Daisy Yvonne Kenyon

F, #74, b. 20 April 1921, d. 17 December 1996
Last Edited29 Apr 2021
Birth*20 April 1921  
Marriage*14 July 1942 St Matthew's Church, Manly, NSW, Australia;
Groom: Albert Charles Bassett
Status: Bachelor
Place of Birth: Condobolin NSW
Occupation: Carpenter
Age: 21
Usual Residence: Condobolin
Father: Fonzey Carol Bassett
Occupation: Builder
Mother: Margaret Gladys Harmer

Bride: Daisy Yvonne Day known as Daisy Yvonne Kenyon
Status: Spinster
Place of Birth: Sydney
Occupation: Waitress
Age: 21
Usual Residence: Manly
Father: Sydney Day (deceased)
Occupation: Tramway Employee
Mother: Alison Bladen (deceased)

Date of Marriage: 14 July 1942
Place of Marriage: St Matthew's Manly
Religion: Church of England
Witnesses: C G Aiken, D Insole
Minister: A. R. Ebbs
;Groom=Albert Charles Bassett1 
Married Name14 July 1942 Bassett1 
Death of Spouse10 April 1950 Buckingham Street, North Manly, NSW, Australia;Principal=Albert Charles Bassett2 
News-Arct*11 April 1950 "The Sydney Morning Herald", Sydney, NSW, Australia;
MAN, TWO SONS PERISH
Cottage Fire At Manly
A man and his two young children were burnt to death when fire destroyed their weatherboard cottage in Buckingham Street, North Manly, late last night.
Employees from the Manly bus depot made frantic attempts to rescue the trio when they saw the flames racing through the four roomed building.
The victims were:
Albert Charles Bassett, 28, carpenter;
Leslie Robert Bassett, 2 years;
Gregory Charles Bassett, 3 months.
SMOKE SUFFOCATES BABY
The baby was apparently suffocated by smoke as he received only slight burns.
His body was found on his bed.
The other child received dreadful injuries.
The Bassett family had been living in a cottage owned by the Manly council for about two years. The building had been condemned.
Mr. Bassett had been searching for a new home for several months.
About half an hour before the fire was first seen, a neighbour told police that he saw Mr. Bassett repairing a couch in the dining-room of the cottage.
Police believe he had returned to bed shortly afterwards.
MOTHER WAS OUT
Mrs. Daisy Bassett, 29, wife and mother of the victims, was at a local picture theatre when the fire broke out.
She returned home soon after 11 p.m. and found firemen searching among the ruins of the cottage.
She collapsed when told of the tragedy.
Friends took her away from the scene.
Neighbours, and others, who saw the fire soon after it started saw him desperately trying to open a window.
He then fell back into the flames.
One neighbour said: "I saw smoke and flames coming from the house. The flames grew fiercer and the house burnt like matchwood. In a few minutes the building collapsed.
"It was a terrible sight to see.
"Many of us knew that Mr. Bassett and his children were in the house. We couldn't do anything.
"The employees from the bus depot opposite, tried to open the windows, but the heat drove them back."
BODIES FOUND
Firemen found the bodies while searching among the ruins.
The Chief Officer of the Fire Brigade, Mr. E. J. Griffiths, was investigating the cause of the fire early this morning.
Detective R. Hinchey, of Manly, and other police are helping firemen in their inquiries.
Mrs. I. E. Taylor, Mrs. Bassett's aunt, said she had also been trying to find a new home for the family.;Principal=Albert Charles Bassett2 
News-Arct12 April 1950 "The Sydney Morning Herald", Sydney, NSW, Australia;
Cigarette Blamed For Manly Tragedy
Police and firemen think a cigarette butt which set fire to fibre packing in a couch caused the death of a man and his two young sons at Manly on Monday night.
The victims were Albert Charles Bassett, 28, a carpenter, and his sons, Leslie Robert, two, and Gregory Charles, three months.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr. E. J. Griffiths, Detective-Sergeant M. Connors, Detective Hinchey, and other experts yesterday examined the ruins of the weatherboard house in Buckingham Street, in which Mr. and Mrs. Bassett and their children lived.
Manly Council, which owned the property, had condemned it as unfit for habitation.
The fire on Monday night destroyed the house.
The police and fire officers investigated four possible causes of the tragedy-a short in the electric wiring; a fault in a gas refrigerator; sparks from rubbish smouldering in a 44-gallon drum in the back yard, igniting the eaves; and a cigarette butt.
REPAIRING COUCH
The experts formed the opinion that the most likely cause was a cigarette butt left smouldering near a couch which Mr. Bassett was repairing while his wife was at a picture theatre, and his two children were asleep.
The experts believe Mr. Bassett went to sleep, and the cigarette butt ignited fibre filling in the couch.
When this smouldered, Mr. Bassett and his two children were overcome by the poisonous fumes.
The experts think that the house was blazing before Mr. Bassett regained consciousness sufficiently to rescue his children or to escape.
Bassett was still wearing shorts and a shirt, and police take this to indicate that he did not intend going to bed until his wife returned from the pictures.;Principal=Albert Charles Bassett3 
Married Name1951 Jeppeson4 
Marriage*1951 Rockdale, NSW, Australia;Groom=John Christian Jeppeson4 
Death*17 December 1996 Oatley West, NSW, Australia;age 755 

Family 1

Albert Charles Bassett b. 23 May 1921, d. 10 Apr 1950
Children

Family 2

John Christian Jeppeson d. 11 Nov 2003

Citations

  1. [S1752] Ancestry Sydney Anglican Parish Regiters, 1818-2011, online https://ancestry.com, marriage Albert Charles Bassett & Daisy Yvonne Kenyon 1942.
  2. [S1565] Trove digitised newspapers, online http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/, The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday, April 11, 1950.
  3. [S1565] Trove digitised newspapers, online http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/, The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday, April 12, 1950.
  4. [S1481] NSW Marriage Indexes, 26060/1951 John Christian Jeppeson & Daisy Yvonne Bassett.
  5. [S15] Family knowledge.