A WALK UP HERBERT STREET, FROM THE SOUTHERN END.

 Here is an Index.

Introduction and Index.
                  This is a journey from South to North of Herbert Street, similar to 'Oliver Twist' but researched and written by Colin Newport in 2009. (The 'even' numbered side of the Street). On this page we begin with No#34 where we have the Methodist Church, and next although not now in Herbert Street, but with a Warwick Street entrance, is the Foodworks Supermarket.
                  Page 2. No 40: Railway Hotel.  42: Chemist.  44: Tru-Value Hardware.  46: Bowen Therapy.
                  Page 3.  46A:  Lyn de Jo Boutique.  48: Cassaz Colourful Curls.  50: Amy's Country Kitchen.  52: P R's Hair Design.
                  Page 4.  54: Allora Newsagency.  58: Central Homewares.  60: Allora Veterinary Clinic.  64:  Allora Post Office.
                  Page 5.  66:  Warwick Credit Union.  68-70: Allora Butchery.  72: Allora Cafe & Bakery.  74:  Allora Realty.
                  Page 6.  76: Vacant Block.  78: S.D.R.C. property including Library. 80:  Old Fire Station.  82:  Wilson & Rigby Panelbeater's.  84-86: Private residences.
                  Page 7.  88: vacant shop.  90-92 Jubilee Gardens.  94: Private House.

In 1965 a series of articles titled “A Walk Down Herbert Street” appeared in the Warwick Daily News. The articles were written by Oliver Neale under the pen name of “Oliver Twist”. Oliver Neale was a former Allora resident and a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Neale very early Allora settlers who arrived in Moreton Bay in 1848  on the “Artemisia”, the first free immigrant ship to arrive in the later colony of Queensland. The articles were written from Oliver’s memories of Herbert Street in 1905, sixty years previously. We will follow his footsteps down Herbert Street in the years 2008 and 2009. Oliver chose to start his walk at the Methodist Church at what is now No. 34 Herbert Street. We will start our walk from the South Street corner and catch him up at the former Methodist church.
The allotment on the western side of Herbert Street from the South Street corner would have been a vacant horse paddock in “Oliver Twist’s” time. It remained as that up to the 1970’s when the State Wheat Board built their bulk grain depot there. With the closure of the Allora branch railway line and the increasing reliance on farm grain storage, the depot was closed to farmer grain deliveries by Graincorp in the 1990’s and is now used for private grain storage.
I am not sure when it was built but the former railway station master’s house at No. 24 now occupied by Mrs. Joan Cronin, wife of the late Leo Cronin, long time Allora Railway Station Master, was probably standing on the Darling Street corner in 1905. The Allora Railway Station was built in 1897. The residence probably dates from that time.
Crossing Darling Street, the corner allotment now occupied by the brick home of Phil and Eunice Baines at No. 26 was the site of Deacon & Co.’s pig and calf saleyards. The firm of Deacon & Co. was founded by Charles and Hubert Deacon and Clifford Alford in 1907. Regular pig sales were conducted from August 1911 and continued of a Wednesday up to the 1960’s. After the closure of the yards the allotment was sold in1983 by Mrs. Waveney Deacon, widow of Bob Deacon.
No.30 Herbert Street was the site of Mrs. Bell’s Boarding House operated by Mrs. William Bell and her daughters. Mrs. Bell was the grandmother of Alan Bell who lives at No. 67 Herbert Street. The boarding house was later run by Mrs. Enright and then Mrs. Barlow. In the 1960’s the single Allora State School teachers boarded there. The building was destroyed by fire in 1974 after which the current house was built.
No. 32 was the former Methodist parsonage built in 1907. It was used by the Methodist minister until the formation of the Uniting Church after the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches combined in the early 1970’s. It was then sold. Mark Brelsford, a retired plumber and well known for his excellent drawings of historic buildings, lived there.
With that we have caught up with “Oliver Twist”. Next time we will look at the history of the Methodist Church.

