Book Description

This is the story of James (Jas) A Munro, a Scottish immigrant. In 1891, he arrived in Melbourne with a shilling in his pocket. Munro established a series of successful enterprises, including a bedding and a spring manufacturing business. In the early part of the twentieth century, he was smitten by the emergence of the horseless carriage and became one of the largest motor agents in the country. He established a very successful garage and coachbuilding operation. To do so he acquired and developed large premises next to the iconic Queen Victoria Market. This became known as the 'Munro site'. And then the war came. Munro changed and so did his business. He established another enterprise, this time in Sydney. He even went on to own a radio station. Munro was complex, and his curiosity took him in different directions. He had many interests and many connections. There is, however, one constant in his story. It is the Munro site, a site now integrally linked into the development of the market.The Munro archives survived, and they are extraordinary. Jas A Munro & Co: The Largest Garage in Melbourne arose out of a chance discovery of this archival treasure trove. The records, privately held, were undisturbed and unseen for nearly a century. Access to them has finally enabled this wonderful story to be told. The Munro story is one of commerce in early Melbourne, the evolution of the motor industry in Australia, and the changes forced upon it by a globally disruptive event. The book is lavishly illustrated, and the majority of photographs have never before been published. It is testament to the life and enterprise of an extraordinary businessman in Australia at the start of twentieth century.