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Rickert’s Corner (40 Herbert Street).
Andreas RÜckert (Anglicized to Rickert on Naturalization in Warwick by Rev. Benjamin Glennie.) came to Australia from Germany with his wife Mary and sons Andrew, Michael and Adam in 1854. Mary died at Taloom in northern N. S. W. after giving birth to a daughter Mary. Andreas and his three sons came to Allora in 1862 and purchased the 1 acre allotment on the north western corner of Herbert and Warwick Streets for the sum of ₤12. Here he built a bark hut and blacksmith’s shop. Andreas (Andrew senior) Rickert conducted the blacksmith’s shop on the site until his death in 1896. The land was then transferred to his three sons. In March 1902 auctioneer and commission agent Mr. Patrick Donovan reported having sold the land known as “Rickert’s Corner” to Mr. William Lambley for the satisfactory price of ₤400. William Lambley had had a butcher’s shop at Allora before taking over the licence of Tattersall’s Hotel from 1900 to 1902 when that hotel was sold to James O’Callaghan. In July 1902 William Lanbley applied for a provisional certificate for a two storied hotel to be built on the Herbert and Warwick Street’s corner to be known as the Railway Hotel. Local building contractor, William Leggatt, undertook the design and erection of the hotel for the contract price of ₤1125. The total price of the hotel including land, building and furniture was ₤1900. In December 1902 William Lambley applied for a licence and expected to open early in the New Year. Mr. Lambley operated the hotel until May 1904 when he moved to a hotel in Pratten. The licence was transferred to Miss Honora Gallagher. Miss Gallagher was the daughter of Eugene Gallagher, a farmer in Allora until he moved to Back Plains in 1873. He built the Australian Hotel in Clifton in 1890 and died in 1900.
A. A. (Arthur) Cameron, son of Allora’s first Town Clerk, Alexander Cameron, took over the hotel in 1914. Arthur Cameron was a Boer War veteran and transferred the licence to Laurence Quinn when he enlisted for the Great War in 1915. Lieutenant Cameron was killed in action in France in 1916, the year that the licence was transferred to Walter Smith. James O’Callaghan took over the hotel in April 1918 and began a long association between the O’Callaghan family and the Railway Hotel. James O’Callaghan senior was a very early settler in the Allora district and had a farm at O’Callaghan’s Pocket on Dalrymple Creek to the west of the town opposite where Sinton’s live today. His son James conducted Tattersalls Hotel from 1902 until it burned down in December 1917. O’Callaghan’s Hall which stood at the present day 30 Drayton Street was then shifted to house the newly formed St. Patrick’s Convent School. Miss Margaret O’Callaghan took over the licence from her father in 1920 and held it in her own name into the 1930’s. She married Dan O’Shea and held the licence as Margaret O’Shea in 1933. The following list of licensees of the Railway Hotel is gleaned from the Allora Advertiser. Because of gaps in our set of the Advertiser there may be licensees missing from the list. The freehold of the hotel was owned for many years by the Bulimba Brewery.
George Maher followed by George Maher junior were long time licensees of the hotel. It was in the name of George Maher from at least February 1950 to 1958. Noel and Gabrielle Hayes took over in 1959. They were farewelled in August 1965 when Nev. and Shirley Geraghty took on the licence. Merv. and Norma Risby came to the hotel in 1969 and sold to Tom and Mary Lister in January 1972. Tom and Mary were relative long timers in the hotel until they sold the licence to John and Jenny Weber in December 1978. Neil and Robyn Crausaz took over in May 1983 and sold to Ian, Joy and Don Bradbury in February 1987. Tom and Ros Condon had the licence from March 1988 and sold to Geoff and Kym Keevers in August 1989. Pat and Mary Leahy took over in December 1991 and held the licence until at least December 1992. We have a gap in our Advertiser collection from 1993 to 1996. Col and Kath Turner were in the hotel in 1997/98. John and Rhonda Fraser were also relative long timers when they sold to current licensee Robyn Miles in December 2007.
PUBLICANS.
According to the “Office of Liquor & Gaming Regulations. 2009.”
“The Railway Hotel.”
Robyn Michelle Miles from 17/12/2007.
John Charles Frazer from 14/7/1998.
Colin Edward Turner from 22/11/1995.
Leslie Connors Saunders from 25/10/1995.
David John Williamson from 31/10/1994.
