50 years ago
The Express, October 27, 1976
Heartbreak house to be classified
A HOUSE which saw heartbreak and tragedy in its early days should soon come under the protection of the Historic Buildings Preservation Council.
The old house is one of Morwell’s oldest houses and was the first brick house to be built in the district. It is at number 4 Jane St.
It is thought the house was built in the early 1880s.
According to local historian Mr Ivan Maddern, the house was built for an Englishman named Cooper.
“He was engaged to a local girl. However the parents of the girl did not look favorably on the match, the engagement was broken off and Cooper returned to England,” Mr Maddern said this week.
The house was then bought by a Morwell newspaper editor Arthur W Robertson.
In July 1897 Mr Robertson, a partner in the Morwell and Yinnar Gazette, hanged himself in the kitchen of the old house. It was found later he had been suffering from incurable Bright’s Disease.
The house was then acquired by Mr J B Hoyle, a prominent citizen of Morwell after whom Hoyle Street is named. There is a photo of the house in the Victorian Cyclopedia of 1905, with Mr and Mrs Hoyle and their only child Rose standing on the footpath in front of the house.
Rose Hoyle married William Neil Shaw, and the house remained in their possession till the late 1920s when it was brought by the Bell family. According to Morwell Shire records, the house is now the property of Mr and Mrs Geoff Bell of Morwell.
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30 years ago
The Express, October 28, 1996
Safety award for Yallourn Energy
YALLOURN Energy was presented with a National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) 5-Star Achievement Award at a special meeting in Sydney last week.
The award recognises significant safety improvements at Yallourn W Station in the past 12 months.
NSCA national safety consultant Don Grant nominated Yallourn W Station for the award after the site successfully attained the top 5-Star rating for health and safety for the second year in a row, earlier this month.
The safety consultant has been a participant in the NSCA’s 5-Star Heath and Safety program for six years.
Yallourn Energy’s adjacent coal mine is also rated as a 5-Star safety business.
Mr Grant said the achievement award was made on the basis of Yallurn W Station’s success in: integrated health and safety with other management system; encouraging employee participation in the program; commitment to continuous improvement towards achieving best practice; and successful reduction of injury and risk.
The presentation of the award follows just two weeks after station employees passed the milestone of two years work without a lost time injury.
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10 years ago
The Express, October 27, 2016
Half century for Uniting Church thrift shop
VOLUNTEERS past and present came together to celebrate 50 years of Newborough’s Uniting Church Thrift Shop recently.
About 20 volunteers enjoyed a luncheon, hosted by Lowanna College, at the church last Thursday, while reflecting on years gone by.
Thrift shop committee secretary Jacquie Newman said it was a special time for the charity shop, which in the past 16 years had raised more than $400,000 for local charities and causes.
