Dowerin Museum - Kitchen

In the Kitchen there is butter making equipment on the table. Mrs O'Shaughnessy used to make her own butter. In fact, the family had a cow in the backyard, which was a bit bigger back then as there were fewer houses.

There were 3 cows in Cottrell Street. The O'Shaughnessy cow was called Nell, and it was the job of little Carmel and her brother Jim to take Nell down to the water trough in the main street before milking her in the evening.

Nell had a tub of water in the yard, but she did enjoy her trip down the street each evening. Carmel and Jim would take her on the lead as far as the end of the back lane and then Nell would just take off and run.

She was too strong for Carmel and Jim to hold back, so they just let her go and she would rush down to the trough and put her nose in right by the ball tap, so the fresh water would run in.

Nothing was wasted, tins were often flattened and the sheet metal re-used. The wood from the boxes frequently became a household’s first furniture. This chest of drawers came from the Scouler family, who pioneered Blantyre farm on the Dowerin-Meckering Road.

Three Scouler sons served in the First World War: Matthew was a teacher at Scotch College in Claremont before enlisting in August 1915, serving with the 8th Machine Gun Battalion, and being killed in 1918.

He is buried in France. Alexander Scouler served in the 5th Machine Gun Battalion and returned to Australia; Captain John James Scouler served in 1 ANZAC Cyclists Battalion and also as Town Major for Corbie and was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.

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