Click on images to enlarge
1896
24 October 1896
24 October 1896
One of the institutions of the town is Messrs. Kellett and Sons' Old Flagstaff Stores, Market street, West End. Established by the present head of the firm, Mr. W. Kellett, as far back as 1859 in a little cottage - now forming a centre, around which the present commodious premises have grown piece by piece as the ever increasing trade demanded, the business has become one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind, embracing grocery drapery, boots, ironmongery, crockery, furniture, building material, agricultural implements, farm produce &c. That the firm does a very extensive trade is amply evidenced by their ever running and well laden delivery vans which are to be met with in every part of the district. In this establishment waste space is unknown, every available inch of floor; wall, and ceiling being,made to do its full part in displaying the innumerable articles which go to make up the stock of a first-class country store. A very important feature of the business is the marsupial skins and hides branch, conducted in a special large building close at hand, the firm being very large buyers. They are also sole agents in the district for John Bull teas and the Walter A. Wood Mowing and Reaping Machinery Company. Mr. Kellett is accountant of the local branch Savings Bank of N.S.W., the business of which is transacted in a wing of the stores1
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1905
6 September 1905
6 September 1905
MESSRS. W. KELLETT AND SONS' OLD FLAGSTAFF STORES.
The firm of Messrs. W. Kellett and Sons, general storekeepers, was established by the present senior partner, Mr. W. Kellett, in 1858. The Old Flagstaff Stores were originally opened in portion of the same premises at present occupied by the firm, but the building has, of course, been extensively added to as the ever increasing trade demanded. The latest addition is a large wool, produce, and machinery store, the erection of that building being rendered necessary by the extraordinary growth of those departments. Messrs. Kellett and Sons' business is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind, embracing grocery, drapery, boots, ironmongery, crockery, furniture, building material, agricultural implements, farm produce, etc. Messrs. Kellett and Sons are also the largest buyers of skins in the west, many thousands of pounds worth passing through the stores each year. The Arm also does a large business in the back country through travellers, who penetrate the most outlying portions of the district. The extent of this trade is amply evidenced by the well-laden vans which are to be met with in every part of the district. In the Old Flagstaff Stores waste space is unknown, every available inch of floor, wall, and ceiling being made to do its full part in displaying the innumerable articles which go to make up the stock a first-class country store. Messrs. Kellett and Sons also have the sole agency of a number of leading firms, including the North British and Mercantile Assurance Company, the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia, Fred. Metters and Company's stoves and coppers. Robey oil, gas, and traction engines, Osborne Division Harvester Company of America. Golden Fleece woolpress, and Geo. Shirley and Company's fertilisers. Mr. W. Kellett, sen., has been accountant of the local branch of the Savings Bank of New South Wales for about 30 years, the business of the bank being transacted in a wing of the stores2
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1920
About 1920
1971
5 April 1971
FIREMEN BATTLE MUDGEE’S BIGGEST BLAZE AS KELLETTS BURNS TO GROUND
Fire destroyed the store of W. Kellett and Sons Pty. Ltd. in Market Street, Mudgee on Sunday morning.
A fire was first seen at 2 a.m. had razed the store to the ground three hours later.
Despite the valiant efforts of volunteer members of the Mudgee District Fire Brigade under Chief Officer Eric Webster, the store was a total loss.
Mr. Alan Kellett estimated the loss at $500,000.
A meeting of shareholders will be held to decide the future of the store and of the company’s 52 employees.
Party-goers homeward bound on Saturday night and early Sunday morning suspected nothing as they drove along Market street between one and two a.m.
Just before 2 a.m. Constable Don Breeze of Mudgee Police Station looked through the side gate of Kellett’s yard in Perry street to see a fire in a distant window of the office.
The gate was locked and he could not get in.
He went to nearby Mudgee Police Station and phoned Fire Chief Webster and Mr. Alan Kellett.
Mr. Kellett was at the store at 2.04. A minute or two later the fire engine manned by Chief Webster and three volunteers, arrived.
