Historical information

Before the construction of the Wodonga Municipal Saleyards which opened in 1935, there were four private saleyards which operated in Wodonga. They were owned by Gippsland & Northern Co-Operative Co. Ltd., Dalgety & Co., New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Agency Co. Ltd. and Younghusband Ltd.

When Mrs Julia Ronan nee Arundel lost her husband John to tuberculosis in 1906, she quickly decided to move from their small farm into Wodonga with her 3 children.

She was granted the lease of the ground she needed to establish her eating house at one shilling per year in a shed on the Dalgety's saleyard block. Two established merchants Albert Schlink and John Whan and butcher Jack Garrett agreed to allow her credit which enabled her to open Ronan's Dining Rooms at the Saleyards.

It was often a challenging environment, with drovers, and horse- breakers, auctioneers and bushmen bringing huge mobs of cattle and horses to the saleyards. Stories of the premises include the unexpected arrival in the passage of a lively bullock which finished up on the girls' bed. Mrs Ronan persevered and beat all obstacles to finally move from the saleyards to the Wodonga Coffee Palace in High Street, beside the railway gates in 1921.

Significance

This item is significant because it captures one of the private saleyards which operated prior to the establishment of the Wodonga Municipal Saleyards.

Physical description

A black and white image of the sale yards at Wodonga c1907 with the dining room operated by Mrs Ronan on the right.

Inscriptions & markings

Beneath image: View of Wodonga
Mrs Ronan's Dining c1907
Wodonga Sale site, Corner Elgin (Melbourne Road) and Smythe Street, replaced by Municipal Saleyards in 1935.
Photo: Bob Prentice, Donated by Mrs Val Phefley