Christine Rees from 18/4/1994.
John Dismus McCormack from 22/6/1993.
Patrick Leo Leahy from 17/12/1991.
Kim Maree Keevers from 4/9/1989.
Thomas Redmond Condon from 21/3/1988.
Donald Ian Bradbury from 19/1/1987.
Neil Emile Crausaz from 21/3/1983.
John Herbert Weber from 11/12/1978.
Thomas John Lister from 17/1/1972.
Mervyn Thomas Risby from 6/1/1969.
Neville Stuart Geraghty from 2/8/1965.
End of records.
Alec Busteed conducted a saddlery and boot repair business from the back of what was the old sample room of the Railway Hotel from at least May 1958. Warren Holmes worked for him. The entrance was from Warwick Street and has been since boarded up. In September 1959 the business was moved to No. 70 Herbert Street.
In 1909 the old chemist shop which stood on the diagonally opposite corner was moved to a position in Warwick Street next to the Railway Hotel. This was to make way for the building of the new C. B. C. bank on that site. The relocated building served for many years as a butcher’s shop. Cattanagh & Ford started business on 1st September 1910 followed by E. Ford from December 1910 to 1912. Ownership of the butcher shop changed regularly over the years. Owners included A. H. Neale, Chard Bros., M. K. Dougall, and Dougall & Black. I think that Sam Gordon was there in the latter stages of the existence of the shop.
Also on the same 1 acre allotment as the Railway Hotel, but surveyed off in the early 1900’s, was No. 42 Herbert Street and we will give its history next week.
42 Herbert Street
The present day 42 Herbert Street was originally part of Andrew Rickert’s 1 acre allotment. It was surveyed off in the early 1900’s and Stay Bros. built a new shop on the site. The shop was leased to P. J. Casey & Co. whose new drapery opened on the 28th September 1907. P. J. Casey was formerly with Pigott & Co. The business only lasted twelve months because in October 1908 P. J. Casey & Co’s entire stock was purchased by F. S. Lound of the “Palace of Fashion” on the Herbert Street/Warwick Street’s corner.
In April 1919, R. W. (Bob) Brown started business in Allora at what is now No. 50 Herbert Street as a tobacconist and hairdresser. The business must have had the most militarily decorated staff in Allora because Bob Brown was an original Anzac and as Lieutenant R. W. Brown was awarded the M. B. E. (Military Division) for service in the Camel Corps in Egypt. Les Masters, the barber, served in 6th Field Ambulance and was awarded the Military Medal for “Bravery in the Field” in France in 1917. By 1923 Bob Brown had branched out into the stationery business.
In April 1929, H. W. Stay & Son, Auctioneers and Commission Agents, moved into smaller premises at No. 70 Herbert Street and Bob Brown took over at No. 42. It was a timely move because his old building at No. 50 was destroyed in the August 1929 fire. Les Masters moved into No. 42 with Bob Brown and from his start in No. 50 in 1919, until his death in August 1972, made the walk down Warwick and Herbert Street, six times weekly, except for two weeks annual holiday, for over 53 years.
Les Masters occupied the right hand rear part of the shop, the front section was the stationery, tobacconist and casket agency while the left hand rear section, added in May 1929, was the billiard room. This section today is Jon Constable’s dispensary. In another time the billiard room was a dispensary of a different kind. The winnings on the Saturday races were dispensed to the local punters in that room. Bob Brown’s advertisement in the Allora Guardian read “I write to Your Rich Uncle in Hobart weekly” which I take as a thinly veiled hint that he ran a book on the southern races. There is a story that a local police sergeant had ₤10 on the winner of the last race every Saturday.
Bob Brown enlisted in the 2nd A. I. F. in September 1940. He served in 1 Garrison Battalion and was promoted to the rank of Captain. He died in Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital on the 14th January 1944.
When Bob Brown re-enlisted in the army, the business at No. 42 was carried on by his wife Daisy Brown and only child Daisy Hawkins. The business was later taken over by Hampson & Gilbert, Bessie Hampson being Bob Brown’s sister. The shop evolved from a tobacconist, stationery, and casket agency in the early 1950’s to a stationery, casket agency, lending library and gift shop when Con and Irene Mahoney took over in May 1957. Although popularly known as “Mahoney’s Newsagency” they never advertised the business as a newsagency. They did not sell the Brisbane daily papers except the afternoon “Telegraph”. This was due to some newsagency agreement that David Dwan could probably explain. They sold all other newspapers and magazines, a range of sporting goods, and for Guy Fawkes Night stocked a huge range of fireworks.
