78 Herbert Street
Isaac Hardwick had a general store called the Advance Store on the Herbert/Drayton Streets corner from 1887 to 1891. After its closure the one acre corner block was owned by Isaac Holmes. In 1898 Mrs. Amelia Holmes, the widow of David Holmes, conducted a shop which sold fruit, cakes, confectionery etc. there. The Allora branch of the Clifton firm of stationers and newsagents, Jas. T. Provan & Co. had moved into a new shop built by Isaac Holmes next door in Herbert Street in 1900. In 1905 the old shop on the corner was demolished and a new shop built. Provans moved into the new shop and Amelia Holmes moved into the shop that they had previously occupied. Provans bought out the drapery stocks of Kellett & Symes and operated as a drapery, stationers and newsagents. In July 1906 John Scott & Co bought out Provans and opened a general store on “The Famous Corner”. In “Oliver Twist’s” walk down Herbert Street in 1905 he says that Holmes Brothers had the store at that time. They would have owned the freehold after the death of their father, Isaac, but it is not known if they had an interest in the firm of Scott & Co. Following the huge fire of February 1909, when the general and bulk store of Scott & Co, along with seven other shops burned to the ground, the Holmes family built new shops on the site. John Scott moved to the Warwick and Herbert Streets corner and the new firm of Holmes & Co. opened a new general store on the Herbert and Drayton Streets corner on 1st May 1909. The firm was founded by John, William Major, and Arthur Samuel Holmes.
In August 1914, in a mirror image of the 1909 fire, seven business premises on the Herbert and Drayton Street’s corner, owned by the Holmes’ family, burned to the ground. Probably not having the heart to build again, Holmes & Co. bought out “The Trade Palace” of John Moorhead who at that time owned the store on the Warwick and Herbert Street’s corner. This shop had been through a quick succession of owners from John Scott & Co. to Scott & Symes, Kellett & Symes, Lound & Colclough and John Moorhead.
The Herbert and Drayton Street’s corner lay vacant for the next forty-five years. On the 19th May 1950, E. C. Balke the tailor, advertised two valuable business sites for sale, a vacant allotment on the corner, and his tailor’s shop and residence next door in Herbert Street. The Allora Shire Council must have bought the allotment at that time with the idea of building a new shire hall. In a letter to the Editor of the Allora Advertiser on 2nd August 1956, Mr. M. K. Cooper, Secretary of the Allora Progress Association, accused the Allora Shire Council of having purchased a “white elephant” after they had paid £1,100 for the block. That money would have purchased a new Holden car at that time. It would be good to buy the same block today for the price of a new Commodore.
The new Allora Shire Council chambers were officially opened on the 17th December 1960 by John Gordon, whose great-grandfather Samuel Gordon was a pioneer of the town and a former mayor of the Allora Municipal Council.
1994 saw the forced amalgamation of the Allora Shire into the Warwick Shire and the building became the Allora office of the Warwick Shire Council. With the amalgamation of other shires on the southern Downs it is now the Allora office of the Southern Downs Regional Council.

