A FORMER Cohuna cricketer stumped one of the world’s greatest players, Sir Donald Bradman, in two consecutive innings during State cricket.
Nowhere else you would find such incredible, unrepeated history than at the Cohuna and District Historical Society.
“It was a four-day match between South Australia and Victoria in November 1946, at the Adelaide Oval, when Bradman was stumped by Victoria’s Everard Audley [Bill] Baker for 43 and 119,” local sport historian, Ross Bateman said.
“Bill was born in Cohuna in 1913 and moved to Melbourne at the age of 15.
“That is one of the most remarkable pieces of history I have stumbled across during my 20 years with the society.”
Mr Bateman and about 50 fellow members of the society were honoured for their service to the community by being awarded the Lions Club of Cohuna Citizen of the Year award, presented at Australia Day celebrations last month.
Close to 30 members regularly volunteer at the Cullen Street museum and archives centre.
Mr Bateman regularly attends the centre on a Friday afternoon, cutting stories and photographs from the Cohuna Farmers’ Weekly that include references to Cohuna’s rich sporting era.
Formed on April 3, 1970, meetings were held at the Cohuna High School for a year before transferring to the Memorial Hall library room until 1984.
During the town’s centenary celebrations in 1975, the society published the first of its books, Unlock the Land, a history of the district from the earliest days.
In 1982, the society purchased the Scots Church and hall to display and store its extensive collection of exhibits, photographs and records. The Cohuna Historical Centre was official opened on November 17, 1984.
The museum collections includes a variety of old household items and memorabilia of the district, including a fence post cut by Albert Jacka, Australia’s first Victoria Cross winner in World War One, who worked in this district prior to the war; part of an original tree marked by Major Mitchell; the Macorna telephone exchange and a potato-masher originally owned by the mother of Ned Kelly.
The archives and photographic collections are now housed in the adjacent purpose-built brick archives building, opened on September 18, 1992.
Indexing and research are carried out by volunteers, while all acquisitions have been donated by the community.
The nearby trash and treasure outlet is the centre’s main source of income.
Since the society’s first publication, close to 20 books, journals and articles have been published, including the history of the former Shire of Cohuna, a guide to Cohuna and district schools and the Cohuna Fire Brigade.
The society was commended by Victoria’s peak historical organisation, Royal Historical Society of Victoria late last year for a project that saw 1230 allotments in urban Cohuna catalogued and indexed by street in 59 folders.
“We are very pleased to receive this award,” society secretary, Yvonne Church said.
“It’s good to know that other community groups are pleased with the work we carry out for the community.
“Our members are very diverse in their specific interests when it comes to the history of the town; we have certain volunteers who specialise in areas such as sport, families, buildings, events and groups.”
The society suffered a blow last week when it forced to close the museum until further notice due to an invasion of white ants.
It will re-open once the building has been rendered safe.
The museum is normally open from 10am to 12pm on a Monday.
The archives centre is open on a Monday from 10am to 12pm and Friday from 1pm to 4pm.
The trash and treasure shop is open from 10am to 1pm on a Monday and 10am to 12pm on a Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
To arrange appointments outside of these times, contact Yvonne Church on 5456 7332.