The shop was originally partitioned off on the right had side with a separate entrance to the street. In April 1954 Joan Kiernan moved her frock and beauty salon into that section before moving to No. 48. Mahoney’s opened a gift shop there until the partition was removed and the front section opened up. Mrs. Irene Mahoney terminated her lease on the building in June 1967 after Con’s death.
Keith Brosnan conducted a tyre service in the building for a short time. Les Masters conducted his barber’s shop through the various changes in the front section of the building. He had cut the hair of three generations of Allora residents when he passed away in August 1972. His barber’s chair and equipment can be seen at the Allora Historical Society museum.
Following the destruction by fire of Holmes & Co. in October 1972, a partnership was formed between Roy Smith (Donovan & Son), Peter Stewart (Allora Motors), and Rae Masters and Jock Evans, the former drapery staff of Holmes & Co. The building was secured from Rob Hawkins, grandson of Bob Brown, and “The Shopping Spot” was opened in November 1972. It traded under the slogan “The store created for your convenience”. The hairdressing salon was renovated and opened by Peter Fragale.
Roy Smith and Peter Stewart sold their share of the business to Rae Masters and Jock Evans in April 1976 and they traded until February 1989 when the business was sold to Keith and Roslyn Kerkin. Roslyn carried on the drapery business and the shop was used as an outlet for Keith’s K-line Furniture.
The hairdressing salon was conducted by a number of people over the years including Peter Fragale, Nov. 1972 – September 1973; Geraldine (Kirkland), November 1973 – September 1977; Marie Schriek, February 1978 – April 1979; Leanne Sanderson, April 1979 – December 1980; Claire Jefferies, December 1980 – March 1983; Cathy (Chandler), March 1983 – December 1985; Sharron Gwynne (Whittaker), December 1985 – April 1988; Jenny Phelan, May 1988 – June 1989; Sue Clark, July 1989 – July 1990; Michelle Gall (Morris), July 1990 – ; Lauretta Brayer 1992 - .
In 1994 the shop was sold to John Patane who moved Allora Pharmacy from No. 48 to there. Jon Constable bought the business in April 1999.
44 (A)Herbert Street
In Oliver Twist’s walk down Herbert Street in 1905 he came across Mrs. Joyce, a dressmaker, after passing the Railway Hotel. Mrs. Florence Joyce was the widow of Theodore Hardwick, a farmer of Forest Plain until his premature death in 1898. Theodore Hardwick was one of the first Allora residents to sign up with the Salvation Army. Mrs. Hardwick then married a Mr. A. J. Joyce. It is not known what happened to Mr. Joyce but the building at the present day No. 44 Herbert Street was known as Joyce’s Buildings and was for many years divided into two shops. We will stick by the earlier description of them as 44A and 44B although they should be more properly referred to as 44 and 44A.
In December 1908 E. & S. Holmes opened two Refreshment Rooms in Allora, one in Barnes’ Buildings, and the other in Joyce’s Buildings. Edgar and Stan Holmes were sons of David Holmes formerly of the Allora Butchering Establishment and then the Royal Hotel. Their shop at No. 44A sold meals, fruit, confectionery, etc. Their slogan was S. P. Q. R. which stood for Small Prices Quick Returns. In September 1910, E. & S. Holmes sold their café business at No. 44A to Mrs. Joyce. Mrs. Joyce sold the business to M. Patrick in September 1914 and reverted to the dressmaking trade. Mick Patrick advertised fresh crabs, lobsters and prawns in March 1916 and in May 1916 started a catering business at his Olympia Café. From the name Mick Patrick you would not think of him as a Greek but the name Olympia café has Greek connotations. None the less the order of things was restored in October 1917 when Mick Patrick sold the café to Nicholas Andronicos. In February 1918 the “Guardian” published a post card from Mick Patrick addressed to Messrs. Johnson and Zapponis at the Olympia Café in Allora. As Nick Andronicos was still in the café long after this it suggests to me that Nick Andronicos and Nick Johnson who had the Central Café in later years were one and the same person.
