Holmes and Sons Bakers

Keith's memories

These are my memories of Holmes and Sons, Bakers, of Prospect Terrace, Kelvin Grove.  These memories are drawn from stories as told to me by my Father, James Young Holmes when he was a young lad growing up, and my memories, also as a young lad, visiting my Grandmother Sarah and Grandfather Geordie at the bakery.

Our Mother, Mona May Holmes died in 1941 when I was 11.  My sister Glenys and I did not know her very well, as she seemed to be always sick.  I spent a lot of time with both sets of Grandparents.  In those years, children were never told very much and generally kept out of the way.

My Father’s Story – James Young Holmes
Grandfather Geordie Holmes had found work as a Quarryman after emigrating from Scotland in 1912.  Life was hard and the monetary return from hard labour wasn’t very rewarding.  Geordie’s occupation in Scotland had been as a baker, therefore he decided to return to his profession and so Holmes and Son Bakers was born. 

Grandmother Sarah made the first batches of girdle scones and pancakes on the wood stove in the kitchen at Prospect Terrace.  Distribution rights went to Grandfather Geordie and his son James.  They went door to door with baskets in the early a.m. and late p.m.  James was still attending school and in those days if you were late for class you got the cuts!  He quickly lost interest in earning his daily bread and let his brother George (George Holmes Jr.) take his place.  James then very quickly became a plumber.

Before James was married in 1927, he did a weekend delivery to Brisbane Town.  In those days, Eagle Street was paved with wooden blocks.  James was doing the delivery with horse and bakers cart.  It was raining, the horse slipped, James was thrown and finished in hospital with a busted head.

James was a member of Gilberts Rugby League team, named after Gilbert Park at Bardon.  Later on they became Western Suburbs Rugby League team.

James was a Lieutenant in the Boy’s Brigade at Red Hill and his best friend, Charlie Lever was Captain and Troop Commander.  James was also Band Master of the bugle band, and he was very good. On special parades, the bugle band would lead.  They were exceptionally good.

In the 1930’s, Keith also joined the Boy’s Brigade at Red Hill, rising to the rank of Sergeant.


Prospect Terrace was a big old home that opened directly on to the footpath.  No front lawn.  It had a narrow driveway on the topside of the house.  This led to the bake house and then to the horse paddock.

Grandma Sarah Holmes did not believe in idle hands.  When staying there I was given the job of wiping down the big old dining room table after breakfast.  I promptly swept all the crumbs onto the floor.  Next thing I had thumb and finger in my ear and was told, “You sweep them into your hand.  Not on the floor.”  At least her accent was easier to understand than Grandfather Geordie’s.

[The difference in accents may have been because Grandma Sarah hailed from Galston, Ayrshire and before she was married, had lived in Hamilton, Lanark and Beith, North Ayrshire.  Beith is about 9 miles from Kilbarchan and Galston is about 15 miles from Beith.  Grandfather Geordie had spent all his youth in Kilbarchan.]

I can remember evenings at the old place with Uncle Bob in bow tie and tails and his wife Joan in evening dress and I’m sure the music being played on the old wind up gramophone was “Smoke gets in your eyes”.  All of this was pre 1939.  Uncle Bob was in the army reserve and I can still remember the parade down Queen Street, the main street of Brisbane.  I’m sure his uniform was blue with a red lanyard.  He was in the artillery and a fine sight they made with their big horses and shining guns.


The Bake House
I can remember as a small boy, going into the first bake house.  It was quite warm and the bakers were in their white aprons and hats.  Probably Grandfather Geordie, Uncle George and two others.  They had long wooden troughs in which they mixed the dough by hand.  Over head were these long wooden oars about 20 feet long.  (I thought they must have a big boat somewhere!)  Outside were great stacks of fire-wood (wattle).  I found out the bread was baked in a big brick oven.  They lit a fire in the oven first, and when it was hot enough they raked out the ashes and put the bread in tins inside with these long wooden oars.  The tins were also removed with these oars when the bread was baked.  The smell of freshly baked bread from hand mixed dough is something that has stayed with me to this day.

My Grandfather Geordie used to make pancakes.  He had a gas fired hot plate on legs.  The hot plate was about six feet long and three feet wide.  He would make up his pancake mix and put it in a thing that resembled the bag on bagpipes.  It had a spout.  He would sling it over his shoulder and it would finish up under his elbow.  He would walk down the table and every time he hit the bag with his elbow, out would pop a pancake.  When he got to the other side, I would start turning the pancakes.  Then together we would throw the cooked pancakes into a basket.  They were all uniform in size and nicely cooked.

