Bill Andersen - the last horse and lorry carrier fondly remembered.



W.C(Bill) Andersen with his horse Snip and dog Kim on a Saturday going to a hire job - as he is not wearing an apron. The horse is around thirty years old. It is the number one lorry. Photograph taken by Elwin Andersen. Part of the Elwin Andersen collection. 

A former resident and keen reader of the blog has written in about W. (Bill) C. Andersen one of the last horse and lorry carriers to operate in Maryborough. She said “Mr Andersen is indelibly etched into my Maryborough childhood memories.  When we first moved to Maryborough in the late 1950’s and lived in the flats in Lennox Street he was there. When I left to move to the big smoke to study at 17 years old, I feel he was still there” she said.

“Children hear a noise and begin calling out to others running – Mr Andersen, Mr Andersen. The growing throng moves in one direction and gathers speed. Most of us barefooted, what is it we are running to? Some of us struggle to hear anything yet.  An unseen horse, cart and driver ambles along the next street. At the intersection we catch sight of the cause of the sound and gaze in awe” she recollects.

She continues “It is huge and getting bigger and louder as we gaze with glazed eyeballs and incredulous expressions on our grubby faces. Our ears ring.  Pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line.  Some of the more outgoing kids start calling out. The whole moving mass slows and comes to a halt. We gaze in awe at the huge horse; everything about it seems enormous, eyes, nostrils, hair, feet. The flat timber tray is crowded with packages, nondescript now, but yes hooray, there are some spaces. Some sort of verbal utterance from Mr Andersen signals as approval and we start clambering up onto the tray. Skinny, swinging bare legs hang down and we are seated crammed beside each other in all the spare spaces along the sides and back of the cart. Another sound from Mr Andersen and we begin to move forward as the horse walks on. Our hair flies free and most of us are silent, mesmerised by the movement of its effects on our bodies. Now the horse is trotting and we are in the moment, our senses so absorbed. Time stands still yet continues. This is wonderful.” She said. She wanted to thank Mr Andersen for the lovely memory.

In 1954 Mr J. (Jim) L. McDonald retired after working as a horse and lorry carrier for thirty years.  This left Mr W. (Bill) C. Andersen as the sole horse and lorry carrier in Maryborough. He worked in this way until the mid 1970's. He used to carry packages for shops such as Donny Bowes in Adelaide Street, Maryborough. He was sometimes seen to carry furniture. Parents of smaller children would walk alongside the tray as their children got a ride on the back. The older children were able to hold on as the horse trotted.

Mr Andersen was the last icon of a bygone era of horse power in Maryborough.

We would love to hear your memories of him.

Do you remember him delivering packages?

Were you one of the lucky ones to get a ride on the tray?

Elwin Andersen will be conducting a Local History talk on her father  Bill on the 11 March, 2016 at 12pm in the Maryborough Library E-Space. Bookings required.

 Recollections published with consent from the author.

Tags: #Maryborough #Frasercoastlibraries #Horseandlorry #MrAndersen #Localhistoryqld

Source:  National Library of Australia,. (2015). 08 Oct 1954 - LOCAL & GENERAL JIM MCDONALD RETIRES: A CARRIER .... Trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 17 December 2015, from trove