ONE hundred years ago this week, a wedding between two of Werribee’s most renowned families was front page news.
The Werribee Banner dedicated three columns to the union of Francis Ferguson Smith and Martha Elizabeth Tyzack, whose family owned a well-known drapery on the corner of Watton and Station streets, where Elders now stands.
The wedding was of such interest the shire declared Wednesday, May 7, 1913 a half-day holiday to allow shopkeepers to attend.
The couple’s granddaughter, Tarneit resident Barbra Hallisey, said she was amazed at the amount of space given to the wedding and the detail in the story.
“In those days that was front-page news,” Mrs Hallisey, a third-generation Wyndham resident, said. “The story included the name of every guest and their gift — you wouldn’t expect that sort of detail today.”
