John was born in Torquay, England and met future wife, Maureen there. A Uni friend suggested a move to Aussie and one cold wet day in the middle of a miserable English summer, they made up their minds to come.
John joined Streets Ice Cream in Sydney as Product Manager and then moved to Cadbury-Schweppes in Melbourne as Group Marketing Manager where he was responsible for marketing products such as “Cadbury Dairy Milk” – and became very popular with his children’s friends!
In 1986 John was appointed General Manager of Tattersall’s, Australia’s principal Lottery and Gaming Company. He was responsible for all aspects of Tattersall’s commercial operations and launched new lotteries like “Powerball”.
Soon after arriving in Melbourne, John and Maureen drove along the Great Ocean Road to Lorne and instantly fell in love with the coastal village. They saved up and, in 1995, Don Stewart found them a tiny log cabin to buy in Topp Street. They later “sold” the cabin itself to St. John Sutton for $1 – which John says St. John still owes him! That enabled them to build a house on the cleared land big enough for them and their children, Nicole and Jason, and grandchildren.
John retired from Tattersall’s in 2003, and formed his own consulting and property management company. He was also invited to join various Boards and, in 2009, became a director of the Lorne Community Hospital. His 7 years service there had a bearing on lifting the hospital’s financial performance and placing it in the financially sound position it is today.
John is an enthusiastic member of the Lorne Men’s Shed, and is helping with the “Cockie Bin Project”. He’s also a keen fisherman and has fished around the world in places like, Tonga, NZ, Canada and Darwin and the Northern Territory Coast – and Lorne of course!
Maureen may outdo him though. In a couple of weeks, she is taking her grand daughter to Northern Finland to experience ice fishing. Here’s hoping they cut a large enough hole to land a big one!
