Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino

M, #4031, b. 19 Mar 1891, d. 13 May 1954
Probate (Will)* Michael DeC Valentino. Farmer. Boronia. 13 May 1954. 479/909.1 
Birth*19 Mar 1891 Molfetta, Bari, Italy.2,3 
Note*1943 Documents at National Archives: Michael Decesare Valentino - transfer of property Emerald Vic & VALENTINO Michael Decesare - born 19 March 1891 - Italian.4 
Naturalisation*30 Oct 1946Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino was naturalised on 30 Oct 1946; A714. 59/19260. VALENTINO Michael Decesare; Date of Naturalisation - 30 October 1946; ITALIAN; PLACE OF BIRTH - Molfetta, Bari, ITALY; YEAR OF BIRTH - 1891; PLACE OF RESIDENCE - Emerald, VIC.3 
Land-UBeac*4 Mar 1947 GEM--39B.C. Transfer from David Thomson to Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino. 95a 3r 15p.5 
Land-UBeac*27 Aug 1947 GEM--127G (GEM--38A). Transfer from National Trustees Executors and Agency Company of Australasia Ltd to Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino. 19a 3r 0p.6 
Land-UBeac*21 Jan 1949 GEM--39B.C. Transfer from Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino to Adolphus James William Champion. 95a 3r 15p.7 
Land-UBeac21 Jan 1949 GEM--127G (GEM--38A). Transfer from Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino to Adolphus James William Champion. 19a 3r 0p.8 
Land-UBeac*21 Jan 1949 GEM--39A. Transfer from John Adolph James Goller to Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino. 156a 1r 32p.9 
Land-UBeac21 Jan 1949 GEM--39A. Transfer from Michael de Cesar "Donkey Dave" Valentino to Adolphus James William Champion. 156a 1r 32p.10 
Death*13 May 1954 Ferntree Gully, VIC, Australia, #D18597 (Age 67) [par unknown].2 
Village Bell*1981 Valentino, known as “Donkey Dave”, had a covered donkey cart, from which he sold apparel, hardware and sundries. It appears that he attached great faith to dreams, and having dreamed that he did well out of goats, he invested in some, but lost them by straying. Similarly he lost ventures in poultry, which died, and sheep, which wandered off.11 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
1949Emerald, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: farmer.12
1954Ringwood Road, Boronia, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: farmer.13

Newspaper-Articles

  • 3 Dec 1937: FIVE PERSONS ACQUITTED TWO CHARGES OF ASSAULT ... Before Judge Magennis, a jury found John Lewis Bannister, aged 71 years, of Emerald, retired orchardist, not guilty of having assaulted Michael Valentino, an Italian, thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm.
    The Crown said that Valentino and Bannister had a dispute at Emerald about the sale of a motor-truck, and Bannister, without provocation, struck Valentino with a walking-stick. Valentino suffered a fracture of the frontal bone.
    Bannister said that Valentino challenged him to fight and rushed at him. Witness struck him in self-defence. Valentino had previously threatened to kill him.
    Mr. M. L. Cussen prosecuted for the Crown, and Mr. W. M. Irvine (instructed by Mr. J. P. Rhoden) appeared for Bannister.14

Citations

  1. [S35] Probate Records, PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), VPRS 28/P4, unit 791 ; VPRS 7591/P3, unit 53.
  2. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  3. [S33] Australian Government: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/search/index.aspx, Naturalisation.
  4. [S33] Australian Government: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/search/index.aspx, Item details for: A12217, L7332 (0.25cm) Michael Decesare Valentino - transfer of property Emerald Vic ; Contents date range 10 Jun 1943 - 30 Nov 1943
    Item details for: A435, 1946/4/5002 (22 folios) VALENTINO Michael Decesare - born 19 March 1891 - Italian ; Contents date range 1943 - 1946.
  5. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 5384-602 - Michael Decesare Valentino of Dewhurst Farmer.
  6. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2777-244 - Michael Decesare Valentino of Dewhurst Farmer.
  7. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 5384-602 - Adolphus James William Champion of Perrins Creek Road Kallista Farmer.
  8. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2777-244 - Adolphus James William Champion of Perrins Creek Road Kallista Farmer.
  9. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6365-900 - Michael Decesare Valentino of Dewhurst Farmer - C/T 7234-602.
  10. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 7234-602 - Adolphus James William Champion of Perrins Creek Road Kallista Farmer.
  11. [S15] Newspaper - Village Bell 017-1981, p11.
  12. [S101] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1903 - 1980 "left 20 Mar 1950."
  13. [S101] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1903 - 1980.
  14. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 3 Dec 1937, p4.
Last Edited12 Dec 2017

Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone

M, #4032, b. 1890, d. 17 Aug 1958
Birth*1890 Leichardt, NSW, Australia, #B18386 NSW.1 
Marriage*1925 Spouse: Francais Norma Walker. VIC, Australia, #M4095.2
 
Land-UBeac12 Oct 1945 GEM-E-9A GEM--142M and GEM-E-9B (part). Transfer from Harry Sigurd Newman Ivy Faith Newman to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone. 42a 2r 2p.3 
Land-UBeac12 Oct 1945 GEM-E-19A.19B (formerly GEM-E-143]. Transfer from Harry Sigurd Newman Ivy Faith Newman to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone. 32a 3r 11p (19B:28a 1r 0p) (19A:4a 2r 11p.)4 
Land-UBeac*12 Oct 1945 GEM-E-16.16A. Transfer from Harry Sigurd Newman Ivy Faith Newman to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone. 18a 1r 0p (15a 2r 8p) & (16A 2a 2r 32p.)5 
Land-UBeac12 Oct 1945 GEM-E-9 (part). Transfer from Harry Sigurd Newman Ivy Faith Newman to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone. 156a 1r 12p.6 
Land-UBeac12 Oct 1945 GEM-E-19 GEM-E-9 (part). Transfer from Harry Sigurd Newman Ivy Faith Newman to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone. 18a 2r 31p + 1a 2r 19p.7 
Land-UBeac*10 Oct 1946 GEM-E-8 (part) and part of former govt road. Transfer from Gilbert Cecil Arthur 'Gilly' A'Beckett to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone. 15a 2r 29p.8 
Land-UBeac22 Nov 1948 GEM-E-19 GEM-E-9 (part). Transfer from Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Richard Furneaux Mann. 18a 2r 31p + 1a 2r 19p.9 
Land-UBeac22 Nov 1948 GEM-E-9A GEM--142M and GEM-E-9B (part). Transfer from Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Richard Furneaux Mann. 42a 2r 2p.10 
Land-UBeac22 Nov 1948 GEM-E-16.16A. Transfer from Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Richard Furneaux Mann. 18a 1r 0p (15a 2r 8p) & (16A 2a 2r 32p.)11 
Land-UBeac22 Nov 1948 GEM-E-9 (part). Transfer from Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Richard Furneaux Mann. 156a 1r 12p.12 
Land-UBeac22 Nov 1948 GEM-E-8 (part) and part of former govt road. Transfer from Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Richard Furneaux Mann. 15a 2r 29p.13 
Land-UBeac*22 Nov 1948 GEM-E-19A.19B (formerly GEM-E-143]. Transfer from Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Richard Furneaux Mann. 32a 3r 11p (19B:28a 1r 0p) (19A:4a 2r 11p.)14 
Death*17 Aug 1958 Elwood, VIC, Australia, #D10131 (age 68) [par Samuel Kirkland JOHNSTONE & Heidee Alison BUTTREY].15 
Death-Notice*18 Aug 1958 JOHNSTONE, Kirkland Buttrey.—On August 17, at Brighton, loved husband of Francais, and father of Peter, David, Frances (deceased), Phillip.16 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
1919476 Albert Street, East Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: engineer.17

Grave

  • Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Springvale, VIC, Australia, MELALEUCA, COLONNADE NICHE, COLONNADE 2 SECTION G NICHE 7818

Newspaper-Articles

  • 17 Nov 1937: JOHNSTONE- On the 8th November, Hobart, Samuel Kirkland, in his sleep, in his 77th year, father of A. K. Johnstone, Sydney; K. B Johnstone, Melbourne.19

