Born: Established: 13 Aug 1915 Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 26 Mar 1992 Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
Lashwood's year of birth ranges from 1915 to 1920 in various publications. Websites published by Waverley Council and Labor Australia both provide the birth date 13 August 1915.
Lashwood claims in a 1943 article ('ABC Stars of the Air') that his grandfather was George Lashwood (1863-1942), a music hall singer who achieved much popularity during the First World War with his patriotic songs. If true it is unclear how his own father came to be born John Davies when George Lashwood's real name was Edward George Wright. No official records with the name Davies have been linked him. One possibility is that Davies was born out of wedlock when George Lashwood was still in his teens. Abandoned by his father he may have been known by either mother's or step-father's surname. This might also help explain in part why he abandoned his own (first) wife and two young children in 1912, some three years before Harold was born. [For further details see "Joe Lashwood." Australian Variety Theatre Archive]