Dangin Co-op (fmr) - site

Statement of Significance

The site represents a successful commercial enterprise of which the early settlers were an integral part.

History

In 1836 Stephen Parker took up a pastoral selection at Dangin Springs, and in 1859 his son Edward Read Parker settled on the selection. After ER Parker's death in 1905, his son Jonah Smith Wells Parker took over the Dangin property. Parker allotted a portion of his estate for a townsite and donated land for most of the town's facilities. He built the first Dangin Store which was subsequently purchased by the White brothers in 1910. Six years later the Dangin and South Caroling Co-operative Society took over the store. The Co-op Society had evolved from the settlers buying bulk provisions through the Farmers' and Settlers' association, with JH Stone, the secretary, ordering and paying for the goods. Settlers paid for the goods on arrival at the siding. Although successful, a committee was needed to continue an efficient operation. In 1915 ,a committee was selected to look into the probability of a co-operative. JA Jones influenced the committee, and after JH Stone met with directors of the Westralian Farmers' Co-operative at a Farmers Conference in Perth, they started the co-operative. On 16 November 1916 the Co-operative opened, renting, with an option to purchase, EH White's Store with the Post Office attached. The original committee comprised JH Stone, GE Cook, T Richards, WG Haines, H Johnston, A Knox-Thompson and JA Jones. When the White's premises were purchased later, 400 shares were taken up by the committee and 19 other settlers. Good managers were difficult to find until Frank Strickland who had worked at the Co-op since 1924, became the Manager in 1927. Although during the 1910s, 20s and 30s two other stores provided keen competition in Dangin, one closed in 1933, and the other closed in 1941. Between 1927 and 1946 when Frank Strickland managed the Co-op, he lived in the Co-op residence with his family. In 1946, the Co-op premises were enlarged and modernised. Sam Tyers took over as manager, and later Higgins, Mercer, Hollywell and Smith managed the place. As Dangin continued to decline, and Quairading prosper, the Dangin Co-op amalgamated with the Quairading Co-op in 1965, to become the Quairading and Districts Co-operative.

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.