Heritage is a living thing

The Bruce Wilson Memorial Heritage Lecture, for this year, is being held on August 10.

It will be presented by Evan Lloyd and covers the contribution of architect J.A.K. Clarke. I wanted to tell you about this — and so began researching the very long list of buildings with which Clarke was involved — St Brendan’s Church, Ambermere and many more. The Terminus Hotel was one of these, following a fire in 1915.

Then Coghlan’s Hotel, the Termi was built in 1878 and, after the railway came to Shepparton in 1880, the name was changed to Coglan’s Terminus Hotel. In 1916, the then licensee James McDonald was charged with selling adulterated whisky (which sounds nasty, to me).

The hotel burnt down (enabling Clarke’s new design); and I had conflicting dates for this event.

So, I had a chat with Robert Stainsby because his family ran the hotel for 60 years, with four generations involved. Clarke’s design was of a single-storey building suiting a pub in 1916. However, over the years, the services customers expected changed considerably. The Stainsbys redesigned the bar area, knocked down walls to provide a bistro and finally added a wine bar, Pippins, with which many of us are familiar.

Arson and manslaughter?

Rob directed me to a fine article, written by Darren Linton, in 2010. It was, as Rob had said, ‘material for a mini series’.

Fortune telling was very popular at the time — and one such person (Mrs Smith) could be found ‘somewhere near the railway line’. She was telling her clients that there would be a fire or robbery, connected with the Terminus before Christmas.

The licensee, Mrs Margaret Anne Burnside, also had a secret lover — now jilted.

In addition, Mrs Burnside had moved some of the furniture from the hotel, before the fire.

It was all very complex. The hotel was insured for $700 but when the Burnsides requested more for the furniture, the insurance company declined, and eventually became suspicious of the Burnsides and the insurance was cancelled.

Mr Patrick Mackie died in the fire — after requesting matches for his pipe.

Mr Basil March, a resident of the hotel, pointed the finger at Mrs Burnside, saying she had admitted lighting the fire.

However, it eventuated that March was the jilted lover. Oh dear me! What a melodrama!

The charges against Mrs Burnside were finally dropped. But I still don’t know why she removed furniture before the fire.

The reports mention that Mr Mackie’s body was found near his bed — and other residents gave evidence and, presumably, they were also in beds. Perhaps some things needed a wash.

The next info I have was for 1928, when people called Bryant and Sheils sell all their local hotels — three in Shepparton two in Mooroopna and one each in Tally, Dookie and Pine Lodge and, one assumes — whoever they were — that they retired comfortably. The Terminus was one of these.

A decade later, there were major renovations to the building, adding a first storey and changing the façade to classic art deco.

The Houston family had arrived from Scotland in 1921, and, in 1941, Agnes Houston took over the lease of the hotel and moved in, with her husband and daughter Margaret. Bob Stainsby was sent to Shepparton by the PMG, in 1943, to oversee the building of Radio Australia, and he stayed at the Termi where he met — and married — Margaret. Mrs Stainsby took over as licensee in 1945.

In 1955, there was another fire, damaging the dining room and kitchen; it was first noticed by small son Robert. The Stainsby family bought the freehold of the hotel in 1961.

And in 2018, the hotel was taken over by Greg and Brooke Brassil.

My thanks to Rob Stainsby and Geoff Allemand.

Back to the lecture

This is a great opportunity to learn about this interesting man — architect, farmer, cycling enthusiast and agricultural society stalwart — and his influence on the look and feel of Shepparton.

Wednesday, August 10. Two opportunities — 1pm and 6pm. At the Senior Citizens Centre, 132 Welsford St. Free entry. All welcome.

Last week

Thank you so much, everyone. Lots of long chats, some of them quite emotional. We discussed visiting our loved ones; we talked about a city packed to the rafters and the future — with or without a virus.

There were even discussions about the purple bin which, by the way, is not the council’s fault. One lady spoke of visiting her mother, every day, for a week — until everything that needed to be said, was said. She told me ‘in the end, my mum simply closed her eyes, and went — so peacefully’. Surely, this is what we all want — and can’t do right now. One gentleman told me about families being forced to live with other families. (And we all know how much fun that is!) And one of my callers spoke about living near my grandparents and her little ones constantly wanting to visit ‘Uncle Jack and Auntie Anne’. I told her this was because my grandparents indulged every child they could get their hands on. I have also been told of the difficulty of finding accommodation for hospital staff. My thanks, in particular, to Marilyn and Denise.

Karen, I’ve just received your message, right on my deadline. Monday mornings are always filled with self-doubt — as I send my copy in. You certainly brightened this one. Thank you very much for your kindness.

But I’m not going to miss this opportunity to make my point again.

Let’s say 400 blocks were released this week, which could be sold within 10 days or so — because many more families than that have expressed interest. In 12 months, or thereabouts, people would begin to move. (Home building is taking longer these days). As families moved into their new homes, established homes would be sold, leaving rentals available. People would be able to move to our city — including staff for the hospital — and we could visit our loved ones. It’s a pipe dream, I know.

My fear is, that when COVID is but a memory, our hospital will still be closed to visitors because — for Shepparton and land availability — nothing has changed.

The boat mystery

Last week, I also had an email from John. When I called him back, he told me a story that interested me a lot. And some of you might be able to answer some of his questions. Here is the story:

In 1960, or thereabouts, John noticed a boat being built, in a backyard. When he drove to work, he could see it, well above the roof of the house; it was a big boat; situated in Nettlecoe Estate, somewhere near the mosque (and some distance from the sea). He was told that the boat builder was from Germany — ex German Navy — and was building the boat to take his family home. Perhaps he didn’t like Australia much or, perhaps, he was planning a family holiday.

John says the boat was large and the only possible way to move it would be with a very big crane and a very big truck. As Melbourne is the nearest port, he thinks it must have been taken there.

So, does anyone else know anything about this vessel or what happened to the former sailor and his family? If so, please contact me and I’ll make sure John, and our readers, get to hear about it.

Take care

A couple of sunny, late winter days and I began to hope the worst was over. But no! A glance at forecasts and the temperatures are going down again. However, it is late July and, although August is often windy, it should start to improve.

Stay warm, keep well. Hope the electricity bill is bighting too hard.

May it be easy, my friends.

— Marnie

Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au

Letter: Town Talk. Shepparton News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.

Phone: Send a text on 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back, if you wish.)