All doors and windows were locked, ruling out any possibility of a break and enter. Inside the fire was raging. The iron bars on the window to the office were red hot and the heat was intense.
The firemen went to the Market street doors and attempted to enter. Smoke, with visibility only five yards, drove them back.
Using the Ford Thames brigade unit to build up pressure from the hydrants in Market Street, the men created a water wall and approached the blaze behind it.
The fire,by this time feeding on clothing, paint, carpet and other combustibles, roared uncontrollably, and shortly after the men withdrew, the roof fell in.
Flames roared like a blowtorch through the rear windows.
The people of Mudgee stirred lazily when they heard the fire sirens at 2 p.m.
Some tried to go back to sleep, but awoke when the noise of the fire spread over the town.
“I heard a loud crackling”said a woman who lives in Mortimer street. “I went outside and saw the flames.
“I thought the picture theatre was on fire. I put on some clothes and came over here. The flames were everywhere.
“It was Kelletts. It made me feel sick to see such a lovely store on fire.
“It was terrible. Some people cried.
“There were loud crashes as the walls fell down.” Several hundred Mudgee people were on the scene of the blaze by about 3 a.m.
By this time nine volunteer firemen were containing the fire.
The breeze was easterly, taking the flames away from the C.B.C. Bank next door. Glass in a top sash of the bank was broken by the heat.
Men helped the firemen handle the hoses and ladders.
One youth helping firemen landed heavily on the roadway and injured an ankle.
The glow of the fire could be seen 17 miles along the Lue Road.
Inspector W. Herbert, of Parkes, who is in charge of No. 5 Fire Zone, attended the blaze on Sunday morning.
He described the fire as Mudgee’s biggest ever.
“The area of the building destroyed was 160 feet by 150 feet,” he said.
“The fire was of a very fierce nature, due to being bottled up for a number of hours before breaking through the roof.
“When the roof fell in, front and rear walls collapsed.
“Once the fire had started there wasn’t much the brigade could do. Being a volunteer brigade, they are limited in numbers.
“The captain and nine men attended.
“I believe the fire started in the area of the office. It is impossible to say exactly where.
“I am adamant that there was no evidence of a break and enter. The catch on the strong room was intact. It had not been tampered with. I opened it myself after the fire.
“There was no suspicious circumstances.”
A team of engineers from Ulan County Council under the director of residential technical officer T. J. Rose attended the blaze.
Mr. Rose said that once the blaze reached power lines in Market street, an automatic device had isolated the area.
County Council trucks fixed guy lines to nearby poles to prevent their collapse.
Market street was barricaded at Church and Perry streets on Sunday morning when more than one thousand people came in to see the ruins.
A crane and bulldozer provided by Mr. Cec. Swords demolished brickwork which hung dangerously over the street.
There were cheers and claps from a few callous souls as the brick and plaster front of the delightful old nineteenth century building crashed to the pavement.
In the central section of the store, there was little which could be recognised. A few paint tins held their shape. At the edge of a heap of rubble lay a blackened billy, victim of the untimely fire.
Two charred plaster frock models stared balefully from the edge of the supermarket.
The supermarket roof of hardwood beams had held despite the heat. On the shelves and on the floor blackened stock was piled with ashes as detergent bottles, biscuits, toothpaste and condensed milk mixed together in charcoal stew.
A team of workers formed a human chain to carry records out of the store’s strong room.
Some papers had been scorched. Others were untouched.Mr. Alan Kellett handed out a box of water-logged banknotes.
Wading ankle deep in the water he sorted through the strong room contents which were ferried away in a truck.
“All of the firm’s records have been saved,” Mr. Kellett said. “We have all the dockets up to the close of trading on Saturday.
“It is too early to say what is to be done with the store. The building section was untouched. The produce store is standing.
“A meeting of shareholders will be called to discuss the future.
“There was a complete comprehensive insurance cover on the store. There was provision for loss of profits. We will do what we can for the staff.”
