Koo-Wee-Rup Fire Brigade - the early years

The Koo-Wee-Rup Sun of December 2, 1943 reported on a Public Meeting held at the Memorial Hall on November 26 to establish a local Fire Brigade. Brigades could only be established at the request of the local Council and as such it was Cr Leslie Cochrane who chaired the meeting. Mr A. McPherson, the Chief Officer of the Country Fire Brigades’ Board was also present. He had visited the town previously and considered it a suitable location for a Brigade and the Cranbourne Shire Council had agreed and made the necessary arrangements for the establishment of one.  As both the Council and the Country Fire Brigades’ Board agreed then all that remained was to get the personnel. McPherson suggested that Koo-Wee-Rup establish an A class Brigade which consisted of four Officers and eleven firemen. Under normal circumstance the Board would spend over £1,000 in setting up a Brigade, however due to the War many appliances were unavailable.

McPherson also talked of the social activities enjoyed by members of brigades at the annual demonstrations and that these demonstrations would be resumed after the return of 1,850 men at present in the fighting services. Koo-Wee-Rup established a competition team in 1950. Given that fighting fires can be dangerous, McPherson also said that the Board could grant up to £500 to the dependents of a fireman killed on duty. The Board would also give an annual allowance of £20 to the Brigade and the Council would also give an annual sum.

Volunteers were then called for and thirteen men answered the call and elected their own leaders. The first Captain was the alliteratively named Loyal Leslie Lackman; the Lieutenant was Cyril Isbister; the Foreman was William Mahoney; Secretary Samuel Lewis and other members were Kenneth Cochrane, John Sauer, Edward Holley, Thomas Perkins, William Winters, Albert Rushton, Thomas English and reserves were D. Johnson and L. Plowright. Johnson and Plowright were both under 18 years of age, which is why they were placed on the reserve list, according to the Koo-Wee-Rup Sun report. Lackman’s time as Captain was short lived as a report in the Koo-Wee-Rup Sun of May 4, 1944 said that Captain Lackman was farewelled by the members of the Brigade on April 28 as he had been transferred from the district by his employee, the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission. The report went on to say that in the short time he had been in Koo-Wee-Rup he had exhibited keen sportsmanship and had became a citizen the district could ill afford to lose. Soon after he left Koo-Wee-Rup, Loyal Lackman passed away suddenly on June 2, 1944 at Cobram at the age of 52.

At the meeting held on May 8, 1944 Cyril Isbister was elected as Captain and Clarence Raymond ‘Dick’ Florance elected Lieutenant. In July 1947, Dick Florance started his long reign as Captain, holding the position until October 1972, when John Duff took on the role. Captain Duff held the position until he passed away suddenly on September 13, 1979. Lieutenant Keith Ridgway was then elected as the new Captain. Captain Ridgway served in the role until his retirement in December 1993 and Lieutenant Lindsay Black was elected. Captain Black finished his tenure in May 2002 when Michael Duff was elected.

A temporary fire station was to be established until the permanent building could be erected which opened in Rossiter Road in September 1947. The present Station Street building (which was expanded in 1984) was officially opened October 2, 1959.

This photo partially shows the Rossiter Road fire station as well as the bell tower.

The Ladies Auxiliary was formed on November 14, 1956 with Mrs Claire Howarth elected as President.  The other Office bearers were Mrs Connie Grundy, Mrs Tobe Florance and Miss Janice Duff. The Auxiliary still supports the Brigade with fund raising and other activities.

Sources: Notes supplied by Mrs May Ridgway; Koo Wee Rup Fire Brigade Ladies Auxiliary: a brief history; Koo-Wee-Rup Sun.

Les O’Riordan’s recollections - early township buildings

In 1968, Dave Mickle interviewed seventy-six year old Les O’Riordan. John Leslie O’Riordan was born on August 26, 1892 and is said to be the first white child born in the Koo-Wee-Rup Village settlement. His father, John O’Riordan, opened a store in the town in 1890 - it was a tin shed at the rear of what is now Light’s garage.

Les married Margaret Colvin in August 1918 and they lived at Mallow,  which is now the head quarters of the Historical Society.  The house was built by her father, John Colvin. Margaret’s brother, A.C Colvin (Andrew) opened a cycle shop in the town in 1911 and later became an Agent for Ford Cars. Les died in October 1978 and Margaret in October 1955; they had three children.

