Les’s father, Henry was a well-known herbalist in King Street: “He had the shop there for so long that when a letter came from India, addressed to Henry Cross, Australia, it came straight to him. … He was accepted everywhere and he had no troubles with the medical profession or the community”. Les’s father also was clairvoyant.

“Occasionally he had a bit of trouble with the police. … They tried to say he was fortune telling and in those days, it was a crime actually”. Les’s family had the first car and the first radio in their street. “Two or three of the neighbours used to come in every Saturday and every Wednesday to listen to our radio, and the runners from the SP bookies would take the bets from the people that were in here.”