"The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow"

As is often the case in the course of researching a post for my blog, I sometimes come across a snippet of information which provides a clue as to what my next post might be. This was the case with the current topic.
As I scoured the contents of the 19th century newspapers on Trove, looking for details of River(s)dale and Captain Foster Fyans (hopefully more of which later...), I came across an article from The Argus of 8th December, 1866 which described some of the industry springing up along the banks of the Barwon at "Marnoch Vale" (aka Marnockvale) and downstream towards the township of Geelong.
Not surprisingly there were tanneries, flour mills, a woollen mill and even a ropeworks. The Riversdale Windmill was described as being to the left of the bridge leading to the Barrabools (Princes Bridge) with Captain Fyan's house to the right, but another thriving business was also listed which until now I hadn't seen mentioned - a Chinese market-garden.
A little searching around and I discovered that the Malay Immigration Society of Geelong were responsible for the arrival of a ship in 1848 carrying Chinese immigrant labourers to work for squatters in the district. Others arrived with the gold rush, before drifting into market-gardening when when it proved a more reliable source of income.
The Chinese were renowned as hard workers, establishing themselves on the outskirts of town and along the Barwon between Marnockvale and Breakwater. One garden was located below the Roadknight property on the river flats and in 1902 a snippet in The Argus mentions an assault on a Chinese man at a market garden in South Geelong. Much later, The Argus of 11th March, 1935 indicated that the home of a Chinese market-gardener at Breakwater was burnt to the ground as it was located outside the jurisdiction of the Geelong Fire Brigade.
Closer to town, one of the earliest market gardens was established on the river flats at Marnockvale between the West Melbourne Road (Marnock Road) and Rocky Point. The publication "The Earlier Days of Newtown and Chilwell" compiled by Charles S. Walker in 1958 describes some of the gardens in the area. The Chinese at Marnockvale would sell their vegetables either from their door or by pushing their wares in handcarts to the populated areas of Newtown and Chilwell and in town each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The intervening days were spent cultivating, harvesting and preparing their vegetables for sale.

Handcart similar to those used by Chinese market-gardeners in 19th century
Geelong. Photo taken from the English-based Scale Model Horse Drawn
Vehicle Forum

The Argus of 8th December, 1866 describes the garden at Marnockvale thus:

The Chinese novelty...is chiefly remarkable for lack of beauty. Than its rickety make-shift surroundings, it would, perhaps, be difficult to find anything more distasteful to the eye or unattractive to the imagination; yet the Chinese garden is a feature in the district of much practical significance, and it stands as a reproach to the much-vaunted intelligence of the Anglo-Saxon, who, unable to detect a flaw in his own national character, can see only the beam in the eye of the children of Confucius.
Ah-Sam, who represents himself to be the head-man, has six acres under garden cultivation, for which he pays 14 a year. The land, formed of two slopes, north and sough, runs parallel with the river, and in the centre, on top of the rise, and at about fifty feet from the Barwon, there is a Californian pump, worked by three men by treddle motion. In a comparatively short time, sufficient water can be pumped up to flood the whole six acres; but, with an eye to economising labour in seasons when so much moisture is unnecessary, Ah Sam has constructed slabbed pits at every few yards along the various paths, and the water, as it flows from the shoot, passes along the different channels, and fills these pits before it can overflow the ground generally. At the present season all the ground is watered by hand - two stalwart Chinese filling large watering-pots at the pits, and with one in each hand sprinkling two vegetable beds simultaneously. All the young plants are mulched with long grass, and in some places a temporary paling roof is erected over the beds, to protect the more tender plants from the scorching rays of the sun during their early growth. "Next month," observed Ah Sam, "no rain; then (pointing to the river) give plenty water all over. Now plenty cabbage make no much money. Next two months make 14, 15 perhaps 20 a week." The ground appears to be manured chiefly with horse-dung. The land is anything but of good quality but the garden, which contains all kinds of kitchen vegetables, is beautifully kept, and the produce generally looks well. Besides Ah Sam, who appears to do the work of two men, and plies his feet vigorously at the pump, there are three Chinese labourers generally at work.

