15/04/2024
A step back in time...
The first butcher's business in Emerald was established in the early 1900s by Robert John Couper.
Robert John Couper was born in 1871, the youngest child of Robert (Snr) and Isabella Couper from Scotland. They arrived in Australia on the passenger ship "Dominion", disembarking at Portland, Victoria on October 9, 1852.
As a young man, Robert John Couper was raised in the Macclesfield area. He began working by farming land. Later, he married Harriet Hunt, and together they opened the first store in the front of their house in 1872, and added a post office in 1891.
Around this period, Robert established the first butcher's business on the corner of Main Street and Monbulk Road, Emerald. In the early days of its operation, cattle were killed on the property when required, and the carcasses stored in a cellar dug into the ground. The meat was then delivered in horse-drawn carts and carved down as required at the various homes in the district. Not long after the business started, Harriet passed away in 1908.
Robert later married New Zealand-born Mabel Blanche Hill from Ascot Vale. Together, they built a shop with attached dwelling on the property and the business began to be run in a more business-like manner. From all accounts, Mabel must have been a considerable influence in this respect. It is reported that most customers visiting the shop preferred to be served by Mabel because of her manner and the way she cut the meat.
To supply the shop with meat, cattle would be purchased at the Melbourne stock market, transported by train to Ferntree Gully, then by train—Puffing Billy—to Emerald.
Around 1919, the butcher's business was sold to the Madigan family.
