© Heather Wade, 2026.
These premises at 27 Ommaney Road (South Western Highway), Brunswick Junction were occupied by the last gents’ hairdresser, John Hogan, who closed his doors in 1972.
Following is a potted history of gents’ hairdressers, not necessarily carried on in the same premises.
Former Gents’ Hairdressing Saloon on the left-hand side, 27 Ommaney Road, Brunswick, photo taken 2025.
Norman Wilfred Bignell
Norm Bignell was in business in Brunswick as a Men’s Hairdresser by at least December 1931 when he is named as a local agent for Charities Tickets.[1]
He was burgled in 1931 when tobacco and shaving equipment to the value of £5 was stolen from his premises. Access was gained through forcing the catch of a side window.[2]
He was burgled again a year later. Bignell must have improved his security as this time ‘entrance to the premises had been gained by cutting a piece out of the back door with an augur, and releasing the Yale lock. A quantity of tobacco and fancy goods to the value of £15 was stolen.’[3]
Also in November 1932 it was reported that Bignell was having a billiard saloon erected.[4]
William Robert Jackson
In 1936 Norm Bignell sold to WR Jackson who conducted a business called the ‘Cosy Corner Tea Rooms’. It stood on the corner of South Western Highway (Ommaney Road) and Beela Road, the same site on which Daisy the Cow stands today. [See ‘Thornton, Swinhoe, Dorries and Daisy’ on this website, https://www.harveyhistoryonline.com/?p=6501]. It appears that Mr Jackson wasn’t a hairdresser but was expanding his business interests in Brunswick as he advertised that he ‘has engaged the services of a competent and up to date hairdresser,’ and that prompt attention and satisfaction were guaranteed.[5]
Septimus Ronald Hunter
Only two months later, Mr Hunter wished ‘to notify his numerous clients that he has taken over the Hairdressing and Billiard Saloons formerly conducted by Mr W. R. Jackson’ and he ensured that all past and future patrons would receive prompt attention and civility.[6]
Advertisement for SR Hunter’s business in 1938.[7]
In 1940 and 1941 Hunter advertised that there was ‘No Waiting, Two Chairs, Two Billiards Tables, GOOD SERVICE’.[8] He sold all toilet requirements, STC radios, cigarettes and fancy goods.[9] Commencing in July 1937 and reaching its peak in 1940, SR Hunter conducted a number of billiard tournaments at his saloon.
Douglas Leslie Sheahan
The first of only three advertisements occurred in April and two followed in May 1940 when Doug Sheahan announced that he had opened a gent’s hairdressing saloon in Brunswick next to the National Bank.[10] He seems to have had a short tenue and enlisted in 1942 when his residence was listed as Osborne Park.[11]
By now it was war time and young men were enlisting. The hairdressing trade, like every other was thinning in numbers, as it was in Brunswick. In November 1941 Mr Hunter advertised his business and living quarters for sale:
HAIRDRESSING, TOBACCONIST AND Billiard Room, two tables, all accessories, two barber’s chairs, mirrors. etc. Good lease. Present lessee accepted for services overseas. Living quarters, 3 rooms. Situated in best district of South-West country town. No opposition within 13 miles. Must be sold. First reasonable offer accepted. Apply S. R. Hunter, Brunswick. [12]
He left Brunswick in February 1942 to commence duty with the Royal Australian Navy in the Eastern States.[13]
Ronald Eric Phillips
In November 1940 in a Special Feature Section titled ‘Personality Review of Harvey, Waroona, Yarloop & Brunswick Junction’, Mr Phillips was featured. For several years prior, he had overseen the Brunswick Railway Refreshment Rooms and had only been in business as a hairdresser for a few months. It appears he did not conduct billiard tournaments as Hunter had previously, but diversified into a lot of agency work:
Apart from the hairdressing saloon Mr. Phillips has a complete library, from whence books may be borrowed at very small fees. Included in the many agencies which he holds are International Harvesters, who, as practically everyone is aware, manufacture the best farming machinery and motor trucks in the world; Swansea Cycles, makers of those sturdy bikes; and Nicholson’s, noted for Betty Washers, Radiolas, the sets that lead Australia in radio, and their many subsidiary lines. Ron Phillips specialises in Radiolas, and these may be procured, either cabinet or mantle models, in all styles, cheaply and on the very easiest of terms. He is also representative in Brunswick for the “Harvey-Murray Times.[14]
By March 1941 he was a Public Auctioneer and Commission Agent:
- E. PHILLIPS BRUNSWICK JUNCTION PUBLIC AUCTIONEER AND COMMISSION AGENT (Licensed for Forest Area) SALES CONDUCTED AT THE SHORTEST NOTICE. Local Mart Always Open for inspection. Phone: 2271 Brunswick Junction.[15]
He left Brunswick for the war effort and in May 1941 entered Northam AIF Camp.[16]
Frederick Thomas Williams
Fred Williams left Brunswick in February 1941 to begin duties at Pearce,[17] but returned to Brunswick after the war in 1946 when it was reported that:
Mr. Fred Williams who was recently discharged from the RAAF, has returned to Brunswick and has set up business as a hairdresser. Fred who was well known in Brunswick prior to his enlistment five years ago, offers Brunswick and district residents a most hygienic and efficient service and hopes to fulfil a much needed amenity.[18]
Perhaps ‘a much needed amenity’ means that there hadn’t been a gents’ hairdresser since 1942 when, by then, three Brunswick hairdressers had joined the services.
