Bayles General Store

The General Store at Bayles opened in January 1921, and the proprietor was George Petrie Murdoch Junior (1872-1972).  George also had the general store at Cora Lynn, which he opened in 1907 and operated  until 1922. You can read about George Murdoch and the Cora Lynn store, here. 

When I say the Bayles store opened in January 1921, that is actually the first advertisement that I found for it, and it was called the Yallock General Store. I was confused initially because I didn't know whether the Yallock Store referred to in the advert was actually in the 'old' settlement of Yallock or the 'new' Yallock, centred around the Bayles Railway Station. However, the Shire of Cranbourne Rate books  confirm that Murdoch's store was actually in Bayles ('new Yallock') not 'old' Yallock. George Murdoch is first mentioned as owning the land in the 1920/21 Rate books.

I was also confused as to why George would have opened his store in January 1921 when the Koo Wee Rup to Strzelecki Railway line, of which Bayles was the first station from Koo Wee Rup, wasn't officially opened until June 29, 1922. I knew that Bayles, as such did not exist before the railway line, it was the Railway Station closest to Yallock settlement.  However,  the railway stations were opened earlier for limited transport of goods (not passengers), whilst construction work was still going on. In the case of Bayles, it was February 1921  so that would have bought traffic to his store; the next stop down the line was Catani and it was opened for limited operations from May 1921. I have written about the Strzelecki Railway line, here, and about Frederick Bayles, the namesake of the town, here. 

First advertisement for George Murdoch's store at Bayles (then known as Yallock)

Koo Wee Rup Sun January 20, 1921, p. 1.

When the store opened in January 1921, Thomas Keys was the manager. However, as you can see by the advertisement, below, a year later he was no longer involved and George himself was operating the store and it had been renamed the Bayles General Store.

The store is now called the Bayles Store and Thomas Keys is no longer connected to the business.

Koo Wee Rup Sun, January 26, 1922, p. 3

By 1925, George was assisted in the store by his son Allan and daughter Mary Jane (according to their occupations in the Electoral rolls). In March 1927, the business was sold to Mr E. H. Kean, but George Murdoch retained ownership of the building (and had other properties in Bayles) until at least 1950.  The Electoral rolls tell us that E.H. Kean was Edmund Herbert Kean and his wife, was Helen May Kean. 

The Bayles Store is taken over by Mr Kean, and this advertisement shows the 

huge range of stock available at the store. 

Koo Wee Rup Sun, March 3, 1927, p. 4

Short advertorial advising the change of ownership of the store. 

Koo Wee Rup Sun, March 3, 1927, p. 4

Edmund and Helen Kean were at the Bayles Store until July 1936 when they sold to D.J. Cole, who previously had a business in Daylesford. The departure of the Keans from Bayles was much regretted as they were most desirable residents, as the Dandenong Journal told us. The Keans moved to Parkdale, where they had a store and later to Isabella Street, Mentone, where the Electoral rolls list Edmund's return to his occupation of mechanic.

The Keans leave Bayles.

Dandenong Journal, July 2, 1936  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214740179

The new owner of the Bayles store was David James Cole. Also living there was his son Keith and his daughter-in-law, Joyce, as well as Joyce's sister Gwen Hoarth.   

Mr Cole takes over the Bayles Store as a going concern.

Koo Wee Rup Sun, July 9 1936, p. 1

Mr Cole's first advertisement.

Koo Wee Rup Sun, July 9, 1936 p. 4

David Cole had the store until June 1943. The Dandenong Journal of June 30, 1943 (see here), published a lovely report of the farewell function-

Farewell To Popular Bayles Storekeeper

The monthly euchre party and dance run by the Bayles Red Cross attracted a bumper house on 16th. inst., owing to the occasion being taken to express the district’s appreciation to Mr. D. J. Cole, Mr. and Mrs. Keith Cole and Miss Gwen Hoarth before they left the district. The euchre tournament attracted a large number of competitors, and Mrs. P. Wildes carried off the honors. Rogers' orchestra provided a happy evening for dancers, while Mr. Gordon Potter in his usual capable manner, acted as MC. During an interval Mr. Potter, in inviting the guests to a seat of honor, said it was a happy thought on the part of the local Red Cross to invite the Cole family to the function.