Mr. Kellett returned to salvage records, some in polished wooden deed boxes, of the business started by William Kellett 112 years ago.
Firemen threw blackened, twisted roofing iron into a heap of unrecognisable debris in the yard as Swords’ crane bashed away at the front.
At the rear of the produce building there was movement in a small cage. A couple of dozen chickens, only a few days old, scratched away at their mash.
The chicks, miraculously, had survived the frightful blaze which destroyed a great emporium and the efforts of the family who owned it and the people who worked there4
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7 April 1971
(Photo)
Charred Remains Of A Great Store
This was Kelletts on Sunday morning, April 4, 1971, after the holocaust which destroyed the 60-year-old building and inflicted a loss of $500,000. The fire was first seen at 2 a.m. as a glow from a window in the office section from the yard, this is about the middle of the picture.
Mudgee Fire Brigade members attempted to enter the building at this point but the heat drove them back.
Bars on the office window were red hot.
They went to the Market Street entrance of the store (top right) and advanced on the flames behind a wall of water.
KELLETTS TRAGEDY SCARS TOWN HEART
Offers of help and assistance following Sunday’s fire had been terrific, Mr. Alan Kellett, of W. Kellett and Sons Pty. Ltd. said yesterday.
Mudgee people have offered the use of offices, stores and accommodation all over town, following the destruction by fire of Kellett’s 6-year-old store building on Sunday morning.
The mayor, Ald. Bill Cox, acting on behalf of Mudgee Municipal Council, on Monday offered Kelletts the use of McCully’s store premises, Market Street, opposite the fire site.
Ald. Cox also offered the use of the showground buildings.
“Until a complete analysis is made of our position, we will not be in a position to avail ourselves of the offers of help,” he said.
“There will be a meeting of shareholders after Easter. By that time we should have a better picture.
“Meanwhile we are conducting business as usual in a number of departments.
“The produce and timber sections are functioning normally. The William Cooper and Nephews depot is open and the Ciba Geigy Depot is contracting both wholesale and retail business.
As Mr. Kellett spoke, carpenters were fixing window frames to the front of a store shed in the Perry Street yard. This will be the office from which the Kellett family will plan the future.
Standing in the ruins were sales clerks. Departmental managers and buyers, manhandling burnt timber and debris.
Mr. Kellett said that all male employees were working on clearing and salvage operations. Some female staff were taking holidays.
(Photo)
Mute witnesses to the store fire were these plaster dummies in Kellett’s Market Street window. The child dummy’s dress was apparently flame-proof5
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8 April 1971
TELEGRAMS, LETTERS TO KELLETTS
Telegrams and letters of sympathy continue to pour into the emergency office of W. Kellett and Sons Pty. Ltd., Mudgee following Sunday’s fire.
One of the telegrams offering help came from Braceys, the Lithgow store burnt out last year.
Kelletts staff and customers are busy in the produce and building sections in the yard behind the emporium which was destroyed in the $500,000 fire on April 4.
Blackened corrugated iron has been used to linea temporary office, Mr. Malcolm Kellett said that half of the firm’s accounts had been sent out already from the emergency quarters6
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14 April 1971
MAYOR’S TRIBUTE TO KELLETT FAMILY
(By His Worship the Mayor of Mudgee Alderman A. W. Cox).
The disastrous fire in the early hours of last Sunday morning April 4 which destroyed the store of W. Kellett & Sons Pty. Ltd. has left us all with a feeling of great loss.
To the Kellett family I wish to extend my personal sincere sympathy and also that of the entire community.
Although the building itself is well-covered by insurance, I feel that the people of Mudgee are very saddened by its destruction. It was almost like a personal blow to the individuals of the community to lose this store that residents in this district have been walking through since 1907.
Although the store itself no longer exists, the Company is still in operation and I have little doubt that the building will be replaced and the firm of W. Kellett & Sons will continue to serve the Mudgee people as they have done so capably in the past.
It is interesting to note the history of the establishment of the firm of W. Kellett & Sons which has been in operation on the present site since 1907.