Holmes’ Buildings
Around the turn of the century there were five shops owned by Isaac Holmes adjoining the general store on the Herbert/Drayton Street’s corner.
Emil Nehlsen, hairdresser, tobacconist, and billiard saloon proprietor occupied a shop in Drayton Street. His rented shop was burned down in the 1909 fire. After it was rebuilt, A. A. (Arthur) Cameron had the same business there under the charge of Messrs. Atwell and Keating. George Atwell bought the business in November 1912 and sold it to Mat Lochel in July 1913. At the time of the 1914 fire it was occupied by T. H. Vines had who married Minnie Holmes, daughter of Isaac and Julia Holmes.
Jas. T. Provan & Co. opened a stationers and newsagency in Leggatt’s shop in September 1900. In December 1900 they moved into a new shop built for Isaac Holmes near the Drayton Street corner. A new shop was built on the “Busy Corner” in 1905 and Provan’s moved into it. Mrs. Amelia Holmes whose fruit and confectionery shop had been demolished to make way for the new shop, moved into one of Isaac Holmes’ other shops. In March 1908 this shop was leased by G. Zaunders and sold fruit, confectionery, oysters and fish. At the time of the 1909 fire it was occupied by Nicholas Zaunders, fruiterer and confectioner. It was rebuilt after the fire and in September 1909 it was the “Allora Oyster Saloon” owned by C. Criticos who also sold fruit, confectionery and meals. William Crassas and Arthur Comino took over in October 1910 and N. Comino in April 1911. At the time of the 1914 fire it was occupied by M. Patrick who had taken over in November 1912.
Roland Williams was a watchmaker and jeweller and had a shop in Holmes’ buildings from December 1899. He had married local girl Sarah Erhardt and died at an early age in 1904. The shop was carried on by Sarah as a jewellers and dressmakers shop. In 1906 when John Scott & Co. bought out Provan’s, Sarah Williams took over the stationery and newsagency side of the business. Warwick jewellers, Appel Bros. bought the jewellery business in 1907 and Sarah Williams acted as their agent. Her shop was rebuilt after the 1909 fire and again destroyed in the 1914 fire after which she moved to No. 44A Herbert Street.
Jacob Roush was a saddler who started in business in Allora in 1901. At the time of the 1909 fire he leased a shop owned by the Holmes family in Herbert Street. The shop was rebuilt after the 1909 fire and again burnt to the ground in the 1914 fire. He  moved to the Royal Hotel Buildings which also burned down. He then moved to a shop at No. 46 Herbert Street which was demolished to prevent the spread of the 1929 fire.
In 1896 Jacob Holmes, brother of Isaac, had a fruit and confectionery shop in Holmes’ buildings. Around the turn of the century he left business to buy a farm on the Glengallan Estate at Mount Marshall. The building he occupied was probably the old Wesley Chapel building which had been shifted there by Isaac Holmes when the new Methodist Church was built in 1896. Patrick Donovan came to Allora as the first manager of the Q. N. Bank in 1888. After leaving the bank he travelled to Western Australia to try his luck on the gold fields. He returned to Allora and in 1900 started Donovan’s Auction Mart in the old Wesley Chapel building. The name of the firm changed to Donovan & Son when Frank Donovan joined the business and was trading as this when the building burned down in 1909. Miss Neale, a dressmaker, occupied a building on the site at the time of the 1914 fire.
The Southern Downs Regional Council library which now occupies the site of Holmes’ Herbert Street buildings was officially opened in December 1966.

