Tony Quinlan, Paul Donohue and Eddie Young at what might be Australia's longest continually operating butcher shop.
Photo by
Simon Ruppert
If you Google ‘the oldest butcher shop in Australia’ you’ll find information on Victor Churchill and his store in Woollahra, NSW.
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He opened his doors in 1876, and it still bares his name.
The shop now knows as Donohue Quality Meats in Benalla, however, had already been in business for four years by that time.
One of its current butchers, Eddie Young, spotted a Facebook post celebrating Victor Churchill’s store and clicked into the link.
“I was reading this article and I thought it was quite interesting,” he said.
“Then I saw the date, and up on our wall it says we opened four years earlier.
“I’m not sure if that store hasn’t done their history properly, and we’re nobody in the grand scheme of things, but we are four years older.”
This advert appeared in the North-East Ensign on May 7, 1972.
Photo by
Benalla Ensign
It is worth noting that, while what is now Donohue’s Quality Meats was open earlier, Victor Churchill, in Woollahra, has been owned by the same family since 1876.
Which would possibly make it the butcher with the longest history, owned by one family.
Eddie conceded that, while the current owners and butchers are aware their store pre-dates the Victor Churchill’s, it would be difficult to prove it’s the oldest in Australia.
An excerpt from Produce to Platter: The food & wine lovers’ guide to Victoria’s High Country, speaks about the history of the Arundel St butcher.
Operating since 1872, Donohue’s Quality Meats is probably the oldest, continually operating business in the township of Benalla...
Inside, Donohue’s displays photos of the store throughout the years, and you can see both how the facade has changed and how many original features have remained intact.
Current owner Paul Donohue has worked at the shop since 1972, and has owned it since 1989.
When it opened in 1872, it was owned by Mr Rob Roe. A photo of him and his staff is one of those displayed within.
Eddie said he was unsure how many owners it has had over the years, but confirmed it was operating as a butcher shop the day Ned Kelly fled the law, taking the bootmaker, next door, hostage in September 1877.
Long-time butcher Tony Quinlan was at the store for many years, and still likes to pop in to have a chat with customers.
He said while things have changed in the industry, the reason a butcher like Donohue’s is still going strong is the way it operates.
The advert for the new butcher appeared on page 3 of the May 7 edition of the North East Ensign in 1872.
Photo by
Contributed
“It’s the old style of doing things that, you know, takes time to get it right,” he said.
“We had a young boy come in with his mum (recently) and he said ‘oh wow, there’s a sheep hanging there’.
“You don’t see that in the supermarket. We do it all here, the old-fashioned way.”
Tony said he remembers smoking meats in tin containers, before electric smokers became the norm.
“It’s Christmas time, and you’re making so many hams,” he said.
“And you know at that time of year, since 1872, butchers have been in here doing the same thing.”
He said that while some processes have changed because of OH&S, they try to keep everything they do as traditional as possible.
As to if it is the oldest continually operating butcher shop in Australia? Eddie and Tony said they think they’ll never know for sure.
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