Shenton St. Bakery

The first record of a baker in Mingenew was Mr Jock White in 1919. In 1926 Mr A.J. Harris rebuilt the bakery and leased it to William Muncie whose advertisement stated that “it was the most hygienic and up to date bakery in the state.” The shop was situated on the street front with the living quarters and the bakery at the rear.
In 1935 Ray and Kathleen Thorne purchased the bakery and it became known for its good quality bread and buns. Products were sold to other towns including Strawberry, Irwin, Dongara and Walkaway and delivered by train on Tuesdays and Fridays. The bread was wrapped in thick brown paper and tied with string then placed in a tea box. On occasion, customers would ring asking where their bread was, and it had invariably been carried to the wrong station, or the guard had forgotten to put it out at the station. Selwood’s mail truck also delivered orders to customers on their Morawa and Mullewa mail run.
During the Second World War, many thousands of soldiers camped around Mingenew and the army cooks came to Thorne’s bakehouse to cook poultry and cake for the Generals in Charge. After many years of making bread by hand, Ray bought an electric dough mixer, making life as a baker a good deal easier.
The business was sold to Mr Harold Chapman circa 1955 and then to Mr Vince Farley.