MUSTARD William (15th August 1870 – 16th September 1949)
MUSTARD Mary (nee Stone) (4th June 1880 – 23rd September 1963)
William Mustard was born in Bendoc in the old horse stables at Ida Hayes house.
Mary Mustard (nee Stone) was born in Towamba and registered in Eden.
William Mustard was married to Emma Collins, they had nine children, Martha, William, Mabel, Gladys, David, Rueben (Stan), Emily, Elsie and Sadie.
Unfortunately Emma died.
Mary Stone and her daughter Queenie came to Bendoc to care for the Mustard children.
William married Mary on 31st August 1912, their children were Sylvia, Aileen, Joyce, Athol, Miriam, Jack and Loma.
William and Mary reared all the children as one family and managed the Commercial Hotel, Bendoc for Mr Hamilton Reed until it burnt down in 1920. Only the chimneys were left standing.
The Mustard family rebuilt the hotel on the opposite side of the road after the fire and moved into the hotel in 1921. The hotel still stands today.
William was the manager of the Victoria Star Mine which started in 1911 and was also the Treasurer of the gold in Bendoc. (William melted the gold into ingots and sent them to the Treasury Bank in Melbourne.) This was sold for cash and returned to the miners.
Both William and Mary were very community minded.
William built the Bendoc Memorial Hall with the help of the community as the hall was a community project. The supper room was an extension built on later using timber and iron from the Victoria Star Mine after it closed.
William was involved in horse racing, cricket and the rifle club as well as all major sporting events held in Bendoc. In the border rifle club he went to Goulburn and won a medal for his shooting. This medal is still in the family, it was presented to William by E.S. Gardiner Esq. in 1902.
William was a great entertainer, he would walk on a wire swinging clubs to music. This ability he passed onto his daughter Loma. He also used to shoot a two inch nail into a post on a wire rope as well. The clubs still remain in Loma’s family, passed onto grandson Mark Toms.
Mary was the great “Dolly” of Bendoc, everyone called her either Dolly or Mum, she had a fantastic personality and a great motherly kindness to all who came in contact with her. She was a very dedicated woman to people and particularly the children of Bendoc. Mary had a beautiful singing voice and was a great seamstress.
Mary was involved inthe CWA, school mother’s club, worked with sporting bodies and was Santa Claus every year. She was very involved in the church and her faith was incredible in the way she accepted all demoninations.
She was a very hard working lady, taking care of all the duties of the Hotel. When William passed away, Mary kept the hotel going with the help of Jack and Loma. Mary was the licencee of the Hotel until January 1962 when she sold the hotel to Cliff Yelds. She retired to Bombala where she lived with her daughter Loma and son-in-law Kevin Yelds.
On her retirement Mary was preented with a silver tray from Carlton & United Breweries Limited in Melbourne for her valued custom of more than 53 years and the longest serving owner of the one hotel.
MAY THEY ALL REST IN PEACE.