A second article from the Geelong Advertiser of the same year likewise describes the system of pits and channels used for watering and drainage, remarking in typically patronising fashion that "The affair is simple and efficacious; there is no pretence to engineering about the matter. No particular notice is taken of delicate gradients, and possibly no theory of gravitation ever disturbed the ideas of the projectors."
 As to the tools used by the Chinese in their work it was remarked that one  [man] was "...recreating with a sort of Armageddon-looking rake, with teeth of satanic length..."

A Chinese harrow (image from the Museum of the Riverina) which may have been similar to the tool described

The journalist also seems surprised by the Chinese knowledge of manuring to improve the soil and goes on to suggest that the European settlers would do well to follow their example stating that "It is not complementary to see Chinamen setting us an example, but as the example is a good one, it ought to be followed".
Then, in an almost prescient echo of modern concerns it points out that a thriving local market-gardening industry on the banks of the Barwon and Moorabool Rivers would reduce the reliance upon food grown in other areas of the colony.


Looking across the original Prince Albert Bridge towards West Melbourne
Road, c1860-1879. Scouring works are visible but not the market gardens

Such was the Anglo-centric view of Chinese industry in the early years of settlement at Geelong but whilst the temporary nature of their buildings may not have appealed to the European eye, there can be no doubting their perseverance. In October, 1867 a serious flood raised the Barwon to such an extent that much of the land from Geelong to Barwon Heads was said to be underwater.

Approximately the same view as the above photo as it appears today

The tanneries and wool scours at Breakwater suffered badly, with significant property damage and loss of stock, particularly to those on the south bank of the river. Captain Fyans was forced on to higher ground and an auctioneer living at the bottom of Yarra Street had to remove his family to safety by boat when his house was inundated. Ah Sam and his colleagues were not immune either, with the Gippsland Times of 3rd October stating that:

The Chinese gardeners at Marnock Vale had a very narrow escape of their lives, the water having risen 6ft in a very short time; as it was, they had to wade 200 yards with the water nearly up to their neck.

In his history of Newtown and Chilwell, Charles S. Walker indicates that there was a two-storey hut on the Marnockvale garden, intended to provide protection against high water levels, he states however, that it washed away the first time the river flooded - perhaps during the 1867 event described. The effect on the crops and loss of income must also have been significant.
In addition to the flood of 1867, high water levels were also recorded in 1870, 1893 and 1894 whilst one of the largest floods to hit the Barwon since European settlement was recorded in 1880. This is no doubt in addition to numerous minor flooding events which did not cause significant damage to buildings and infrastructure, but which would still have had a devastating effect on Ah Sam's vegetables.

Looking north west between Rock Point (right) and Marnock Road (left)
with the chimney of the Phoenix Wool Scour in the background

However, Ah Sam and his family were nothing if not resilient. Whilst there is a burial recorded at the Eastern Cemetery for the 14th March, 1903 (I am assuming this to be the same person), his garden lived on. In 1904 The Argus reported two local boys caught stealing peas were handed over to police after trying to escape by jumping into the river, then in 1930 Mr Ah Chee (presumably a relative), was fined for tampering with three water meters on his property.
Whilst there is nothing in the media to indicate exactly how long the garden remained at Marnockvale (or even if it was the only one), by the mid 1930s the number of Chinese-operated market-gardens began to decline significantly, so it is likely that Ah Sam's garden was also consigned to history.

Anything but run of the mill

In my last post I looked at several of the wool scours which operated along the Barwon River in Newtown and also mentioned a number of the major woollen mills which operated in the same area. The whole wool industry from growing through to the end product - tweeds, blankets, flannels, rugs, carpets and fine-quality worsted fabrics used to make suits - was at one time or another represented along the banks of the Barwon.
Whilst the mills themselves no longer operate, in some cases the buildings they occupied have at least in part been preserved. Below are photos of some of the remaining buildings and EH Robinson Wool Scouring Works which I did not include in the previous blog:
The Geelong Returned Sailors and Soldiers Co-operative Mill (aka the Diggers' Mill)

Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen and Worsted Mill,
cnr Pakington and Rutland Sts

Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen and Worsted Mill,6
cnr Pakington and Rutland Sts

