Summary

Vernon Shaw's father, John ("Jack") as a seventeen-year-old signwriter, sailed with his mother and siblings from Scotland on the Oban Bay, arriving in Townsville on 19 July 1883. Upon arrival, John found work as a teamster for the first year, then as an apprentice baker at Witham's Bakery. Though from 1891 he resumed work as a signwriter with Queensland Railways Department, Jack returned to baking. Jack's brothers, Donald and Alexander, also became apprenticed bakers. In 1890, together with their mother, Donald and Alexander opened the West End Bakery on the corner of Flinders and Jane Streets. In 1907, John opened the Central Bakery in Morris Street at The Causeway. Jack's son Vernon followed him into the trade, maintaining the business through the hardship years of the Depression and World War Two.¹

This archive contains a Bread Journal recording the business transactions for John Vernon Shaw, known as Vernon, of the Central Bakery, Morris Street, West End, Townsville. The transactions cover the period November 1924. Some names towards the back of this manuscript are accompanied by post-1924 dates.

Edna Shaw, the daughter of Vernon Shaw, is the donor of the Shaw Collection of Australian Art and Culture held in the James Cook University's Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Special Collections.