Avoca Walking Tour: #15, 16, and 6 Mackereth stores

This month’s blog posts concern places on the Avoca Walking Tour, a brochure published by the Pyrenees Tourism Association. An online transcription is available here. 

15. Mackereth’s Shop c1890. Glen Mackereth operated an electrical goods store here and had a program on fox shooting and spot lighting on the ABC in the 1920s.
16. Mackereth’s Wine Depot c1890. In 1889 Edwin Mackereth was listed as one of nine wine makers in the Avoca Shire, he operated a wine depot from the building at the rear of the existing front shop.
17. Holland’s Drapery Shop, 1866. Timothy Holland purchased this allotment on 24th October 1854 and built the present building in 1866.

Edwin Horatio Mackereth was born in 1828 in Hedon, near Hull in Yorkshire. His father Thomas was a spirit merchant (1841 census) and brewer (1851 census). At the time of the 1851 census Thomas senior employed his sons Edwin and Alfred as brewer’s labourers and Thomas junior as a brewer’s clerk.

In 1852 Edwin (24) and his brother Alfred ( 26) emigrated to the Victorian gold rush arriving in December on the ‘’Eliza’’. Their occupations were recorded as brewer. Edwin’s obituary records : “He was at the first gold rushes at Castlemaine, Bendigo and Forest Creek, and was married at Castlemaine in 1859, settled at Avoca in the same year and resided here up to the time of his death.“

Edwin bought land 2 ½ kilometers west of Avoca and built a house. He named the property “Hedon Farm” after his birthplace.

In 1890 Edwin Mackereth applied to have an expert in wine growing expert visit the district. Signor Bragato of the Board of Viticulture visited and was driven by Edwin to various vineyards in the district. Signor Bragato found the Avoca district better adapted for wine growing than most districts in the colony. He sampled wines from various vineyards. At Mr Mackereth’s 332 gallons of wine had been obtained from half an acre of ground. Edwin Mackereth intended to plant a further 20 acres.

In 1898 Edwin Mackereth a wine depot on High Street [now 105]. There was a large cellar under the building with an inside and outside entrance to facilitate deliveries.

The wine depot provided a valuable local outlet for Mackereth’s wine which was now winning prizes at shows throughout the region. Sales were also made in bulk to Melbourne merchants.

Between 1910 and 1915, Edwin Mackereth’s transferred his wine depot to a building on the other side of the street [previously Holland’s Drapery Shop], and this building became a private residence.

Edwin’s daughter Victoria Elizabeth Mackereth ran a drapery business from 103 High Street. Later Glen Mackereth, grandson of Edwin Horatio Mackereth, ran an electrical business from 103 High Street.

Obituary for Edwin Horatio Mackereth

Avoca Mail (Vic.), Friday 29 December 1916, page 2

DEATH OF MR EDWIN Η. MACKERETH.

Another of the old identities of the district, in the person of Mr. Edwin Horatio Mackereth, reached the last milestone on life's journey on Wednesday and passed to the great beyond. The late Mr. Mackereth, who was the seventh son of the late Mr Thomas and Mrs Mary Mackereth, of Hedon, Scarborough, England, was born at Hedon, Yorkshire, on February 14th., 1828, and was therefore at the time of his death in his 89th year. In the year 1852, when people were being attracted here to the fabulously rich gold fields he (at the age of 24 years) left the land of his birth to seek his fortune in sunny Australia. He was at the first gold rushes at Castlemaine, Bendigo and Forest Creek, and was married at Castlemaine in 1859, settled at Avoca in the same year and resided here up to the time of his death. He was a fine musician and established the first band in Avoca in 1865. The original band consisted of 12 members, and Mr Mackereth, who was band-master for several years, played the ophicleide, Some of the older residents will, doubtless, recall to mind the old Avoca band, and we believe there are a few of the playing members of the band still living, including Mr T. L Hellings, bandmaster and adjudicator of Brass Band contests, and also proprietor and editor of the States Band News. Mr Hellings, who reçeived his first lessons from Mr Mackerath, has frequently paid a tribute to the ability and enthusiasm of that gentleman. Mr Mackereth, also for many years sang in the church of England choir. In 1880 he started the Avoca vineyard and for a number of years was a successful exhibitor of wine, at shows throughout Victoria, with the result that E. H.. Mackereth and Sons became known far and wide. Mr Mackereth, by his effort, demonstrated that this district is capable of producing wine equal to the best. He personally supervised everything until advancing years compelled him to relinquish control to one of his sons (Mr John Mackereth). He took a keen interest in politics, loved an argument and did not conceal his disgust with the actions of labor agitators. He leaves a widow and family of two sons and four daughters to mourn their loss. viz., Messrs John and Alfred Mackereth, Mrs Howard, and the Missеs Victoria, Alethea and Ada Mackereth.