Citations

  1. [S7] Registry of NSW Births Deaths and Marriages.
  2. [S22] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (online).
  3. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 4543-542 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone of 1 Young Street Middle Brighton Engineer.
  4. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2920-805 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone of 1 Young Street Middle Brighton Engineer.
  5. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2971-159 - Harry Sigurd Newman and Ivy Faith Newman to Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone of 1 Young Street Middle Brighton Engineer.
  6. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6595-934 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone of 1 Young Street Middle Brighton Engineer.
  7. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2470-936 + 3914-685 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone of 1 Young Street Middle Brighton Engineer.
  8. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 4970-972 - C/T 6921-005 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone of 1 Young Street Brighton Engineer.
  9. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2470-936 + 3914-685 - Leonard Mann Civil Servant and Richard Furneaux Mann Farmer both of Macclesfield as joint proprietors.
  10. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 4543-542 - Leonard Mann Civil Servant and Richard Furneaux Mann Farmer both of Macclesfield as joint proprietors.
  11. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2971-159 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Civil Servant and Richard Furneaux Mann Farmer both of Macclesfield as joint proprietors - C/T 7192-341.
  12. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6595-934 - Leonard Mann Civil Servant and Richard Furneaux Mann Farmer both of Macclesfield as joint proprietors.
  13. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 6921-005 - Leonard Mann Civil Servant and Richard Furneaux Mann Farmer both of Macclesfield - joint proprietors.
  14. [S185] Property Titles ; PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), C/T 2920-805 - Kirkland Buttrey Johnstone to Leonard Mann Civil Servant and Richard Furneaux Mann Farmer both of Macclesfield as joint proprietors - C/T 7192-341.
  15. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  16. [S16] Newspaper - The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), 18 Aug 1958, p13.
  17. [S101] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1903 - 1980.
  18. [S47] Index of burials in the cemetery of Springvale Botanical Cemetery.
  19. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 17 Nov 1937, p19.
Last Edited19 Nov 2016

Hazel Jean Stuart

F, #4046, b. 28 May 1906, d. 18 Feb 1998
Married NameHalley. 
Birth*28 May 1906 Richmond, VIC, Australia, #B13261 (par Henry Matthew STUART & Henrietta Jessie BERRY.)1 
Marriage*28 Aug 1937 Spouse: Jack Halley. Prahran, VIC, Australia.2,3
 
Death*18 Feb 1998 VIC, Australia.4 
Burial*23 Feb 1998 Entry in memorial book: Garden of No Distant Place, August, Date 27.4 

Electoral Rolls (Australia) and Census (UK/IRL)

DateAddressOccupation and other people at same address
1942Emerald, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties.5
1954Nobelius Estate, Emerald, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Jack Halley.6
1968Beaconsfield Road, Emerald, VIC, AustraliaOccupation: home duties. With Jack Halley. With David John Halley Peter Ronald Halley.7

Citations

  1. [S3] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Edwardian Index Victoria 1902-1913.
  2. [S80] Ancestry - Family Tree, Berry Family Tree.
  3. [S80] Ancestry - Family Tree, Robert Halley family tree - Owner: Robert Halley.
  4. [S47] Index of burials in the cemetery of Springvale Botanical Cemetery.
  5. [S142] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1942.
  6. [S15] Newspaper - Village Bell 018-1981, p9.
  7. [S168] Electoral Roll for Australia, 1968 "Jack's address as Nobelius Estate."
Last Edited30 Mar 2023

James Paul Whelan

M, #4047, b. 30 Jun 1864, d. 2 Mar 1938
Probate (Will)* 305/609. James P WHELAN Date of grant: 07 Jun 1938; Date of death: 02 Mar 1938; Occupation: Gentleman; Residence: Brunswick.1 
Related* Eric Carlos Palise James Paul Whelan and Eric Carlos Palise were apparently related - Palise was a neighbour in Dewhurst to Whelan's sons.2 
Birth*30 Jun 1864 Pleasant Creek, VIC, Australia, #B24002.3,4 
Marriage*17 Mar 1896 Spouse: Elizabeth White. Collingwood, VIC, Australia, #M674.5,4
 