The firm itself has been established in Mudgee for 112 years.
It was originally founded in 1859 by the late William Kellett, who came to Mudgee at the age of 21 with a companion named Rowell as employees of the firm of W. & A. McArthur Limited, Soft Goods Warehousemen, to wind up a small country business.
These two young men saw the opportunity of developing this business and with the backing of McArthur Limited they opened a store on the corner of Market and Court Streets which was known as the Old Flagstaff Store. In 1864, Rowell sold his share of the partnership to William Kellett then continued to conduct the store until his two sons, William and John came of age and was taken into partnership when the firm became known as W. Kellett & Sons.
The business in the Old Flagstaff Store prospered and in 1907 the firm erected most of the building that was destroyed last weekend.
The building was further extended in 1930.
In 1913, William Kellett died at the age of 78, after a residence of 54 years in the district of Mudgee and having seen it grow from a tiny hamlet to a prosperous township.
In the year 1937, the business was changed to the name of W. Kellett & Sons Pty. Ltd.
John and William Jnr., gradually handed the business over to Keith, Ralph and Malcolm and it is at present being conducted by Malcolm and his nephew, Allan, who is the son of Ralph.
So it is, that because of this disastrous fire, this store which has a very close link with the history of the commercial development of this town has been destroyed.
The fact that many of the people who watched the store burn or viewed the smoldering remains on Sunday morning were unashamed of the tears in their eyes, gives an indication of the feeling of the community towards this firm of W. Kellett & Sons. However, bigger and better things have sprung up from disasters such as this in the past and we are all awaiting anxiously for the decision of the Directors of the Company as to its future.
To Malcolm and Allan, and indeed to the entire Kellett family, I offer you the sincere sympathy of the community and guarantee support in the future.
While talking of the fire, I feel I must congratulate the Local Volunteer Fire Brigade under the leadership of Mr. Ern Webster, who did such a tremendous job in containing the fierce fire to the one building.
It was obvious that the fire had too much start to prevent the destruction of the building but the efforts of the firemen, in preventing its spread to the adjacent buildings is praiseworthy.
The close proximity of the Commercial Bank, Town Hall, The Rural Bank, and at the rear, Mr. George Parkinson’s premises must have caused tremendous concern to Mr. Webster and his men while they were endeavouring to stop the fire and at the same time, prevent it spreading.
It doesn’t need very much thought to visualise the tremendous disaster that could have occurred had the weather been more unfavourable.
I would also like to congratulate the many citizens who were on hand to assist the firemen during the ordeal.
This was probably the worst fire in the history of Mudgee and we are very fortunate that there has not been a great number of fires within this district7
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21 April 1971
KELLETTS WILL REBUILD STORE ON OLD SITE
A new store will be built on the site of the former store of W. Kellett and Sons, Pty. Ltd., in Market Street, Mudgee.
The sixty-year-old store was destroyed by fire nearly three weeks ago.
Mr. Allan Kellett of W. Kellett and Sons Pty. Ltd., said yesterday. “It is the intention of the Kellett family to rebuild.”
In the meantime, the firm has accepted on offer made by Mudgee Municipal Council to use McCulleys premises in Market Street.
Council recently purchased McCulleys for conversion into a library and other community facilities.
At Monday’s meeting of Council, it was decided to make McCulleys available to W. Kellett and Sons for approximately 18 months, which is the period of time the firm consider they will require for use of the building.
Council will determine the rental to be paid for McCulleys when they hold their next meeting in May.
Mr. Allan Kellett said yesterday that the firm would be moving into McCulleys as soon as possible, probably in two or three weeks time.
A supermarket will be established at McCulleys and it will be used entirely for the sale of foodstuffs.
A department supplying produce, hardware, builders supplies and man-on-the-land requirements will be established in the Perry Street buildings of W. Kellett and Sons.
An entrance into this department will be made from Perry Street.
The firm’s office has been established in the yard at the back of the premises.
