POOLE FAMILY

The Organising Secretaries, Messrs B. J. Elvish and C. Chick, must have felt much gratification last Friday night when they saw the large attendance at the farewell given Mr and Mrs Andy Poole by the citizens of Nimmitabel. About 350 people were present and Bombala Street was lined with cars for many yards. Promptly at 8 o'clock dancing started to the music of Ron Angel and his orchestra and until 9 o'clock, dances came very quickly, Then as the special guests arrived, the music stopped and all sang, 'For they are Jolly Good Fellows."

The President of the Monaro Shire Council, Cr. P. F. Mooney, Mr. I B. Baker, Mrs N. Jenkins, President of the Nimmitabel CWA, and Mrs I I Buckley, President of the local Branch of the Red Cross Society, met Mr and Mrs Poole and their daughter and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs H. Cochrane, at the door. Two little flower girls, Heather Adams and Roslyn, Freebody, presented posies to Mrs Poole and Mrs Cochrane. Then accompanied by the reception committee the guests of honour proceeded to the stage.

First on the long fist of speakers to eulogise the good work and citizenship of the Pooles in Nimmitabel was Cr. P. F. Mooney. The speaker claimed a friendship dating back some 30 years with both Mr and Mrs Poole. Mrs Poole was a Bush Nurse and did great work in that position in the district, nothing was too much trouble. He had met Mr Poole quite a lot both in and out of business. Cr. Mooney was certain that all landholders owed a debt for the service that they had received from their gusts. That he had to retire for health reasons was most regrettable but he felt sure that the invigorating air of the South Coast would work wonders with his health. He wished them both the very best in the future and hoped that they would spend some time in Nimmitabel occasionally. Mr C. Cameron, Monaro Shire Clerk, read a letter under the seal of Monaro Shire Council thanking Mr Poole for the work he had done as a Councilor. Further encomiums and endorsement of the remarks were made by Messrs. I Reel, R. Jardine, I Baker, I F. Wyndham, S. James, N. Jenkins, A. B. Silk, H. Pilley, W. W. Hedges, I B. Shelley and R B. Clark. The Chairman then made the presentation of a lovely canteen of cutlery from the citizens of Nimmitabel to the departing gusts, and amidst loud applause Mr Poole rose to respond on behalf of Mrs Poole and himself. Supper was then partaken of With many tasty dishes to partake of, quite a large band of willing workers assisted the Mesdames Williams and each sitting found plenty to enjoy Dancing was resumed till 2.00pm. Many apologies were received from near and far and one felt that they alone were a sign of the esteem that the guests were held in on Monaro,

Andy was born at Bemboka in July 1888, the 5th child of Edward (Ted) Poole and Anna Jane Wilton. He was a good student and became a teachers assistant at Bombala and Bega, but could not afford to go on to further studies to be a teacher. He worked on Stations in Queensland until moving to Nimmitabel, where his older brother Les had a stock and station agency. Andy & Les formed a partnership, Poole Bros Pty Ltd. Rugby League was a favorite sport and he was known as a Ist class referee.

Andy married the local Bush Nurse, Alice Thomson, in 1922, and a daughter Joan was born in 1923. As a long time Councilor for the Cooma Shire, Andy was President of the Shire from 1938 until 1944.

After Joan married Horace Cochrane in 1946 , Andy & Alice moved to Tathra where Andy again became a Councilor, this time representing Tathra in the Mumbulla Shire. For 17 years he worked in Community Affairs as Secretary of the Tathra Urban Committee, President of the Tathra Jockey Club, and Secretary of the Tathra Beach Committee and Progress Association, the Football Club and original Secretary of the Tathra Bowling Club.

POOLE BROS.
A. POOLE E.L.POOLE
Auctioneers,
Stock, Station and Forwarding
Agents,
Land Salesman

Brothers Andy and Les Poole were prominent members of the Monaro business district during the period between 1922 and1946.

Mr Hedges M.L.A opened the new Poole Bros. Saleyards on Saturday 16th October 1937. Unfortunately the Opening was marred by heavy rain, but there would have been a good party at the pub. I am not sure where the yards were, but the office was in the main street, beside the Federal Hotel.

Before Andy arrived in town, Les was licensee of the Billiards Saloon, just south of the Federal Hotel. According to the Memoires of J. W. Evans, Les often had managers but he was always the licensee until he sold up to J Buckley. There used to be a box-shaped lamp over the door with "E.L. Poole, Licensed Billiards", on the glass. On the wall of the saloon was a clock with a notice over it, which read, "I Tick the Marker".

One of the last sales advertised by the Poole Bros., was a Horse Sale on Saturday 16^th May, 1942. On offer were 70 Monaro-bred horses, including 30 ‘Boloco’- bred Galloways and Ponies, noted stock horses and also light & heavy draughts.