Death*2 Mar 1938 Mount St Evin's private hospital, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia, #D1811 (Age 73) [par James WHELAN & Mary BRETT].6 
Death-Notice*3 Mar 1938 WHELAN.—On the 2nd March, at Mount St. Evin's private hospital, James Paul Whelan, of Elmo, 71 Blyth street, Brunswick, the dearly beloved husband of Elizabeth, and loving father of James, Ita (Mrs. Gage), Thomas, Eileen, Ellen, and Joseph, aged 73 years. -Requiescat in pace. (No flowers.)
WHELAN.—On the 2nd March, at Mount St. Evin's private hospital. James Paul Whelan, of Elmo, 71-Blyth street, Brunswick, beloved son of the late James and Mary Whelan, and loving brother of Joseph (deceased), Thomas (deceased), Ellen (Mrs. W. E. Phelan, deceased), Ita (Mrs. Doyle), Declan (deceased), and Patrick -Requiescat in pace.
WHELAN.—The Friends of the late Mr. JAMES PAUL WHELAN are respectfully invited to follow his remains to the place of interment.
The funeral is appointed to move from his residence, Elmo, 71 Blyth street, Brunswick, THIS DAY (Thursday, 3rd March), at 3.30 o'clock, and proceed to St. Ambrose's church, Sydney road, en route to the Melbourne General Cemetery, Carlton.7 
AnecdoteWhelan the Wrecker Collection
This collection comprises about 178 objects donated to Museum Victoria by Myles Whelan in 1991. Consisting of bricks, industrial safety signs and posters, demolition equipment and relics from various demolished buildings, the collection came from Whelan the Wrecker, once Melbourne's most famous demolition company. Founded by James Whelan in 1892, the company was began as a carting business, carrying goods of all sorts around Melbourne, before demolition and resale of the secondhand materials from demolished buildings became its main trade. The company's modern name, Whelan the Wrecker, was only adopted in 1938, though it had been known informally by the name for decades before then. After three generations of family ownership the company went into receivership and ceased trading during the 1991 recession.
Whelan the Wrecker became famous around Melbourne in part because of their slogan. Wherever they were demolishing buildings they put up a sign that read 'WHELAN THE WRECKER IS HERE'. This well known slogan made their part in the demolition of many of Melbourne's older buildings clear. During the 1970s there were debates about the preservation of old buildings, the building of freeways and the demolition of working class housing areas in cities across Australia. When these issues came up in Melbourne, sites where Whelan's were working became the centre of protests and legal wrangling. In the eyes of campaigners for historic preservation, such as the Victorian Heritage Trust, the demolishers were working for governments and developers who had no thoughts of the past, beauty or community, only profits. As a result they were regarded with contempt for carrying out these acts of destruction.
Some of the objects in this collection point to another side of the Wrecker's approach to their work. As well as wrecking buildings and selling on the remains, the family and workers at Whelan's were also collectors. The collection held today by the Museum was gathered together by people who had a sense of the importance of the buildings that they were knocking down, or at least the attractiveness of some of their parts. The fact that objects like the Bull's head plaque from the Bull and Mouth Hotel, the custom made cast iron from the Federal Coffee Palace (later to be known as the Federal Hotel), and the Coat of Arms from Melbourne's Eastern Market, show that sometimes there was more than just wrecking going on.
In addition to these pieces of famous buildings, the Wrecker's yard has provided the Museum with an impressive selection of bricks from many of Melbourne's now-closed brickworks, in particular from the many brickworks that once existed in Brunswick. The collection includes bricks from the Hoffman Brickworks, the only brick industry site that remains in the suburb. The also includes bricks made in Northcote, Oakleigh, Auburn, South Yarra and Box Hill.
The oldest bricks in the collection, however, were not made in Melbourne. This group of four bricks came from the Theatre Royal which once stood in Bourke Street, between Russell and Exhibition Streets. These hand-made bricks were donated to the Museum by the company's founder, Jim Whelan, when he oversaw the demolition of the theatre in 1933, to make room for the Manton's department store. The Theatre was built in 1855, before any brick making businesses are known to have operated in Melbourne. Two of the bricks from the Theatre Royal were imported from Glasgow. The other two are thought to have come from a section of the Theatre that was rebuilt in 1874, after a fire. Jim Whelan said the bricks came from a South Yarra works, possibly from the first brickworks in the city, which was founded in 1866.
The collection also features nineteen occupational health and safety posters produced by the National Safety Council of Australia. Ranging from subjects such as the importance of workplace safety to specific safety issues such as 'Your back is not a crane' and 'Don't set booby traps'. This set of posters reflects the concerns of Myles Whelan, the last Managing Director of the company. As Robyn Annear noted, 'Since the '60s, Myles had been a driving force in the promotion - and legislation - of safe practices within an inherently dangerous industry.' (Annear, 2005, p.274)
