A few weeks ago I was able to peruse early copies of The Dispatch and North Eastern Advertiser. This was the newspaper that John Rowan commenced in the early 1860s as the Wangaratta Dispatch. Rowan had moved on to Wahgunyah where he died in July 1873 but the newspaper had already been purchased by George Searle and Angus McKay in June 1872.

These were the days when office spaces were rare and it was the norm to find (respectable!) businesses based in hotels. Below are just a few of the advertisements from page one of two editions from October 1873 that relate to Wangaratta. There are ads for some of the smaller hotels and interesting businesses and some give clues as to when their businesses were first begun or when they arrived in town.

First up the population needed refreshment. Note that both John Dodsworth and Bridget Jarvis both reminded the community that they had previously been in business in the town. Dodsworth must have been responsible for many of the hangovers in town, having been brewing there since early 1870.

 

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The population needed clothing and hairdressing. Mrs Chandler was possibly the wife of George Chandler whose drapery business became insolvent earlier in 1873. I’m not sure what the locals thought of that. William Meldrum’s store was part of the long history of the Callanders/Coles allotments on Murphy Street. Situated on a block originally purchased from the Crown by James Woodland, Meldrum sold out to Harrison Bros & Kettle around 1890. After fire destroyed the shop in 1909 the four owners who sold out to Callander & Forer. William McGain notes his premises as being next to Meldrum’s in Murphy Street. He also noted that he was near The Dispatch offices in Murphy Street. The newspaper moved around quite a bit with at least two locations in Reid Street after this time. This is perplexing as it must have been a mammoth task to move a printing press.

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They needed housing.

     

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They needed to educate their children.

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They needed men to assist them get in or out of trouble.

     

     

 

 

 

 

 

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And they needed men to despatch them. Thomas Swan’s business was situated on south western end of Murphy Street. Swan married my relative Elizabeth Cook, a daughter of Christopher Cook, a bricklayer whom we met here and here. I particularly like that to arrange a funeral with William Simpson, a bereaved party had to attend his office situated, albeit temporarily, in the premises of McKeone Bros., bookseller’s. One wonders if coffin selections could be browsed alongside the books.

     

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Of course these were not the only businesses in town. They are merely a small selection  from the front page of a few editions of the ‘Dispatch & North Eastern Advertiser’ published in October 1873.