Andy and Les were born in Bemboka, the sons of Edward ‘Ned’ Poole and Anna Jane Wilton, part of a family of eight. They received a good education and Andy became a trainee teacher at Bega Primary and then Bombala School. However the cost of attending Teachers College in Sydney was beyond the family, so he went to Nimmitabel to help his older brother Les expand his business.

Les was a larrikin; he had a betting stand at the races, drove a Ferret sports car, and ran the billiards room. He married hotelkeeper Alex Mudie’s daughter, Alvina Gertrude Mudie in 1914. They had four children, Lorna, Victor, Norman and Nola, who all went to Nimmitabel School.

In 1900, Les, Mr E Poole, was mentioned in the ‘Bega Standard’, as making "as usual, an excellent Master of Ceremonies for the Ladies Cricket in Bemboka".

In 1924, Mrs Les Poole’s ‘Worthy Gold’ ran in the January meeting of the Bega Jockey Club and won the President’s Handicap with a short head finish between the Nimmitabel mare and a Morans Crossing mare owned by Luke O’Brien, ‘Maid of the Desert’.

A report in a 1937 paper has Les coming from Nimmitabel to play golf at Bega. He complained about the condition of the golf course "not enough stones and too many trees on the course – I will send some stones down."

Mrs Alvina Poole died in Sydney in January 1943 after a long illness. Les bought property at Tathra, in 2002 Dr Brown’s rooms, and eventually moved down there to be with his brother Andy. Ernest Leslie Poole died in Bega in 1956, aged 61.

Andy, like Les, excelled in foot racing, Rugby League, cricket, golf, dabbled in trout fishing, and refereed many football matches in the district. Andy’s sporting career was cut short when a horned steer attacked him at his saleyards, which left him with a pronounced limp and a walking stick for the rest of his life.

Andy married the local Bush Nursing Sister in Nimmitabel, Alice May Thomson, in 1922. Alice was born in Sydney, where her father walked out on the family, so was raised by her mother’s family at Rock Flat, Samuel and Emma Love (nee Stopp). When Alice was 14 years old, her mother Emma married John Roche, an hotelier from Rock Flat, and later Cooma and Goulburn.

Alice did her nurse training at Goulburn Hospital, and midwifery at Paddington Hospital, so was a highly trained Sister to run the Nimmitabel Bush Nursing Home, delivering most babies around town, as well as stitching up horrific wounds.

When both were single they had boarded at Mrs Adam’s Federal Hotel and used to walk out each evening after dinner. Mrs Adams remained a close family friend even after she moved back to Sydney.

At first the Pooles lived in the Bush Nurse’s cottage, but then moved to the western corner of Clarke and Boyd Sts, where they lived for 25 years, looking across the road to Geldmacher’s Old Mill.

Andrew Poole represented the Nimmitabel area on the Monaro Shire Council for many years, attended the opening of Parliament in Canberra and was very good friends with C.W. Bean, the WWI historian.

When their daughter Joan married Horace Cochrane from Toothdale, near Bega, Andy and Alice decided to retire to Tathra, and sold the business to Stan Creamer. They bought a house in Dilkerra Road from Mr Sherlock, and Andy involved himself community affairs, cementing a permanent place in Tathra’s history. He started or was Secretary/Treasurer of the Tathra Progress Association and Beach Trust, the Bowling Club, Tathra Jockey Club and Lawrence Park, to name a few, and in 1964, in recognition of his active part in community work, the main road along the beach was named Andy Poole Drive.

Alice also became involved in the Red Cross, CWA and the Surf Club. She was made Patron of the Tathra Ladies Surf Club.

The Cochrane family, with four loved granddaughters, moved to Canberra in 1962, and after Alice Poole died in Canberra Hospital in 1964, Andy was persuaded to move to Canberra to be with the family. In 1968, while on a visit to his sister, Mrs Florence Barber, at Bairnsdale, he became ill and died in Warragul Hospital on 2 May 1968.

Every time I drive through Nimmitabel I try to imagine how the town was in those days, probably a lot busier with the many hotels thriving. It is weird to realise that my grandfather’s old Poole Bros office is now the Tennis Club building, that Nana used to be on call to the whole population, that they both played golf on the hill and that an unknown uncle lies in the cold cemetery.

Monaro Pioneers
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*Andy & Alice with their dog in garden of house corner Boyd & Clarke Streets*	*Andy with daughter Joan feeding the chooks.*

Function at closing of Commercial Hotel - Andy Poole was Guest of Honour (standing). From left; Unknown, Joyce Payten, Reg Jardine, Arthur Haylock, Andy Poole, Abbie Payten & Hazel Haylock.