The final part of the collection is the set of objects relating to the demolition trade. Warning signs, sledgehammers, Wrecker's picks with their one long point for digging in between rows of bricks, steel cap boots and a home-made box to hold detonators provide a connection to the work of knocking down buildings. This was a physical and demanding type of work, and the well-used tools remind us of the labour that went into extracting the architectural remnants - the bricks, ironwork and fittings - that make up the bulk of the collection.
The objects were collected by curators from Museum Victoria in 1991, in the very last days of Whelan the Wrecker. Staff recall a hot December day spent gathering objects from the yard on Sydney Road, following Myles Whelan's directions to objects associated with significant buildings and locations.
These different aspects of the Whelan Collection all make valuable contributions to our knowledge of, and connections to, Melbourne's past. Whelan's work gangs and wrecking balls cleared space to let others reshape Melbourne's appearance for a century. Through their habit of putting special things to one side, we have some pieces of the older versions of the city in the Museum's collection today.8 
Anecdote*Whelan the Wrecker
Whelan the Wrecker was Melbourne's most famous demolition company. Founded by James Whelan, known as Jim, in 1892, the company was founded as a carting business, carrying goods of all sorts around Melbourne, before demolition and re-sale of the materials from the demolished buildings, became their main trade. The business traded for 100 years as a family owned and run company, going into voluntary receivership in 1991.
For nearly half its life the company was listed in Melbourne directories as J.P. Whelan, Timber Merchant. The firm's famous name, Whelan the Wrecker, was only formally adopted in 1938. Jim Whelan died in 1938 and passed the management of the business on to his three sons, Jim, Tom and Joe. Just before his death the business became a proprietary company, with the younger Jim as Chairman. His brother Tom became managing director after Jim's death in 1965. Management passed on to the next generation in 1970 when Tom died and his son Owen took over, with his brothers Myles and Tony looking after divisions of the business. Owen retired in 1988 and Myles bought out his brother Tony, who took over the associated 'Whelan's Kartaway' rubbish disposal business they had established in the 1970s. After three generations of family ownership, the company went into receivership during the 1991 recession.
According to Robyn Annear's book about the company, Jim Whelan moved to Melbourne in 1884 from Stawell in Victoria's central west. He began by working as a driver for carting businesses before starting out on his own. Annear relates that his first big job as a wrecker came during the deep depression of the 1890s when he bought a set of houses in Brunswick and knocked them down, so that he could re-sell the materials. It wasn't really a coincidence that the houses were in Brunswick, as that was where the business was based for its entire existence. The company's yard moved only once in its hundred year history, from premises in Brunswick Road to 605 Sydney Road, some time before 1913. Today, 17 years after the Wrecker's yard closed the office that they built still stands. At top a sign says 'WHELAN THE WRECKER', reminding passers by that this was once the place where pieces of the city came to be sorted and sent out again, to find a new life in other buildings.
The land where the yard once was has remained idle since the it closed, but in 2008 a developer sold apartments off the plan (that is, before they have been built) for a nine storey building between Sydney Road and Breese Street, Brunswick. Although an adjoining building containing a number of shopfronts will be demolished to make way for the new development, the Stawell buildings, built by Whelan's to house their offices in the mid 1960s, will remain. It is ironic that Whelan's significance has protected it from demolition.
In addition to their role as demolishers of city blocks, Whelan's made much of their money from the resale of building materials. Perhaps the most famous re-use was of some windows from the Royal Insurance Building, which found a new life at Monsalvat, the artist community at Eltham outside of Melbourne.
Museum Victoria holds objects known to relate to a number of buildings and sites demolished by Whelan the Wrecker, including:
The Eastern Market, Exhibition Street, Melbourne
Cole's Book Arcade, Burke Street, Melbourne
Bull and Mouth Hotel, Burke Street, Melbourne
The Federal Coffee Palace, corner of Collins and King Streets, Melbourne
Queen Victoria Hospital, Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Little Lon area, Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum, Kew
Theatre Royal, Burke Street, Melbourne
Pentridge Prison, Coburg
Australian United Steam Navigation Company building, Melbourne
State Bank Building, Burke Street, Melbourne
Over their century of demolitions, Whelan's played an important role in reshaping Melbourne. Through this collection, Museum Victoria offers tangible connections to the buildings that were torn down to make way for the various versions of Melbourne, along with the tools that were wielded by the wreckers whose work made the space for each set of changes.9 

