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Stock & Station Agents at the Newmarket Saleyards
Image: Sign - Kieran McNamara
Source: Museum Victoria
The number of stock and station agents that operated at Newmarket varied widely from year to year. Over the years small, personalised stock and station agencies bowed to pressure from larger firms and were taken over. From the original seventeen agents operating when Newmarket Saleyards officially opened in 1861, there grew to be thirty-nine operating agents in November 1914. By the time the Newmarket closure was announced in 1985 there were only twelve companies operating, represented the surviving associated stock and station agents of Melbourne. Six carried original business names: Dalgety Farmers, Elders Pastoral, Victorian Producers Co-Operative, Gippsland and Northern Co-Operative Co., Quiney Mawbey, and Challenge Mercantile Fisken Read. The remaining six included principals and staff from many long-serving organisations of the industry: Brian Rodwell & Co., Webster Richardson and Gillespie, Crowe and Plaisted, Pat O'Connell Livestock, Mick Hornsby & Co., and Keiran McNamara & Co.
The daily order of sale of sheep, lambs, bullocks, calves, cows, store sheep and cattle by agents at Newmarket was decided by a draw. The draw was made in the office of the Newmarket Stock and Station Agents of Melbourne at the City Council's administration block on the Monday before the week's sale. The draw was made from a cylindrical wooden barrel, holding up to forty-three marble-sized pine balls which were placed inside. The numbered balls were drawn separately, each number denoting an agent's order of sale.
References:
Vincent, K. 1992, On the fall of the hammer : a personal history of Newmarket saleyards, Lee White ed, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne.
Related Stories:
Newmarket Collection
Architecture of the Newmarket Saleyards
Glossary of the Newmarket Saleyards
History of Closure of the Newmarket Saleyards, 1887-1987
Livestock Industry in Melbourne and the Newmarket Saleyards
'Town within a Town' the Newmarket Saleyards
(showing 1 - 8) 8 items
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Notice - Associated Stock & Station Agents of Melbourne, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, p ...
Wooden notice, hung in the bullock section of the Newmarket Saleyards. The daily order of sale of sheep, lambs, bullocks, calves, cows, store sheep and cattle by Stock Agents at Newma ...
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Sign - Australian Estates, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, pre 1987
Stock agent sign. Hung in the Administrative Offices at Newmarket Saleyards. Signs were located on the outside wall of each office located along passage ways. The number of stock and ...
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Sign - Conditions of Sale, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, 1 Nov 1982
Framed notice - Associated Stock and Station Agents of Melbourne Conditions of Sale for implementation 1st November 1982. Hung outside the Council Administration Office at the Newmarket ...
Images: 1 -
Sign - Francis Ross & Co. Pty Ltd, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, pre 1987
Stock Agent sign. Hung in the Administration Offices on the outside wall of Agent's office or sometimes in the yards at Newmarket Saleyards. The number of stock and station agents tha ...
Images: 1 -
Sign - Kieran McNamara & Co Pty Ltd, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, pre 1987
Stock Agent sign. Hung in the Administration Offices on the outside wall of Agent's office or sometimes in the yards at Newmarket Saleyards. The number of stock and station agents tha ...
Images: 1 -
Sign - Mick Hornsby & Co., Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, pre 1987
Stock Agent sign. Hung in the Administration Offices on the outside wall of Agent's office or sometimes in the yards at Newmarket Saleyards. The number of stock and station agents tha ...
Images: 1 -
Sign - Pitt, Son, Richardson & Co. Pty Ltd, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, pre 1987
Stock Agent sign. Hung in the Administration Offices on the outside wall of Agent's office or sometimes in the yards at Newmarket Saleyards. The number of stock and station agents tha ...
Images: 1 -
Sign - Southern Farmers Francis Ross, Newmarket Saleyards, Newmarket, pre 1987
Stock Agent sign. Hung in the Administration Offices on the outside wall of Agent's office or sometimes in the yards at Newmarket Saleyards. The number of stock and station agents tha ...
Images: 1
