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Allora Historical Society Inc., 27 Drayton Street, Allora (2026)

19/08/2026

NEW POST OFFICE
As we said, the new Post Office was opened in November 1910. This photo would have been taken from early 1915 on. In February in that year Ernie and Mrs Weatherley bought out Mrs Downes in Downes’ Café in Holmes’ building next to the Post Office. They renamed it the rather exotic name of the ‘Geisha Tea Rooms’ (as shown on the façade). J. & W. M. Holmes are still in the butcher’s shop next door.
Of the buildings that can be seen up the Drayton Street corner, only the Chas. Jones, draper, building (60 Herbert Street) survives in 2026.
The Post Office, Holmes’ Building, (then owned by Dougall brothers), and the building owned by Barnes & Co and then occupied by the Friendly Societies’ pharmacy, N. Rasch, jeweller, and space used by Barnes & Co as a storeroom, burned down in the 1926 fire. Barnes & Co building itself was demolished in 1992, and the building closest to camera which started as a bank and housed a café for many years, burned down in the 2002 Aunty Jack’s Restaurant fire.

18/08/2026

POST OFFFICE (2)
This photo was taken in May 1910 during the memorial procession for King Edward VII.
The old Post Office building has been sold and removed. It was bought by T. W. Brandon and shifted to a position on the Warwick road opposite the race course gates.
Holmes Bros. old butcher’s shop which was to the right of the old Post Office has been moved to a temporary position on the other side of the allotment next to Chas. Jones, draper, and in front of the Post Office residence (it must have been moved or demolished at a later date).
Holmes Bros. have erected a new building on the site which was previously occupied by the tea rooms, E. O. Ellwood, jeweller, and F. C. Mengel, tailor. The new building houses the tea rooms on the left-hand side and Holmes Bros. butcher’s shop on the right (in the present-day positions of the Darling Downs Bank and Allora Butchery). F. C. Mengel, tailor, has moved into the temporary building. E. O. Ellwood, jeweller, moved to Clifton.
The new Post & Telegraph Office opened in November 1910.

17/08/2026

THE POST OFFICE
‘Olver Twist’ walked on when we paused at No. 60. He wrote: ‘This brings us to the Post Office, with Mr Jefferies in control and in residence. My father used to supply his firewood in dray-load lots of logs gathered from the farm and carted over three miles to town, and sold at 8/- per load delivered, often too, to be greeted with complaints as to its burning qualities.’
The post and telegraph office was built on this site in 1882. Henry Jeffryes was transferred as post master from Pittsworth to Allora in May 1889. The family lived in the Post Office residence next to the Post Office. (the house can be added to the lists of buildings in place in 1905 and still there in 2026). The children attended the Allora State School, across Herbert Street from the Post Office. One of the children was Sidney who later trained as a wireless operator. He was selected to go on Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1912. He was the first to establish radio contact with Australia via Macquarie Island. Mawson did not return to the base in time to catch the relief ship home and he and six others including Sidney Jeffryes spent a further twelve months on Antarctica before being able to return. Sadly, Sid Jeffryes suffered a nervous breakdown and was relieved from his position as radio operator and a constant watch had to be kept on him.
Henry Jeffryes was transferred to Emerald in 1909 and in November 1910 a new post and telegraph office was opened.
This 1909 photo is the only one that we have showing the original Post Office on this site. From the tree in Ludgate’s yard in the centre of the photo, the shops are: the former bank building which when the façade was removed became Cunnington’s Café, Chas. Jones draper, the Post Office and residence (obscured), Holmes’ butcher shop, Holmes’ tea rooms, E. O. Ellwood jeweller, and F. C. Mengel tailor.

16/08/2026

60 HERBERT STREET
In ‘Oliver Twist’s’ walk down Herbert Street in 1905 he says that after passing Ludgate’s house he comes to the Post Office. Oliver Neale is writing from memory 60 years later and he leaves out one of only five buildings on the western side of Herbert Street, from South Street to Dalrymple Creek, that was there in 1905 and still exist in 2026, all the others being destroyed by fire or demolished. The five buildings are the station master’s residence, Methodist Church, the cottage at 38 Herbert Street (next to I.G.A.), the Railway Hotel, and the building at 60 Herbert Street. It is thought that the building at 60 Herbert Street may date from 1881 when John Sinton advertised for sale a newly built shop opposite the State School.
Charles Jones and his brother-in-law, Alexander Bailey, trading as Bailey & Jones opened a drapery and clothing store at the northern end of Herbert Street in September 1905. At Christmas time 1905 they moved into 60 Herbert Street which may have been vacant when ‘Oliver Twist’ walked by. Alexander Bailey left the partnership and set up shop in Laidley. He went on to found the Toowoomba firm of A. R. Bailey & Sons.
In 1919 Chas. Jones sold the drapery to H. C. Patrick who in turn sold to W. H. Cross in 1929. Bill and Mrs Cross traded until 1947 when they sold to Ray and Una Croker who called the business The Central Drapers. In 1954 the business was bought by Nev and May Guy who traded there until they moved to Clifton in 1967. The building was leased to Style Shoes from the end of 1967 to 1969. J. P. & H. J. Delahunty bought the building and Hope Delahunty opened the T.A.B. in 1972 and operated it until it was moved to the Royal Hotel in 1986. David and Daphne Tomlinson bought the freehold of the building and leased it to Jim and Margaret Leeson for their Auctioneer’s and Real Estate business until they retired in 2002. Rod and Lyn Close bought the building and opened the ‘Sunflower Gallery’ in 2003. Jane Gilmore moved her Allora Mountain Veterinary Clinic there until selling to the Warwick Veterinary Practice in 2006.
The Warwick Veterinary Clinic moved to 45 Herbert Street and No. 60 is currently occupied by The Zen Den, Zelda’s Holistic Wellness Healing.
The photo shows ‘The Sunflower Gallery’ at 60 Herbert Street in 2003.

