Feature Profiles
8 January, 2026
SUMMER READING: Country people make best staff
From paperboys to pulling beers, Darryl Gould has made his call
FROM farm work at Woosang to selling newspapers and insurance and owning hotels, Darryl Gould has called time on a 50-year life in business.
Darryl and wife Jan have been a unique partnership in business and and the Wedderburn district community before later buying hotels in Bendigo.
Staff from those business ventures toasted the couple at a reunion retirement dinner last Saturday.
“Dad’s work life started young, out on the farm in Woosang and as a shearer, but as many of you know, drought sent him off to Melbourne, where he began driving trucks for Yellow Express,” daughter Cindy said.
“That move set him on a completely different path—one that eventually led him to become an insurance agent for AMP in 1971.
“From there, he and mum took a bold step into business, running the Wedderburn Newsagency in 1977, where he employed Janine Andrews and many paper boys in their first jobs.
“Of course, Janine wasn’t just working in the shop; she also did plenty of childcare, especially with Kane, who was only 18 months old at the time.
“And for a while, Old Grandpa even lived in the flat behind the shop in his 80s. Uncle Ken would come and work the shop when we had holidays which were mainly to Boort Lake.
“The shop was a bit small so he built another one so he could extend the range of stock the shop itself was something to behold—TAB, toys, clothes — it had everything!”
After eight years selling local and state newspapers, magazines toys, Darryl and Jan had a change - Darryl driving the Korong Vale school bus, still selling insurance and the couple starting a hire-drive bus business out of Lance and Wendy Ward’s produce store.
“Dad was always busy—not just with work, but also with the football club and Apex, even the trotting club often taking after-hours insurance calls, especially when the weather threatened the crops,” Cindy recalled at the weekend’s reunion dinner.
Doug and Jan bought the Queen’s Arms Hotel in Bendigo, running it for six years before switching to the The Old Boundary.
“Even on his days off from the Queen’s, Dad wasn’t one to sit still. Mondays were spent in Wychetella where mates had sheep,” according to Cindy.
“This journey hasn’t just been about Dad; it was about all of you,” guests were told.
“Along the way, he employed so many people and I hadn’t thought about how many when I started organising this, and you have all become part of our extended family.
“His hiring philosophy was simple: hire country people because they would be friendly and conscientious.
“Dad’s attention to detail isn’t for the faint-hearted, so if you’re here tonight, you obviously made the cut.
“Mum and Dad have worked together for most of their 53-year marriage—and honestly, I don’t know how they did it.”