Some of the interview with Les is published in Dave’s book Mickle Memories, but we also have the notes from the interview at the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp  Historical Society, so what follows is a combination of both.

This is the map that Dave Mickle drew up  whilst talking to Les O'Riordan.

Rossiter Road
From the corner store going northwards (or down towards Bayles) On the left there was Thomson’s butchers shop, Ross the saddler, Bergin the bootmaker and Turner’s sweets shop, which was  just before Jack Gray’s house. Next was Keighery’s bootmakers and saddlery.  Still going north there was a timber building housing the London Bank (later moved to its current location – the ANZ bank). When the bank moved, Ben Darlington operated his radio shop from the site (where the car yard was).  Just over Gardiner Street was Mrs Greys’ shop,  then the Presbyterian Church and the Memorial Hall.

Station Street
Back to the Rossiter Road/Station street corner - the corner store was built for Bullocks, then owned by Finnigan, Battersby, Malouf, W.A Stephenson, Ernest Cougal and Ernest Williams. Along Station Street was the new London Bank, then a small paddock and Joe Morrison’s black smiths shop.  Next to Joe Morrison was Colvin’s cycle works and his Swastika café which he leased to the Misses Gallagher in 1922.  The swastika was originally a symbol representing well being and was used by many cultures until the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s. In the 1920s in Koo-Wee-Rup it was just a symbol of good luck, nothing sinister.

Station Street in Koo-Wee-Pup - the small building on the left is the Post Office. Next to it is the Swastika cafe.

Molly O’Riordan’s post office was next - it was described by Les as a small square building under a large pine tree, clearly seen in the picture, above.  This little post office was removed and Colvin’s built a garage (Albons).  At the rear of this site, the O’Riordans had built a coffee palace some years previously. It burnt down on the late 1920s/ early 1930s.  O’Riordan’s residence and store were next, on the corner of Moody Street.  A room at the back of the store was used as the first hall.  Behind the hotel was Wilkins (later Johnson) bakery and Johnson Brothers (later De Vries) butchery.

Leslie and Ivy Cochrane

Cochrane Park in Koo-Wee-Rup is named after Leslie James Cochrane.  Mr Cochrane died on April 25, 1972. His funeral was held on April 28 at the Presbyterian Church and attended by an estimated 1,000 people with another 700 people attending the service at the Springvale Crematorium.

Leslie was born in Bentleigh in 1894 to David and Lucy (nee Burgess) Cochrane. The family moved to Caldermeade when he was eight. He enlisted in the First World War on May 2, 1916 at the age of 21. He was in the 46th Infantry battalion and saw war service in France. He returned to Australia in February 1918 and in the December of the same year he married Ivy, the daughter of Harry and Sarah Wildes of Yannathan.  Leslie and Ivy moved to a soldier settlement block on the Pakenham Road.  After the war, as well as running the farm, Mr Cochrane began a life of community service. He joined the Cranbourne Shire Council in 1930, representing the Koo-Wee-Rup Riding until 1964 and was Shire President on four occasions. It was said he never missed a meeting.

Mr Cochrane also represented Gippsland West in the Legislative Assembly from May 1950 until May 1970 for the Country Party. He held various Parliamentary positions and was the Country Party ‘whip’ from 1961 until 1970.  When he died, the Premier, Sir Henry Bolte; the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Clive Holding and the leader of the Country Party, Mr Ross-Edwards, each presented a short eulogy on Mr Cochrane in the Victorian Parliament. In fact, Sir Henry pointed out that Mr Cochrane was the last surviving member of this Parliament who served as a member of the Australian Infantry Forces during the First World War. Mr Cochrane was also the President of the Westernport Memorial Hospital Board and he was awarded a Life Membership for his work with the R.S.L. He was a Past Master of the Koo-Wee-Rup Masonic Lodge and an Elder of the Presbyterian Church and was awarded an O.B.E in 1971.

