QUIDDINGTON, Joyce

Dorothy “Joyce” Quiddington was the owner of her “Junk-a-tique” second-hand shop in Main Road for more than 40 years and was well known as Ballarat’s collector queen. She passed away aged 82 on 1st September 2009 after a battle with cancer.

Born in Ballarat at the family home and having lived most of her life in Sebastopol, Joyce was one of 10 children. Her father grew up in the Ballarat Orphanage. She had 6 of her own children and the shop was her life.

In an interview conducted with Mrs Quiddington in July 2009 she commented on the many changes to Ballarat that she had noticed. “We used to get many customers from the East Post Office but it closed more than ten years ago as has the bus stop across the road. Other shops have changed – there used to be Green’s Pie Shop, a chemist, a delicatessen and a bicycle shop nearby, Many mothers and children used to come, but now you have cheap shops like the ‘two dollar’ shop and people sell through Tuesday’s Courier. We used to have the ‘bottleos’ buying rags, bones and bottles and others buying cast iron. In the past we obtained material from Melbourne auctions and ‘lost property’ auctions at the Railways.
In 2009 we mainly source our collectables from Ballarat especially at garage sales and auctions and just add a few dollars. We get people hunting for a bagain so they can sell the item on ebay.”

Indeed the world has changed in many ways. One constant, though, remains in Ballarat – the importance of gold and heritage to its lifestyle!

Joyce was Cremated at the Ballarat Crematorium and her ashes collected.