General News
3 June, 2021
Staff member finds elusive inception date
A SIGNIFICANT part of Terang’s history has been uncovered with a search of century-old records confirming the inception date of the Terang Co-op.
A SIGNIFICANT part of Terang’s history has been uncovered with a search of century-old records confirming the inception date of the Terang Co-op.
The documents reveal the Terang and District Co-operative Society was officially registered on July 2, 1908.
The Co-op celebrated its centenary in 2008; however, while it was known the society started in 1908, a history book compiled at the time was unable to unearth the actual formation date.
Now, a search by the Co-op’s finance and business manager Damien Ryan has confirmed the elusive date.
The Victorian Government Gazette of July 8, 1908 confirms the Co-operative Society was registered on July 2, 1908.
The research has also revealed the Co-op had planned to establish a branch in Camperdown in 1908.
Mr Ryan said the formation date was an important part of the Co-op’s history.
“It was something I thought we should know so I started to research it,” he said.
He found old copies of the Camperdown Chronicle in the National Library which led him to the Provident Societies Act 1890, which in turn led to the Victorian Government Gazette.
The Co-operative Society was registered under the Provident Societies Act 1890.
Apart from the date of inception, Mr Ryan also discovered the society’s early plans to expand in the region and details about the purchase of its Terang building.
The Camperdown Chronicle reported on November 5, 1908 the directors of the society had purchased the stock and premises of the Coy brothers “at a satisfactory figure”.
At the time, the two-storey building was used as a general store. It was destroyed by fire in 1944 and replaced by the current structure.
The Society advertised in the Camperdown Chronicle in November 1908 a public meeting with the objective of establishing a branch in Camperdown.
This didn’t progress but in 2014 the Co-op re-established a hardware business in Camperdown and it continues to operate the revamped Mitre 10 store, serving more than 600 members in the 3260 postcode and the broader community.
Mr Ryan said the search had been fascinating.
“I was determined to find out so I kept looking at other options and eventually confirmed the date,” he said.
The Co-op now plans to hold its next annual general meeting on Friday, July 2.
