The well known Central News Agency, located at 98 Victoria Street, is well over one hundred years old and is extraordinary because it has been operating continuously as a newsagency for all of that time. In 1900 it was authorised as an establishment to act as a general newsagent, bookseller, stationer, tobacconist and hairdresser (reference). The business has always been the central newsagent in Bunbury, with slight name changes from owner to owner. These include “Erskine’s Central News Agency”, “Anderson’s Central Newsagency” and “C H Wood’s Central Newsagency”.

Hugh Erskine was one of the earliest managers, and he ran the establishment between 1902-1907. A telephone was installed by 1906, No: 76. That year the building was enlarged, forcing them to temporarily share a shop with Mr Francis Vine, the local photographer on Victoria Street (reference). Erskine’s Central Newsagency provided Bunbury’s residents with the ‘latest literature’ including pieces written by Ethel Turner, the beloved Australian author of Seven Little Australians. His store also functioned as a library, stocked with fiction, special colonial and English periodicals (reference). Llewellyn Spencer, previous manager of Dalgety & Co Ltd took over Erskine’s Central News Agency and ran it from 11 February 1907 until January 1908, when he left Bunbury (reference).

Walter Wheeldon became the owner of the Central News Agency Bunbury from 1908-1909. During his year with the business he increased its popularity to the point that it served as a tourist attraction (reference). His advertisements claimed he supplied Bunbury with “every daily and weekly paper published in the Commonwealth worth reading” and sold a record-breaking 525 Christmas editions of the Western Mail (reference).

The venture’s success continued for Paul Berthold in August 1909 as the “largest and oldest news agency in the south-west”, selling various products including books, tobacco, postcards, Madame Weigel’s Patterns, stationery and school books. 

Carl Andersen was the next owner in 1912, and he renamed it Anderson’s Central Newsagency. Some of their supplied products included fireworks, plant seeds and Christmas gifts in addition to the usual newsagency supplies. In 1917, at a time of high anti-German sentiment, Anderson was involved in a series of slanderous articles in the Bunbury Herald:

“1917 Business Spies and the ‘Herald’ ” 

It is generally recognised that the German spy system is the most perfect in the world. In every country, both large and small, they carry on their nefarious practices of gathering underhand information to submit to their bumptious war lord. Probably even last week when so many innocent men, women and children were murdered by the Han air raid on London, these crawling creatures were partly responsible by helping to guide the aeroplanes, and it is not to be wondered at that the authorities in all countries are doing their utmost to rid their lands of these pests. But there are other spies, equally as despicable as those mentioned above. We refer to business spies and those who happened to read an advertisement in the Saturday issue of our contemporary will see that even in beautiful Bunbury we have one of this variety in our midst ... Judging by the accuracy of the information published we would say that if the person responsible was to rely on spying for his living he would starve … he has a monopoly of the newspaper business in Bunbury. 

We wish to apologise for having made an error in the spelling of our “esteemed friend’s” name in the par on Saturday. We were totally unaware that he had changed his name from CARL ANDERSEN to CHAS ANDERSON [Charles Anderson] ... The mistake on our part; however, was quite unintentional, but we may plead excuse when his billheads still bear the name Andersen.” 

Bunbury Herald, 11 July 1917 page 2 (reference). 

At the end of 1919, Clem Wood bought the business and advertised it as ‘Central News Agency (late Anderson)’ to establish a connection to the old owners, before changing the name to C Wood’s News Agency. In 1927 the original building was demolished and replaced with a larger one that ‘modernised’ that section of Victoria Street (reference), and it remained Wood’s Central Newsagency until the 1950s. The newsagency today, Central News Bunbury, is run by the Cross family. 

Early days postcards of the Central Newsagency depicting the town and harbour are in many private family collections today (reference). Check them out on Memories of Bunbury (Facebook) or let us know if you have one in your family’s collection!