TitleFramed Wedding Portrait Lew And Essie StubbsObject TypePhotographDate1931DescriptionColoured wedding portrait of Lewis (Lew) & Essie Stubbs (nee Stocks) taken 1931.
Makers MarkF.Raphael?Provenance and SignifcanceDuring his lifetime of 94 years, Lewis (Lew) Stubbs witnessed the first aeroplane to land in Wollongong, and the first bulldozer to work on the coast. He was born at Albion Park in 1907, on the site of the current Woolworths supermarket. He was one of nine children born to John Stubbs and Selina Green.
Lew worked as apprentice to Shellharbour builder Thomas (Tommy) Whitfield and helped construct many buildings, including the Dunmore Quarry houses and Post Office opposite the former Dunmore Shellharbour Railway Station. Lew and the other apprentices would be docked threepence from their pay, if they left any hammer marks on the wood when driving in the nails.
During the war, Lew installed tank traps on roads between Otford and Macquarie Pass, when there were fears the Japanese would invade Port Kembla.
After working at Tallawarra Power Station, Lew was employed by Shellharbour Council, until his retirement in 1975. He helped construct Shellharbour Swimming Pool, which was the first in the area.
Lew was an outstanding sportsman. He played in the Albion Park Rugby League team, and was captain of the first Albion Park team to win the South Coast First Grade Premiership in 1944. In cricket, Lew was handy with both bat and ball, playing in both Albion Park and South Coast competitions over many years.
In the words of friend John O’Dwyer ‘to have a conversation with Lew Stubbs was a history lesson on Albion Park, such was his knowledge of the district’.DonorStubbs, Desmond
