Once upon a time, Melbourne’s neighbourhoods were dotted with family-run businesses. The corner grocer stocked local brands like McAlpin’s Flour and Robur Tea. If your liver was on the fritz, the chemist down the road would hand you a bottle of Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills.
And if you needed a light installed—or a fussy fuse box fixed—you called on a man like Harold Hosking.
His old workshop still stands on a quiet street in Newport, its ghost sign advertising “HAROLD HOSKING & SON, ELECTRICIANS“ offering “INDUSTRIAL & DOMESTIC INSTALLATIONS & REPAIRS.”
Harold first set up shop in 1916. In the 1920s, he joined the Newport Workshops to help electrify the railways. Finally, in 1930, he reopened his business here on Effingham Road.
But Harold was more than a wiring wizard—he was a diehard Williamstown Seagulls fan. In 1929, as club secretary, he launched band contests, sports carnivals, and even a Footballers’ Cricket Club to keep the boys from off-season mischief. By 1946, he was vice-president, and in 1950, he was finally named president. It was a crowning achievement.
On 17 May 1956, aged 71, Harold Hosking clocked out for the last time. The Seagulls mourned him and the community remembered him fondly. But I reckon the best story—the one that truly captures Harold’s spirit—is his lifelong battle against hats.
For 35 years, Harold refused to wear one. No cap, no fedora, no trilby. The one exception? One holiday, the blazing sun forced him to begrudgingly put on a straw decker. But to maintain his hatless reputation, he stubbornly referred to it as a “sunshade”.
And then, in 1954, Harold found himself facing a crisis. The Governor, Sir Dallas Brooks, was visiting the club. The event demanded a certain level of decorum. So Harold reluctantly donned a brand-new hat for the occasion.
After three and a half decades of resisting the tyranny of headwear, Harold finally caved. It was a scandal.
But that was Harold Hosking: willing to break his own rules for the greater good.
A Seagull supporter to the end.
HOSKING & SON 18 Effingham Road, Newport