The funeral took place yesterday and was well attended, the remains being interred in the Avoca cemetery. The burial service of the church of England was conducted by the Vicar (Rev. C. Reed) and the coffin-bearers were Meagra R. Hart, P. LaRoche, S. Sprosten and F. Kaye. Mr Classen carried out the funeral arrangements satisfactorily.

2001 talk to the Society by Stuart Mackereth

On Sunday, 19 August 2001 Stuart Mackereth spoke on the history of his family to the Society (ADHS Newsletter No. 195 August 2001). 

He divided his talk into three parts, the first being “Where did the Mackereths come from and who were they?”, the second was about the Australian family, and the third dealt with letters written to the family in the latter half of the 19th century. 

The family’s roots seem to have been well established in the beautiful Lakes district of England, with the Mackereth name appearing in land rental records as far back as the 14th century in Grasmere, Ambleside and Troutbeck. The family prospered over the years, with some members going into medicine or the ministry, and others into brewing, and living across the north of England, some still with a connection to land in the Lakes district. The prosperity is evidenced by the generous legacies left to many family members in the will of Mrs. Alethea Watson (nee Mackereth) who died at Hedon, Yorkshire, in 1827. Thomas Mackereth, a son of the Rev. John Mackereth, who was a cousin to Mrs. Watson, managed Mrs. Watson’s brewery. He received the largest legacy from her will and established his own breweries at Hedon and Scarborough. In 1812, Thomas had married Mary Hetherington, and their family consisted of eight sons and one daughter, Alethea, who died at two years of age. 

In 1852, two of their sons, Edwin Horatio and Alfred Mackereth, left England to seek their fortunes on the Victorian goldfields. They went to the Castlemaine area but had little luck so Alfred returned to England where he took over his father’s brewery and hotel chain. Edwin Horatio persevered and was joined by his brothers Charles and Miles at Castlemaine about 1856. Sadly, Miles died there in 1858, only 34 years of age. Charles was in Clunes for a while before going north and joining in the Palmer River gold rush of Far North Queensland, and he died in Queensland in 1880. 
On 8th February, 1860, Edwin Horatio Mackereth married Catherine Heinz, from Nieder-Weisel in Germany. Edwin had just purchased land 2 km west of Avoca where, in due course, he built a home which still stands today. The property took the name “Hedon Farm” from Edwin’s birthplace and here he grew vegetables and fruit trees, later planting a half-acre of vines. Having some success with this venture, he gradually expanded the area under vines and became one of the district’s best-known vignerons, the wines of Mackereth and Sons winning many prizes. 

Edwin Horatio and Catherine Mackereth had a family of four sons and four daughters : Edwin (1860-1908), wine maker; Eleanor (1862-1920); Victoria (1864-1935), was a dressmaker and had a haberdashery shop in High Street, Avoca; Alethea (1865-1952), conducted the wine shop in High Street, Avoca, as a retail outlet for the products of the vineyard; John (1867-1960), taught music and singing in Melbourne but returned to Avoca to take over the vineyard on the death of his brother, Edwin, in 1908; Ada (1869-1917), a bee keeper; Alfred (1871-1964), a bank employee, who began his working life at the Bank of Victoria, Avoca; and Charles (1880-1908), who worked in the vineyard. 

