There was a Father Christmas in Dalby during the Depression years who appeared to be cursed. I told a version of this story live on Darling Downs radio 4AK.
In 1934 Mr Joseph Garrett was the most popular person at the parish hall of the St. John’s Church of England in Dalby. That’s because on the 9th of December that year, ninety-one years ago, he was a Santa Claus impersonator and was handing out the toys.
Garrett had won the right to be Santa after for the previous two years competing and sharing the duties with William Knowles who was the son-in-law of a long-term Dalby alderman.
But what the children didn’t know was that the Santa that night had the cloud of death about him, and it wasn’t going away.
Garrett had already been married three times. His first young wife Gertrude had died suddenly in Dalby, so he married again. His second young wife Margaret also died suddenly in Dalby, and Garrett married for a 3rd time always going to Brisbane to make his next selection, and this time it was just weeks before is Father Christmas impersonation. His 3rd wife Dorothy would survive the marriage, but not long after the wedding day, Garrett’s 3rd father-in-law Ernie Hopgood, who had been a star rugby union fullback in Toowoomba, well he suddenly died.
Garrett’s own father Joshua had died suddenly shortly after the death of Garrett’s 2nd wife, which meant there was no financial report for the Dalby Rugby League that month because Garrett was the treasurer.
Garrett was also a partner in the big grocery and hardware firm Welsh & Garrett on Cunningham Street in Dalby. What was strange was that just weeks after the death of his 2nd wife and father, Garrett was quoted in the Dalby Herald as being very excited about how good the Christmas sales were. There didn’t seem to be much mourning going on at all, just so long as business was good.
But then again Garrett was certainly accustomed to the shadow of death and disaster following him.
Shortly after Garrtett’s 3rd marriage and his impersonation of Santa, his 16-year-old son Harry was run over by a motor lorry in Dalby, suffering head and internal injuries.
Then shortly after that, Garrett’s young sister-in-law Heather she died in Dalby, and she’d only been married into the family for three years.
And then after that, Garrett’s sister Lillian who worked at the Dalby hospital, she also died at the Dalby hospital, also as a relatively young woman.
So when you’re getting your photo with Santa this year, especially if you’re in Dalby, maybe just ask him about the health of his family. Ever since the thrice-married Joseph Garrett ninety-one years ago, you just can’t be too sure.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY ON RADIO 4AK.
Photo credits:
Representation of Joseph Garrett as Santa Claus with his three wives at St John’s Church, Dalby – ChatGPT Image.
St John’s Church of England, Dalby – Dalby Herald, 7th October 1938, page 3.
Santa Claus 2025 – Harold Peacock 20251206_100000.
History Out There 