Foundation stone of Returned Sailors and Soldiers
Woollen and Worsted Mill, cnr Pakington and
Rutland Sts

 Collins Brothers Woollen Manufacturers

Remaining offices of Collins Brothers Mill, La Trobe Tce

The Albion and Union Mills were two of Geelong's top producers over the decades from 1870 to 1900, being the largest producers of tweed by 1900:

Remaining section of the Albion Woollen and Worsted Mill,
La Trobe Tce

Western view of remaining section of the Albion Woollen
and Worsted Mill, La Trobe Tce. The Union Mill stood
on the adjacent vacant block

EH Robinson Scour has operated since 1920:

EH Robinson Wool Scouring Works, Riversdale Road

SMOKIN!

Sunnyside Wool Scour sheds (left) and the chimney of
Dan Fowler's scouring works

Nothing typifies 19^th century industry more than chimneys.  They were - and still are - built to disperse the byproducts of combustion, lifting them above ground level so as to spread them across a wider area, thereby reducing the effective concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere. Chimneys also assist the combustion process with the lower pressure of the hot gasses at the bottom of the chimney, drawing air into the chamber and forcing the exhaust gasses up and out of the chimney by a process known as "natural draught". This process was crucial to the industrial revolution of the 18th century and was no less important to the 19th century industries established along the Barwon River.Several of these chimneys still rise above the landscape of the river making their presence felt in a solid visual display. They may no longer spew their smoke across the landscape, but they still stand as reminders of a bygone era, in some cases, alone, removed from the buildings whose industry they supported but heritage listed in recognition of their important contribution to Geelong's development.

Chimney at Valley Worsted Mills,
Swanston Street

Some of them I have described in previous posts – the heritage-listed chimney of Dan Fowler’s scouring works which stands alone at Breakwater in the back yard of a local factory complex and a little upstream, the chimney belonging to Sunnyside Wool Scour, owned originally by the Haworth family and bearing the initials of its maker: J H – John Haworth. Both are square, brick structures, Fowler’s somewhat shorter than Haworth's and unadorned.

Back upstream and set at a distance of a few hundred metres from the river is the chimney of the Valley Worsted Mill, built in the mid-1920s to meet the demand for Australian woollen products and also the subject of a previous blog. This chimney is larger and somewhat more elaborate than those downstream, featuring the "brick strapping" typical of chimneys in this era.

Another set of chimneys which dominated the skyline of the Barwon during the latter part of the 20^th century were the triple smoke stacks of the cement works at Fyansford. Much more utilitarian in their appearance, they none-the-less captured the eye for a considerable distance around. As a kid, driving into town along the Geringhap-Fyansford Road, I would watch for a particular point where only two of the chimneys were visible and the conveyor belt which ran up the hillside was positioned in such a way as to make it look as if the third chimney had fallen and was lying up the side of the hill. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to play this particular game as, on 6th June, 2004 amidst much local fanfare, the tallest chimneys in the state were demolished.

Paper mill at Buckley Falls with small chimney and
Fyansford cement work silos without chimneys, 2011

A little further upriver at Buckley Falls, even the paper mill boasts its own brick chimney, although it is somewhat dwarfed by the mill buildings themselves and the housing for the waterwheel which powered the plant.

I have looked at each of the companies associated with these chimneys in past blogs, however there are two chimneys which I see regularly but know nothing about, so perhaps it is time to take a look.

Remains of the Phoenix Wool Scour Works

The first is situated beside the river just near Balyang Sanctuary in the part of Newtown originally known a Marnock Vale. This chimney and an associated building stand near the corner of Riversdale and Marnock Roads. As far as I can tell, they originally formed part of a wool scour - the Phoenix Wool Scour Works. Phoenix was one of several scours and woollen mills to operate in the area, others being located slightly back from the river in Bridge and Gregory Streets. Together they formed part of an industry which dated from the 1850s. The company was associated with the decorated Australian soldier Brigadier General Robert Smith, a veteran of Gallipoli and the son of a tanner and wool merchant from Melbourne. Smith established Phoenix in 1919 and also took over the nearby Austral Wool Scouring Works. He offered employment to returned soldiers and was an avid supporter of the Geelong Football Club, serving for a time as president.