80 Herbert Street
Albert Siebenhausen was born at Spring Creek in 1872. He received his training as a tailor in Sydney and opened a tailoring business in Allora in 1894. He married Hannah Blanche Holmes, the only daughter to reach adulthood of a family of eleven sons and two daughters born to Mary Ann and John Holmes.
In June 1900 he moved to what is now known as No. 80 Herbert Street and advertised as a merchant tailor and outfitter. At the time of the January 1909 fire he owned the shop and residence and also the building next door occupied by Grimes & Elson’s general store, both of which burned to the ground. In April 1909 Albert Siebenhausen advertised new premises on the old site. Tragedy struck the family in March 1912 when Hannah Siebenhausen died at the age of 34 leaving seven children.
A “Thank you” appeared in the Allora Guardian of August 1914 from A. D. Siebenhausen thanking people for saving his shop during the 1914 fire. There is some confusion here because the paper’s report of the fire said that the fire had destroyed the buildings up to H. W. Stay’s auction rooms. Harry Stay was a building contractor who had erected some of the more notable buildings in the town including the Methodist Church, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, and the Allora Municipal Council Hall, all of which are still standing. In May 1910 he set up in business as an auctioneer and commission agent in opposition to Patrick Donovan and Hubert Deacon, a competition between the three firms that lasted for the next 64 years, until Roy Stay sold the business to Rodney Clunes and Deacon & Co. in April 1974.                             A. D. Siebenhausen and H. W. Stay may have had shops in the same building in 1914.
Tragedy again struck Albert when his eldest son, Clinton, was killed in action in France in 1917. Albert Siebenhausen sold the tailoring business to his employee of the previous twelve months N. C. Thompson, in September 1918. N. C. Thompson moved to No. 66 in October 1920.
The last advertisement that I could find for the shop at No. 80 in the Allora Guardian was in January 1922 when J. Bourke advertised a second hand shop. In February 1922 he was advertising to buy amongst other things “20,000 wallaby and kangaroo skins, 20 tons of horse hair, 10 tons of tallow, and old false teeth. This may not have been a long standing business in the site.
The next reference that I can find to No. 80 is in the Allora Advertiser of May 1950 when E. C. (Eddie) Balke, the tailor, advertises two valuable business sites for sale, the unimproved corner block and the block next door which had on it a shop, dwelling, etc. The Allora Shire Council bought the corner block as the site for a future new Council chambers. They may have bought the other block at the same time and leased it out.
The Allora Dry Cleaners started business in September 1951 in Muir Street “opposite the Police Station”. As the Princess of Wales Hotel was there at the time I assume that they were in a shed at the back of the hotel. In November 1951 the Allora Dry Cleaners moved to Herbert Street “opposite the Commercial Hotel” (No. 80). The proprietor at the time was M. J. Dorrough. In February 1953 M. J. Dorrough sold the business to L. N. Howard. Mr. and Mrs. E. Denning bought the business in June 1955 and sold it to Arthur Haines in April 1958. The business closed down in February 1963.
Following a meeting called by the Rev. Fr. McCormack, the Warwick Fire Brigade decided to base a unit in Allora. The building at No. 80 was adapted for the purpose and the Allora Fire Station was officially opened on 29th May, 1965. A volunteer brigade was formed with Peter Stewart as Fire Chief. Following the building of a new fire station in Muir Street, No. 80 was vacant until Patrina Gardiner opened a seed testing laboratory in September 2001. The building is currently vacant.

82 Herbert Street
In the 1870’s and 1880’s No. 82 Herbert Street was the site of William White’s blacksmith’s shop. Bill White was born in Hampshire, England and was the uncle of Joe White who founded White’s Garage in Drayton Street in 1929.
In August 1896, the Warwick firm of W. K. Hyslop opened a general store in Herbert Street next to the Commercial Hotel. In February 1897 they moved to a new store on the opposite side of the street and traded as James Hyslop, Cash Stores. John Scott bought Hyslop’s business in February 1902 and Barnes & Co. in turn bought out John Scott in October 1904. John Scott stayed on as manager until the end of the year before going to England. As stated in an earlier column, Scott returned to buy the store of Jas. Provan on the Herbert/Drayton Street’s corner in July 1906 and resumed business in Allora. In February 1907 F. Boaz Whitman, son of William Whitman who we will come across further up the street, started a general store at No. 82. He was bought out by T. P. Grimes & Elson who were operating the store when it burned to the ground in the January 1909 fire. In March of that year they announced that they were relinquishing business. At the time of the fire the building was owned by A. D. Siebenhausen. A new building must have been erected because in April 1920, J. Graham, engineer, started a motor and general engineering business on the site. He was agent for Ford and Oakland cars and Fordson tractors. The opening advertisement in the Allora Guardian said that he was next to N. C. Thompson. Thompson was the successor to A. D. Siebenhausen in the tailor’s shop and the building was probably leased from Albert Siebenhausen. J. Graham was only there a short time because in October 1920, G. T. (Gordon) McMillan opened a coach painting business in the premises lately occupied by J. Graham. Gordon McMillan moved to a new site in 1922 and in September 1922 C. C. Watts opened Allora Motor Garage.
In the days before cars became universally popular it must have been a volatile time for the motor vehicle business because in July 1924 the Allora Motor Service Station was owned by Colgrave and Cherry. In December of the same year the business re-opened as Sharpe and Cherry. Some stability must have been coming into the business because in January 1926, Holmes Motor Supply Coy. with Jack Holmes as manager took over from Sharpe & Co. The Holmes’ family traded in the 1930’s and were agents for Studebaker, Austin, Overland and Willys-Knight cars and sold Shell petrol.
Photos of the garage taken in the 1930’s show A. D. Siebenhausen & Son, Tailors, in a shop on the right hand side adjoining the garage. Siebenhausens had moved into Gordon’s new building at No.50 in 1929 and the sign writing may have still been on the window. Albert Siebenhausen was an uncle by marriage to Jack Holmes and may have still owned the building.
Because of the gap in our records and I am not sure when, but at some stage in the 1930’s and 1940’s Jack Marshall took over the garage business. In March 1946, Nev. Wilson with Rigby as a partner started the panel beating, motor trimming, and spray painting business of Wilson & Rigby. Nev. Wilson left town in February 1956 and the business was carried on by Ken Wilson with H. V. (Hally) Smith as a partner. Hally Smith sold his share to K. E. (Ken) & A. M. (Alice) Wilson in December 1967. After Ken’s sudden death in September 1988, his son Bruce took over the business. In the early 2000’s the front part of the shop was rebuilt and Bruce and Sandra Wilson sold the business to Peter and Ann Morton in November 2005.

