The Blackburn Brick Co. was
established off Whitehorse Road at 33 Alfred Street Blackburn. The works were located near the railway line. They began around 1885 and at this time,
their bricks were hand made. Hand made
bricks continued to be made until 1895.
They first appear in the Sands and MacDougall Directory in 1890, but
were one of the brick works to close due to the impact of the depression of the
1890s. They re-opened in 1892, possibly
when it was renamed the Blackburn Brick & Tile Co and operated sporadically
over the next year. They had an office at 422 Collins Street Melbourne. According to Wise’s Commercial Directory,
their Manager was Edward Perry. Edward
also managed the Bacchus Marsh Brick Tile and Pottery Co. In 1893 the company contracted to supply
4,000,000 for construction of the Hobsons Bay main sewer. The works closed again and lay idle until
1918 when they were bought out by the Co-operative brick Company. The works were then used by them to make
bricks and roofing tiles there, but converted to roofing tiles only in
1932. In turn, in 1966, they became
Brick and Pipe Industries Pty Ltd. They
closed the works in 1968.
This plan of the site shows the outline at bottom right of what looks suspiciously like a Hoffman Kiln. No details of the type of kiln used are available but it is reasonable to assume that a Hoffman kiln was used.
The Co-operative Brick Company Limited was formed by
agreement between the Hoffman Patent Steam Brick Co., Northcote Brick Co. Ltd.,
New Northcote Brick Co. Ltd., Chas. Butler & Son and Fritsch, Holzer and
Co., and registered on 10 September 1896. Authorized capital was 50,000 pounds
in 50,000 shares of 1 pound. The word ‘proprietory’ was added and registered on 11 February 1897.
Authorized capital was increased to
£150,000 on 17 July 1927. During its 70 years of business, the Oakleigh Brick
Co., Clifton Brick Co., City Brick Co., and the Standard Brick Co. (Box Hill)
also became associated.
Brickworks
Lane runs off Whitehorse Road Blackburn parallel to Alfred Street and shows the
location of the old brickworks.