The other noticeable chimney on the banks of the Barwon is not far away, between Riversdale Road and the River, near the end of Gregory Street in Newtown. It stands in the grounds of what is now an excavating company near a timber shed and not too far distant from a large brick building. I eventually discovered that this complex was originally the Austral Paper Mill, set up by William Daniel Hughes, a Lancashire man and previous manager of the Barwon Paper Mill. He also purchased Barwon Bank with the intention of living there, but the paper mill was never to see production. Hughes could not get the venture off the ground so the equipment and buildings were sold. The former to a Sydney company, the latter to Australian Paper Mills Co. Pty. Ltd. who on-sold the buildings in 1905 on condition they not be used as a paper mill.

Austral Wool Scouring Works

In the event, the premises was converted for use as a wool scour and became known as the Austral Wool Scouring Works which were acquired by Brigadier General Smith who established the Phoenix Wool Scouring Works.

These few chimneys and a variety of mostly red brick buildings are all that remains of the once thriving 19th and 20th century woollen industry in the area. Other notable companies included E H Robinson Scour located slightly back from the river in Bridge Street - established in 1920 and still in operation, Redpath's Woollen Mill (adjoining Astral Wool Scour), the Albion Woollen and Worsted Mill (established c1869, located either side of La Trobe Tce), the Collins Union Woollen Mill (established 1874 at 510 La Trobe Tce), the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen Mill (cnr Pakington and Rutland Streets) and the Union Mills (adjacent to the Albion Mill and now demolished). In addition to these notable companies, there were the associated industries of tanning, carbonising and soap and candle making - the latter taking place at a site near the Phoenix Wool Scour under the name of the Victoria Soap and Candle Co. The company - established in 1886 by John McLeod - was known for its "magic soap" brand.

Sun and Willows



Sunnyside Wool Scouring Company, Breakwater.

The history of the site on which the Sunnyside Wool Scour stands at Breakwater is in many ways synonymous with the industrial history of Geelong and the Barwon River. As early as 1840, wool was being exported from Geelong to London. As a result, the factories required to process the wool and hides began to appear on the banks of the Barwon.
 Purchased initially in 1853 by John Ford Strachan, the site on which Sunnyside stands was sold by 1862 to Thomas Marshall who in turn sold it to Edmund Haworth in 1866. All these names were significant to the development of the wool trade in Geelong during the 1850s and are still recognisable today.

Notably, the nearby suburb of Marshall (formerly Marshalltown) was named after Thomas' sons Thomas and Foster Marshall. Thomas was a fellmonger and wool trader who had emigrated from England in 1840. He and his family lived in a house nearby called "Breakwater".

Many of the local street names still attest to the industrial origins of the area around Breakwater and to the breakwater itself - Breakwater Road, Tanner Street, Leather Street, Tanner Court, Currier Lane, Industrial Place and Fellmongers Road in Breakwater as well as Woolscour Lane and Tannery Road, Marshall to name a few.


Sunnyside Wool Scouring Company, Breakwater.

It is known that wool scouring took place on the site at least as early as 1867 and probably dated back to the 1850s during the period of Marshall's ownership. After purchasing the property, Edmund Haworth conducted both scouring and fellmongering operations on the site. Its location on the river was of course, integral to both processes. Water from the Barwon was used to wash the scoured wool which in the early days was done by hand on the riverbank using what was known as the pot-stick method. This procedure was later replaced by steam-driven machinery. In addition, waste products from both the scouring and fellmongering activities were discharged in to the river and washed downstream. It was important that waste only entered the river below the breakwater as this would have protected the town's water supply. In fact the purity or lack there of, of the river's water supply was an issue which preoccupied residents, industries, local councils and the government alike for decades.