Leslie and Ivy had two children - Irene (Mrs Jack Haw who died in 2001) and Stewart who died in 2000.  Mrs Cochrane was also involved in community organizations such as the Presbyterian Ladies Guild and attended the first Koo-Wee-Rup Red Cross meeting. She was Foundation President of the Hospital Ladies Auxiliary and was awarded a Life Governorship of the Hospital in 1974. Mrs Cochrane died in September 1986, aged 91.

Cochrane Park was developed by the Apex Club in 1980 on Railway land. It was then taken over by the Lions Club who named it for Leslie Cochrane.

The two photograph are from the Koo-Wee-Rup Sun May 3, 1972 from a report about Mr Cochrane's funeral.

National Service by Frank Rouse

National Service was introduced in Australia in 1951, in response to the Cold War and the rise of Communism. The first intake was in April 1951 and it was abolished in November 1959. It operated again from 1964 until 1972.  This is Frank’s story of his National Service.

Photo: Frank Rouse, on the left, and George Jones on the right.

I was called up in the third intake, at the end of May 1952, when I was 18. This intake took in men from Gippsland.  I spent three months at Puckapunyal, where we lived in a hut with 15 others, eight beds down each side. During the three months we learnt to march and handle a rifle and learn the rifle movements. We had to guard the transport depot, I had the midnight to 4.00am shift and the men from the regular Army used to just ignore us and just walk in. At the end of the three months we did a three day march, 20 miles per day, in full uniform with a 303 rifle, back pack and two ground sheets. We slept with a ground sheet on top of us and it was very cold at night. We received our rations in the morning and had to cook them during the day. Each Unit had a Bren gun which also had to be carried.

During this three month camp I was chosen to attend a march through Melbourne. Only three from my hut were selected. We got the bus to Melbourne and lined up with hundreds of other service men and military bands at the top of Swanston Street, near the old CUB brewery. We marched the length of Swanston Street to the Shrine where we were given refreshments and I caught up with Mum and my sister Dorothy, who had came up from Cora Lynn for the day. It was interesting to march through the crowds and to hear the people cheering.

After that, if you lived near a Drill hall, such as the one at Warragul, you had to attend every Friday for two hours for two years. Because I lived at Cora Lynn I had to attend two three week camps. They were at Scrub Hill near Puckapunyal.  At the first camp, I volunteered to be a driver and drove the Doctor (a Colonel) around in a Jeep. At the second Camp, I volunteered to be medical orderly, as I had done First aid training in the Scouts.  First thing in the morning was a medical parade where I treated minor ailments, made toast for the Doctor and did whatever else I was ordered to by the Doctor. The majority worked on Artillery, alongside the regular Army, and they operated 5½ inch guns which had a twenty mile range.

In 1954, the Queen visited Warragul and as I was still doing my National Service a day guarding the Queen was a day off my National Service.  I rode up from Cora Lynn on my motor bike to the Drill hall where we were assembled. We were inspected to make sure our uniform was correct, issued with our 303 rifles, and then marched over the railway bridge and along the highway to about where C.S & J.S Brown’s garage is (near Napier Street)

From there we were spread along the edge of the road (the old Highway) over the hill and almost down to the railway crossing, on each side of the road. We were stood ‘at ease’ by about 9.45am and we waited for the Queen’s entourage. We waited, unable to move or leave our positions. It was a very good thing that we had better bladders then than we have now.

At about 11.45am the word went out that the Queen was coming and we stood to attention ready to ‘present arms’. The entourage flew past at about 50 miles an hour. We marched back to the Drill hall where we handed over our rifles and we were dismissed.

Other locals who did national service with me were George Jones, from Warragul; Aub Goodman (Vervale), Kevin Batchelor (Bunyip), Mulga Shelton (Pakenham), Butch Giles (Trafalgar),  Stan Riches (Garfield), Ian Chatfield (Nar Nar Goon) and Kevin Wilby (Modella).

I asked Dad how he felt about his National Service and he was very positive about it as he said it was interesting, the other blokes were all a similar age and had a farming background or worked in saw mills, so they all had a similar outlook. Dad had been boy scout so he was used to camping and he was already used to hard work as he had been working on the farm full time since he left school at the end of Form 4, so he found the work easy and what’s more he got paid seven shillings per day, whereas he was paid nothing at home.   Heather Arnold.

