John Skinner was born in Bulli in 1867 and moved with his family to Wingham as his father was a sawyer looking for work in the timber industry.
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John Skinner opened his first butchers shop in Isabella Street opposite where the Wingham Brush Public School is currently situated, and was operating, according to an advertisement in the Wingham Chronicle, in 1898, the same year he married Maria Latimore.
The shop was located adjacent to the family home. His wife had the responsibility of sewing the calico sacks in which the carcasses were wrapped to keep them cool.
The original building in Isabella Street had a raised covered veranda and an open shop front permitting the display of whole beasts. Two steps led up to the wooden veranda lifting it above the level of the earthen street.
John was first elected to Wingham Council in 1901/2 serving as one of the six alderman. John served as mayor of Wingham for two periods, until finally announcing in 1920 he would not be standing again.
He stated that although he would not be in the council he would still continue to take an interest in the town and district. He was active in the running of the School of Arts, president of the Parents and Citizens Association for many years and helped to secure the District Rural School for Wingham. John worked both as an auctioneer and a butcher.
A branch of business to which the stamina and bulldog pertinacity and tenacity of the British race owes much, is the provision of a good, healthy meat supply and Wingham is well served indeed by the respective establishments of J.B. Richardson and J. Skinner. We had occasion in a previous issue to comment of the slaughter yard owned by Mr Skinner – the latest devices there are commended, whilst Mr Richardson’s arrangements are also of the best. To this undoubted integrity residents repose in these gentlemen is due to the confidence with which their goods are consumed, and the constant and steady supply of animals drawn from the saleyards is hardly required to emphasise such confidence. Would other towns that I know ere so fortunate in this respect.
- Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer 21 November 1908
In 1911 the family moved the enterprise to new premises on the corner of Bent and Farquhar Streets which had just been built for hotel keeper William Fotheringham. Before construction of the building the land had been vacant and used for travelling circuses and buck jump shows.
John soon turned the focus of attention to auctioneering, leaving the operation of the butchery to Jack Stone, who operated the business during World War I. Following the completion of the war, Darby Stone, John Skinner’s brother-in-law took over the business.
John’s 14 year old son Thomas commenced work there as an apprentice in March 1920. In 1937 the family joined in a partnership with Enis Gibson which lasted until 1960 when Tom Skinner bought out Gibson.
Enormous changes occurred in the field of retail butchery during his lifetime. When he and Enis Gibson commenced their apprenticeships meat was picked up from the slaughter houses in carts, covered with calico sheets and brushes to keep it cool.
The two delivered meat up to Bulga and Elands and also acted as general carriers. Meat, of course, could not be kept for long periods due to lack of refrigeration so any meat unsold at day’s end was corned. Many remote farmers relied on the corned meat as they had access to fresh meat only when a beast was freshly killed. The meat was transported on a cart drawn by horses. The chopping block was hoisted on to the cart so that they could chop up the bulk meat as they travelled through the district.
The shop’s original cool room was constructed of double walls of cream painted pine boards, with sawdust packed between the walls to provide insulation. There was a platform above the room to hold blocks of ice. There was a roof over this and a drip drain ran from the platform to ensure that water dip not drain into the interior of the building.
Tom’s son, Andrew, became a butcher in 1959 at the completion of his apprenticeship. Andrew commented in an article in the Manning River times in 1983 that little had changed in the shop.
“Only the coolroom has been moved out the back. Look these blocks (mammoth tree stumps worn down with constant chopping) are pretty old, this one’s a new one, it’s only about 30 years old.”
Tom remarked that, “When we had the cool room inside, we had to go to the ice factory on the other side of Wingham and load up a cart with ice. It was hard work then.’ He worked in the shop for 44 years until he closed the shop in 2004.
The shop building itself remains unchanged from date of construction although a new cool room was added in 1969 and a small storage shed erected behind the main building. The shop and cool room are constructed in brick with a corrugated iron roof and a brick and stucco decorative parapet roofline. The shed is of painted fibro.
During this time very few structural changes were made to the building. The only discernible differences being in the painting and decorating of the building.
During the period from 1935 to 1940 the shop window shows that the shop was jointly run by Gibson and Skinner.
When the new shop opened in Bent Street it presented a modern appearance with its brick built structure. The frontage was ornamental with several faux chimney stacks and the date 1911 carved into the lintel in stucco relief. The original wooden signage of Gibson and Skinner is now displayed in the Wingham Museum.
The site of Skinner’s butcher Shop is of considerable significance to the town of Wingham. It is the only business of its kind to remain unchanged for 80 years. It is a building of interest given its architectural features such as the unusual roof and the corner block design.
After the business closed down the building became a homewares shop for a short period, and now houses Wingham Pizza and Pasta.