At Monday’s meeting of Mudgee Municipal Council tenders for the renovations of McCulleys into a library complex were to have been considered.
In view of the fact that the building will be used by W. Kellett and Sons for probably the next 18 months, the library tenders were not opened, and have been deferred until their May meeting8
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17 September 1971
SPECIAL BRICKS FOR NEW KELLETTS
Simplicity of line and visual strength are a feature of the design of the new store to be built in Market street, Mudgee, for William Kellett and Sons Pty. Ltd.
Plans for the building were approved by Mudgee Municipal Council this week.
The new store replaces one destroyed by fire earlier this year.
Mr. Allan Kellett, a director, told the Guardian that the new building, shown in this sketch, will have a simple floor construction, incorporating a mezzanine floor running the full length of the Market street frontage to accommodate the offices and a coffee bar.
“Bricks salvaged from the previous store will be used in the sections of brickwork in the front of the store,” Mr. Kellett said.
“The side and rear walls will be constructed in a new brown brick to be produced by the Mudgee Brickworks.
“Cream face bricks will be used for all the interior wall finishes.
“The display windows will not be backed, providing a clear view into the interior of the store from the footpath.
“Windows at the mezzanine floor level will be hidden from view from Market Street by an anodised aluminium grille to provide both a solar and decorative screen above the awning, which is cantilevered over the footpath.
“The roof design consists of an all steel structure, with the ceiling being fixed directly to the underside of the purlins.
“The main roof beams will be exposed and the flourescent lighting will be positioned on the underside of those beams.
“Two steps will be provided in the roof to allow light and ventilation to the interior of the building.
“All departments previously located in the old store will be re-introduced on completion of the new building.
“The total floor area is approximately 23,000 Sq. ft. and it is anticipated that the final cost of the building, floor coverings and shop fittings will be about $325,000.
“The building contractors are the Mudgee Woodworking Pty. Ltd., the designing Architects are Green, Knight and Partners of St. Leonards and the Consulting Engineers are Longworth and McKenzie of North Sydney9
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10 December 1971
KELLETTS RISING FROM ASHES
The steel framing for the new store of Wm. Kellett and Sons, Market Street, Mudgee, is rising on the site of the store destroyed by fire on April 4.
(Photo) TOP; From left, Malcolm Kellett, Alan Kellett and builder Alderman Norm Leonard inspect the framework which will house a new $325,000 emporium.
LEFT; Malcolm and Alan Kellett look across the store site. The open spaces in the framing above will be enclosed with glass celestory windows to the north to provide natural light in the new store10
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2003
22 December 2003
Farewell to an era: Mudgee's oldest store closes
W. Kellett & Sons Pty Ltd, the last of Mudgee's historic family-owned department stores and the oldest store in the town, will close its doors for the last time on Christmas Eve after 144 years of trading.
With just two days of a final clearing sale remaining, customers have been snapping up Christmas bargains and - for many - pausing to farewell an emporium some considered 'the David Jones of Mudgee'.
The decision to close the store, which was founded in 1859, was made about 12 months ago by company chairman Alan Kellett and directors John Kellett and Ruth Suttor.
Instead of continuing operating their own department store, the family decided to join forces with Woolworths and develop a Big W department store.
"We provided the site and they will put a building on it and we will own it jointly," John Kellett said.
"It is a joint venture. We are not closing down, we are re-using our assetts," John Kellett said.
Mr Kellett said W. Kellett & Sons Pty Ltd will cease trading and the Big W will take over as its own department store subject to final negotiations with Mudgee Shire Council.
Mr Kellett said he has a number of highly qualified staff who, no doubt, will apply to Big W for employment.
In its heydey in the 1980s Kellett's employed about 50 staff, and at its closure about 21.
Although there are only two Kellett's stores today - the department store in the CBD and a produce store on the Sydney Road - during the Gold Rush days the family operated many stores throughout the gold fields, Cassilis and Gulgong the longest standing outside Mudgee.