84 Herbert Street
The Australian Joint Stock Bank was built in Allora in 1882. It became a focal point of the northern end of Herbert Street, and before the use of building numbers, the locations of business houses in that part of the town were described in relation to the A. J. S. Bank. One such building described as being “opposite the A. J. S. Bank” was built by John Holmes in 1890 for Samuel Bowley Player, Pharmaceutical Chemist and Surgeon Dentist. S. B. Player described the premises as the “Allora Medical Hall” and the building became known as Holmes’ Hall. Joseph Adie, a Laidley general storekeeper, operated an Allora branch of his store in part of the building in 1893 and 1894. Several other buildings occupied the present day site of 84 Herbert Street. The following businesses advertised themselves as being “opposite the A. J. S.  Bank”; J. R. Curnow, solicitor, who operated from 1891 to 1901; T. B. Yuill, watchmaker, in 1893; and A. J. White, refreshment rooms, from 1901 to 1912. The following business advertised as being in the “Bank Buildings, opposite the A. J. S. Bank”; Charles Murray and T. S. Patterson, 1907 to 1909; T. A. Margetts 1909; and W. N. Jeffrey 1911, all surgeon dentists; and Ideal Furnishing Co. 1908 to 1909. N. Rasch, jeweller, 1905 to 1908 and Gus Phelan, hairdresser, 1906, described their businesses as being in Mrs. Campbell’s confectionary shop, opposite the A. J. S. Bank.  None advertised in the Allora Guardian after 1912 so the shops must have been demolished and the present day residence built. I need some help on the early history of the house but Mrs. Bony Clarke lived there after her husband George Henry (Bony) Clarke who died in 1954, had bought the house from Jack Marshall (who had owned the garage at 82 Herbert Street) in September 1947. In more recent times Kiwi and Sue Stephens and Jim and Barbara Corby lived there.

John Holmes
John Holmes was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1832. He married Mary Ann Throupe in 1852 and they set out for Australia with their two infant sons, Isaac and Joseph in 1855. Unfortunately Joseph died on board the ship. John and Mary Ann came to Queensland in 1858, John following his job as a pit sawyer. For a man who started out in life at the bottom of the occupations barrel, and there wouldn’t be too many worse jobs than that of a pit sawyer, especially the man on the lower end of the saw who would have been smothered in sawdust, John Holmes did well for himself and ended up owning large amounts of land in the Allora and Pittsworth districts and businesses in Allora. He was licensee of the Dalrymple Hotel in 1862 and it was during his time there that some of the more notable events took place in Allora’s history including the birth of one of the town’s first children when his and Mary Ann’s son David, was born in June 1862 and Allora’s first marriage, that of Edward Sparksman and Lucy Ward in the same year. I believe that John Holmes was the basis of the character, “Old Sandy”, in the writings of Spencer Briggs and not Donald Clark as some believe. John Holmes left the hotel and took up farming but returned to take up the licence of the Crown Inn on the Herbert and Jubb Streets corner in 1867. He began taking up land in the Pittsworth and Allora districts. Four of his and Mary Ann’s sons, Samuel, Benjamin, Jonas and Thomas settled at Pittsworth. Isaac and David were businessmen in Allora and Jacob and Esau were farmers in the Allora district. Daughter, Hannah Blanche and her husband Albert Siebenhausen had tailor shops in Allora. In 1890 John Holmes bought the Royal Hotel in Allora and held the freehold until his death in 1901. He and Mary Ann leave behind a legacy of probably thousands of descendants who have spread Australia wide.