Chimney built by John Haworth at Sunnyside Wool Scour

The brick chimney which can be seen from various points on the river was erected by John Haworth, the son of Edmund who took over ownership of the property from his father in 1899. His initials can be seen built into the brickwork of the chimney.
For several years, John leased the property and in the early 1900s an unsuccessful attempt was made to establish a woollen mill on the premises by Dr Charles Edward Barnard which had closed by 1903 due to poor management by the Sellenger brothers Charles and William, the latter of whom was employed as manager. The next occupant was William Goode & Co probably trading under the name of Breakwater Woollen Mill, followed by the adaption of the buildings in about 1907 to carry on a leatherworks. This company was known as the Commonwealth Tannery Co. and was run by Robert J Kennedy who first leased and then purchased the property outright in 1909. He in turn sold out in 1913 to Henry O'Beirne who once again set up a fellmongery and wool washing works on the site. The years of the First World War saw a boom in wool prices with the quality of Geelong wool considered second to none. However, a slump in the English market following the war meant O'Beirne temporarily closed the works and finally went out of business in 1932. The property was then leased to the Melbourne company Oanah Wool Pty Ltd which may never have operated from the site and then by 1934 to the Dominican Wool Co. who purchased it.
In 1938, local brothers Harold and James Fowler took over ownership and called their company "Sunnyside Scouring Co." They conducted a number building works and made improvements and modernisations to the equipment including the addition of a large, galvanised iron shed surrounding the older bluestone building constructed by Haworth. In 1948, following a dispute with his brother, Harold sold out to James and moved next door to establish his own works, probably on the site once owned by his grandfather Daniel Fowler Snr.
The company suffered a setback when on 2nd June, 1953 it was reported in the Melbourne Argus that a fire almost completely gutted the premises, however Sunnyside continued trading and eventually James passed the property to his son James Leo upon his death in 1969. James Leo then ran it until his retirement in the 1970s when he closed down the works but retained the buildings to store scoured and baled wool for sale when prices were at a premium. James Leo died in 1987. The property was purchased finally by Owen Callan and son Graham, local wool dealers who ran their business from the site.
 Despite varying fortunes over the years, some structures dating back to the earliest days, including sections of the bluestone and timber building erected by Edmund Haworth in 1867, remain. As time passed, a variety of other buildings were added, many of which are still standing, others having been removed to serve the current needs of the owners. Whilst its use has varied over time, the property has remained in almost continuous operation since the 1850s. Today it is the only remnant of the wool processing works which have been conducted at the Breakwater since the mid-19th century.

Willow trees and chimney of the scouring works of
Old Dan Fowler Snr next door to Sunnyside Scouring Co.

There is also a personal aspect to the story of Sunnyside, which I was unaware of until I began to research the company, but soon came to suspect. In 1932 my great-aunt - Bernice Stafford - married one of the many Breakwater Fowlers and they lived at Marshall. Her husband Frank was the grandson of Daniel Fowler Snr, the same Daniel who was grandfather to James and Harold, one-time owners of Sunnyside, making them first cousins. Daniel, was a noted resident and himself a fellmonger and scourer at Breakwater as far back as the 1870s, having arrived from Kilkenny in 1861. He owned various properties in Breakwater and across Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula and in 1881 purchased the property adjoining what would become the Sunnyside Scouring Co. to be established by his grandsons.
This property was razed by fire in 1897, but business went on and Daniel retained ownership of the property until his death in 1930 at the ripe old age of 95. From this time until 1947 it was administered as part of his estate by several of his sons at which point it was sold to his grandson Harold who had dissolved the partnership with his brother James in Sunnyside next door. Harold called old Dan's property the Willows for the trees which grew along the bank of the Barwon at the back of his land. He finally closed it as a scouring works in 1960, however it re-opened for a time when a tenant used it, much like Sunnyside, for wool storage and sorting. Unlike Sunnyside, the building was demolished c1987-8 with the exception of its chimney which was left standing as a memorial to Dan Snr by his family.
The Sunnyside Scouring Co. and the Willows are only two examples of the thriving 19th century wool industry which lined the banks of the Barwon below the breakwater. Beyond Fowler's were a string of allotments all housing businesses devoted to the wool and skin trades including other fellmongeries, scours, tanneries and a glue factory. Earlier business interests of the Fowlers were also established here where they conducted the usual trades of fellmongering, wool washing and tanning.
Those who owned and worked these businesses were the original inhabitants of the towns of Breakwater and Marshall and many of their names and occupations are embedded in the fabric of these suburbs and of Geelong. For those who know what to look for, the last vestiges of this bygone era can be seen on the banks of the Barwon River to the present day.