog basket that Dad made. It was huge as you can see. Dad would often get orders for cat and dog baskets. He also made bread baskets, shopping baskets, laundry baskets, even cray pots and he designed what he called the alibaba which was great for washing or toys. there were lots other items too.
Finally is a photo of the cane and willow making tools which we have on loan at the Museum at Invermay. You should be able to have a look at them. They were Dad's tools including the weights he would use to steady the bases for his baskets when making them. There are also willow splitters which belonged to my ancestor James Ballard and which was passed down through the family." .... Judi Gibson (nee Ballard)
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| Ivan Ballard Circa 1958 |
A story prompted by an earlier entry .... "The Ivan Ballard laundry basket you mentioned [LINK] would have had 2 handles. I remember on Dad's 70th birthday and old friend of his who he hadn't seen for years turned up with a laundry basket just like that. His friend complained that the handles had come off. Dad fixed the handles and complained to Mum that the basket had in fact been made by his father and how long do they expect these things to last. His friend turned up for the basket and Dad passed it over. His friend then gave it back and said that it had belonged to his mother and it was over 80 years old. He had played a joke on him. My eldest niece was given the basket, I don't know if she still has it." .... Judi Gibson (nee Ballard)
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