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Frederick Vann Armbrust

Frederick Vann Armbrust (5th April 1883 - 10th March 1945) son of Nicolaus Armbrust and Rebecca Harris, was born in Cooktown, Queensland. He spent the first five or six years of his life in Cooktown before the family moved to Laura.

His early employment was with a teamster named Jack Barrett. Barrett, with young Fred as spare boy, used to take his bullock team from Laura through Palmerville township and Pat Fox’s Mt. Mulgrave Station across the Mitchell River, on to Wrotham Park, Walsh Telegraph Station and Gamboola. In all, Laura to Laura, the trip took two months.

Fred then took up the trade of Butcher, working under Charlie Summerhayes in Cooktown. Around 1908 Fred took over the Torres Straits Fresh Food & Ice Co. Ltd. Which supplied Thursday Island with meat from the mainland. It was run by his father’s close friend Locke Kennedy. Fred’s sister Millicent Gladys was also there with him. He sent a postcard to his grandmother Mrs. Betsy Harris showing his 1908 Christmas meat display as the butcher before him had told the people there that he wasn’t any good and couldn’t make any small goods at all. The display was quite impressive. He remained the butcher there for a number of years.

Fred then moved to Irvinebank where his parents now resided. Here he met his future wife Julia O’Shea. The O’Shea family had migrated from Ireland in 1907 and Julia’s brothers Tim, Mick and John were tin miners in the Herberton area. On 28th January 1914 Fred Armbrust and Julia O’Shea were married in Herberton by Rev. Father Doyle O.S.A. His mother and grandmother were opposed to his marriage as they had selected a prospective bride and were strongly opposed to him marrying a “Roman Papist” and wrote him a very nasty letter in this vein and tried to persuade him to call it off. In Irvinebank Fred conducted a Butchering Business with his brother Johan Wilhelm ‘Bill’ Armbrust. Bill went to the Great War in 1915 and in December 1917 the Butchering Business of F.V. & H.J.W. ARMBRUST was sold to Mr. Louis Pederson. Fred and Julia had two sons born in Irvinebank, Frederick John on 31st October 1914 and Kevin Bernard on 20th January 1916. Shortly afterwards they went to Farleigh near Mackay and conducted a cane farm with Julia’s sister Norah and her husband Jack Mulherrin. Jack later became Mayor of Mackay. Fred and Julia’s only daughter Clare was born in Mackay on 27th June 1919. The family then moved to Mareeba and here were born their last two children, Eustace Gregory at Emsley’s Nursing Home on 29th July 1921 and Dermot Francis on 19th December 1923. In Mareeba, Fred first conducted a butcher shop in Walsh Street, built and owned by Percy Peters. Then later another butcher shop was built in Byrnes Street (almost opposite Costin’s Chemist & the Royal Hotel) which Fred owned. An advertisement appeared in the Cairns Post dated 25 June 1926 “F.V. Armbrust, Butcher, Walsh St., Mareeba has erected a shop on Railway Reserve to specially cater for Railway Trade.” No further information on this building.

At their family home in Constance Street, Mareeba on the back door was burnt the family brand F A (the drawing of the spade was a substitute for the letter V). The house was eventually sold to Mr. Alf Eales.

In 1930, when the Hydro Electricity Scheme started on the Barron Falls, the family moved to Kuranda. Fred conducted a slaughteryard on the Mareeba Road where he bought and killed cattle for his Butcher Shop. An article in the Cairns Post dated 20 January 1934 states “Mr. F.V. Armbrust and Sons butchers of Kuranda, have shown initiative and faith in the progress of this district by the installation of a refrigeration plant at their shop in Kuranda. The following plant was installed by Scholtz Bros of Cairns, and is of 7 x 7 x 5 feet dimensions, 4 inches being cork insulated. The plant was manufactured by James Budge of Sydney.”

The Cairns Post on 11th December 1934 contained an advertisement “We hereby WITHDRAW the sale of our property from the hands of all agents. ARMBRUST & SONS, Butchers, Kuranda.

In early 1935 Fred, Julia and family returned to Mareeba. From then Fred no longer owned his own butcher shop. He did manage one or more butcher shops for a time, although there seems to be some confusion among his children as to where. Clare said her father did go to Dimbulah to manage a butcher shop for Fred Hyde while she was at boarding school in Herberton, as well as a shop at Mt. Mulligan. Kevin said he couldn’t remember his father ever going to Dimbulah, but he himself was slaughtering for a chap by the name of Fred Hydes. Fred said that his father did not go to Dimbulah but thought that Kevin did, also that his father worked in a butcher shop in Mulgrave Street, Cairns (his last shop) around 1936 before retiring to Mareeba through illness. The 1936 Electoral roll confirms Mulgrave St., Cairns.

While Fred, Julia and their family were living in Mareeba, they were involved with the building of the new Catholic Church of St. Thomas of Villanova. The foundation stone was laid in February 1937 and on 29th August 1937 Fred was baptised. He was the first non Catholic to be converted and baptised in this new church. He was baptised by Father E.J. Conlan M.S.C. Fred and Julia paid for one of the Stations of the Cross in the new church out of their pension. It still remains in the care of our family today.

During the Second World War their four sons joined the various services. Fred was in the 11th Field Ambulance, Kevin was in the 51st Battalion Cairns before transferring to 2/2nd Field Butchering Company at Cape River, Eustace was in the 31st/51st Battalion and Dermot was with the Australian Tank Division before transferring to the Paratroopers.

Before they returned from the war, Fred died of cancer on 10th March 1945 (Grave No. 300C). On 30th April 1946 Julia also died of cancer (Grave No. 316C). Both are buried in the Catholic section of the Mareeba Cemetery.