Old, vintage, historical book archives at the Morwell Historical Society

Morwell on the March – Clubs

A Journey in Time – A Resource for Local History

Morwell on the March – Clubs

Apex Club of Morwell

Moves to initiate the establishment of an Apex Club branch in Morwell were taken at a meeting that was conducted on Tuesday 3rd January 1950. Fourteen young men from the local area were in attendance, and the meeting received offers of assistance and guidance for the new provisional branch in its formative stages from the Morwell Rotary and Traralgon Apex organisations.

Nominations for office bearers were called for and received, the following nominees were duly elected

  • President: J. Anderson;
  • Vice Presidents: G. R. Billingsley, C. M. Davies;
  • Treasurer: G. Gordon;
  • Secretary: A. G. Holden

Morwell Apex Club received its Charter from the National President of Apex, Mr. J. Langdon-Parsons on Friday 23rd June, 1950 at a ceremony conducted at the Town Hall.

Members list as at January 1950

Jim Ackhurst, Jim Allison, Fred Ammann, Jack Anderson, John Anderson, Robert Azlin, Russ Billingsley, Albert Budge, Rodney Corbell, Chas Davies, Don Day, Bruce Derham, Jim Dunlop, Ken Dyer, Peter Eves, Patrick Fleming, Graham Gordon, Arthur Holden, Jack Hourigan, Fred Jenkins, Ron Jones, Don Kelly, Don McNeilly, Rhys Milner, Col Paull, Ian Poynter, Jim Rutherford, Ken Welch .

Office Bearers

YearPresidentSecretaryTreasurer
1950Jack AndersonArthur HoldenGraham Gordon
1950 – 1951Chas DaviesArthur HoldenGraham Gordon
1951 – 1952Russ BillingsleyCol PaullGraham Gordon
1952 – 1953Col PaullRod CorbellGraham Gordon
1953 – 1954Don KellyRod CorbellJack Anderson
Jack AndersonIan Humphries
1954 – 1955Peter EvesRod CorbellGraham Gordon
1955 – 1956Len HeronBill ThompsonNeil Hustwaite
1956 – 1957Don McNeillyCol PaullGraham Gordon
1957 – 1958Rhys MilnerGraham ScottGraham Gordon
1958 – 1959Mike HallRod CorbellBarry Knight
1959 – 1960Arthur HoldenCol PaullPeter Eves
Office Bearers

Good Neighbour Council

The decision to create a branch of the Good Neighbour Council in Morwell was taken at a public meeting held on Monday March 31st 1952.

A further public meeting to officially establish the branch was held in the Town Hall Supper Room on Monday 30th June 1952. The meeting, which had been convened by Mr. A. Holden elected Mr. Stan Winchester as the inaugural President. Mr. Stan Frew became Vice-President and Mr. A. Holden Secretary on a pro-tem basis.

The Committee consisted of Mesdames: Mahoney, Lees and Jeffrey, Messrs: B. Gluck and F. Amman

Membership fees were set at five shillings for organizations and two shillings for individuals.


National Safety Council

Road safety issues were a concern in Morwell in the early 1950s. The Shire Council was approached to hold a public meeting to determine whether a branch of the Safety Council should be formed. The meeting took place in the Town Hall supper room at 8pm on Monday 18th May 1953. Mr. R.S. Forbes, Secretary of the National Safety Council was in attendance. The meeting determined that a local branch should be established.

Dr. Ric Bouvier was elected President. Mr Dennis Quinn (manager of the T,R.B. Regional Office) was named as Vice-President. Mr. Doug Matthews filled the Secretary position while Mr. Bruce McIver was appointed Asst. Secretary.

The meeting further determined that all future meetings of the Morwell branch would be held at the Town Hall on the second Wednesday of each month.


Benevolent Society

Established on Monday 20th April 1953


Helping Hand Association

The Morwell Auxiliary of the Latrobe Valley Branch was formed at a public meeting called by Shire President Mr. Les Hare in November 1957. The office Bearers elected at that meeting were:

President: Mr. Dennis Quinn; Vice-President: Mrs. Gibson;  Secretary: Mr. W. Land; Treasurer:Mr. W. Mathison

The Auxiliary’s first opportunity shop opened on 18th October 1958 in premises located within Gude’s Arcade which was situated on the Princes Highway.