Stories

Our family comprising Dad - Leo, Mum - Ursula and the kids - Terry (Ter), Michael (Mick), Marie (Re) and Kerin (Ker) lived in Progress Rd Hernes Oak near the top of the hill from about 1952 till about 1975, about 23 years. I was eight when we moved from Moe where I was born in the bush hospital on March 26th 1944.
Dad got a job as a house painter with the SEC which is why we moved to the area. He worked around Yallourn till he retired, his last work was painting road lines. Mum never worked outside the home but she worked hard to give us a happy and healthy life.
As a Catholic… more

My father, Dave Handley, loved to go ferreting for rabbits around the Trafalgar and Thorpdale Hills. My brother Ken and I (Brian) would tag along and it soon grew into quite a little business. It was not uncommon to bring home up to 100 live rabbits in specially made crates by Dad. From there we would skin and sell them to our neighbours. As the demand grew, the standing-order from customers was: “if the lights are on, knock on the door” which was sometimes as late as 10pm from memory. Another vivid memory of my beloved Yallourn was working at the Yallourn Hotel. Somehow (seems… more

I'm 85 on the 19th February and was the first child born in the new Yallourn Hospital. Matron Madge Allen was my God Mother.
I believe Mrs Thorpe gave birth to Gloria that same day, but I got there first in the wee small hours...Geraldine Sutton

Leonne Shinn (Krygsman) was the first female SEC employee to rent a house in Yallourn - 2 Latrobe Ave. When first married in June 1972, they couldn't live in Yallourn because husband, Peter, didn't work for the SEC.

CHRISTMAS IN THE MINING CAMPS
The following article was published in the ‘Morwell Advertiser’ on the 23rd December 1921. The headline of the story was ‘Christmas Tree at Coal Mine.’
Unfortunately, the report is very difficult to read and appears to have been damaged at some time. Several key words are illegible and the entire last paragraph of this newspaper report is missing.
Note: The unreadable words and phrases in the text are shown by ************* (illegible).
It is a pity that it is impossible to read how many children attended the celebration in the hall… more

1921 - A CHRISTMAS STORY
This newspaper article regarding Christmas celebrations at the Western Camp at Yallourn was published in December 1921. Times were challenging for the workers who lived in the camps and day-to-day living, without any recreational activities to relieve the drudgery of manual labour, must have tested the staying power of most men.
Social clubs, cultural organizations and sporting teams were virtually non-existent in that period of Yallourn’s history but Christmas was one bright spot in the lives of the men at the camps. In his famous story entitled ‘A… more

The attached news article summarized a speech that General John Monash made to members of the press on a tour of the works area of Yallourn in 1922. The report was published in the "Morwell Advertiser" in November of that year.

In his remarks that day (more than 90 years ago), General Monash outlined his vision for Yallourn including coalmining, electricity generation, briquette production, housing and services for the workers and their families.

It is a most significant news extract in the history of Yallourn as it placed on public record the ambitious objectives of the… more

UNDERCOVER OPERATION BY POLICE AT YALLOURN
The following article was published in the ‘The Argus’ and reported on the detection work of two Victorian policeman in a covert operation at Yallourn in 1923. Working undercover, the officers pretended to be workers while gathering information about the sly-grog and illegal gaming rackets in the camps at Yallourn.
Some readers may not be aware that it took about seven years for the ‘new’ town of Yallourn to acquire a hotel (1928); and with hundreds of thirsty workers, at the end of long day of ‘hard labour’, it is little wonder that… more

THE CASE FOR A DOCTOR IN YALLOURN
Although one of the most important meetings in the history of Yallourn was poorly attended; the consequent resolution adopted, by the workers that night, was of incalculable significance for the people of Yallourn in later years.
The article below, published in August 1923, reports on the attempts of workers at Yallourn to obtain the services of a resident doctor for the town.
It is known that Dr Hugh Mitchell* (from Morwell) had a consulting room at the camp in those early days of settlement. However, injured or sick workers deemed to be… more

1928 BURIED ALIVE
This newspaper report is from 1928 and is another example of the lucky escapes that some workers had from injury or death in the course of their duties at the power station and the coal mine at Yallourn. In this extract, Mr Bloomfield was actually buried by coal in a bunker; and it was only the knowledge, experience and quick-thinking of a fellow worker that saved him from death.
A search of newspaper reports from that era shows that not all workers were as fortunate as Mr Bloomfield. One year before this accident occurred, an employee of the SECV, named… more