Benalla stories: Mrs Thornburn and the James family

Information we thought our readers would like to read.

Below are the images with original captions from the Benalla Standard. The stories below them were shared by the community.

It turns out Mr and Mrs Cook’s son Richard was there that day. This is what he shared to Facebook:

OMG. Mrs Thornburn, remember her well. She was a lovely lady who lived by herself right next door to us, Powell and Cooks store in Church Street. Had lots of stories to tell. From memory she told one story of seeing Ned Kelly when she was a very little girl. She said that if Ned stole/borrowed a horse he would return it some days later in a better condition than what it was in when he took it. I was 8 years old when this photo was taken. This takes me back many years.

When seeing this photo Jan McIlroy asked a question:

Just wondering if this name has a connection to Evan James Drive in Benalla?

It turns out Sue Watkins had an answer:

The street is named after my father’s (pictured) great grandfather, Evan James, who selected land out there in the 1840’s.

The Ensign will continue to share classic Benalla photos on Facebook and looks forward to finding out more about the Rose City’s history.