Kellett's has retained the produce arm of its business, which will be managed by John Kellett.
Mr Kellett said Woolworths came to Kelletts about 12 months ago with a proposition to buy their business.
"They looked at a number of sites and ours was the most suitable," Mr Kellett said, adding that the site faces three streets in the hub of the town.
"It was a tough decision, because we have been trading a long time," Mr Kellett said.
Mr Kellett said one reason the family decided to consider Woolworth's proposition was because it offered them the chance to have input on what was developed at the site - an opportunity some other purchaser might not have provided.
He said Woolworths did not want to build out of town because of the lesson learned at Dubbo when the Big W split the shopping business away from the main CBD.
Mr Kellett said Mudgee Shire Council has passed the Big W development with conditions and the two parties, council and Woolworths are presently working on those conditions.
"It is basically cut and dried," he said.
Kellett's building will be finally vacated in February, when the building will be pulled down and construction of the Big W begin.
"They hope to have it open by October next year," Mr Kellett said.
Mr Kellett said although it is definitely the end of an era of the Kellett family operating a department store in Mudgee, the name would still continue in the trading business out on the Sydney Road, but he is not sure of the next generation.
Mr Kellett has sons of his own, but he said it is too early yet to make any decisions on their future occupations11 .
22 December 2003
Goodbye after 144 years
Kelletts has survived war rations, the Depression, rural recession, droughts, fire and competition from other retailers and big city discount stores.
But tomorrow, it closes after 144 years of trading as one of the last unique family department stores.
Kelletts was founded by William Kellett in 1859.
William arrived in Australia from Northern Ireland in 1835, a trained cooper and warehouseman employed by McArthur and Co, soft goods warehousemen.
With a fellow employee, Nicholas Rowell, William was sent to Mudgee in 1859 to wind up an old store, Bessimer and Walker.
This was the time of the gold rush, and the west was an exciting place offering exciting opportunities.
William and Nicholas decided to go into partnership and open up their own store in Lovejoy Street, but later moved it to the west end of Market Street under the name of Old Flagstaff Stores. The store also housed a branch of the NSW Saving Bank, of which William Kellett was secretary.
In 1864, Nicholas Rowell left the partnership to take up farming at Lawson's Creek and William continued to operate the store, opening many stores across the goldfields.
In 1907, the expanding business moved to the corner of Perry and Market Streets where the business centre now focussed and descendants of the family continued to manage the store, selling fodder, fashions, flour, fence strainers, starch, shoes, day-old-chicks, carrots, crockery, and the myriad of daily needs for every household.
Kelletts burned down in 1971 and a new store opened 18 months later, larger and more modern.
In 1937 Kellett's became "W. Kellett & Sons Pty Ltd" when William's two sons, William and John joined him in the firm.
William died in 1913, aged 78.
William passed the reins to his sons, who then passed them to grandsons, Malcolm, Keith and Ralph Kellett.
Malcolm's nephew, Alan (son of Ralph Kellett) then took the reins and was later joined by John Kellett.
Alan brought a Bachelor of Engineering degree and wide experience in civil engineering to his directorship of the firm. John brought his Bachelor of Economics in market research and product management in the marketing departments of several multi-national chemical industry companies to the fore.
In 1980, Kelletts began to modernise.
Although during the gold rush, William sold bulk liquor, the family dropped the sale of liquor when licencing first came in.
In 1982 Kelletts opened a Liquor Shop facing Perry Street whose trading consistently placed it in the top 100 country NSW liquor licences.
In 1985 Kelletts stopped selling fresh food and groceries - and ended the big "tick it up" phase of credit.
Rather than compete with Woolworths and other supermarkets, going out of the food lines enabled Kelletts to expand their soft goods, mens, women's and children's clothing and footwear and electronic banking and associated credit cards took care of the old cash or credit system.
During earlier days Kellett's faced competition from a variety of locally owned general stores including James Loneragan's.
As they closed, one after the other, only Kellett's remained. And after tomorrow it, too, will be part of history12 .