Stanley Thomas “Butch” Hiscock
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame in 2022.
Stanley Thomas Hiscock (known as ‘Butch’) was born in Beaudesert, Queensland in November 1929. At age 16, just after World War 2, Stan started in the transport industry, delivering meat by horse and cart for the family butchery in Woodhill, Queensland.
In 1949 with the support of his father, Len, Stan bought a 1934 Ford Truck and started carting farm produce and livestock locally. Stan also became the local Atlantic fuel distributor but changed to Esso fuel distribution in 1962. Marrying Joan Watt in 1954, the couple established S.T & J. A. Hiscock Transport.
In the early days, Stan did a lot of livestock cartage. A typical week began with carting stock into the Monday morning Beaudesert pig and calf sale followed by a run to the Canungra, Nerang and Beenleigh calf sales picking up stock for Tancred Brothers’ Meatworks in Beaudesert. On Tuesday, Stan would cart stock to the Cannon Hill Sale Yards in Brisbane for the pig and calf sale. Wednesday would see Stan carting cattle to and from the Beaudesert cattle sale while Thursday’s job was to take cattle into the Cannon Hill cattle sale and return with sheep and lambs for local butchers. Stan was a hard worker and it was well known that he would never let anyone down.
Stan also carted bagged bran and pollard to the local dairies, a booming industry at the time. He delivered thousands of tons of fertiliser into the Beaudesert district. Some of it was bagged and had to be unloaded by hand at stores or farms but the purchase of an 8-ton bin enabled Stan to deliver in bulk to farms. Stan had steady work carrying timber from Enright’s Beaudesert sawmill to Brisbane and returning with general freight as well.
Stan’s trucks progressed over time from petrol Commers to diesel Ford Thames Traders or ‘Sputniks’. In one of the Traders, he fitted an out-of-the-box 6-354 Perkins which became the engine of choice in both the diesel Commers and single-axle Dodge prime movers that he later bought.
In 1965, Stan commenced a school bus run to state schools in the district and Beaudesert High School. His father Len had provided this service for many years and Stan followed suit. The school run began with an old Austin and then moved onto Bedford’s, including an ex-Army Bedford SB bus. This vehicle was bought at a Government Auction as a non-runner because, apparently, a wire ‘fell’ off the coil just prior to the sale!
Stan had a great sense of humour and was a real character. He once stopped to change a blown tyre on Gorge Road despite the army firing artillery nearby; the road wound through the Australian Army's jungle warfare training centre, Canungra.
Stan was well respected and highly regarded in his local community. He was also president of the Beaudesert Golf Club for some time.
Stan was still driving his school bus up until his passing in August 1996.