At Xmas, hams were baked inside bread in the big oven.  He also made scotch meat pies.  The shells were free standing, no tins.

Sunday night at Prospect Terrace was cheese and egg on oat cakes night, made by Grandfather Geordie.  They were flat and chewy and nice as a base under cheese and egg.  The only thing I didn’t like was this Granola porridge, he used to buy in big wheat bags and dish it out to the family.  When he ate his porridge he didn’t mix in sugar and milk, he had his milk in a separate bowl.

Then they built the second oven.  It was wood fired at first with a side fire box and was later converted to oil.  The dough was no longer mixed by hand but made in something like a big concrete mixer.

Then they bought the second bake house.  It was owned by people called Booths.  Their delivery wagons were really something.  Horse drawn, four wheel bakers cart with a verandah over the driver.  Holmes Bakers were now one of the biggest in Brisbane.  Supplying Brisbane Hospital, Penny’s Department store and all the top cafes and establishments.

Arch Merrin’s Story
By 1923, Geordie and Sarah Holmes wanted a return trip to Scotland.  By now the bakery was a thriving business.  Geordie contacted Bill Naperell, a baker in Toowoomba, and made him a partner (half share) to run the business while they were in Scotland visiting his brother who owned a book store in Glasgow (see section on Holmes Bookstore, Glasgow).  The bakery then became know as Holmes and Naperell, Hartswell Bakery.

George Holmes inherited Geordie’s half share of the premises at Prospect Terrace when Geordie retired (around 1934).  George then bought out Bill Naperell.  Around the years 1931-1934, Nancy Holmes was book-keeper.  (Ref: Appendix 1)   Nancy later worked for the Ambulance.

The bakery was then known as G.A. Holmes Hartswell Bakery.  George’s nephew, Bill Smith worked as a delivery van driver.  Bill was the eldest son of George’s elder sister, Peg.

There was another bakery down the road owned by Booth and in later years, Gillespies’, the flour miller’s, put the place on the market.  Arch Merrin asked George “Why don’t you buy it?”  George replied, “I can’t run this place properly, how can I run two?”  Arch, who worked for Sunshine Harvester said, “Buy it and I’ll run it for you.”  They bought the place for £6,000 at 2½% interest.

Eventually, Arch got fed up and decided to resign.  George told him “Sell the bloody lot before you go.”  Arch Merrin and Bob Holmes went into partnership and bought the bottom bake house.  Bob, being the baker, ran the production side and Arch, the administration.  This was around 1941.  (Ref:  Appendix 1)

They were known as G.A. Holmes Oval Bakery, Bob Holmes and Arch Merrin Prop.

At their peak they went from six to 130 ton of flour a week.  They had a staff of 52 plus Bob and Arch, and ran 17 delivery vans on the road.  They supplied 90% of Brisbane with bread.  They were the first to introduce milk bread and the first automatic slicing and wrapping machine.

The historical society had a plaque made of Arch and Bob standing beside one of their delivery vans.  The plaque was mounted on the bottom oval of McCaskie Park.

Bob and Arch decided to retire and offered the place to the Gillespie’s.  Their offer was too low, so they offered it to Defiance.  In Arch’s words, they contacted Defiance in the a.m. and the Defiance blokes were at the bakery in the p.m. of the same day.  Arch said, “I’ll lock the top gate, Bob will lock the bottom and they don’t get out till they buy it!”  Which they did, at a better offer than Gillespie’s.

After the sale to Defiance, Bob Holmes remained on as manager for 12 months.

The other bakery, at Prospect Terrace, was leased to Johnny McDermott.  He was a pie manufacturer and his product was known as Mac’s Pies.  He eventually bought the Prospect Terrace bakery.

Now the old place has been torn down, and a three-story building stands in its place.

--ooOoo--

In the electoral rolls for Queensland for the years 1914 to 1949, Geordie’s occupation is given as a Baker. (Ref: Appendix 1)  His remarkable career as a baker had spanned six decades from 1889.  He had apprenticed in Kilbarchan for about seven years, moved to Glasgow for about 15 years and then on to Brisbane for 35 years.  

Around 1941, Geordie and Sarah moved from Kelvin Grove Road to Newmarket.  By the 1950’s both Geordie and Sarah had passed away, and the family house on Kelvin Grove Road was lived in by their youngest daughter, Lillian and her husband, Albert Flugge.  Lillian and Albert’s eldest son, Clem Flugge, lived in the house till 1991, when the house was pulled down to allow for the road to be widened.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
With thanks to Arch Merrin for sharing his memories with us.