Stories

Recollections of Yallourn 1946 to 1960 by Allan Schroeder (circa 1990)
My first experience of Yallourn was in February 1946 when I arrived with my wife and 3 year old daughter for a few days’ holiday. I was on my way to Tasmania to look over a prospective job there after five and a half years in the Air Force.
We stayed at the Yallourn Guest House run by Mrs Birmingham and her sister. We immediately became surrounded by fellow boarders, who later became friends of many years standing. These boarders were Carl Rosenbrock, Father Walsh, Allan Cameron and several school teachers.… more

LAURIE SHIPP
In only three seasons with Yallourn Football Club, former North Melbourne ruckman, Laurie Shipp, took local football by storm and created a lasting impression as one of the Blues’ best ruckmen of all time.

Although not well known in Yallourn Football Club’s history, Laurie had actually worked in the Yallourn Open Cut as a Cadet Engineer before he returned to the city in 1949 to sign with North Melbourne. Laurie remembers…
“While studying part-time to add Electrical Engineering to my qualifications, I was appointed to a Cadet Engineering position with the… more

1934 YALLOURN OPEN CUT FLOOD

On Thursday, 29 November 1934, very heavy rain fell in Melbourne and moved to the east. There the depression seemed to stick and rain fell from midday Thursday to Saturday morning over the Latrobe Valley catchment – 700 square miles in which four streams unite in a short distance – in amounts that ranged from 10 to 19½ inches.

Early messages to SEC headquarters on Friday, 30 November, reported 350 points, and the river at Yallourn Power Station rising 3 feet an hour. There was, it was stated, ‘a considerable amount of water’ in the open cut. All… more

The Yallourn Telephone Exchange - 1954 : Memories by Jeff Collinson

In March 1954, I was selected by the PMG’s (Post Master General’s) Department to be the Senior Technician in charge of the installation of the new Yallourn Telephone Exchange. Prior to this selection, I was the Senior Technician leading a small team at the O’Shannassy Reservoir, near Warburton, installing the telecommunications equipment for the Queen and Prince Phillip when they stayed at the MMBW Chalet during the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia.

Until 1954, the telephone service to the people of Yallourn was… more

This article is from ‘ The Morwell Advertiser and Gazette’ dated 22nd May 1925. The report is in relation to the opening of the new school building at the Yallourn State School.

YALLOURN STATE SCHOOL FORMALLY OPENED BY MR TATE (DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION)
In February 1922, a small school was opened at Yallourn and for some time the building was large enough to accommodate all the children that attended. The population, however, increased by leaps and bounds, and it was realized that a much larger building was needed to meet requirements and provide the necessary accommodation.… more

Did you know – the large oak tree in front of the Guide Hall in Yallourn was grown from a seed from oaks in the Royal Mews in England?
Jock Lawson was given the seed when a Royal Princess was in Australia. (Only six seeds came out to Australia and Jock was given two of these.) From that tree, Jock grew two more trees which were growing at Barbara & Don Flanagan’s house at Hazelwood North.

The Drummond family came to Yallourn at the end of 1923 and the five girls started the 1924 school year in a little weatherboard cottage shell at No 4 Hillside, boosting the numbers considerably. The cottage served as a school during the day, a meeting room at night and the three churches took it in turn to hold Services there on Sundays.

There were about 20 children at the school when we arrived, with Mr Tyson as teacher and a young girl assistant, Miss King. Soon, Mr Bill Eddy took over from Mr Tyson and Miss Alice Firmin (daughter of a well-known Yinnar pioneering family) joined… more

Dr James Moore Andrew practised in the Yallourn area from 1925 until he died on November 2, 1972.

Doctor Andrew was born in 1899 in Kyneton and came to the area on New Years Eve in 1925, just days after his marriage. He was only 2 years out of medical School. He spent 45 years attending the people of Yallourn and Brown Coal Mine, bringing many of them into the world. He was on call 24 hours every day. One time driving his T-Model Ford to Brown Coal Mine on a very poor road, he swerved to avoid a drunken cyclist and crashed into the bush. He
severed several tendons in his… more

60 YEARS AGO ~ 1953 SIMON SHAW

1953 was a season of great sorrow in the history of Yallourn Football Club. The tragic death of Simon Shaw was long-felt by the club and the people of the town and district.

Simon (born at Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 2nd September 1923) died in the Yallourn Hospital on the 1st February 1953. He died as the result of an injury sustained while swimming in the Latrobe River on Monday 26th January. ‘The Morwell Advertiser’ carried the full story and it told of Simon’s brave fight for survival in hospital for six days following the accident… more

Sydney and Frances Williams had six children Keith, Lorna, Allan, Doug, Betty and Morris. In the early years, Sydney worked a small farm in the Hill End-Willow Grove area.
“Syd provided a supporting role to the running of the family store and hotel, using horse and carriage passenger and mail services (Cobb & Co. style) to all parts of the surrounding areas linking to Moe. In the 1920’s, the horses were replaced with motor vehicles.” …Morris Williams.

Sometime in 1930’s the family moved into Yallourn and the story of two of Yallourn’s best-ever footballers starts here.… more