Wilson’s cutting cart, Mornington
Wilson’s cutting cart, Mornington
DATE1890 to 1910
MEDIAImage
COLLECTIONMornington and District Historical Society
REG NO.1243
HISTORYThe Wilsons were one of the earliest and eventually the biggest butchers on the Peninsula. Their history exemplifies the development of the trade here. Henry Wilson was born in 1820 and was an hotelkeeper in London at the Beaumaris Arms before emigrating to Melbourne on the Emigrant with wife Thamer Burdett and children, including tow sons Henry age 6 and Godfrey aged 3. They arrived in April 1853 at the peak of the gold rush when the demand and price of meat were climbing. Henry established the first abattoir at Sandridge (South Melbourne) and was recorded as a slaughter man in Emerald Hill occupying Crown land westward of the railway at Sandridge in the 1856 electoral roll. He was the first man to kill and sell meat from a meat works in Victoria. Four years later in 1860, he went to Pakenham farming. His cattle were stricken by pleurisy and he was ruined financially. He moved to Dromana and started butchering.
DESCRIPTIONThis shows a horse and cart in front of a weather board house with a picket fence. There is a bearded gentleman next to the horse with his hands on his hips. He is wearing a hat and a striped apron. There are three ladies in Victorian dress and a small child at the rear of the cart. On the side of the cart there is the name “Wilson Butcher”.
SUBJECTSAbattoirs, Butchers, Immigrants
KEYWORDS