The Hunter story of Lae

“… Once they had arrived in Lae, they soon discovered how beautiful the location was and decided to make this their new home.”

By MALUM NALU based on INFORMATION AND PICTURES SUPPLIED BY THE HUNTER FAMILY

Noel Edward (Ned) Hunter, who passed away on July 31, 2020, aged 94, was one of the pioneers of Lae who built up the town after the dark days of World War II.

Hunter is famously known as the owner of the famous Busu Road (Hunter) Trade Store in Lae.

He may be gone, however, his legacy lives on in that the area around his store is known as ‘Hunter’.

The PMV bus route from Top Town to Hunter, 13A, is known as ‘China Town-Hunter’.

Whenever you get on a 13A bus in Lae, and the crew starts shouting “China Town-Hunter”, spare a thought for this pioneering family of our hometown.

Hunter, a WWII veteran and his wife Betty, secured a 99-year lease on 2.5 acres along Busu Road in 1959 on which they ran the store.

Ned Hunter and Betty June Elaine Newnham began dating 74 years ago.

He had begun his training as a cadet at 17 and joined the Australian Airforce aged 18.

Ned faced combat in the Pacific Region until WWII ended in 1945.

Betty worked by day at Myers, Melbourne, as a buyer and contributed to the war effort by volunteering at Fisherman’s Bend in an aircraft factory.

They married at Edithvale on May 18, 1945.

They moved to a small village 40kms north of Mackay, Queensland.

Ned worked as a canecutter and Betty in the post office /telephone exchange.

They went on to buy a local farm and began clearing the land.

Eventually they would buy and clear 110 acres.

During this period they began their family and four children were born in Mackay.

They sold their cane farm in late 1954. After visiting family in Victoria, they boarded the boat ‘Mununda’ from Melbourne and sailed to Thursday Island in March 1955.

Ned worked as a labourer for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which had introduced the cultivation of artificial pearls to the area.

Betty worked for Thorpe’s Fuel Depot as a secretary and book keeper.

Around mid-1956, the family moved to Mossman to work as a cane cutter for a Mr Cowe.

In September of that year, a fifth child was born.

Due to Betty experiencing asthma, the family left Cairns in mid-October and flew to Port Moresby to find a warmer climate.

From there, they sailed on the ship ‘Bulolo’ to Lae with the intention to continue through to Rabaul.

However, once they had arrived in Lae, they soon discovered how beautiful the location was and decided to make this their new home.

After a little time staying at the Hotel Cecil, Ned and Betty and the children now aged nine, seven, five, four and six weeks, moved to ‘House Wireless’ off Busu Road, adjacent to Mr Harry and Mary Nelson’s property.

Previously, the area had been an American Armed Forces compound.

They lived in that residence that had only ‘tar paper’ for walls from 1956 – 1957.

Their next move, in 1958, was to rent a two-storey house from Mr Ken Worrel who was a chemist in Lae.

During this period, Ned worked for Mr Roy Oslington, who ran a stevedoring company on the Lae wharf.

His work included supervising the sorting of cargo off the ships ready for local businesses to collect.

Ned and Betty secured a 99-year lease on 2.5 acres along Busu Road.

On the property stood a very large, dilapidated shed, that had previously been a workshop for the American Forces.

While Ned began to make the shed habitable to move his family into, Betty had started her venture into developing a trading store.

In a 3m x3m structure, she began by importing three bags of rice, and scaling it into smaller bags for sale.

By 1959 the family, with the addition of a sixth child, moved into their own residence.

In 1960 a seventh child completed the family.

Ned constructed a store front onto the home dwelling and that was to be the beginning of Busu Road Trade Store.

As the business developed and grew, Ned’s time was taken up with projects at the home and around the store.

Betty opened the Busu Road Post Office and became an agent for a savings bank.

She also gained her import agent licence around 1964.

Once the children became of high school age, they attended boarding school in Queensland.

By 1973, the Busu Road complex consisted of a trading store with a two-storey home and small flat behind, three flats, a service station, café and flat above.

The main contributing factor to the Hunter’s choice to leave Busu Road after 17 years was a terrible robbery at Busu Road Trade Store in 1970, where Betty’s health was impacted.

She always spoke fondly of the compassion shown to both her and Ned by the local community after the incident.

Betty June Elaine Newnham, born June 21, 1925, sadly passed away on April 14, 1991, just 11 months after her fourth child had also succumbed to cancer.

Noel Edward (Ned) Hunter, born September 15, 1925, passed away on July 31, 2020.

May he be at peace. Betty and Ned Hunter had seven children, 16 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren and six great great grandchildren.