No. 86 Herbert Street

I was wrong last week in assuming the “Bank Buildings” were opposite the A. J. S. bank.  The buildings were in fact situated at what is now No. 86 Herbert Street. Five Kennedy brothers from Co. Down, Northern Ireland came to Australia. Three, Thomas, James, and David came to Allora. In 1871 Kennedy Bros. took over Francis Kates’ general store on the site of the present Commercial Hotel. An ad in an 1876 Darling Downs Gazette announced that Kennedy Bros. had taken over Francis Kates’ store as of 1^st July that year. Francis Kates may have built a new store at No. 86 sometime after 1871. All of Kennedy’s ads in the Allora Guardian stated “established 1871”. Thomas Kennedy is listed as the owner of the ½ acre of land at No. 86 in the 1879 Allora Municipal Council rates book. Kennedy Bros. built a flour mill in Forde Street in 1883. Thomas Kennedy lived in “Dalrymple House” in Jubb Street, which is still standing. James lived at “The Farm” just over the railway crossing on the Hendon Road. In 1901 the store business was sold to William Whitman & Son. William Whitman was a pioneer of western Queensland (see Research page) and for some reason was known as “Bluestone Billy”. He was the mayor of Allora in 1905/6.

Frank Boaz Whitman, a son of William, shifted the business to the premises previously occupied by John Scott & Co. at No. 82 in 1906. As stated last week, a series of surgeon dentists occupied the “Bank Buildings” from 1907 to 1909. The Ideal Furnishing Co. also advertised as being in the “Bank Buildings” in 1908/09. This is a bit confusing because in 1909 they advertised the sale of fire damaged stock when they shouldn’t have been close to the 1909 fire.

In 1908 an ad appeared in the Allora Guardian announcing the mortgagee sale of several buildings including the flour mill and the “Bank Buildings, a double fronted shop in Herbert Street”. In 1917 an ad offered the former Kennedy Bros. store for sale for removal. Jack and Agnes Holmes must have built a new residence there at that time because in 1919 an ad for Miss Siebenhausen, dressmaker, gave her address as C/- Mrs Holmes, Herbert Street. The Holmes had previously lived in Drayton Street next to Holmes & Co. store. Jack Holmes died in 1944. Mrs. Holmes later moved to live with her daughter in Brisbane and died in 1967 at the age of 93.

The Allora and District Co-operative Hospital Society was formed in 1949. In 1950 they bought the Holmes’ residence and started Dalrymple Private Hospital with Dr. Derek Sapsford in charge. The nursing sisters were Sister Christine Stewart (Chandler) and Sister Alma Galley (Hoey). The first baby to be born in the hospital was the daughter of Thelma and Eric Erlandson and was named Christine Alma after the two nursing sisters. Mavis Petersen informed our oral history recorder, Lyn Wright, that her daughter Janice (Gilmore), was the third baby born in the hospital.

Doctors J. Francis, J. G. P. Ryan and Arnold Jones followed Dr. Sapsford. In 1972 the new Allora and District Co-operative Hospital was built in Darling Street. The old hospital was used as a surgery by Dr. R. Paterson 1972/73, Dr. Chabun for three months in 1974, and Dr. P. G. L. Williams from 1974 to 1979 when the building was sold and converted in to flats.

Please continue on Herbert Street 7.