Nicholas Andronicos sold his Olympia café in July 1928 to W. Manegos who renamed the café James Café. D. Manegos, probably the brother of W. Manegos, sold the café to K. D. Cominos in October 1930. By March 1934 John Condoleon had the café and renamed it the Bluebird Café.
George Skettos came to Australia from Greece in a tramp steamer in 1919. He landed in Freemantle W. A., and set out for Kalgoolie to find work. Later, probably in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s, he borrowed money and came to Queensland. He bought the café at No. 44A and renamed it the Allora Café. George traded there, living at the rear of the café, until June 1954 when he sold the business to Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Wesley. He then went into business at Caboolture. In August 1956 George Skettos took over the café again from the Wesley’s. By December 1958 the café traded under the names G. M. & A. Skettos, George having married Archondia Nicholaides who came out from Greece. Mrs. Skettos worked in the café for many years but always had trouble with the English language. George and Mrs. Skettos lived in Jubb Street until they shifted to Warwick Street. They sold the business to Neil Ellwood in November 1973 and retired to a new house that they had had built at No. 37 Herbert Street. George died at the age of 78 in May 1984 and Mrs. Skettos died at the age of 81 in November 1993. Both are buried in the Allora cemetery.
44B.
A. A. (Arthur) Cameron opened a tobacconist, hairdressing, book selling and fancy goods business at No. 44B in April 1908. He also had the same kind of business in Holmes’ Buildings on the Herbert and Drayton Street’s corner. In March 1912 he closed the Herbert Street shop but retained the Drayton Street shop. In November of that year he sold the Drayton Street shop when he was “called to the Bar”. The bar of the Railway Hotel that is, when he took up the licence at that time. H. Kemp operated the Sporting Billiard Saloon at the rear of A. A. Cameron’s shop in September 1911.
Following the disastrous fire which destroyed her shop in Holmes’ Buildings in 1914, Mrs. S. L. Williams (formerly Sarah Erhardt) moved her newsagency, stationers and bookselling business into No. 44B. In April 1920 Sarah Williams sold her business to Mrs. J. T. Lawless who in turn sold the business to Mrs. E. H. Gifford in January 1924. After the 1929 fire Minnie Gifford built a new shop at No. 54 Herbert Street and this opened for business on 1st January 1930. After Mrs. Gifford vacated 44B, some time in the 1940’s Colin Laws opened a grocery shop at No. 44B. He was there from at least August 1948. Colin Laws was a top class rugby league player who went on the play for Queensland. He was such a valuable member of the team that once the Toowoomba Rugby League sent a plane to the Allora racecourse to pick him up for a Bulimba Cup game against Ipswich. In June 1971 the Allora Co-op Society bought the grocery business from Colin Laws and closed it down. Terry Masters, the only employee, was re-employed at the Co-op’s South Street store.
Both Nos. 44A and 44B were at this stage owned by George Skettos. After Holmes & Co. burned down in October 1972 Allora was in need of a hardware shop. David and Daphne who had previously farmed at Forest Springs, but had left Allora to work in the hardware business on the Gold Coast seized the opportunity, leased No. 44B from George Skettos, and opened Allora Hardware on the 30th April 1973. When George Skettos retired and sold the cafe business to Neil Elwood, he at the same time sold the buildings to Lex and Olive Ellwood. Neil operated the café for about twelve months before closing the doors. In 1977 David and Daphne Tomlinson bought the building from Lex and Olive Ellwood and opened up the wall between the two shops. They rented a small portion on the front left hand side to Holmes Fertilizer Co. owned by Milton and Thelma Holmes.
In August 1984 David and Daphne took on the Consolidated Fertilizer business and traded as Allora Hardware and Fertilizer. They sold the hardware business to Nev. and Rae Siebenhausen in December 1987. In November 1999 Allora Hardware was sold to Alan and Heather Green who traded until October 2007 when they sold to Warren and Sue Wakeford.
46 Herbert Street
Phillip Rooney built a new bakery on the former site of J. C. Grace’s tailor shop which burned down in August 1895. In 1902 George Tickle bought that baker’s shop. The present day Nos. 46, 46A, and 48 Herbert Street have a common roof but I am not sure if it was originally one big shop of if the baker’s shop was added to in later years. George Tickle advertised fruit, confectionery etc. as well as bread so he may have needed more room that that which was required for the bakery alone. In Oliver Twist’s walk down Herbert Street in 1905 he doesn’t mention any other business between Joyce’s Buildings and Tickle’s bakery. There is no mention in the Allora Guardian of any business other that the bakery pre 1920 but not all businesses advertised.