Cr. L. J. Cochrane referred to the generous support always given by the Cole family to all social and patriotic functions and for any cause for the benefit of the district. Mr. Cole came to Bayles in 1936 when district affairs were at a low ebb, but by his energy and industry, built up a prosperous business, and people were grateful for the many kindnesses extended to them. Miss Gwen Hoarth had for two years proved herself efficient and courteous in the conduct of postal and switch-board duties.

Mr. Cole has one son (Laurie) in the AIF., the youngest member of the family, Colin, is serving in the RAN., while Mr. Keith Cole is about to enter the RAAF. Cr. Cochrane concluded by wishing the guests long life, health and happiness wherever they may go. Mr. Cole, senr. thanked the speakers for their kind remarks and the Red Cross for the invitation to be present. He was sorry to be severing his connection with district affairs, he said, but Keith’s desire to enter the services caused him to make his decision. Mr. Keith Cole, in his usual happy style returned thanks on behalf of himself, his wife and sister-in-law. For they are “Jolly Good Fellows” brought a happy event to a close. As usual the ladies provided a dainty supper.

Laurie, Colin and Keith all returned home safely from the War. 

Mr Cole sells business to Mr Griffiths

Koo Wee Rup Sun June 10, 1943, p.4

From June 1, 1943, Mr A.J. Griffiths took over the store. I have not discovered his given names.  He was only there for three years but in that time the Dandenong Journal (1) reported that in 

February 1944 - Mr A. J. Griffiths advised that at a meeting of citizens at Bayles it was resolved, in view of the serious, menace of fire to the town and property in that area to form a bush fire brigade. Mr. J. G. Potter is captain, Messrs. E. Epps and S. McKay, lieutenants; and Mr. A. J. Griffiths secretary.

In September 1944, he sang the beautiful hymn, "Thine forever, God of love'' at the wedding of Peggy Hodgson to William Pearse, in the Koo Wee Rup Anglican Church, and also sang at their reception.

In October 1945, it was reported that a permit has been granted to A. J. Griffiths to erect a bulk food store at Bayies, at a cost of £450.

In January 1946 he unsuccessfully stood for Council.

Mr Griffiths was clearly a man who involved himself in the community life of Bayles. In June 1946, the store was taken over by S. & S. King - Stanley and Shirley Bonnaville King. 

Mr Griffiths last advertisement in the Koo Wee Rup Sun

Koo Wee Rup Sun June 5, 1946, p. 2

The first advertisement for the Kings in the Koo Wee Rup Sun

Koo Wee Rup Sun June 12, 1946, p. 4

Stanley and Shirley King were in the Electoral rolls at Bayles in 1954, but the 1958 roll, saw them living in Seaford, where his occupation is a grocer. Interestingly, the 1954 roll lists both Shirley and Stanley as 'general merchants' - married women rarely had an occupation specified, no matter how much the worked in the family business or on the family farm, they were usually just listed as 'home duties' 

What do we know about Stanley and Shirley? They were married 1940 at the Holy Trinity Church of England in Kew, and their wedding was reported in The Australasian of August 17, 1940. Shirley was the daughter of Cr and Mrs H.F. Mogg, the Mayor and Mayoress of Kew and Stanley the son of Mr and Mrs H.E. King of Bourke Road, East Malvern. Stanley died in May 1965, aged 54, at their home in Kananook Avenue, Seaford, and his death notice in The Age of May 17, 1965 lists three children, Robin, Clive and Mark. Shirley died in 1982, aged 71. 

The wedding of Shirley Mogg to Stanley King. 

From left - the bride and bridegroom, Mrs B.V. Mogg, Miss I. King and Miss Mary Shaw. 

The Australasian, August 17, 1940 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142142165

The report of the wedding.

