A narrow laneway separated the Commercial Hotel from the building next to it. Built of brick, this building had sandstone around the windows. Isaac “John” Huxtable (1863-‐‑1932) worked there in the early 1920s. Born at Hobart in 1863, John married Mary Genevieve Henry in 1885. The family lived at Port Cygnet by 1903 when their youngest daughter, Claire, was born there. Another daughter, Brightie, had been born at Richmond in 1893. John worked as a storeman during the war years. Advertisements in the press promoting clothes from the Old Bank Stores give an idea of what was for sale at the time. On 7 February 1923, I.J. Huxtable placed an advert in the Huon Times for the following sale items: calico, lady’s black cotton hose, black cotton socks, fashion shirts, tennis shirts, watertight boots and suits for men. John’s wife died unexpectedly during the period he worked at the Old Bank Stores. An obituary was published in the Huon Times on 23 October 1923: “The death occurred early on Sunday morning with tragic suddenness of a well-‐‑ known and deeply respected resident in the person of Mrs. Huxtable wife of Mr. I.J. Huxtable. Although she had not been in robust health for some time she retired to rest on Saturday evening and was apparently all right and it was discovered early on Sunday morning that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep. The deceased had resided at Cygnet for many years and during the whole of that period had always been one of the most energetic workers in all social efforts for religious, patriotic or charitable purposes.” Brightie Huxtable married John B. Stanton at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Hobart in 1915 and Claire Huxtable married Charles Wills at Cygnet in 1926. John Huxtable conducted the singing at St. James church as this excerpt from The Catholic Standard testifies: “The choir, under the conductorship of Mr. Huxtable, deserve a special meed of praise for their untiring and devoted services” (12 July 1924). I.J. Huxtable died at Hobart on 26 April 1932 and was buried at Cornelian Bay cemetery. From 1930 until 1942, a dentist from Franklin, James Edward Mitty (1882-‐‑1948), made regular visits to the “Old Bank Chambers” as the building was called at the time. He visited every Thursday from 10.30 until 4.30. Born at Port Melbourne in 1882, J.E. Mitty enlisted in the Dental Corps as a Staff Sergeant in March 1916. He practised dentistry in England throughout the war and spent four months working in France at the beginning of 1919. Having first registered as a dental surgeon in Tasmania in 1920, Mitty held consultations in a building on the corner of Mary St. and Fitzpatrick St., later called Golden Valley Road, three years later. From 1924 until 1928, he worked on Thursdays on the top floor of James Sangwell’s Crystal Parlours in Cygnet, the building that was later baptised The Port Hole. Based in Franklin, “Hunchback Mitty,” as he was sometimes known due to his stooped shoulders, frequently travelled to other parts of the Huon to do dental work. He also practised at Huonville, Dover and Geeveston. J.E. Mitty died at Hobart on 7 March 1948. James Mitty faced competition in 1935 when the bush nurse, Sister Jean Morice, organised a school dentist to spend a few weeks in the town. Still, Mitty may have had as much work after the visit. According to a report published in the H&DT on 8 August: “It is the first time that we have had such a visit and it is to be regretted that many parents have refused their consent to having their children’s teeth attended to. Surely these parents are not alive to the evils that follow defective teeth.” An evil not evoked in the press was the dental work practised in the 1930s and 1940s. Former Cygnet patients still recall the smells of drilling and extractions that they experienced seventy years ago. In the 1940s, James “Frederick” Mitty (1907-‐‑1964), the son of J.E. Mitty, occasionally did dental work at the back of the building. In April 1942, he enlisted in the Australian Army and worked as an army dentist in Tasmania until November 1944. Fred Mitty charged 2/-‐‑ 6d for an extraction. In September 1949, Fred faced charges at the Huonville Police Court for illegally practising dentistry. He pleaded not guilty. Given that the complaints were undated, the charge was
dismissed. However, two months later, the same court fined him £8 for the same affair. Despite enlisting in the army as a dentist and carrying out dentistry in Cygnet, Fred Mitty was not a certified dentist. In August 1951, the Huonville Police Court fined him £10 for extracting teeth without being certified. The Cygnet dentist died at Franklin on 2 April 1964. While part of the building was used for dental work one day a week in the 1930s and 1940s, a front part of the building became a hosiery shop looked after by Nancy Direen (1895-‐‑1965). After the Second World War, returned serviceman Max McDonald ran a grocery store in the building for a few years. Born at Launceston in 1911, Maxwell Dale McDonald, who was living at West Hobart, enlisted in the Australian Army on 27 November 1940. He became a prisoner of war after the fall of Singapore and news of his release from Changi Prison reached Australia in September 1945 by which time his wife, Gladys, was living in Cradoc Rd. By 1949, the McDonalds had moved to Moonah. In the 1950s, a fish and chip shop was set up in the building and the C.W.A. had their meetings there.
