Author: Lynne Strong

I am excited that my house decluttering has revealed a number of photos and stories I wasnt aware I had and I am delighted to share them with you

Firstly my aunt Ruth Rae ( nee Lindsay) wrote this article about my grandparents and my great Uncle Eric (who we all called Gug)

Walter (Bottom Row 2nd from Right in 1920s ) * (see bottom of post ) and Eric Lindsay ( in 1960s ) were Dapto dairy farmers who operated WD & ES Lindsay, later to be called Lindsay Bros.

The farm was located in Darkes Rd, Dapto what is now Integral Energy Park, Landform Gardens, Dapto Automotive and Australian Motorlife Museum

Walter and Eric began to value add (to use a modern expression) to their dairy farming activity by becoming vendors of milk. Eric was the entrepreneur (to use another modern expression) and Walter the anchor man. To upgrade the herd Eric went to New Zealand and bought a prize bull.

At its height, Lindsay Bros was retailing more milk in the Wollongong-Port Kembla district than any other firm including the Dairy Farmers Cooperative Milk Company. Some 8 or 9 farmers in the district sold their milk to Lindsay Bros, where it was cooled, stored and distributed through some 3 domestic milk runs and a wholesale network that included almost every milk bar and general store from Dapto in the south to Austinmer and Coaldale in the north.
Eric would go to bed early and set off in the wee small hours with a laden truck to start the day’s distribution. Particularly in the hot months he would leave the milk in the cool room till the last possible time necessitating the early rising.

After the war draconian and unfair government regulations were imposed that forced all other farmers to sell their milk only to a government agent which was the rival Dairy Farmers Milk Cooperative.

With the loss of their major source of supply, Lindsay Bros were forced to sell their domestic business and retain only the wholesale business in the city of Wollongong itself. Their milk was subjected to regular and intrusive testing, while that of the rival company was not, but was always found to be well above the prescribed norms.

Eric bought the farm, “Kembla Park” and a subsidiary dairy was set up to augment the supply of milk.

Location of the Kembla Park farm  between  Rickard  Rd  and  Waples Rd  Unanderra

Lindsay Bros also bought a small farm at Albion Park to run dry and young stock, but the retail business was only a shadow of its former size. The company could not afford or warrant upgrading its machinery to enable processing and pasteurization which were beginning to be an important part of the industry and the business and herd were sold in 1958.

The sale of the herd attracted buyers from across Australia

The Dairy Farmers Coop bought the plant which they scrapped to forestall potential competitors but the herd, which had become well known for its productivity in the State herd testing scheme, attracted excellent prices for the time. Walter was 65 at this time and Eric 64 so retirement was timely option.

After the business was sold the garden became a pleasant hobby for Walter and Eric.

The Kararra garden regularly won the open section of the Wollongong Garden Competition 

Walter always had a love of nature and knew all the birds around the farm. He watched them nesting and was so determined that they would not be disturbed that he told nobody about it.

See next post here 

* Who else is in the photo

Top row Left to Right Billy Bovard, Ted Smith, Charlie Lindsay, Jack Bovard.

Bottom Left to Right Hessel Lindsay, Roy Lindsay, Walter Lindsay, Arthur Lindsay.

What is the Lindsay connection

Hessel and Arthur ( whose first names where John and William)

Charlie, Roy (Joseph) and Walter ( my side of the family)

Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856 – 1950), Friday 24 October 1930, page 9

OBITUARY. MR. JOHN LINDSAY.

Mr. John Lindsay, a member of one of the pioneer families of the Illawarra, died suddenly at his home, West Horsley, Dapto, on Sunday evening, aged 73 years. He had only returned home on Friday after a holiday trip in the Western districts, and appeared in the best of health. The late Mr. Lindsay was born near Unanderra, and was a son of the late Mr. John Lindsay, of Kembla Park, who was a noted breeder of Ayrshire cattle. The late Mr. Lindsay was also a noted cattle breeder, and met with many successes at agricultural exhibitions. For many years he was a member of the committee of the Dapto A. & H. Society, and at the time of his death was one of the trustees of the Society; he was also a Churchwarden of St. Luke’s Church of England, Brownsville. He was held in very high esteem in the district, being a man of very high principles, his word being his bond. The funeral on Tuesday was one of largest ever seen in the district. A short service was held in St. Luke’s Church of England, prior to the interment in the cemetery attached to the Church grounds. The Rev. O’Neil, an old friend of the family, and the Rev. Chapple were the officiating clergy. The late Mr. Lindsay was predeceased by his wife some four years ago, and he is survived by five sons, Messrs. Charles, Walter, Eric, Harold and Hilton, and four daughters, Misses Muriel, Estelle, Doris, and Hilda. One son, Roy, died some years ago. Messrs. George, Thomas, and Charles Lindsay are brothers, and Mrs. E. T. Evans, Dapto, and Miss Lindsay, Kembla Park, are sisters of the deceased. Mr. Charles and Miss Hilda Lindsay had just arrived in Tasmania on a holiday trip, when they received the news of their father’s death. They immediately crossed to Melbourne and arrived in Sydney on Wednesday by means of one of the aeroplanes of National Airways Ltd. We extend our sympathy to the bereaved family. Source 

I am smiling for some bizarre reason whilst I have no photos of the women in my family from this era, I have plenty of photos of them at my wedding in 1978 ( they were stayers)