The remarkable Fred Wheeler

FREDERICK Wheeler was an influential member of the Murrindindi Shire community around the turn of the 20th century.

Born in 1847 in Henly-on-Thames in England, Wheeler travelled to Australia in 1864, after studying in London.

“On leaving school he went to London and entered the employment of Mr W. Smith, chemist of Walworth-road,” a 1917 article from the Alexandra and Yea Standard reads.

He moved around a significant amount. He was employed as a chemist in Bendigo in 1865, before moving to St Kilda later in the same year to join his brother.

He moved back to Bendigo in 1866, before travelling to Hobart and working there for a time.

In 1867 he left Tasmania, and travelled to Ghin Ghin, near Yea, where he settled for several years.

During the gold rush, in 1869 he moved to Gobur, followed by a short move to Alexandra in 1871, where he remained until retiring to Melbourne in 1914.

His time spent in the community was very busy, and he was a keen participant in community affairs.

“In the earlier days of Alexandra he was not only a dispense of physics, but through the knowledge he gained from the late Dr. Boyd, acted the part of the good Samaritan in alleviating and attending to the sufferings of endless old Alexandrians during the temporary absence of the then resident medical practitioners, and with great success,” the Alexandra and Yea Standard said.

While living in Ghin Ghin, he established a chemist business in Yea in 1868.

Once he moved to Alexandra, he pulled the same trick again, establishing the town’s first….

Image: Fred Wheeler standing in front of his Alexandra Chemist and Dentist business.