Garfield Railway Station

I have written before about how the construction of the Sale Railway line was the seminal event in the establishment of the town of Garfield. The Gippsland line to Sale was opened in stages - Sale to Morwell June 1877 (the material for this stage was shipped along the coast to the Port of Sale); Oakleigh to Bunyip October 1877; Moe to Morwell December 1877; Moe to Bunyip March 1878 and the last stretch from South Yarra to Oakleigh in 1879. Originally, the only Stations between Dandenong and Bunyip were Berwick and Pakenham. However a number of timber sidings developed along this line including the Cannibal Creek Siding built in 1885. In May 1886, the Cannibal Creek Post Office was established at the Railway Station and this changed its name to the Garfield Railway Post Office on May 16, 1887. The name Garfield came from the assassinated American President, James Garfield, who was shot July 2, 1881 and died September 19, 1881.

View of the Goods Shed at the Railway station in 1920. The Garfield Hall is in the background.

Berwick Pakenham Historical Society photograph

In the book Rigg of the Railways: Station Masters of the Victorian Railways the author Tom Rigg lists the following Station Masters as having served at Garfield.
McLean, Roderick February 1910 to August 1911
Finnie, Norman July 1912 - August 1917
McCauley, John Alexander June 1918 - March 1920
Lanigan, Patrick September 1919 - February 1919
Mather, James around 1920,1921
Stewart, Francis David March 1920 - September 1921
Lang, Elmo Thomas December 1921 - July 1923
Marks, John Alexander July 1924 - January 1927
Bently, Leslie George December 1926 - June 1928
Callaghan, Henry Richard July 1928 - January 1933
Hosking, Henry Towers January 1933 - September 1937. Due to economic depression wife was caretaker part-time at Garfield.
Smith, Arthur Leslie June 1942 - December 1944
Graham, Norman Joseph December 1944 - December 1954. I couldn’t find anyone listed after 1954, but my mother says that a Mr Tighe was the Station Master around the late 1950s/ early1960s.

This is a view from the Station towards Main Street Garfield - taken in the 1980s.

Image: Shire of Pakenham slide, Casey Cardinia Libraries

Apparently, Station Masters were classified according to the Station to which they were appointed and Garfield (in 1923 at least) was a Class 8 station, as was its neighbours Tynong and Nar Nar Goon. Bunyip was a Class 7 and so must have had more freight and was therefore busier. There are other Railway Station employees listed in various sources prior to 1910 but it does appear that Garfield wasn’t busy enough for a permanent Station Master until then. For instance, in Bill Parrish’s notes on the history of Garfield (held at the Berwick Pakenham Historical Society) he lists James Godfrey as ‘Porter in charge’ at Cannibal Creek siding in October 1885 and he became the Post Master in 1886. The Post Masters and Mistresses at Garfield were all Railway employees until around the end of the First World War, when the Post Office moved from the Railway Station. Bill also lists a Mrs Thomson as being the Station caretaker in 1904.

1965 Garfield Railway Station diagram from www.victorianrailways.net

Over the years, all sorts of produce was loaded at the Garfield Railway Station - livestock, milk and other dairy products (such as cheese from the Cora Lynn factory), chaff and timber. There was a spur line that went off the main line to the Goods Shed and loading area (where the car park is now on the Highway side of the railway line)
 My Dad, Frank Rouse, used to load potatoes there. All potatoes in the 1940s and until 1954 had to be sold through the Potato Board and had to be loaded at a prescribed loading area, in this case Garfield.  They were loaded onto the rail and sent to Spencer Street railway yards where the marketing board had their shed. They were then sold by the Board. If you sold ‘out of the Board’ you were up for massive fines. Farmers were given a quota for the week, for instance seven bags (each bag was 150 lbs or 65 kg, later on they were reduced to 50kgs)  and that was all you were allowed.