34 Herbert Street
The Allora Methodist congregation became part of the Warwick Circuit in 1865. Regular visits were made to Allora by the Rev. J. Watkins from that date. The services were held in the small bark hut to the south of the town belonging to Mr. Henry Meyer and family. Henry Meyer was a German born farmer who, with his family, lived in the Allora district from about 1862 to 1868. He was a brother-in-law of Donald Clark who was the first licensee of the Dalrymple Hotel, they having married sisters Elizabeth and Maria Grace.
Who better to tell the history of the Wesley Chapel, Allora’s first Methodist Church, than Rev. Charles Wiles the minister at the time the church was built in 1866? Rev. Wiles wrote in 1896 at the time of the opening of the new church. “It was stated in one of the recent issues of the “Witness” that the old church was built during the time Rev. Mr. Watkins was minister of the Warwick Circuit. That is a mistake. The writer succeeded Mr. Watkins in April 1866 and the church was built from commencement to completion during his ministry. After a lot of work canvassing the district for subscriptions, the building was commenced in November 1866 and was opened and dedicated to the Worship of God on the following Christmas Day, the opening sermon being preached in the morning by the late Rev. Charles Olden, then stationed at Toowoomba. A Tea Meeting was held in the church the same evening, circumstances mitigated against a big attendance on that particular evening but there was a great deal of enthusiasm displayed in the whole of the proceedings, particularly in the public meeting that followed. I forget the amount, but a very substantial amount was raised at that meeting for the building fund. The good friends who provided the tea did so cheerfully and abundantly and it was a time of rejoicing.
While not disparaging the efforts of any, I may just mention the names of two or three of the most prominent helpers in the building scheme as they come up fresh in my memory; Mr. Hardwick, blacksmith, two brothers of the name of Thompson, carpenters and selectors close to town. They were of great assistance in planning the building and helping me draw (up) the specifications. And these brothers Thompson evidently took the contract for the building of the church and did the work well and at a reasonable price. Far above all others, we were indebted for the erection of the church at that time to Mr. Meyer. He was the prime mover in the undertaking and what Mr. Meyer did just serves to illustrate what one man of humble position can accomplish when he is whole hearted in his work. Mr. Meyer personally waited upon and got subscriptions for the building fund from all the squatters for many miles around. He was a man of such stirling character and gentle manners that he was respected by all classes. And no history of the Wesleyan Church at Allora could be complete without his name”.
By 1896 the old church was found to be too small to hold the increasing congregation and at a meeting of the Church Committee held on 8th February 1896 it was decided to build a new church. The following members were elected to the building committee: Chairman Rev. W. Dinning, Vice-Chair James Dean, Secretary Thomas Hancock, Treasurer James Dean, Committee members; George Tickle, Isaac Hardwick, William Abernethy, John Powell, Mark Wimpenny, Ernest Stay, William Smith, Robert Neale, Edwin Neale, Isaac Holmes, George R. Tickle, James Rooney, Charles Hardwick, William Beer, William Allen, and Mr. Freeman.
The plans and specifications  were drawn up by Warwick architects, Wallace and Gibson and tenders called for, the two lowest being from Allora firms Sharpe and Leggatt at ₤239 and H. W. Stay at ₤238. After much negotiation and revision of tenders it was decided to accept the tender of H. W. Stay. The opening services were preached in the new church on Sunday 18th October 1896 by the Rev. William Jeffries. The old Wesley Chapel had been sold for removal and had been purchased by John Holmes who had it moved to a site in Herbert near the Drayton Street corner. There it housed Donovan’s Auction Mart until it was destroyed in the 1909 fire.
In 1907 the parsonage was built next to the church to accommodate the resident minister. William Leggatt was the builder to a design by Daniel Stoddart. Increasing Sunday School numbers caused a need for more room and in 1925 the disused Glengallan church was moved to Allora and attached to the rear of the church. It also saw service as a social hall and kindergarten.
The church was used by the Allora Methodist congregation until the early 1970’s when the Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists combined to form the Uniting Church. Services were shifted to the former St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Warwick Street and in March 1977 the Rev. Bruce Ross called for tenders for the sale of the Methodist Church. It was purchased by Brisbane architect John Dalton and his wife Sue. Following John’s death in 2007 the church is now owned by Sue Dalton. The parsonage had been sold in December 1971 to Mark Brelsford.