Edwin Horatio Mackereth died in 1916, aged 88 years, and his wife, Catherine, in 1918, aged 79 years, both passing away at Avoca. 

Their eldest son, Edwin, married a Scottish lass, Sophie West, from Glasgow, and they had two children, Glen and Alethea. In Melbourne in the early 1920s, Glen took up an apprenticeship with the well-known electrical firm of Oliver J. Nilsen but was laid off when the Depression began. He returned to Avoca and worked for a time in the family vineyard before setting up his own business in High Street about 1927, where he made radios and sold electrical goods, serving the community well until he retired in the mid-1960s. Glen and his wife, the former Elma Miller, and their children, lived behind the shop in those years. On retirement, they moved to Melbourne, where Glen died last year, one month after celebrating his 97th birthday, Elma having pre-deceased him in 1992. 

Stuart showed us many excellent photographs of his English Mackereth ancestors and we envied him having such a fine collection. He concluded his talk by reading some of the letters written to Edwin Horatio and Catherine by their siblings which he had found at an aunt’s home just a few years ago, bundled up in brown paper with the rubbish. These were fascinating to listen to, and also to view a quite lengthy one which was written in the old style, firstly across the page, then at right angles lengthwise, but, not having finished, the writer then proceeded to write over all that diagonally! Another lengthy epistle was to young Edwin Horatio and Alfred from their uncle, the Rev. Miles Mackereth, giving lots of advice on how to live their lives in a God-fearing manner as they made their way on the other side of the world.

Vale Glen Mackereth

From the ADHS Newsletter No. 188 January 2001

Vale – We have been saddened to learn of the death of Glen Mackereth in Melbourne on 13th November, 2000, and the Society extends deepest sympathy to his family on the passing of this well-known identity of Avoca. Born in Avoca in 1903 to Edwin and Sophia Mackereth, Glen had celebrated his 97th birthday in October, only weeks before he died.

Glen spent all his life at Avoca until retirement. He conducted a radio shop in High Street and lived in the adjoining residence with his wife Elma (nee Miller) and their family. Over the years, Glen won many trophies for his expert marksmanship as a member of the Avoca Rifle Club.

After their move to Melbourne on retirement, they continued their interest in Avoca as members of this Society and looked forward to receiving our newsletter each month. Elma predeceased her husband in June, 1992.

Glen was a keen and valued member of the Society, visiting Avoca whenever he could in his later years. We particularly remember how he joined in the spirit of things, dressed as a miner with his bowyang-style trousers, at the re-opening of the Old Avoca Court House as the Society’s permanent home in 1993, when members paraded along High Street dressed in period costumes.

Further reading

• History. (n.d.). Mackereth House Historical Vineyard. https://www.mackerethhouse.com.au/history.htm
• Feature Property. (2025, January 30). Heritage Avoca property Mackereth’s Hedon farm on the market. The Courier (Ballarat, VIC). https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/8877868/historic-mackereths-hedon-farm-in-avoca-for-sale-125m/

• Pyrenees Shire Heritage Precinct Study Volume 2(PDF, 8MB)
  • A45 103 High Street, p 140; A46 105 High Street, p 143; A125 112 High Street, p 213
• Avoca Heritage Study 1864-1994 Volume 3(PDF, 10MB)
• A45 103 High Street; A46 105 High Street; A125 112 High Street

Wikitree:

• Edwin Horatio Mackereth (1828-1916)
• Catharina Elizabeth (Heintz) Mackereth (1839-1918)
• Victoria Elizabeth Mackereth (1864-1935)
• Glen Roy Mackereth (1903-2000)