The railway trucks could take 12 tons but before they were loaded they had to be inspected by the Potato Inspector, Jack Stalker. Apparently, he was a fan of the VW Beetle, so if you wanted to get your potatoes passed you just talked about VWs or if you told him you were a ‘bit worried about them’, and then he would just pass them. If they weren’t passed then you had to empty the bag, remove the bad ones and re-pack them and re-sew the bag. The farmers had to load the railway trucks themselves and some railway trucks had doors but others were like carts, with a wall about a metre or so high and in this case the bags had to be lifted by hand over the wall and then stacked in the truck. Sometimes the produce just sat there for days before they were picked up. The Potato Board finished in 1954 and after that you could sell them where you wanted. Dad and his brother Jim used Dan Cunningham as an agent and they also later loaded at Nar Nar Goon. If you sold them interstate they could be delivered by truck.

In the 1950s, the line was duplicated from Dandenong to Morwell and also electrified due to need to transport briquettes from Yallourn to Melbourne. In 1954, the electrification process was completed as far as Warragul and it was on July 22 in that year that ‘electric traction’ commenced according to the Victorian Railways Annual Report. Duplication works were completed in stages with the Tynong to Bunyip section opened in August 1956. The Bunyip to Longwarry section still remains unduplicated due to the need to widen the bridge over the Bunyip River. Due to the increased number of trains (it was estimated that briquette transportation would require an additional 20 trains per day, over the existing seven) the level crossing which was basically opposite the Picture Theatre was closed and the overpass was opened in 1953. The Thirteen Mile Road used to continue over the railway line to the goods yards and this was closed perhaps around the same time or maybe earlier.

The Goods Shed was originally built around 1905 and a weigh bridge was erected in 1919. At 2.00pm on Thursday February 21, 1924 the Station was destroyed by fire. The Argus reported that a few milk cans were rescued from the goods shed. A number of parcels, including two bicycles and a perambulator, and a quantity of passengers' luggage, were destroyed, in addition to departmental records. Both the Station and the Goods Shed were rebuilt at the time but they were then demolished some time ago and replaced by the banal and tacky structures that pass for railway architecture today. They were still there in December 1989 - if you want a nostalgic look at them, then check out this website ‘When there were Stations’ - http://www.stationspast.net

Sources:

• Rigg of the Railways: Station Masters of the Victorian Railways by Tom Rigg (published by the author in 2001)
• The Electric Railways of Victoria : a brief  history  of the electrified railway system operated by the Victorian railways 1919 to 1979 by S.E. Dornan and R.H Henderson (Australian Electric Traction Association, 1979)

100 years ago this week - an escaped 'lunatic'

This is an account of the capture of an escaped patient from Mont Park Mental Hospital from the South Bourke and Mornington Journal of April 30, 1914.  The work Lunatic has now gone out of fashion to describe a person who is mentally ill. According to the Oxford Dictionary the word Lunatic comes from the Old French lunatique, from late Latin lunaticus, from Latin luna '‘ moon’ ' (from the belief that changes of the moon caused intermittent insanity).

South Bourke and Mornington Journal of April 30, 1914.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper  http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/66185203

Trooper Maher, is Stephen Maher, listed in the 1914, 1919 and 1924 Electoral Rolls as living at Pakenham. His occupation is listed as Constable. His wife was  Bridget Catherine (nee Ryan).   There is an interesting account, below, of Constable Maher having his horse taken from him, sounds like it was a bureaucratic decision made without any consultation - so no change there in 100 years. 

Dandenong Advertiser of May 7 1914

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper   http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88355315

South Bourke and Mornington Journal of  17 June 17, 1920,

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66198261

Stephen and Catherine had ten children, Rosaline (born 1886), Cathleen (1888), Florence Mary (1890), Olive Veronica (1893), Stephen Raymond (1894), John Thomas (1896), Thomas Francis(1899), Daniel Michael (1901) Leonard Joseph (1903) and Mary Monica (1905). Stephen died in 1931 aged 70 and Bridget died in 1939 aged 77

The E.S. & A / ANZ Bank at Garfield

One of the prominent buildings in Main Street of Garfield is the old ANZ Bank building. The bank was built as an E.S. & A. bank and is one of the three old E. S & A. banks on the Cardinia Shire Heritage Study. The other two are at Koo Wee Rup (built 1919) and Lang Lang (built 1929). (1)  The Garfield Bank is thought to have been designed by Twentyman & Askew, the same Architects as the Lang Lang bank (2)

The 1996 Cardinia Shire Heritage Study, which was undertaken by Graeme Butler & Associates, describes the building as a two storey clinker brick and stucco building...with Greek/Georgian revival stylistic treatment including the hipped and tiled roof, Doric order colonettes at the main window opening, saltire cross glazing mullions, expressed voussoirs over the two doorways, smooth rustication in the central window, the 8-panel door pair, the bayed symmetrical elevation and the multi pane glazing. (3) [A saltire cross is an x shaped cross and a voussoir is a wedge-shaped or tapered stone used to construct an arch]

Main Street, Garfield. The Bank is on the right.

