The Irvin family name is well known in Cobram and throughout the district.
The Uniting Church has Irvin Hall, there is Irvin Rd and NCN Health has Irvin House which provides care for some of our older family members and friends.
This year the Cobram campus of NCN Health will be celebrating 75 years of service to the community. The Irvin family have been pivotal in its growth and development.
Who are the Irvins?
The Irvin family established itself in the district, arriving from the Trentham-Kyneton area, in 1878.
Family members were some of the first selectors in the Yarroweyah parish, taking up 260 acres. As the family acquired more land, Irvin Rd was eventually named for it.
With the establishment of the Soldier Settler Scheme after World War II, the family lost some of its land for the new settlement blocks at Yarroweyah.
John James Irvin and his wife Fanny (Webster) had nine children who came across to the area with them.
The family members were: Thomas, Mary Jane, John, William, Eleanor, Elizabeth, James, Sarah and Robert. Tragically, Fanny died when the youngest child, Robert, was just a year old.
Only one member of the family, Robert, married, but that was later in life and he had no children. After the death of Sarah in 1966, the family was no more.
During their time, family members were generous donors to the Cobram Hospital. In the 1960s a new nurses home was built at the hospital. The Irvin family contributed half of the costs.
This is an excerpt from the Cobram Courier in the 1960s
This family has given most generously to the hospital since its inception, but on this occasion they donated more than half the cost of the nursing home.
The £2750 contributed by the family is made up as follows: William Irvin, £1000; Miss Sarah Irvin £750; Miss Mary Jane Irvin, £500 and Mr Tom Irvin, £500.
The balance of the cost was made up by the Charities Commission £2100.
Perusing old newspaper reports, one item mentioned that three of the Irvins were in the Cobram Hospital together.
A very interesting account of a family member was published in the Courier in 1933.
Mr W Irvin, while working his tractor on the farm, found the engine very hot. He unscrewed the cap of the radiator, and scalding water flew into his face, his eye being severely scalded. He was ordered to consult an eye specialist in Melbourne.
Miss Sarah Irvin, the last surviving family member, donated money to the Presbyterian Church for a new manse and for a new Church Hall.
The Presbyterian Church is now the Uniting Church. Irvin Hall is named after her.
Upon her death Sarah bequeathed £45,000 to the hospital. These funds were used to establish the Irvin Family Memorial Wing.
To demonstrate the transformational nature and sheer magnitude of the gift, the average wage at the time was $60 per week.
Members of the family are interred at Numurkah.
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