Family

 Elizabeth White b. 18 Oct 1868, d. 3 Oct 1940
Children 1.James Joseph Whelan b. 1897, d. 11 Dec 1965
 2.Thomas William Whelan b. 1902, d. 22 Dec 1970
 3.Joseph Declan Whelan b. 1908, d. 30 Nov 1965

Newspaper-Articles

  • 3 Mar 1938: Obituary: "WHELAN THE WRECKER" Hazardous Career
    Mr. James Paul Whelan, well known as "Whelan the Wrecker," died in a private hospital yesterday. He was aged 73 years.
    In 45 years Mr. Whelan's firm demolished thousands of buildings in the city and suburbs. His sign, "Whelan, the Wrecker, is Here," written in large red letters on a white background, was a common feature of the skeletons of the many city buildings which have been torn down to make way for newer ones since the depression. It has been estimated that Mr. Whelan's gangs wrecked 98 per cent, of the city buildings which have been displaced in the last 40 years.
    In his hazardous career Mr. Whelan narrowly escaped death many times by falling or being crushed by falling masonry. Once he fell 45ft. from the Colonial Mutual building, in Collins street, and suffered an injury to his leg from which he never fully recovered. On a second occasion a brick kiln on which he was working collapsed, and he was buried beneath a fall of bricks. A roof fell on him, and he was struck by falling bricks on countless occasions.
    Life Not Insured
    Until Mr. Whelan fell from the Colonial Mutual building his life was covered by insurance. After the fall, however, he learned that conditions were to be applied to his policies, so he continued without the safeguard.
    The largest demolition which he carried out was that of the Yarra Bend Asylum, which included a colony of 83 buildings. The work kept a gang of men employed for 18 months. Some of the tasks he carried out involved the wrecking of almost an entire city block.
    At the time of his death Mr. Whelan's company, which is registered as Whelan the Wrecker Ltd.. employed 100 men. At present the firm is pulling down Rubeira's Hotel, in Bourke street, and Anzac House, in Collins street. Mr. Whelan left a widow, three sons, and three daughters. His funeral will be held at the Melbourne General Cemetery to-day.10