Weekly Times, June 18, 1952 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224019418

Banking services began in Garfield in July 1904, when the London Bank of Australia opened an Agency of the Warragul Branch. This London Bank agency was converted to a Branch a year later, on August 10, 1905. (4)

Notification of the Garfield Agency becoming a Branch

Bunyip and Garfield Express, August 10, 1905, p. 2.

A Branch, as opposed to an Agency, had full-time operating hours and its own manager and the first manager at Garfield was Clarence Adeney (5). In 1920, the London Bank amalgamated with the English, Scottish & Australian Bank (E.S. & A Bank) who in turn amalgamated with the ANZ in 1970.

The Garfield Agency becomes a Branch

West Gippsland Gazette, August 15, 1905 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/68715371

So successful was this Garfield Branch that in August 1905 an Agency had been established at Koo Wee Rup and by the next year at Yannathan, Iona and Tynong (6)

Agency of the Garfield Branch established at Yannathan.

South Bourke & Mornington Journal, June 6, 1906 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66144774

The Bunyip and Garfield Express reported in October 1906 of the desire for a new bank building in Garfield -

General dissatisfaction is expressed here at the action of the directors of the London Bank in delaying the erection of their new premises. Over twelve months ago they promised to go on with the work, and plans were prepared for a building, estimated to cost £1500. Levels were taken, and all thought the building was to be proceeded with straight away, but time has gone and still nothing further has been done. At a meeting of clients held on Monday night, it was decided to write the directors urging them to proceed with the building without further delay, and it is hoped it will have the desired effect. (7)

It wasn't until July 1908 that the construction of a new Bank, the first brick building in the town, commenced. That month, the contractor, Mr Hayes from Northcote, visited the town to view the site, however soon after his foreman sadly died suddenly, so work was put on hold until his replacement could be appointed. (8).  In December 1908 the Bunyip and Garfield Express could finally announce that -

Mr Hattersley, manager of the London Bank, moved into the new and more commodious premises on Friday last and in future business will be transacted therefrom. (9) This building is now a private house on the corner of Railway Avenue and Garfield Road. 

Mr Adeney did not get to enjoy the new building as he had taken charge of the Koo Wee Rup Branch in September 1906. (10)  It was, as we have just seen, Edward Hattersley, who was the manager at the time. He was in charge until February 1912 when The Argus reported -

Garfield - Mr E.H. Hattersley who has been in charge of the London Bank here for six years has been transferred to Melbourne. Mr Hattersley, who was president of the cricket club for the past two years was presented by that body with a souvenir. (11)

Edward Hattersley was replaced by Ernest Kerr Clarke. Two years later, in February 1914, Ernest was transferred to Taree, in New South Wales. His farewell function was reported on in the Bunyip and Garfield Express -

On Tuesday evening last a number of members of the Bunyip Caledonian Society assembled at Bunyip in order to make a presentation to Mr. E. K. Clarke, manager of the London Bank it Garfield, prior to his departure for Taree (N.S.W.) Chief J. A. Shandley presented the guest with a suitably inscribed gold medal, and expressed the regret felt at his departure. The chief's remarks were endorsed by Messrs P. Mclvor, H. Rodger, T. D. McGregor and H. Bell. Mr. Clarke responded in a feeling manner, and expressed regret at departing from the district and the members of the Caledonian Society. (12)

William Rupert Aspinall was the next Manager, from April 1914. The local newspaper in Stawell provided this background to Mr Aspinall -

Mr W. R. Aspinall, who was for six years accountant at the Stawell Branch of the London Bank, but who for the past 18 months has been on the staff of the Melbourne office, has been appointed manager at Garfield, in Gippsland. Mr and Mrs Aspinall's many Stawell friends will learn with pleasure of the promotion and wish Mr Aspinall every success (13)