The Australasian, August 17, 1940 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142142169

We will leave the Bayles Store with the Kings; however nearly 102 years after George Murdoch established the Store, it is still going strong.

Footnote

Sources for the information about Mr Griffiths

Dandenong Journal, February 9, 1944, see here

Dandenong Journal, September 13, 1944, see here.

Dandenong Journal, October 10 1945, see here

Dandenong Journal, January 16, 1946, see here.

Cora Lynn General Store

The Cora Lynn was opened in 1907 by George Petrie Murdoch.  As we saw in the last post George and his father, George Petrie Murdoch Senior (1851-1934), were some of the earliest owners of township allotments in Cora Lynn. George Petrie Murdoch, junior, was born in Bunyinong in 1872 to George and Alice (nee Dean) Murdoch. He married Emma Rose Parker in Balranald in NSW in 1897 and they had the following children  - 

Arthur Charles (born 1897, birth registered at Bunyip South, alter called Iona.  Arthur served in World War One and is listed on the Cora Lynn War Memorial, here and the Iona Honour Board, here)

Mary Ellen (1899, Bunyip South)

Baby girl (1900, Bunyip South, died one day old)

Hugh James (1902, Balranald)

Allan John (1904, Bunyip South)

Lily (1906, Bunyip South)

Stanley (1907, Bunyip South)

Archibald William (1909, Dandenong. See an example of his poetry, here)

Alice Jean (1911, Bunyip South)

Emma Murdoch died in March 1920 aged only 39 years old and is buried at the Bunyip Cemetery. George married Mary Jane Whitta in 1921 and they lived in Bayles, where they had opened the Bayles General Store in January 1921 (read about this here.) They were still in Bayles in 1963 according to the Electoral rolls, but the 1967 Electoral roll lists him at Booran Road, Caulfield South. Mary Jane died 1963, aged 86 and George died on Christmas Day, 1971, aged 99 in Glenhuntly.  

Cora Lynn store, c.1910. 

Peter Corcoran standing in front with bicycle.
(Photograph from the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society collection)

The Weekly Times of November  16, 1907 published a letter to Uncle Ben, one of the editor's of the children's pages about Cora Lynn and the store his father was building -

Arthur Murdoch's letter

Weekly Times of November  16, 1907 

 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222777407#

Cora Lynn, 7th October.— Dear Uncle Ben,

This is the first time I have written to you. I would very much like to see my letter published in "The Weekly Times." I go to school every day, and I am in the second class. I have two miles to walk to school. We have a football at school, and we have great fun with it. My father is getting a new store

built in Cora Lynn. It will only be about two chains from the school. We are having lovely weather here now. The grass is looking beautiful in the paddocks. My sister has a little pet lamb. There are a good many hares about here. My father shot one yesterday. There are a great many snakes here this season. I killed a small one last week. With love to yourself, Aunt Connie and the little children in the cots - I remain your loving friend, ARTHUR MURDOCH, aged 10 years and 3 months.

Cora Lynn, possibly 1911. The building on the right is the E.S.& A. Bank, 

and the store is next.

This was a postcard my grandfather sent, read the story here. 

George Murdoch opened a store in Bayles in 1921 (see here) and operated the Cora Lynn store until 1922 when Alexander and Elizabeth Beatrice Chisholm took over. The Electoral rolls list her as Elizabeth Beatrice, but her death notice as Beatrice Elizabeth, so I will call her Beatrice.  Alex had married Beatrice Knox in 1920 and they had a daughter Jean, who was born in December 1921. Jean attended Cora Lynn State School in 1926 and 1927. I haven't found anything much about their time in Cora Lynn, they left in 1927, but in the 1931 and 1937 Electoral Rolls the are at 158 Victoria Street, Richmond and his occupation is Postmaster. In the 1943 and 1949 Electoral Rolls, they are at 3 Wishart Street, Kew, and again his occupation is that of Postmaster.  Elizabeth died in March 1953, aged 68,  at 21 Church Street in Abbotsford. Her death notice in The Argus,  lists  Alex and Jean as well as Jean's husband, Phil, and their daughter, Susan. Alex was in the 1954 Electoral Roll at 21 Church Street, occupation Postmaster; then in the 1958 to 1967 Electoral Rolls he was living with his daughter, Jean and her family in Hortense Street, Burwood. He died in 1968