15/08/2026

We post this photo to show how the building at what is now known as 58 Herbert (site of Clint Kenny Real Estate) was built on to the front of Ludgate’s house. It was built in 1906 to house the C.B.C. Bank, and was used as a bank until the new building was opened on the Herbert and Warwick Street’s corner in 1910. It is a bit unusual to have a commercial building on your front door step but it may have been an extra income source, and the house was in the middle of the main street.
By the late 1920s the building was occupied by A. R. Cunnington’s Café. The photo taken c.1930 shows Arthur and Daisy Cunnington with son George (left) and youngest daughters May and Grace. The Cunnington family lived in the house at the rear of the shop and Arthur was the first to raise the alarm about the 1929 fire further down the street.
By the 1940s another building had been erected next door at what is now known as 56 Herbert Street (site of The Little Flower Shop) and Cunnington’s Café expanded into both buildings.
Following the death of her husband, Daisy Cunnington sold the café to Gordon Barnes in 1945. The Tobin brothers operated the café in the late 1940s, Mrs Jessberg in the early 1950s and in 1954 Nick ‘The Greek’ Johnson opened the Central Café in the building. He ran the café until closing due to ill health in 1967.
As we said the two buildings and the house at the rear were destroyed in the 2002 fire, after which the current building was erected.

14/08/2026

LUDGATE
We resume our walk with ‘Oliver Twist’ down Herbert Street in 1905, as remembered by Oliver Neale in 1965. After passing Charles Birkett’s shoe store he writes:
‘Next along the street was the home of the police magistrate, Mr Ludgate, with his daughter Laura, and alongside, his lucerne patch complete with cow – all right-opposite the old State School’.
Acting Sergeant Henry Ludgate was transferred to Allora in 1874 and served there for 18 months before being transferred to Dalby. He returned to Allora in 1881 as sergeant-in-charge. He served there until 1889 before again being transferred. At some stage during his second term in Allora he bought a one-acre allotment in the middle of Herbert Street on the western side, and had built a family home which was called ‘Auburn’. The allotment took in what is now 54, 56 and 58 Herbert Street. When he was transferred for the second time, his wife Maria and family of seven stayed on in Allora. Daughter Clara was a pupil-teacher, Kate worked in Barnes & Co. store and Agnes was learning dressmaking. Laura was a music teacher. Henry Ludgate retired from the Police Force in 1899 after 34 year’s service and returned to Allora.
In 1906, with the Ludgate family still living in the house, the C.B.C. Bank had built, a new bank building in front. When the new bank opened in 1910 the old building was occupied by a long series of café proprietors. At some stage Henry Ludgate had another house built on the street which was later occupied by Mrs Bill McMillan. A second shop was also built in front of ‘Auburn’ at what is now 56 Herbert Street.
Henry Ludgate passed away in 1929. Arthur Cunnington operated the café at 58 Herbert Street and the family was living in the house at the rear at the time of the 1929 fire. Mrs Gifford bought the land on which the second house stood after the 1929 fire and had built, a new newsagency at what is now 54 Herbert Street. She had the house moved back from the street.
The shops at 56 and 58 Herbert Street and the house at the rear stood until 2002 when they were destroyed by fire and afterwards replaced by the current building.
The photos show the building at 56 and 58 Herbert Street after the 2002 fire, from the street, and from the rear showing Ludgate's old house 'Auburn'.

13/08/2026

HERBERT STREET
The Ekka is over and we move back to the section of Herbert Street that we left when ‘Oliver Twist’ walking down it in 1905, this time in 1959. ‘Gay’ (Stanley Gaius) Neale rode his penny farthing bicycle in the 1959 Queensland Centenary parade.
What is of interest in the photo is ‘Colin Laws Cash & Carry’ store in 44a Herbert Street, next door to George Skettos’ Allora Café. (both now occupied by Allora Hardware). Some people remember Colin Laws at 50 Herbert Street (now Amy’s Café) next to Batterham’s Butchery. Some older people remember him at 44a. I am not sure when he moved from one to the other. He could have moved before 1959 and his name still on the façade of the other building.
The photo is courtesy of Trevor Neale.

12/08/2026

CUNNINGTON FAMILY
The Cunnington family travelled to the Brisbane Exhibition every year and set up a stall selling ice creams, chocolates and soft drinks.
The photo, courtesy Gail Hungerford (nee Cunnington), shows Arthur Cunnington (left), his three daughters, May, Joyce & Grace, and helpers manning the stall sometime pre-1940.

11/08/2026

OFF TO THE EKKA
Thank you to Trevor Neale for lending us this photo to scan for the Allora & District Historical Society records. It shows his mother, then Heather Reppel (left), and two others on their way to the Brisbane Exhibition in August 1941. Heather worked for George and Hilda Cunnington who ran the Kosy Korner Café in part of what was the Allora Motors building (now the site of the Mary Poppins Park). At that stage the Cunnington family had two cafes in Allora. George Cunnington’s father and mother Arthur and Daisy ran A. R. Cunnington’s Café (building burned down in 2002 fire) at what is now 58 Herbert Street.
The Cunnington family had the franchise to sell Peter’s Ice Cream at the Exhibition, and every year set up a van selling ice cream, chocolates, soft drinks, show bags etc.

10/08/2026

BRISBANE EXHIBITION 1933
We go back in time to the 1933 Brisbane Exhibition when ‘The Lair’ owned by Dick Byrne of Allora and ridden by his cousin Martin, won the Best Pony Hack Most Suitable for School Boy or Girl class.
The photo is from the Byrne family collection courtesy Bill Keenan.

Allora Historical Society Inc.

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