In 1941, Number 4 Cornwall Street was inhabited by the Martins who had a daughter, Dorothy Stephanie Martin at Saint Clair’s Private Hospital on 27 March 1941 (reference). Before the Martins moved to Bunbury, they lived in Merredin on Nangeenan Road (reference).

The following year the Martins vacated the premises to make way for the Hunters. Records indicate that the Hunters lived at the property from 1942 until at least 1963. Richard ‘Dick’ Thomas Hunter (1891-1971) was the primary occupant of 4 Cornwall Street with his wife, Elsie ‘Babe’ Catherine Hunter née Nuttall (1906-1980). The couple married in 1938 in Maylands and then moved to Bunbury where they had previously lived (reference; reference; reference). Richard was born on 15 December 1891 in St Stephens. Richmond, Victoria (reference). On 23 January 1911 he was employed by the Western Australian Government Railway (WAGR) for which he worked all his life as a mail clerk (reference). During his life he lived and worked in Kalgoorlie, Maylands and Bunbury which he resided on Wellington Street from 1925 to 1931. In 1942 Richard was fined for not registering himself as an ‘alien’ to the state (reference), suggesting that he had either German or Italian heritage, as during WW2 all Australians descended from enemy countries had to make themselves known to the government. After Richards' passing in 1971, Elsie moved to 31 Columba Street, Bunbury where she lived until her death in 1980 (reference).

Richard's father, John Laird Hunter (1868-1945) also worked for the Western Australian Railway as a guard before retiring to his son’s home, 4 Cornwall Street in 1943 (reference). John was employed by the WAGR on 6 March 1897 (reference). During John’s life and career as a train guard he was witness to many horrific accidents. In 1898 on the Boulder Train Line, an 18-month-old child, Robert Leo Davey, was run over after wandering away from his house (reference). In 1901 a passenger, Mary Reid, fell between the platform and train, and although appeared fine when rescued, she later died of her injuries (reference). The following year while doing his rounds as a guard on the train, John noticed a bump while travelling and called into the next station to investigate. The bump was the train running over George Henry Thorne (reference). In 1923 he witnessed a crime where trucks were set on fire (reference). After retiring, John spent the rest of his life living with his son, passing away at 84 years old on 9 December 1945 and was buried in the Church of England section of the Karrakatta Cemetery (reference; reference). 

Mary Ann Nuttall née Offer (1868-1952), Richard’s mother-in-law, died on 10 September 1952 at 4 Cornwall Street (reference). Mary was 84 years old and had spent her entire life in the Bunbury area (reference). From 1915 to 1928 Mary and her husband John ran Toronto House (Koombana House), a guest house in Bunbury located where Koombana Court now stands (reference).

Residents of 4 Cornwall Street

1941 Mr and Mrs W A Martin and daughter Dorothy Stephanie Martin

1942- 1963 Richard Thomas Hunter and wife Elsie Catherine Hunter

1943-1945 John Laird Hunter

1952 Mary Ann Nuttall