William Aspinall left in August 1917, having been shifted to Moama. (14)  William and his wife had made themselves part of the Garfield community, as this report of their farewell shows - 

The members and children of the Church of England Sunday school, Garfield, made a presentation of a very chaste silver rose bowl, suitably inscribed, to Mrs. T. Aspinall, of the London Bank, on Tuesday evening last, the hall being nicely decorated for the occasion. Mrs. Aspinall took a lively interest in church matters, and her removal to Moama is very much regretted by the whole of the residents. The residents of Garfield and district intend to make a presentation to Mr Aspinall, the popular manager of the London Bank, on the eve of his departure to Moama. (15)

Hugh Alexander Gardner was the next Manager and he was in charge in 1920 when the London Bank was taken over by the E.S.& A. Bank.  I believe they used the London Bank premises until the Main Street building was erected. (16)

When was this building built? The Cardinia Shire Heritage Study lists the build date of the bank as 1925, but I believe it was more likely around 1931. Firstly, the Shire of Berwick Rate Books had listed the building through the 1920s under the Managers name and then in 1931 it changed to Arthur Nutting (17) who was a local shop keeper and also owned other property in the area, so I believe this was the time they built the new bank premises and sold off their superfluous old premises. Secondly, local historian, Bill Parish in his history of Garfield, published in the 1962 Back To souvenir book says the building was erected in the 1930s. (18)

E.S & A. Bank advertisement from the Back to Garfield booklet,  June 1962.

The E.S. & A. Bank from the Back to Garfield booklet, June 1962.

Mr Gardner was at Garfield until July 1926 when he was promoted to Cheltenham. This report of his farewell shows again the high esteem Bank Managers were held in -

Residents from all the surrounding districts assembled at the Garfield Theatre on Monday night to honour Mr. H. A. Gardner and family. Mr. Gardner has been transferred to the Cheltenham branch of the E., S., and A. Bank. He was presented with a gold sovereign case and a cheque, while Mrs. Gardner and Misses Lila and Nancy Gardner each received a gold wrist watch. (19)

His replacement John Jessup was at only at Garfield for a few years before he was transferred to Dunolly in  March 1928. His wife, Winifred, was presented with a handbag as a departure gift from the women of Garfield.  (20)

Mr Jessup’s replacement was Stanley Howell, who was at Garfield until 1935 when he was transferred to Burwood. When Stanley and Margret Howell left Garfield they were entertained and presented with a wallet of notes (21)  Other known staff in the early days was a Mr L.G Evans, accountant, who transferred to Garfield from Dunolly in 1927. Perhaps Mr Evans extolled the virtues of Dunolly to Mr Jessup and that’s why he moved there. Other accountants at the branch were Mr E. Judge who left Garfield for Warragul in 1924. His successor was Mr Pask. (22)

The ANZ Bank is the two-storey building on the left of the FoodMarket.

View from the Railway Station towards Main Street Garfield - taken in the 1980s.

Image: Shire of Pakenham slide, Casey Cardinia Libraries

The Garfield ANZ Bank closed on March 16, 2012. (23)  There was an E.S & A. Agency at Cora Lynn, which was reported to have been opened in January 1911. In the 1960s it was staffed about a morning a week and closed in the early 1960s. (24)

The little building to the right of the bridge is the old E.S & A Bank at Cora Lynn,

 taken October 20, 1937 

(State Rivers & Water Supply Commission photograph)

Trove list  I have created a list of articles on the Garfield Bank, access it here.

Footnotes

(1) https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2016/04/koo-wee-rup-anz-es-bank.html

(2) Cardinia Shire Heritage Study, v. 3 - Heritage Places by Graeme Butler & Associates (Cardinia Shire, 1996), pp. 300-301.

(3) Ibid

(4) Bunyip and Garfield Express, August 10, 1905, p. 2.

(5) The Age, July 15, 1904, see here; Bunyip & Garfield Express, August 10, 1905, p. 2; West Gippsland Gazette, August 15, 1905, see here.  

