The first few buildings erected at McGuire’s Punt (later to be named Shepparton) in the early 1850s were a punt house, a couple of timber slab inns and a police station. The punt remained in use until 1876. The first store and its owner make for an interesting story.
“The first store was opened in 1873 by Mr A. F. Rowe. The building was constructed of bark and occupied the site almost directly opposite the Shepparton ”News” office [in later years the Yahoo Bar]. The property not being suitable for business expansion, Mr Rowe moved to a site near the punt house, on the north-west corner of High and Welsford Sts, which had been the old public house, known as the Prince of Wales Hotel. Wyndham St superseded Welsford St as a business centre, and the business transferred to the corner of High and Wyndham Sts in a wooden building. Just prior to 1923, Mr Rowe’s sons, who conducted the business, erected a very modern brick store, which they sold to the Commonwealth Bank, and thus the old established business closed up.” (W. S. James, History of Shepparton 1838 - 1938)
The following newspaper account from 1923 gives us some fascinating information about the post office, which was part of Rowe’s Store, and a mention of the Kelly Gang. More about that story next week.
“Shepparton’s Old Post Office: The work connected with the new building of Rowe & Co is proceeding apace, and when the brickwork at the Wyndham St corner was pulled down on Monday, the weatherboard structure behind it, which had been concealed from view for so long, became fully exposed. However, what caught the attention of many people was the old post office situated right at the corner of the building. It was operated by Mr. A. F. Rowe, the founder of Shepparton’s first drapery establishment. The post office, of course, had a primitive character. It consisted of a box for receiving letters, with a small window next to it for delivering letters. Additionally, right at the corner, there was a small opening in the woodwork. Through this opening, one of the eight men from the Garrison Artillery used to keep watch at night for any sign of the Kelly Gang. Mr Rowe’s post office was actually the second one in Shepparton. Its removal took place on Tuesday morning. The first post office was located at the corner of Welsford St, leading to the river. Mr John Fraser, from Tallygaroopna Homestead, was nominally in charge, and the receptacle for letters was a cigar box.” (Shepparton Advertiser 1923)
Adolphus Frederick Rowe (1827-1905) was born and educated in Exeter, England and afterwards served his apprenticeship as a linen-draper for a few years then shifted to London to start a business. After immigrating to Australia in 1852 he carried on his business in Melbourne for a time and then shifted to Geelong to do the same. He then moved to Ballarat where he opened another business known as Rodier and Rowe, General Storekeepers from circa 1856. He was very active in municipal and public matters by being a councillor in the 1870s. Due to the decline in mining and business, and hearing of all the people flocking to the Goulburn Valley, he shifted his family of eight children to Shepparton and opened a general store with a focus on drapery. He was also very active in the community by being Shepparton’s first magistrate, an electoral registrar, a deputy registrar of births and deaths and also a postmaster. He was a Freemason, a member of the Urban Waterworks Trust, a Justice of the Peace and worked tirelessly to set up a public school. He was also a member of the St Augustine’s Choir and had an excellent tenor voice. He died of heart failure in 1905 and his funeral cortège was one of the longest ever seen at that time.