Blacksmith's Shop Site

Statement of Significance

The place is notable as an early site in the business and commercial development of the town.

Physical Description

The site is west of the town and railway line, on the south side of Robinson Road. A plaque on a
granite boulder marks the site of the building. The framework (walls & roof) was of bush timber,
clad with corrugated iron. It was an open fronted structure facing east and approximately 16
metres wide and 9 metres deep. A separate lockup shed of later construction was nearby. This
housed tools, globes, fuses etc and was in operation until the death of Harold Becker. Fuel
bowsers and drum fuel was also distributed from this site as Becker was the agent for Caltex oil.

History

The first blacksmith shop in Woodanilling was set up by George Nelson in January 1901. In 1902
the Wilson brothers purchased Lots 44, 46, 48, 50, 52 and 60- west of the railway line. These lots
(with the exception of 60) had been taken up by John Hamilton Colquhoun and Nelson. Doug,
James and Alf Wilson had left Ardrossan, South Australia in 1897. The Wilson family had been
farming here since 1855 when the brothers' grandparents had emigrated from Lincolnshire.
James Wilson returned to South Australia, but Doug and Alf were soon to find brides in
Woodanilling. Doug Wilson married Elizabeth Meharry in 1905 at the home of Elizabeth's
parents at Marracoonda. They farmed on a property some 2-3 miles north of Woodanilling along
the railway. Their first home was mud brick where they lived until a new house was built closer
to town in the 1920's. Some of the farm machinery used to develop the land was brought over
from the Ardrossan family farm. Alfred Wilson had married Ellen Haddleton in 1904 and around
1912 sold the blacksmith business to Charlie Becker and set up business in Katanning as a
blacksmith and wheelwright. Near the site of the blacksmith shop had been a shepherd's hut and
sheepyards where George Evans camped before the land was surveyed. Evans shepherded for
William Andrews and the old pool at the back of the blacksmith's shop was used as a washpool.
John Leggoe who came to Woodanilling in 1914 later recounted "Opposite the stone agricultural
hall across the Robinson Road was Charlie Becker's blacksmith shop where I would stand for hours
watching him shoe horses, retip plough shears, draw out grubhoe heads and fit steel tyres to cart and
wagon wheels. Behind the smithy was his house surrounded by an orchard and vegetable garden. "
Doug and Lizzie Wilson had one daughter, Blanche. In 1928 Blanche married Harold Becker in
the Woodariilhng Church where she had played the organ many times previously. At first they
lived in Pittelkow's recently vacated house, before moving down to Becker's house at the
blacksmith shop. Harold's father, Charles, had come with his brothers (Richard, Hugo and Alf) to
Broad Arrow on the Goldfields in 1894. Their father had emigrated from Germany as a school
teacher, but having a large family of 12 took up farming. Charles bought some land at Broad
Arrow, working as a miner and blacksmith. In 1900 he married Jane Probot, a Victorian girl. In
1905 the family left Broad Arrow by wagon and arrived at Woodanilling to take up land west of
the line near the Bell's farm. His brothers, Richard and Hugo, also came south, Richard to Wagin
and Hugo to Woodanilling. In 1912 Charles Becker and his family of seven moved into the mud
brick house behind the blacksmith shop he had bought from Alf Wilson. For some years before
he took over the blacksmith's shop, Charles Becker walked the four miles to Woodanilling each
day to work for Alf Wilson. A new house was built in 1920 with bricks from Coate's new
brickworks. The mud brick house was flattened out and Charlie and the boys rolled the bricks out
to make a tennis court. A keep sporting family, the Becker boys all played football, cricket and
tennis with Charles and Harold both playing in district cricket teams for many years. Charles
Becker was a very clever man, making his own tools, cart wheels and machinery repairs. Harold
carried on with the business, also doing the mail contractor run east and west of Woodanilling.

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