John Fyffe


John was born in 1876, to James and Catherine Fyffe, at Inverleigh, Victoria, the eldest of seven children.

In 1903, he married Annie Maud Harvey of Eaglehawk.

John was a grocer by trade and had a store in Narracan, and then Northcote, before eventually settling in Mornington.

It was about 1920, John and his younger brother, David, set up shop in Main Street as the Fyffe Brothers’ General Store.

John, Annie and the family were living in 32 Tanti Avenue, Mornington, when Annie died, at the young age of 42 years.

After moving to Emerald with his son John, he worked as a grocer, and his son as a schoolteacher, before he returned to Mornington. He was a member of the Bowling Club and the A.N.A.


Peninsula Post

John’s sons, James, twins Ken and Vic, and his brother David, were well known to the public of Mornington and were to spend a lifetime in the retail trade.

John died in 1935 and is buried with his wife Annie in the Mornington cemetery.

The grocery store owned by the Fyffes was eventually sold to Bill Pratt in 1946, who went on to sell this and two other grocery stores that he owned, to Safeway, in 1963. Mr Pratt was a pioneer of self-service and supermarkets in the 1950s.

Grave Site and Headstone