COLE, Charles Stevens Reeves (1859-1935)
Charles Stevens Reeves Cole, wine merchant, attended Geelong College in 1874. He was one of three brothers born to parents Edward Hunter Cole and Hannah nee Reeves who attended the College. Charles was born on 11 November 1859 and was enrolled at Geelong College on 14 April 1874.
Pegasus published an obituary for him in 1935:
At the age of fourteen he became a junior clerk in the office of the Meat Preserving Works at St. Albans, but did not remain there long. He became associated with the wine and spirits merchants business conducted by his father, and was granted a licence when only twenty years of age. Under his direction, and with the associa¬tion of his brothers, he made the name of Charles Cole & Company Pty Ltd, of which he was Managing Director, well known throughout Australia, and even further afield.
As a wine connoisseur he had a wide reputation, and his qualifications in this direction were recognised practically by the Royal Show authorities, who retained his services as judge each year for more than a quarter of a century, until he voluntarily retired in order to become a competitor. It was chiefly due to his ability that the wines of Charles Cole and Company Proprietary Limited's cellars figured so often in the championship awards at all the leading shows in the Commonwealth. In his earlier days he was closely connected with All Saints' parish, and for a time he occupied the position of superintendent of St. Peter's Sunday School' .
Sources: Pegasus September 1935 p 79.