A colourful saleyards character remembered
A colourful era in the history of the Warragul cattle saleyards has now been permanently marked with a plaque dedicated to the memory of one saleyard worker who was possibly the most colourful of them all.
Albert Mildren, a stockman and drover, was a fixture at the saleyards on sale days from 1946 to 1981 when he was engaged on a casual basis by the stock and station agents as their “tarman” marking each head of cattle with dabs of colour that identified the buyer.
All of the cattle for sale passed through a rotunda, a feature long removed at the saleyards as selling methods evolved.
The rotunda lives on having been relocated to Lardner Park and Albert Mildren’s memory lives on with it since his son Alan arranged for a commemorative plaque to be located with it during a visit to the area earlier this month.
Albert was a “local character’’ throughout his time working for the stock agents at the saleyards and when perched on his horse, stockman’s vocabulary, whip in hand and cattle dog running alongside on district roads and even through the main shopping area of Warragul in an age when many local farmers’ cattle were walked to and from the saleyards rather than loaded onto trucks.
There were more than a few occasions when these developed into high-speed chases through the streets after breakaway cows and bulls.
Sale days were hectic for Albert.
An average of 350 head of cattle were sold at each sale with bidding non-stop.
Each of the agents paid him one pound ($2) per day for his efforts and he never got a break during the day while the agents at the end of their allocated selling spots generally adjourned with some of their clients to “tidy up some paper work” then head to a local café or hotel to talk business.
Albert built great relationships with buyers, sellers and agents over the years, won their respect for his efficiency and was seen as “part of the saleyards”.
He was raised on his parents’ dairy farm at Buln Buln and died, aged 69, in 1990.