Fred followed up the following week with:
FRED WILLIAMS (Late R.A.A.F.) Ladies’ and Gent’s Hairdresser BRUNSWICK (Nearly Opposite Post Office) Hygienic and Efficient Service.[19]
By 1953 Fred Williams was a hairdresser in Donnybrook.[20]
John Thomas Hogan
Six months later another ex-serviceman, John Hogan, advertised that he was in business as a hairdresser. He and Ted Warburton had served during the war and it was Ted who encouraged Hogan to make Brunswick his home.[21]
- HOGAN HAIRDRESSER and TOBACCONIST BRUNSWICK HAVING RECENTLY TAKEN OVER THE SALOON PREVIOUSLY CARRIED ON BY MR. F. WILLIAMS PATRONS CAN BE ASSURED THAT MY AIM WILL BE FIRST CLASS SERVICE AND AN ENDEAVOUR TO PLEASE ALL.[22]
John Hogan outside his barber’s shop. Photo courtesy of Trevor Hogan.
As a sign of the times, Hogan was an agent for refrigerators.
Also, as a sign of the times, Hogan ran the business from 1946 and was the last men’s hairdresser in Brunswick when he closed in 1972 after which time he worked at Peters Creameries. Hogan had rented the building from a lady in Collie. The billiards table was sold to the Commercial Club in Bunbury. Only Ladies Hairdressers remained in Brunswick.[23]
1962/1963 showing Hogan’s Hairdressing premises to the left of the Bank of New South Wales. Photo: © Harvey History Online Collection.
John Hogan in his shed ready for a customer. Photo courtesy of Trevor Hogan.
………………………………………………………………..………………………
[1] 1931 ‘Before the Holidays.’, South Western Advertiser (Perth, WA : 1910 – 1954), 18 December, p. 1. , viewed 23 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148926572
[2] 1931 ‘COUNTRY NEWS.’, The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), 4 November, p. 16. , viewed 23 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32362614
[3] 1932 ‘BURGLARIES.’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 25 November, p. 2. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266728049
[4] 1932 ‘COUNTRY NEWS.’, The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), 18 November, p. 9. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32578670
[5] 1936 ‘NEWS AND NOTES’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 3 July, p. 2. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251301394
[6] 1937 ‘Advertising’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 14 May, p. 2. , viewed 13 Sep 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251313601
[7] 1938 ‘Advertising’, Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 – 1954), 10 November, p. 31. , viewed 24 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37856297
[8] 1940 ‘Advertising’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 11 July, p. 1. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266687271
[9] 1940 ‘Advertising’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 16 May, p. 6. , viewed 05 Jan 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266689401
[10] 1940 ‘Advertising’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 25 April, p. 1. , viewed 05 Jan 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266689401
[11] Douglas Leslie Sheahan, Australia, World War 2 Military Service Record, 1939-1945, Ancestry.com.
[12] 1941 ‘Advertising’, The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), 10 November, p. 10. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47168577
[13] 1942 ‘BRUNSWICK AND BENGER NOTES.’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 12 February, p. 4. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266685999
[14] 1940 ‘R. E. Phillips’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 7 November, p. 4. , viewed 13 Sep 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251296556
[15] 1941 ‘Advertising’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 27 March, p. 2. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251301157
[16]1941 ‘BRUNSWICK AND BENGER NOTES’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 22 May, p. 1. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266686422
[17] 1941 ‘BRUNSWICK AND BENGER NOTES.’, The Harvey-Waroona Mail (Collie, WA : 1931 – 1956), 6 February, p. 1. , viewed 05 Jan 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266691711
[18] 1946 ‘BRUNSWICK NOTES’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 21 February, p. 8. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251095155
[19] 1946 ‘Advertising’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 28 February, p. 2. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251095269
[20] 1953 ‘Advertising’, The Preston Mail and District Advocate (Collie, WA : 1932 – 1953), 8 January, p. 2. , viewed 19 Feb 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article266544354
[21] Conversation with Trevor Hogan, John’s son, January 2026.
[22] 1946 ‘Advertising’, Harvey Murray Times (WA : 1931 – 1955), 30 August, p. 5. , viewed 28 Dec 2025, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251096895
[23] Communications with Trevor Hogan, 2025.