John Ronaldson Logan, Eden Community Leader

John Ronaldson Logan – Eden Community Leader

John Logan arrived in the Twofold Bay area around 1900 and became a next-door neighbour to the well-known Davidson whaling family. In fact, the Davidsons used Logan’s motor launch, White Heather, when chasing whales.

One day, around 1923, George Davidson and John Logan were fishing from White Heather when Old Tom, a 'killer whale' (or orca – actually a dolphin, not a whale), drove a small whale to the surface of the water and George was able to harpoon it. A tug-of-war then developed between Logan
and Old Tom for the carcass of the whale. This resulted in Old Tom losing a couple of its teeth.

Logan, a former military vet realized that missing teeth could become a problem for orcas and reputedly exclaimed: ‘Oh God, what have I done?’

About seven years later Old Tom died. There was an abscess in its mouth caused by the missing teeth, and the cause of its death was starvation.

Logan then, perhaps partly out of guilt, vowed to preserve Old Tom’s skeleton and provide it with a mausoleum.

Logan paid George Davidson and his son Wallace to clean and number Old Tom’s bones and then, in January 1931, he called a meeting through the local newspaper to discuss how to preserve and house the skeleton.

Initially Old Tom’s skeleton was displayed at the Twofold Bay Development League Rooms in Imlay Street, Eden. Visitors were charged 1/- to view the display and £70 was raised. This sum became the start of a fund that eventually enabled the Eden Killer Whale Museum to open in 1939.

Regrettably, Logan died in late 1937 so never witnessed the completion of the building he initiated.

John Logan, however, was also involved with other more significant projects that had a more wide-ranging impact on the Eden district community.

In the early 1920s a Twofold Bay Development League was formed in an attempt to develop the NSW South Coast region. John Logan (who envisaged the creation of a new state that would include the Monaro and the area west to Wagga Wagga, Northern Gippsland, and the area south of Tathra, with Twofold Bay serving as its port) became its President, a post he held until his death, and offices for the League were opened in Imlay Street, Eden. A generator was later installed behind this building and it provided the first town electricity to homes, businesses and for street lighting
in Eden.

Politicians were invited to Eden to be shown the potential of the area and, in 1926, the Development League published a substantial, remarkably informative book, ‘Southern
Eastern Gate’ to promote the district. Copies were sent to influential people all
around Australia.

The League also set up branches in many surrounding towns and villages. It lobbied untiringly for the development of Twofold Bay as a major port, for the establishment of the Snowy River Hydro-Electric Scheme, for the establishment of a paper mill at Twofold Bay, and for improved road and
rail infrastructure in the area.

Another more local, but no less important, community project for John was the construction of Eden’s Log Cabin. His youngest daughter, Margaret, was a Girl Guide leader and, at that time, the Eden Girl Guides were renting space in Begaville House (next door to the current museum). So, John decided to erect a Canadian log cabin-style hall for them on land that he purchased from the Presbyterian Church in 1935. The cost was £1,500. The community contributed £500,John Logan paid the remainder.

The building was completed and opened on 29th February 1936. The construction of the Log Cabin was a local community project that employed a nucleus of skilled men, including three boat builders and a mason, assisted by numerous working bees that were organized by Logan and the families of Eden Girl Guides.

Guiding ceased in Eden during World War II because of a lack of leaders, so John Logan’s widow, Mary, sold the family home (Edrom Lodge, a 28-room Federation Arts & Crafts style manor that was designed by John Logan and built between 1910 and 1913 on land that had originally been a base for Ben Boyd’s activities at East Boyd) and she moved to the Log Cabin after purchasing it from the Girl Guides Association. She resided there until shortly before her death in 1963. (In 1979, Imlay Shire Council purchased the building to house the Eden Library. The Library ultimately relocated in 2003. The Log Cabin was heritage listed in 1990 and in 2004 was restored by Bega Valley Shire Council. There is a stone memorial to John Logan and his wife in its gardens.)

John Logan has been described as both a visionary ‘ideas man’ and a practical ‘doer’…a leader who contributed enormously to the development of Eden and its surrounding district.

Photograph: J R Logan, pictured when the Eden Log Cabin was being built