In 1865 a young Irishman named John Brangan Lube, master painter and the great-great grandfather of Derek Freeman, arrived in Melbourne from Dublin.

He soon established his own business in Ferrars Street, South Melbourne, providing painting and decoration services to the local Victorian gentry.

The photograph shows John Lube standing outside his shopfront with two of his five daughters, seated, circa 1873.

Family history recalls that his contracts included refurbishing Young and Jacksons’ Hotel in Flinders Street. We like to think this is true and that he was also capable of greater things.

What we can verify is that in 1895 he was a founding member of the Master Painters Association of Victoria, an institution that still survives and provides services and advice to local members and citizens.

Reclaiming the past

Although he loved and cherished his five daughters,
having no sons meant that the business died
with him. However, more than one hundred
years later Derek Freeman is pleased to
pick up the ancestral thread and reclaim
the traditional craft and values of John Lube.
And in addition we have also employed
female painters.