A mill story!

Okay, enough of running for the moment! Time to get back to some local history with "a mill story" which for the record I am informed, is an old phrase referring to a piece of dubious gossip.
A couple of weeks back, I was involved in a very informative and extended exchange concerning flour mills in and around Fyansford and of course, the Barwon and Moorabool Rivers. For anyone interested, read this post and the comments attached thereto.
After quite a bit of scrounging through on-line sources, discussion and a little deduction my co-theorist and I reached some conclusions about flour milling in Fyansford in the mid-19th century.
The first problem we came up against in trying to sort out who owned what, when and where was the following statement which appears repeatedly on many sites, including some which should be relatively authoritative:

"In 1845 the first flour mill was erected by William Henry Collins on the banks of the Barwon."

Now, this statement is not as it turns out in and of itself incorrect. Collins did in fact open a flour mill on the Barwon in that year. The Union Steam Flour Mill. However, rather than being at Fyansford as is implied on various websites, this mill was located in Geelong next to where the Albion Woollen Mill was built, close to what is today, the James Harrison Bridge. This early flour mill eventually became the Union Woollen Mill which I have mentioned in a previous post. For the record, Collins also went on to establish the Collins Bros. Woollen Mill in the same area some years later.

Looking south towards the site of the Fyansford Steam Flour Mill,
September, 2012

All this however, is a separate issue to the Fyansford Steam Flour Mill which was built in the town of Fyansford.
This building was a 3 storey bluestone structure overlooking the banks of the Moorabool River. On 26th July, 1855, The Argus newspaper in describing Fyansford referred to "a very complete flour-mill". Records will show that the land on which the mill was built and the nearby Flour Mill House which still stands, were purchased by GJ Barthold at Fyansford's first land sales in 1854. Barthold and a business associate by the name of T Lowe appear to have run the mill until 1861 at which point they were declared insolvent and the mill sold. Exactly when this mill was built is not clear, but presumably it was not until the much later date of 1854 (not 1845) when Barthold bought the land.
To complicate things somewhat, by 1873 William Henry Collins to whom the building of the mill is wrongly attributed, was indeed the owner. In the Portland Guardian and Normanby General Advertiser of 25th July, 1873 refers to "his [Collins'] mill at Fyansford". Whether he purchased it in 1861 when Barthold and Lowe went bust I cannot determine.
According to the Victorian Heritage Database (which is one of those responsible for perpetuating the myth that Collins built the mill), following on from Collins' tenure, the mill passed through various hands, serving at one point as a dance hall before being demolished in 1930. The associated Mill House (pictured below) has however survived to the present day.

Flour Mill House, Atkins St, Fyansford September, 2012

All this is of course, not to be confused with the 5 storey bluestone Barrabool Flour Mill which was built in about 1851 (perhaps as early as 1849 if some sources are to be believed) by John Highett. This water-powered mill was situated on Mount Brandon Peninsula overlooking the Barwon River about 1.5km upstream of the confluence of the Barwon and Moorabool Rivers. It is about 1km from Fyansford as the crow flies  and on the opposite side of the Barwon.


The Barrabool Flour Mill, held by the State Library of Victoria

And for the sake of completeness, the Barwon Paper Mill and its associated water race both of which still stand today on the Barwon, were built quite some years later in 1875 and are located a few hundred metres downstream from Highett's flour mill and on the opposite bank.

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.

Value adding

From a single fellmongery and tannery business on the banks of the Barwon in 1841, these and the related trades of scouring and boiling down had grown considerably by the 1860s to become the mainstay of Geelong's wool industry. This was despite their reputation for pollution and noxious odours which had seen them contained to the area below the breakwater. Naturally therefore, when Geelong's industrial base began to move beyond primary production, the milling of wool was one of the earliest trades to develop.

Godfrey Hirst Carpets, site of the Victorian Woollen Mill and
the Barwon Woollen Mill, later Excelsior Mills No1 and No2.

The first woollen mill in Geelong, established with the aid of a government grant was up and running by 1867 under the name of the Victorian Woollen and Cloth Manufacturing Co. on what is today the site of Godfrey Hirst Carpets at the corner of Swanston Street and Barwon Terrace near the Barwon River.
By 1870 a second woollen mill the "Albion" was up and running upstream of the Moorabool Street Bridge and by 1874 a third - the Barwon Woollen Mill, located to the rear of the Victorian Woollen Mill next to the river - was under construction. The successful tender for the latter building was that of Tippett and Barker of Ballarat, which may yet again prove to have connections to my family history as my paternal grandmother is descended from the same family as many of the Ballarat Tippetts.
By 1892 the Barwon Woollen Mill was in financial trouble and was sold to Godfrey Hirst who renamed it the Excelsior Woollen Mill No1. Likewise, and suffering from a decline in sales as a result of cheap imported fabric and inferior immitations, the Victorian Woollen and Cloth Manufacturing Co. was put up for sale. This too was purchased by Hirst and named Excelsior No2. The two ran jointly until 1912 when Excelsior 1 was destroyed by fire. It was later rebuilt as a single storey, brick structure.

Valley Worsted Mill with Godfrey Hirst in the background.

A relative latecomer, by 1925, the last and largest of the woollen mills to be built in South Geelong was under construction at the corner of Swanston Street and on the opposite side of Barwon Terrace to Godfrey Hirst. This was the Valley Worsted Mill which in its day was the largest and most modern mill in the country.

These early companies were the forerunners of a thriving textile industry which developed in Geelong and which eventually took over from the tanneries, scours and fellmongeries as the major business of the town.

Despite some periods of revival - for instance during the First World War - the latter would never again attain the same level of productivity as they did prior to the 1890s. It was now cheaper to export the raw skins than to have them processed here.
Likewise, the textile industry continued to suffer as we have already seen from international competition, this time in the form of cheap artificial fibres developed in Britain and Germany. However, inspite of this, productivity continued to increase and by 1935 eight mills were processing wool in Geelong which also became a centre for research and training in the industry.
In addition to the wool school at the Gordon Institute, a Wool College was established in 1943 offering diploma courses in textiles and textile chemistry whilst Geelong was chosen as the site for CSIRO's textile research division in 1946. Victorian wool was renowned for being the best in the Commonwealth and Geelong was seen as the headquarters of the Victorian wool industry.

Clock at Valley Worsted Mill.

Of the mills which lined the Barwon and were so important in their day, the Excelsior Mills remain in operation today as Godfrey Hirst Carpet, producing quality products for the domestic and international markets as they have done since the 1960s when they ceased production of a variety of other textiles to concentrate on carpet-making.

Valley Worsted operated for 50 years before merging with the company of John Foster and Son (Aust) Pty Ltd to become John Foster Valley Ltd. Such was the secrecy surrounding the merger negotiations that the mill became known as "The Mill of Secrecy" and a book with this title, outlining the history of the mill was published in 2009.
Most recently, the entire site has been put up either for lease or sale and at last report had been conditionally purchased for $6.4 million by a microbrewing company - Little World Beverages - from Fremantle who intend to make the site the base for their east coast brewing enterprise.