Holmes’ Corner
The south western corner of Herbert and Warwick Streets was not the original Holmes’ Corner but it was called that for 58 years and most people would remember it as Holmes’ Corner. The 1 acre allotment was originally owned by Robert Grayson, Allora’s first police sergeant. In the 1879 Municipal Council rate book it was still owned by Robert Grayson and occupied by J. Petry, a shoemaker.
Although Holmes & Co. had a small entrance from Herbert Street, the shop faced Warwick Street and its address was 41 Warwick Street but as we pass its successor on our way down Herbert Street we will list its history. What was later the store of Holmes & Co. was built in three stages. The part adjoining Herbert Street was not built when Oliver Twist remembered Herbert Street in 1905 and that was why he didn’t mention a building there. The central part was built by Stay Bros. who opened their Federal Cash Store in March 1904. The building on the western side was built by H. W. Stay in January 1908 for L. V. Vincent, furniture manufacturer and supplier.
Kellett & Symes of Toowoomba bought out Stay Bros. in March 1905. Scott & Co. who also had a store on the Herbert and Drayton Streets corner took over Kellett & Symes in May 1908. Leonard Hyde Symes stayed on as a partner and manager of the store. Scott & Co. expanded the store to take up the land to Herbert Street. The new section added drapery and a dressmaking and millinery showroom to the business. The death of Isaac Holmes in November 1908 saw the dissolution of the firm of Scott & Co in April 1909 and the foundation of the new firm of Scott & Symes. In October 1909 Leonard Symes sold his share of the business to John Scott and the corner became known as Scott’s Corner. Ill health caused John Scott to sell the store to F. S. Lound and Matthew Colclough in May 1910 and the business was called Lound & Colclough. In July 1910 L. V. Vincent sold his furniture store. Charles “Rustyface” Cunnington later had a café there until he sold in 1926 to become the Queensland manager of Aladdin Industries.
John Moorhead from the Northern Rivers of N. S. W. bought out Lound & Colclough in December 1910. He called his store “The Trade Palace”. Following the second disastrous fire which destroyed their store on the Drayton and Herbert Street’s corner in August 1914, the firm of Holmes & Co. bought out John Moorhead and moved to the Warwick and Herbert Street’s corner. They were to trade there for the next 58 years. The firm of Holmes & Co. was founded by John, William Major, and Arthur Samuel Holmes, sons of Isaac Holmes.
I will attempt to describe Holmes & Co.’s store from my memories of it in the early 1960’s. We would appreciate hearing anyone else’s memories.
As you entered the store through the small door on the Herbert Street side there was a long wooden counter on the left behind which Miss Rae Masters and Jenny Stay served in the women’s section. On the right Mr. Hay served in the men’s section. At the southern end of the building and up a couple of stairs was the office. In those days most trading was done on monthly account and there were three or four girls working there, Mary Donegan and Denise O’Dea being among them. This building also sold drapery, manchester, millinery and shoes, and as you left it through a door on the western wall you came into the grocery section. Those were the days that sugar was sold in 30 lb sugar bags, flour in flour bags, tea came in a large wooden chest and things were dispensed in brown paper packets. Geoff Slatter, Fred Neal and later Corienne Geaney served behind a counter on the western side. The housewives handed them a list and the order was packed into a cardboard carton. The staff had pencils held behind their ears and added the total on a scrap of paper. Mick O’Dea did the deliveries in a little brown ute. The main entrances to these two building were from Warwick Street. The hardware department was a separate building that you also entered from Warwick Street. Buff Holmes was in charge of that section while Milton Holmes was the overall manager.
In what would be the biggest single business fire in Allora, Holmes & Co. burned down on the night of 13th October 1972. The cleared allotment was bought by the Allora and District Co-operative Society. In August 1975 they closed their South Street store and in October 1975 opened a new store on the Warwick and Herbert Streets corner with Tom McDonald as manager. Tom and Leone McDonald bought the business in August 1978 and traded as Allora Foodland. In November 1983 it became Allora Independent Foodland which was sold to Soc and Robyn Keinzel who opened as Allora Supermarket Cut Price in November 1984. The Keinzel’s traded until April 1996 when they sold to Debbie and Alan Smith. A couple of renovations and several name changes later they are still operating. Allora’s Foodworks would be the biggest employer of young people in the town but I don’t know if any of them could tote up the bill in pounds and ounces and in pounds, shillings, and pence on a scrap of paper. Then again Geoff Slatter told our oral history recorder that he ended his long working life when Allora Hardware, where he was working at the time, introduced computers.

Please continue on Herbert Street 2.