Death notice of Beatrice Chisholm

The Age, March 16, 1953  https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23233441

Death notice of Alexander Chisholm

The Age, April 16, 1968, p. 14

The Chisholms had the Cora Lynn store until 1927, when Edwin Ernest and Sophia (nee McMahon) Dillon took over. The couple had married in 1910  in Woods Point and Edwin (known as Ted) at first supported the family by gold mining, but then decided to go into the hotel business in various country towns. Before they arrived in Cora Lynn they operated the store at Woods Point. 

'

Mr Chisholm leaves the Cora Lynn store and Mr Dillon arrives.

The Argus, June 25, 1927  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3862859

Ted and Sophia had six children Doreen (born 1911), Phillip (1914), Molly (1918), Eddie (1920), Joyce (1925) and June (1930). Sadly,  Ted died August 7, 1932, aged only 49, clearly a shock to the family and the community.  Doreen and Phillip then helped their mother run the store and they were assisted by Elva Watson and Frank Hester.

The death of Edwin Dillon

Koo Wee Rup Sun August 11, 1932 p. 1

Dillon's Store, c. 1930s

Image courtesy of Des Dineen.

Dillon's Store, c. 1950s.

Image courtesy of Val Slade.

As the years went by the children married - Doreen married local farmer Harry Dineen in 1938; Phil married Aileen McGrath in 1939 and they lived at the store with Sophia, until she retired to Warragul in 1950, where she died March 25, 1968. Joyce married Raymond Jarred in 1946. In 1950, Eddie married Mary Egan, whose grandparents had arrived on the Swamp in 1893; Molly married Ray Hammond in 1954 and June married George Krygger, who worked at the store. 

The Cora Lynn store, known far and wide as Dillon's Store, was run by Phil and Eddie until Eddie left about 1960 to take up farming. Phillip and Aileen then operated the store until they retired in 1973. This ended  46 years of ownership, of the store but not the Dillon connection to the community, especially the football club and Mary Dillon's noteworthy contribution as the long-term Secretary of the Koo Wee Rup Potato Festival Committee. In the early days the local telephone exchange also operated from the store. After the Dillons, the store was then operated by the Thompsons, then the Van den Berghes, then Norm and Kim Dalziel, then the Simons and it closed in 1999. 

Acknowledgement

The Dillon family information comes from a short history of the family supplied to me by Val Slade; she received the information from Helen Uren (nee Dillon). I am unsure if Helen wrote the history or it was another family member; if so happy to acknowledge the author. 

Cora Lynn township plan and early land sales

This is the Cora Lynn township plan. This shows the original township allotments and the first owner of the allotments after the Government land sales. 

Township of Cora Lynn plan - the town is split between the Parish of Koo Wee Rup and that of

 Koo Wee Rup East.

Click on image to enlarge.

See the entire plan on the State Library of Victoria here 

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/93024

In Section T some of the sales must have taken place in 1904 as Allotments 14a to 14c have a purchase date of  June 28, 1904. Land sales were generally advertised in the newspapers and I have found this report in The Argus of October 5, 1909 with Allotments 10b, 10d and 10f of Section T for sale - each about half an acre. According to the Plan, above, George Petrie Murdoch Senior (1851-1934) and George Petrie Murdoch Junior (1872-1972) purchased this land and the other adjoining allotments. George Junior also operated the Cora Lynn store, which opened in 1907 on what I believe are Allotments 14b & 14c, Section F; J.L. Stein being listed as the land owner on this plan. More information on the  Cora Lynn store, see here.

Crown land sales, including blocks at Cora Lynn

The Argus, October 5 1909 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10738242/357108