‘And the Valley, what was it like in those times?’ he was asked.
From the veranda of the house in Ivory Street, the cheerful old
gentleman gazed over the busy Valley spread out before him, its
immense drapery houses in the foreground, and the industrial factories
at the back of the picture. A tram laden with shoppers flashed by the
end of the street. He was silent for a minute.
/When we came to live here in the fifties,’ he said, ‘there were only
a few houses, and no fences. We didn`t bother about fences in those
days.’
He pointed a steady finger at All Hallows` buildings.
‘Mr. Skyring owned all the property there where the convent stands,’
he said. ‘And what do you think he had there? A vineyard. He also grew
pineapples. But there was not enough demand for his product, and he
gave it best. In the early fifties, Mr. Charles Windmell kept the only
hotel in the Valley. It was on the site where Anderson`s butcher shop
now stands. Mr. Charles O`Brien also had a small store, but there was
no butcher`s shop then, and we had to go into town for our meat. There
were two shops in town that I remember—Mr. Paddy Mayne`s and Mr.
George Edmonstone`s. The latter was near where the ‘Telegraph’ office
is now situated.’
Coming back to the Valley, Mr. O`Shaughnessy said that Mr. Sutton from
Kangaroo Point, started what is now known as Ruddle`s Hotel, which Mr.
Louden (actually Loudon-ed.) bought in 1854 for 600 pounds. ‘Mr.
Louden was a most enterprising man, and he bought land in Sandgate and
other parts,’ went on the pioneer.
‘There was only one policeman in the Valley then. His name was
McAllister. From O`Brien`s in Brunswick Street, there was no building
until you came to the corner of Leichhardt Street (now St. Paul`s
Terrace), where lived Jim Balder, a bullock driver. He used to haul
wood and do other jobs. Tom Allison lived next to him. He was a
shingle-splitter. You don`t hear of many of them nowadays. The only
other inhabitant of that end of the town in those times was a man
named Roper. A Mr. Goodwin then owned the Valley Corner, where Kent`s
shop is now—he was in the pilot service before that. Next to the
Corner was Mr. Maskell, a brickmaker. Then, where Messrs. Foy and
Gibson are now, there was a Mr. Price, a stone-mason.
On the opposite side of the road, near Gipps Street, Mr. Jones had a
shop, and next to him was Mr. Voysey, a carpenter. One of his sons
started a coach factory in Rockhampton, and the other went to Mackay.
Then there was a break until you came to John Massey`s brickyard,
about where Warren Street is now.’