56 High Street

54 High Street - ◦ - 58 High Street

  • Edward's Boot Repairs (1920s)
  • Tom Hay Saddlery
  • Jack Banner Boot Repairs (1940s)
  • Derwent Valet Cleaners (1954 - 1999)
  • 20th Century Artifacts (2003 - present)

Streetscape showing signage for Thomas Hay, Saddler in 1936 (Photo courtesy Weekly Times, Melbourne 4 April 1936) Thomas Hay owned land which is now 14, 16 & 18 Pioneer Avenue but unless he was renting, I cannot find a connection to 56 High Street - yet...
54 and 56 High Street for sale by auction in 1951 - mentions the saddlery on the actual site so it must have been at the rear of the block. The street frontage is shown as 59 feet and 8 inches which converts to 18.19 metres - the current 54 is 4.6 metres and 56 is 13.6 metres. So although I haven't been able to find confirmation at the land titles office, we know this is definitely the right location.
1941, the house with the picket fence and Jack Banner Boot repairer located at 56 High Street, demolished in the early 1950s. Jack Banner later moved across the road and was on the staff of De Jersey's Store
One of several posters created for Jim Anderson in the 1950s - now on display at Lindisfarne Dry Cleaners, who bought the business from Doug Boote in 1999
Staff of Derwent Valet Dry Cleaners circa 1967 (Photo courtesy of Karen Morrisby)
Derwent Valet Dry Cleaners in the 1990s
20th Century Artifacts in 2023 (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)

Finally a breakthrough - Grant 21-115-4484 dated the 11th of January 1847. George Barnard had many land grants in Launceston, but it appears this grant in New Norfolk was left unimproved and unoccupied for many years, and then forgotten about when he died in 1864! This will be very interesting.

Original Land Grant 1847

Dry Cleaners

  • Olden
  • Jim Anderson 1954 to ???
  • Rick Sedgwick ??? to 1984
  • Doug Boote 1984 to 1999