Tailor’s Button

W. Denton & Co. Sandhurst

See also Denton Bros. entry in the Tailoring pages.

The town of Bendigo was briefly named Castleton in 1852 before being changed to Sandhurst in 1853.

Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic), 28th January 1853 page 2.

It was changed back to Bendigo in 1891 by public plebisite. Bendigo was named after the Bendigo Creek, which some claim was named after a shepherd or boxer. However, in 1890 this explanation was forwarded …

The Bendigo Advertiser, 26th August 1890 page 2.

This was backed up by an quote from a pamphlet printed in 1860 …

Gawler Times (SA), 12th November 1869 page 4.

Also; I find no mention of a Ben Digo in the papers, although there was a Benjamin Bendigo, boxer, in Britain in the 1840s.

Messrs W. Denton & Co, of the Eclipse Tailoring Establishment,  corner of Mitchell and Hargraves Streets, announced they had a a splendid lot of “Scotch checks” and other goods at prices that defied competition! The firm was still in operation when the town’s name was changed, but were by then known as Denton Bros merchants and military tailors at Royal House, 253 Bourke Street, as well as the original store.

From the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. The Bourke Street store. c.1890. Denton Bros is at the right of the photo.