The first clue to a business being at No.46 is in the list of businesses which published thanks to the volunteers for saving their premises from the 1926 fire. The name J. A. Roush appears on that list as having a business to the south of the Post Office which was destroyed in that fire. As Jacob Roush, the saddler, was at No.46 at the time if the 1929 fire we can assume he was there in 1926. The premises occupied by Jacob Roush at the time of the 1929 fire, was owned by George Tickle. It was not burnt by the fire but was practically demolished by volunteer fire fighters to prevent the spread of the flames. The volunteers hacked away one of the walls and brought the roof down on the side of the approaching fire. This seems to point to the fact that No.46 was a separate building. George Tickle had the building rebuilt as three shops in 1930 after the fire.
Syd Slatter, a returned soldier, had had his boot maker’s shop at No.50 burned down in the fire. Immediately after the fire he moved to the Central Hall Premises. Sometime prior to June 1938 he moved into the little shop now known as No.46. He had been in business for 38 years when he retired in 1958. I might be wrong on this but I thought that Joan Kiernan had her beauty parlour in No.46 in the 1960’s. The next business known to occupy No.46 was Holmes & Co. who opened a temporary office there to collect outstanding accounts after the October 1972 fire. Milton Holmes then used the shop to house his Holmes’ Fertilizer Co. until he moved into part of Allora Hardware’s premises then owned by David and Daphne Tomlinson.
H. W. (Harry) Stay had started as an auctioneer and Commission agent in 1910 in premises in the northern end of Herbert Street. In September 1914 he moved into No.42 and in April 1929, then trading as H. W. Stay & Son, moved into smaller premises at No. 70. Sometime prior to 1938, possibly in 1930 when the new building was erected, he moved into No.46A. H. W. Stay & Sons were undertakers as well as auctioneers and commission agents. H. W. (Roy) Stay took over the business from his father and the firm had been in business for 64 years when it was absorbed into Deacon & Co. in April 1974. Just prior to that Rodney Clunes had bought a share of Deacon & Co. from Mrs. Waveney Deacon, widow of Bob Deacon. A partnership was formed between Rodney Clunes and Brian O’Grady and the business Allora Agencies was started, selling farm and household products. The partnership was dissolved in November 1977 and Brian and Sue O’ Grady carried on the business selling second hand goods. Milton Holmes operated Holmes Fertilizer Co. in No.46 until late 1977 when he moved the business into a section of Allora hardware at No. 44. Brian and Sue O’Grady then used No.46 as a store room. They sold to Patti Guilford in May 1980. Patti traded as Antiques and Old Wares until August 1986 when her son, Mark Moore, opened Hay Day Country Kitchen in both No.46 and 46A with the wall being opened up between the two shops. An auction sale of antiques and restaurant contents took place in March 1989.
Michael Ward, a music teacher rented No.46A from February 1991 for a short time. When the Warwick Credit Union bought the building at No.66 in April 1992, Patrina Mortimer and Roslyn Reisenleiter moved their business of PR’s Hair Design from there into No.46A. They operated there until 2004 when they moved to No.52. Dalrymple Country Quilts owned by Marian Denny was at No.46 for a short time in March 2003 before moving to the shop next door to the Allora Advertiser. Karen opened The Little Shoppe of Joy in No.46 for a short time in October 2003. Sheilah’s Dressmaking also operated there for a short time from February 2004 before the business was moved to Hendon. The shop was vacant for a time until Carol Larsen moved her Bowen Therapy business there from No. 52 in February 2008. The practice was taken over by Carolyn Crawford early 2009 and Carolyn is the current occupier of No.46.
After Patrina and Roslyn moved PR’s Hair Design to No.52, Allison Masters, also a hairdresser, started up as Ally Cuts in No.46A in June 2004. She traded there until January 2006 when she moved the business to her home in South Street. The Kosmic Drum Gift Shop & Psychic occupied No 46A from January 2006 to June 2006. Allora Country Style Bakery opened in November 2006.
No.46A is currently occupied by Lyn-D-Jo Boutique owned by Joan and Lyn Cronin who moved there from No.70 in September 2008.
Please continue on Herbert Street 3.
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