The Lorne Stribling Family

William Stribling, like his father before him, was licensee of the Caledonian Hotel in Port Fairy from 1873 to 1882. The Caledonian is still there and has the claim of being Victoria’s oldest licensed hotel. William’s first application to obtain the licence was originally rejected for his “intemperate habits”, however he was successful at the next try.

William Stribling’s son, Edward, was born in Port Fairy (then known as Belfast). He left school at the age of 14 and joined the bank in Port Fairy, thence to Winchelsea, as an auditor and manager, Kilmore and finally Euroa. Edward left the bank and started the family businesses based in the building which the infamous Ned Kelly had robbed of over £2,000 a few years earlier in 1878.

Edward Stribling had long established an interest in Lorne through his position as manager of the Winchelsea Branch of the Colonial Bank of Australia (now NAB). The bank had an agency in Lorne so Edward used to ride a horse to Lorne once a fortnight to pay the forestry workers and the workers on the pier, which was being built at the time.

Adelaide and Edward Stribling’s children were Kenneth, (born in 1902), Hector (born in 1912),  and Archie. On the morning of January 21st, 1908, Kenneth Stribling, then a six-year-old, remembered the excitement of seeing a large sailing ship foundered on the rocks not far from the site of the family’s future Lorne residence, “Morva”, which was built in 1914 on the corner of Topp St and the Ocean Road.

Edward and Adelaide Stribling travelled from Euroa to Lorne with their three boys Kenneth, Hector and Archie. Edward Stribling used to say he wanted to get away from the heat in North Eastern Victoria. The entourage would journey by trains eventually to Winchelsea or Birregurra and then by Cobb & Co Coach to Lorne.

When Hector Stribling turned 14 in 1918 he obtained his driver’s licence. He had no trouble obtaining this as his aptitude for all things mechanical and his father being the local magistrate, made this possible. Ile also must have been very influential in persuading his father to venture into a new mode of transport. This ended up being a second-hand T-model Ford. It was the model before electric lights and had to be started with a crank handle.

1919, T-model Ford, bogged

While Kenneth and Hector were still in their teens, they set off together with their uncle Fred (Adelaide’s brother), to make the huge journey to Lorne from Euroa. There was no Hume Highway so the railway line was followed. Standard equipment to be carried was a wire strainer which was used to pull the vehicle through the sand at the numerous creek crossings as there were few bridges. Fuel had to be purchased from the chemist, and bits often fell off the car, which had to be retrieved by walking back along the track until they were found. If a tyre became too damaged for patches, river reeds were stuffed into it. There was no Ocean Road either so they stayed overnight at the Native Youth Hotel in Birregurra.

Before leaving Birregurra, after taking several days to get there, they decided to send a cable to Lorne where the family had preceded them, to say they hoped to be arriving between three and four that afternoon. This was ambitious. Getting to Lorne over the Otways could be quite difficult especially by car such as they were in those days. Sometimes they would need to co-opt a Cobb & Co horse to help them over the hill. Eventually arriving at Lorne, a lad came rushing out of the post office and said “Hey, are you Striblings”? On agreeing they were, the boy handed them the cable which they had sent that morning! Nothing like getting your own telegram back!

Kenneth, Hector, and Archie Stribling were very keen fishermen, a passion which they retained for the rest of their lives. The fish were very plentiful off the rocks and Kenneth told how the three of them caught an enormous stingray one day using a dog chain. Previous efforts had broken all their tackle but the chain did the trick.

Many years later Kenneth used to take sons David, Neville and Ian, to places like the Godfrey channel and the Artillery Rocks at the foot of Mount Defiance. David Stribling can remember one summer’s evening, with a very low tide, catching crayfish which could be seen at the bottom of a large rock pool on Point Grey. Long bamboo poles, with wire snares attached on one end, were used. These were hooked under the tail of the crayfish, which enabled them to be pulled up to the surface.

Hector worked at The Grand Pacific and subsequently bought it from Frank Beaurepaire in 1927. At this time Hector Stribling owned both the Grand Pacific and Lorne Hotels.  Mr Stribling made an offer to the Norton brothers, Cyril and Arthur, to supply them with a boat in return for their catch of fish and crayfish which would be served at the hotels.  The brothers were able to sell the surplus catch to the residents of Lorne.  The boat he purchased was called the “Ina”.

Hector Stribling had a boat shed next to the old pier. In the shed there was an electric winch with a long cable which extended across the beach to the water’s edge allowing the fishing boat to be pulled over the sand into the shed. The winch also had an extended axle with a square end, presumably for the fitting of a crank handle, to enable manual operation. David Stribling was 9 years old at the time and, being fascinated with the workings of the winch, lent against the square end of the shaft which then caught on his clothes. David was knocked out on the first rotation, as the next thing he remembers was his dad cutting off his clothes with a pocket knife, and looking up at concerned faces.

Hector Stribling bought Erskine House from Mountjoy family in 1939.

Established the Rock Groyne on the  beach in front of Erskine House. (More …)

Hector Stribling donates land for football oval, now called Stribling Reserve. (More …)

David Stribling recalls great excitement when they undertook the six to seven-hour trip from Euroa to Lorne. During the war, as petrol was rationed, cars were fitted with gas producers, which burnt coke to produce gas to fuel the engine. David’s earliest memories of Lorne were staying at “Moogoogong” towards the end of World War II. There was a compulsory blackout and he can remember the blinds all having to be drawn as the observation aircraft flew overhead.

The gift of music played a prominent part in the lives of Edward and Adelaide Stribling. Edward was a flautist and Adelaide was  an accomplished pianist while Hubert Howell was organist at the Lorne Anglican church from 1929 to 1958. There is a memorial window gifted by the Howell family above the little organ. Hubert had a wonderful baritone voice. Accompanied by his organ playing he contributed to the music over nearly 30 years at All Saints.

Betty Stribling (nee Howell) was also a gifted pianist and cellist in her carly days having played the latter with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (then the VSO) for a brief period.

During the summer breaks, in the 50’s and 60’s at Lorne, David Stribling’s brother, Neville, an accomplished jazz clarinettist and saxophonist, introduced Lorne to a lot of his mainly traditional jazz compatriots. David Stribling used to try and beat out a few chords on the piano in accompaniment except for when Graeme Bell and other far better pianists arrived for a “sit in”. There were great nights at the Erskine House ballroom, The Wild Colonial Club, the old Surf Club and the ballroom at the Pacific Hotel. There were also “jam sessions” at the log cabin in George street, then owned by the local policeman and his wife. The parties and jam sessions would go so late the revellers would arrive home to the familiar sounds of the fishing boats being off-loaded from the pier and their father off to catch more fish from the rocks. In 2015, Marnie and David Stribling moved from Euroa to make their home in Lorne.

Sources:

• Lorne Independent No. 223 June 2020, David Stribling
• David Stribling, 2024

See The Howell Family.