What could have happened in these ten years to change their lives so?
Hello juneymoon
Short answer to your question ... they had two New Zealand-born sons.
People moved for all sorts of reasons.
I've checked New Zealand newspapers for any sign of them from 1906 to 1910 ... nothing at all popped up.
* Do you know if they had family living in New Zealand - and if so, might that have been a reason for them emigrating here ?
* Likewise ... did they have family living in Australia, before they moved there ?
I note that NZ electoral rolls list Albert and Julia only once - for the year of
1908.
Some time earlier they were living in Wellington at No. 2 Alfred Street - a short (first) street off Adelaide Road (a main thoroughfare), which begins near the junction of where the Basin Reserve (cricket ground) stands. The top end of Alfred Street, bordered onto the large grounds of Wellington (Boys) College and Government House (home to the Governor General).
I'll see if I can find some photos of the area for you. The houses in that vicinity would have been rather small, wooden, single-storey "working man" style cottages, with small yards. The land was flat-ish, rising slightly where it met the Govt. House grounds. [It's all now filled with apartment blocks so "google street view" is of no help.]
They obviously moved from Wellington during
1907 (even though listed on the 1908 Wellington e/roll), as the birth of their son Alfred was registered at Taihape (pronounced "tai-ha-pay") a small town in the central North Island. [Alfred William FRANCIS b. 23 March 1907. ]
Albert FRANCIS had been listed as a Labourer (1908 e/roll) ... but unknown what he was doing in Taihape.
They next moved to a settlement called Weber* where the birth of James Edward FRANCIS b. 24 July
1908 was registered.
*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weber,_New_ZealandI did a quick look at VIC passenger lists but couldn't find a listing for the family.
~ Lu
