Bert’s five years (1894-1895) in Sydney were eventful . He and Harriet were living in the eastern suburb of Waverly.

A year after their marriage, they sadly lost a baby (a girl) who survived just 4 days. In the death notices …..

Two years later there is happier news with the birth and survival of Alwyn Gordon…

Not sure where the name Alwyn came from (perhaps a Waxman family name) however, the second name ‘Gordon’ is after Bert’s master in scenic artistry, George Gordon.

Now needing to support a family and like a lot of artistic people then and now, economic survival usually required the juggling of multiple sources of income. One source of income was costume and dress design…