(6) Koo Wee Rup - South Bourke and Mornington Journal, August 16, 1905 see here; Yannathan - South Bourke & Mornington Journal, April 4 1906, see here;  Iona - South Bourke & Mornington Journal, June 6,  1906, see here;  Tynong - South Bourke & Mornington Journal, July 25, 1906, see here.

(7) Bunyip and Garfield Express, October 18, 1906, p. 2.

(8) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, July 8, 1908, see here;  Bunyip and Garfield Express, July 9, 1908, p. 2 ; Bunyip and Garfield Express, July 23, 1908, p. 2; South Bourke & Mornington Journal, July 15, 1908, see here   

(9) Bunyip and Garfield Express, December 24, 1908, p. 2.

(10) https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2016/04/koo-wee-rup-anz-es-bank.html

(11) The Argus, February 20, 1912, see here; Bunyip and Garfield Express, February 20, 1912, p. 3.

(12) Bunyip and Garfield Express, February 19, 1914, see here; Quote from Bunyip and Garfield Express, February 26, 1914, see here; 

(13) Stawell News, April 14, 1914, see here.

(14) Newspaper articles in my Trove list, Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com

(15) Dandenong Advertiser, August 9, 1917, see here

(16) Newspaper articles in my Trove list, Electoral Rolls on Ancestry.com

(17) https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2021/10/mr-nutting-invents-new-type-of-ute.html

(18) Shire of Berwick Rate Books;    https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2021/09/bill-parishs-history-of-garfield-1931.html 

(19) The Argus, July 23, 1926, see here.

(20) Newspaper articles in my Trove list, The Argus, May 4, 1928,  see here.

(21) The Herald, March 29, 1935, see here.

(22) Newspaper articles in my Trove list.

(23) From the Pakenham Gazette of 15/2/2012 - By Melissa Meehan

https://pakenham.starcommunity.com.au/gazette/2012-02-15/anz-loses-interest-farmer-john-reid-and-cardinia-councillor-graeme-moore-with-the-residents-of-garfield-say-they-want-the-anz-branch-to-stay-in-their-town-76807-picture-donna-oates/

Big banks have turned their backs on small communities according to the people of Garfield.

As news of the ANZ branch closure filtered through the town, residents and shopkeepers have come together to attempt to save it. The ANZ Garfield branch will close at 3pm on 16 March before merging with the ANZ Drouin branch. More than 50 concerned townsfolk came together on Friday to show their support of the Garfield branch, all of them customers.

Dairy farmer John Reid and spokesman for the group said it was important to the town that the bank stayed put. “We don’t all use internet banking, some of us don’t know how to use the internet,” Mr Reid said. “We want to keep being able to go into the branch. “And a hole in the wall isn’t the same.”

Some in the group said they held an account with the bank for 69 years. “It’s not just the ANZ that’s turning their back on Garfield, but it’s all the other towns around us, too,” Mr Reid said. “It makes it very easy for us to bank with the Bendigo Bank.”

Mr Reid and the group said they thought the ANZ had an obligation to the district to stay open.

“We want to encourage people to come to the town, when people do their banking it’s more likely they’ll pop into the pharmacy or grab a coffee,” he said. “Garfield is not a dying town, its worth keeping open and we think the bank should see the bigger picture.”

Cardinia Shire councillor Graeme Moore also attended the meeting, and said he too was a customer.

“Without having a branch in the town means the older citizens of Garfield who were able to walk or get in the car and drive a short distance to do their banking will now be stuck,” he said. “It’s not progressive, they haven’t looked at the growth of the area and how it will grow in the future.

“Without a bank, it turns away businesses that might look at moving here – then once again we become isolated again, like a desolate island.”

Spokeswoman for ANZ Ingrid Nugent said the bank was currently looking for a new ATM location in Garfield that will be available to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “We had a detailed look at our operation in the area and the number of customers using the branch has, unfortunately, fallen quite dramatically over the years,” Ms Nugent said. “As a result, we have decided to centralise all our banking for the community to a larger branch that offers a range of services including investments, transaction accounts, financial planning, insurances, as well as home and investment loans.” In the meantime, the ANZ will continue to provide an ATM service in Garfield at the current location inside the Garfield Newsagency.

(24) Cora Lynn Bank - opening - The Argus, January 31, 1911, see here; Closure date -  from my parents.