Lexie Casperson and Foxie - local heroes

Lexie Casperson with his younger brothers and sisters and his little dog “Foxie” This image is part of the Maryborough Wide Bay & Burnett Historical Society Inc. collection. Copies of this image can be purchased from the Maryborough Wide Bay & Burnett Historical Society Inc. Contact email museum@maryboroughhistoricsociety.com.au
Identifier: ImageCP0511

A partnership between Maryborough, Wide Bay and Burnett Historical Society Inc and Fraser Coast Libraries is ensuring images once kept in filing cabinets are now finding new life in digital form. Remarkable animals was the topic of one of our small projects. During this project we found out about a young boy and his heroic dog.

Lexie Casperson, a boy of 12 years was able to save his two brothers Billy (aged seven years) and Brian (aged four years) and his sister Gloria (aged ten years) from their burning home all thanks to their little fox terrier puppy Foxie.The animal was barking wildly outside and woke the boy who found the house was on fire. Lexie woke the other children just in time, with his sister getting her face scorched from the flames that licked her bed. Information about Lexie can be found here and here

The parents had been visiting the neighbours next door and came round the corner on the way home at around 11pm to see the house on fire.“Public recognition was accorded to Lexie and Foxie in the Granville Shire Hall on August 13th 1929, when the boy was presented with a medal and a wallet of money and the dog a beautiful collar (Trove, n.d.)”.The house was the old Bartholemew home which was an historic two storey wooden building at Granville. The details are found here.

Lex Casperson is a regular library customer and is the nephew of Lexie in this article. He was named after Uncle Lex by his father Brian, to honour him for saving  all the children from the fire. Lex now works at the police station. Before this, he spent close to thirty years at Walkers Ltd as a labourer. He is now the proud owner of the medals and certificate presented to Lex senior by the Royal Humane Society of Australia on the 28/7/1927.

The medal says presented to Alex Casperson by Granville residents and friends in recognition of bravery in rescuing little sister and brothers from fire 28^th July, 1927 on the back. AC is written on the front.

“Uncle Lex lived in Mary Street for most of his life until his wife Aunty Lottie died. He then moved to Albert Street in 1991 to be closer to me, as his eyesight was failing” said Lex junior."He lived there until July 2015. He passed away on the 2^nd of November, 17 days short of his 102^nd birthday,” Lex reflects.

“He was always a humble man and never bragged about what he did or what he got. Even his workmates at Wilson and Harts timber mill didn’t know of his heroism even after he worked there for fifty-one years, as he never told anyone of his award or recognition.”

Lex junior said “Uncle Lex lived a happy, simple life and never uttered a hard word about anybody. He worked hard and lived cleanly.” Lex junior looked after Lex senior in his elderly years after he was diagnosed with glaucoma and surrendered his licence, helping him live out most of his senior years in his own home. He is immensely proud of him and remembers the humble and dignified way he lived his life.

Do you know any remarkable animal stories?

Check out his and other images on our library catalogue. We would also love to see you at Historypin Chat, first Tuesday of every month at the Maryborough Library to share your photos and stories.


Published with consent from Lex Casperson junior.

Tags: #bartholomewhouse #granville #maryborough #frasercoastlibraries

Heritage Leaders Workshop, 2016 State Library of Queensland.



The opening of the State Library of Queensland Heritage Leaders Workshop, 2016.

Fraser Coast Libraries were honoured to be invited by Rachael Browning, Coordinator Projects QANZAC, to present at the 2016 State Library of Queensland Heritage Leaders Workshop.  On the 12th May, 2016  a library representative travelled to Brisbane to share our Historypin partnership with Maryborough, Wide Bay and Burnett Historical Society Inc.  Maryborough Museum curators Ken Brooks and Marilyn Jensen also attended.

Ken Brooks- Brennan and Geraghty's Store Museum;Marilyn Jensen - Wide Bay Hospital Museum and Anne Scheu- Coordinator Distributed Collections State Library of Queensland;Heritage Leaders Workshop, 2016.

The day began with Ian Townsend, author and journalist and Professor Bruce Scates FASSA, Chair of History and Director, Australian Studies, National Centre for Australian Studies discussing the revelation of servicemen’s medical records after the war. The topic was Beyond Gallipoli: New research into the memory of the Great War- What happened when the guns stopped firing? How did Australian service men and women bring the war home with them and what was the cost of that conflict to our entire community?  It was discussed how the medical histories enlarge whilst challenging family and national narratives of war.

A summary of Community projects followed :

Spotlight on recent regional Queensland First World War projects

• Kristine Patterson, research volunteer, Zara Clark Museum Charters Towers, National Trust of Australia (Queensland),Those dratted socks

• Annette Burns, Local History Librarian, Townsville City Libraries, Memories for a New Generation: Townsville Remembers World War 1

• Elisabeth Gondwe, North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum, Stradbroke 100: Remembering North Stradbroke

Islanders Overseas and at Home During the First World War

• Ken Keith, Douglas Shire Historical Society, Douglas Shire’s Diggers in WWI – where to and what then?

• Ashley Reid, Vice President Country Hospital Museum, WWI Local Nurses: Who were they?



Rachael Browning, Coordinator Projects QANZAC, State Library of Queensland.

Connecting the lines and dots was the session attended by the Fraser Coast Libraries representative.

Collaboration, co-creation and the use of data to produce First World War projects with creativity and impact were investigated.

Gregory Cope, Assistant Director Access and Communication, National Archives of Australia discussed the Discovering Anzacs website and challenges of dealing with information that has not been entered in a consistent manner.

Greg Cope, National Archives of Australia.

Margaret Warren, Coordinator, Discovery Services discussed linking things using code to draw information out of other data bases. 

Margaret Warren, Coordinator Discovery Services.

Fraser Coast Libraries' representative presented in the session titled:Learn how you can share your community First World War stories and personal histories on Historypin with Avril Fazel, Community leader, Blackall to Battle and Back and the Local History Librarian Noosa. We had over 40 people in our session.

Kathy Shilvock, Fraser Coast Libraries, Historypin partnerships for digital access presentation.

The final session was Expressions of memory: Creative responses to commemoration:

• Elaine Acworth, Q ANZAC 100 Fellow and playwright, My Father’s Wars

• Daniel Evans, writer and director, One Hundred and One Stories, Queensland Music Festival

• Tom Nicholson, artist, Comparative Monument (Palestine).

It was a fantastic opportunity to network with other heritage buffs and learn about the astounding number of projects running throughout the state.

Tags #Frasercoastlibraries #Historypin #Qanzac100 #SLQ #partnerships #BrennanandGeraghtys #Widebayhospitalmuseum