Citations

  1. [S35] Probate Records, PROV (Public Record Office Victoria), VPRS 28/ P3 unit 3238, item 305/609
    VPRS 7591/ P2 unit 1076, item 305/609.
  2. [S15] Newspaper - Village Bell 018-1981, p9.
  3. [S1] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Pioneer Index Victoria 1836-1888.
  4. [S80] Ancestry - Family Tree, Des Brennan (Brennan Family Tree).
  5. [S2] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901.
  6. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  7. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 3 Mar 1938, p8.
  8. [S50] Miscellaneous Source, Regan, A. (2008) Whelan the Wrecker Collection in Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/articles/2641
    Accessed 24 July 2017
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    References:
    Annear, Robyn (2005). A City Lost and Found: Whelan the Wrecker's Melbourne, Black Inc., Melbourne
    Draper, Patricia (1997). 'One Man's Trash: the Whelan Collection and how it could be used within the framework of the Museum of Victoria, at Carlton Gardens'. Unpublished Masters Thesis, Deakin University.
    Davison, Graeme, and McConville, Chris, (eds) (1991). A Heritage Handbook, Allen and Unwin, North Sydney.
    Burgmann, Meredith and Burgmann, Verity (1998). Green Bans, Red Union: Environmental Activism and the New South Wales Builders Labourers' Association, UNSW Press, Sydney.
    Yule, Peter (ed) (2004). Carlton: A History, Melbourne University Publishing, Carlton.
  9. [S50] Miscellaneous Source, Regan, A. (2008) Whelan the Wrecker in Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/articles/2643
    Accessed 24 July 2017
    https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
    References:
    Annear, Robyn (2005). A City Lost and Found: Whelan the Wrecker's Melbourne, Black Inc., Melbourne.
  10. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 3 Mar 1938, p3.
Last Edited13 Dec 2020

Elizabeth White

F, #4048, b. 18 Oct 1868, d. 3 Oct 1940
Married NameWhelan. 
Birth*18 Oct 1868 Collingwood, VIC, Australia, #B22622/1868 [par Joseph WHITE & Mary BYRNE].1,2 
Marriage*17 Mar 1896 Spouse: James Paul Whelan. Collingwood, VIC, Australia, #M674.3,1
 
Widow2 Mar 1938Elizabeth White became a widow upon the death of her husband James Paul Whelan.4 
Death*3 Oct 1940 Coburg, VIC, Australia, #D9976 (Age 71) [par James WHITE & Mary Ellen BYRNE].4 
Death-Notice*4 Oct 1940 WHELAN.—On October 3, at a private hospital, Moreland, Elizabeth, widow of the late James P. Whelan, 71 Blyth street, Brunswick, and loving mother of James J., Ita (Mrs. G. Gage), Thomas W., Eileen E., Joseph D., and Nell (Mrs. A. Bait), aged 73 years—Requiesent in pace. (No flowers.)
WHELAN.—On October 3 at a private hospital, Moreland, Elizabeth Whelan, dearly loved sister of Mary Ellen (deceased), Jane, and Thomas White. —Requiescat in pace.5 

Family

 James Paul Whelan b. 30 Jun 1864, d. 2 Mar 1938
Children 1.James Joseph Whelan b. 1897, d. 11 Dec 1965
 2.Thomas William Whelan b. 1902, d. 22 Dec 1970
 3.Joseph Declan Whelan b. 1908, d. 30 Nov 1965

Newspaper-Articles

  • 4 Oct 1940: MRS. E. WHELAN
    A well-known resident of Brunswick, Mrs. Elizabeth Whelan, who was born at Collingwood 72 years ago, died yesterday morning in the Sacred Heart Hospital, Moreland, after a short illness. She was the widow of the late Mr. James P. Whelan, who had been known in the building trade as "the wrecker." She leaves a family of three sons and three daughters. After a Requiem Mass in St. Ambrose's Church, Brunswick, this morning, the funeral will leave for the Melbourne Cemetery, Carlton. Alfred Allison has charge of the arrangements.6

Citations

  1. [S80] Ancestry - Family Tree, Des Brennan (Brennan Family Tree).
  2. [S26] Victorian Government. BDM Index Victoria (Births) (online).
  3. [S2] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Federation Index Victoria 1889-1901.
  4. [S5] Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Death Index Victoria 1921-1985.
  5. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 4 Oct 1940, p4.
  6. [S11] Newspaper - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 4 Oct 1940, p5.
Last Edited13 Dec 2020
 

NOTE

Some family sections show only the children who were associated with Upper Beaconsfield.

Some individuals may be featured because members of their family were associated with the Upper Beaconsfield area, even though they themselves never lived here.