Renting or buying houses

Fatima Dykstra recalls how the first settlers helped others to find their feet and establish a home

1 minute 09 seconds

They had boarding houses for the people who wanted to move to Eccles. They used to open a boarding house for them. And then when they decided they were staying, then they’d go buy a house…

So many would live in one house…but what a lot of people [thought] –, which was their ignorance – they used to say “there’s 20 men living in there”. But what they didn’t know was those 20 men were paying so much a week to pay the mortgage, until the mortgage was paid. Then they’d move into another house, leave the man that’s got his. That’s paid for. Then they’d move into another house and do exactly the same again, until the house was paid for. And that’s what they done.

That’s why they all – they all stuck together. They were just one big community. Everybody looked out for everybody else.

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