George Coles

Coles was born as the first of ten children in Jung Jung, Victoria (now Jung, between Horsham and Murtoa) to shopkeeper George W. Coles and Elizabeth Mary Coles (née Scouler). His mother died following the birth of her eleventh child in 1900. Coles's father re-married, to Ann Cameron "Annie" Topp of Buninyong, on 20 August 1902.

George Coles was educated at Beechworth College.

George worked in Melbourne and the country for a few years. In 1910, he purchased his father's shop in the Victorian town of St James, measuring 6.1 by 5.5 metres (20 ft × 18 ft), for A£4,500. He then moved to Wilmot, Tasmania (c.30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Ulverstone), where he opened yet another shop. George took trips to the United States and the United Kingdom to learn about the American and British methods of retailing.

In 1914, with brothers, Jim and Arthur, and capital of £2,000, George opened his first shop in Smith Street, Collingwood with the slogan "Nothing over a shilling", which in the early 1930s became "Nothing over 2/6d".

His brother, Arthur, enlisted with the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) shortly after Australia joined World War I. Arthur was twice wounded and was repatriated in 1916. George enlisted with the 60th Battalion of the AIF in March 1917 and fought in France as a lance corporal, demobilised in November 1918. Brothers, Jim and David, were killed during the conflict. Their uncle Jim helped manage the store during their absences.

After the war, George and his brothers, Edgar, Kenneth and Norman, set about developing the Coles Group. In 1924 they opened the store at Deva House, Bourke Street, Melbourne. In 1927 they had nine stores, all in Victoria. In that year they first offered shares to the public. In 1938 G. J. Coles & Co. Ltd. had 86 stores across Australia and 168 in 1953. In 1976 the company had 576 stores and a staff of over 36,000.

George Coles was managing director of G. J. Coles & Co from 1923 to 1931, when, after some illness he handed the leadership role to Arthur, but remained as chairman of the board, despite very public opposition to his autocratic style, until 1956. He maintained membership on the board until 1976, when he retired.

With his role in the company reduced, George Coles devoted time and energy to philanthropic and political causes. He served as a director of The Alfred Hospital and, from 1933, as its honorary treasurer. He was an active member of St John's Anglican Church in Toorak. He was an active member of Rotary and president of its Melbourne club in 1934. He helped found the Institute of Public Affairs, and was its president in 1965.

With fellow businessmen, R. M. Williams and Samuel Hordern, Coles helped found the Equestrian Federation of Australia in 1951 to support Australia's 1956 Olympic Games equestrian team. Because of quarantine restrictions, these events were held in Stockholm, Sweden rather than the Olympic host city, Melbourne.

He served on the board of the Victorian Hospitals and Charities Commission from 1935 and was a director of the National Bank of Australia. He was an active member of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club and the Peninsula Golf Club, including a four-year term as president, the Athenaeum Club, the Victoria Racing Club and the Melbourne Cricket Club.

A Christian, Coles paid for Billy Graham's crusade to be publicly broadcast across Australian television; he enabled the Brotherhood of St Laurence to set up a retirement village at Seaford by purchasing the land; he financially supported Christian education in public and government schools; he helped fund a hall at his local church; and he assisted many charities and societies, such as the Boy Scouts and the Corps of Commissionaires, a support and welfare organisation for war veterans who have the responsibility for the Shrine of Remembrance.