Snapshot of the past: moving a boat
A photograph of a vehicle transporting a boat parked in the main street of Drouin in the 1920s. It is not known who owned the boat named "Omeandri" which features. This photograph - an enlargement of an early postcard - also captures several Drouin...
A photograph of a vehicle transporting a boat parked in the main street of Drouin in the 1920s.
It is not known who owned the boat named "Omeandri" which features.
This photograph - an enlargement of an early postcard - also captures several Drouin businesses in what is now known as Princes Way.
The coachbuilders and E. S. Vaughan's newsagency appear on the left, with the laneway separating those businesses from The Family Hotel on the right. If you look carefully, the name plate for solicitor Edward James Hamilton can be seen in the bottom panel below the small glass panels.
Mr Hamilton was the first resident solicitor in Drouin, starting his legal business in 1907 in the main street. He also saw clients in Bunyip one day a week.
The municipal directory of 1908 records Mr E. J Hamilton LLB barrister and solicitor in Main St, Drouin.
His office was on the ground floor of what is today the Drouin Family Hotel. Owners of the office were C. M. Walton, then Mrs P. Esnouf (Echuca West), then hotel keeper E. J. Hayes, then D. D. Hickey for many years, before J. H. Porter and H. Spencer.
In January 1911, he entered into partnership with Skinner and Backhouse of Collins St, Melbourne.
Mr Hamilton managed the Drouin and Bunyip locations of Skinner, Backhouse and Hamilton. He was admitted to the Law Institute of Victoria on December 12, 1911.
He found rural legal practice to be interesting and varied, with cases of wandering cattle, incendiarism (arson), dogs killing sheep, riotous behaviour, drunk and disorderly behaviour, default on payments, theft, people travelling with a second-class railway ticket in first class, truancy, failing to vaccinate a child, and all the cases a country lawyer could be confronted with.
The story of E. J. Hamilton is featured in Stories of Drouin, a cooperative oral history project between The Committee for Drouin, Drouin History Group and 3BBR FM to preserve local stories.
Visit storiesofdrouin.com.au to listen to this story or many others.
Information courtesy of Stories of Drouin.
