A'Fok, Fok Sing and Co

Political correctness and revisionism has made more out of Fook Sing than should be the case.  He was simply a man of his time, playing both sides against each other for his own benefit.  This eventually caught up with him and he lost the respect of his own community.  But that is for others to debate. 

It is easy to believe that the early brick makers were of European origin, but this is nor the case.  When the gold started to run out, the Chinese miners, like the Europeans, moved into other occupations.  One of these was Fook Sing, or Fok Sing, depending on the reference you consult.  He began making bricks in Bendigo in the late 1850s, possibly 1857.  He had arrived in Australia from China to seek his fortune along with many of his countrymen.  It is hard to know where he came from, but it is reasonable to assume that he left southern China to come to Australia.  Arriving in Adelaide in 1854, he undertook the arduous trip overland to the gold fields.  

An only child, Fook never married nor had any children.  He appears to have been fluent in English as he is recorded as being an interpreter in July 1856.  He is also recorded as being a faction head during September in what has been called the “Chinese Riots” in 1856.  The two faction leaders were locked up and bail refused.  Fook was head of the “Four Districts” (known as the Headman of the Long Gully Camp) and Ah King was head of the “Five Districts.”    The four districts were the former counties of Xinhui, Taishan, Kaiping and Enping in the Pearl River Delta of Southern Guangdong Province of China.  The Chinese were located in Emu Point at what was known as the “Ironbark Camp.”

These groups had an internal system of Justice that included flogging for offences proven.  The “Bendigo Advertiser reported in 1856; “We also had handed to us the other day a specimen of the English calligraphy of Fok Sing the head-man of the four districts, which would not disgrace some of the members of our precious House of Lords.  The freedom of hand and the accuracy of spelling were quite creditable to this intelligent specimen of the Chinese race.”  

Poor Fook seems to have been an early casualty of the “tall poppy syndrome” being arrested when another Chinese was wanted by the police.  He had previously been arrested during the “riot” but was “bound over to keep the peace.”  It appears that Fook was well known to the police as his name appears regularly in relation to various offences committed by other members of the Chinese community of Bendigo.  He was also described as a “Police Informer.”

Whilst the rebellion at Eureka in Ballarat, has become a well known episode in Australian history, the Chinese in Bendigo were just as incensed over the enactment of a £4 per year residency permit. In May 1859 around 1000 Chinese massed and marched on the Warden.  Fook Sing was their spokesperson and managed to delay collection of the fee until the Legislature in Melbourne had a chance to reconsider the matter.

  

“CHINESE BUILDERS. Those indefatigable people, the Chinese, have now gone into another branch of "trade. Fook Sing, the brickmaker, has taken a contract to build a smithy for Mr Bailey, of Hargreaves street,of Chinese bricks. Yesterday a party of them might have been seen at work. They are constructing the walls on a peculiar principle. It is of two bricks in thickness, whose length runs parallel with the length of the wall, and a space is left, between which is filled up with mortar. Many disparaging remarks was expressed of the work by European bricklayers, but there appeared nothing to justify them. It appears to be well executed, and will cost infinitely less than if done by Europeans, the difference in price amounting to upwards of 30 per cent. “

“The Star” Ballarat Friday 3^rd of February 1869 from the Bendigo Advertiser.

  

Fook Sing built his own brick kiln from hand-made bricks in Bendigo in 1859.  The remains of this kiln now in Thunder Street have been excavated and are the only known brick kiln of Chinese origin outside China.  It appears to be a form of beehive kiln, about 15 metres long and 10 metres wide.  It made bricks that were smaller and a different colour to those of the day, as a standard size had been creeping into European works since the early 1800s.

It appears the a firebox at the front, about 3 metres square sent heat uphill into the kiln, creating a hotter fire than other European kilns of the day.  This crossdaught kiln operated until the late 1880s when the land was converted to market gardens.  In 1859, a firebug was at work in Bendigo and one of the victims was Fook sing’s brickworks when a large supply of firewood for the kilns was burnt.   

The Victorian Heritage website says; -

"Newspaper records indicate that the kiln was constructed by the A'Fok, Fok Sing and Co in 1859 when the site was immediately south east of the large Chinese camp known as Ironbark, established in 1855. The kiln appears to have been in use until the 1880s when a market garden was established on the site, the land having been acquired by Ah Jet in 1884. The market garden was abandoned around 1950 however several trees on the site still reflect this commercial use. The current owners purchased the land in the late 1970s.

Partial archaeological excavation of the site in late 2005 revealed the remains of a large domed clay brick kiln built into the bank in the west of the site. The arched firebox leading to the firing chamber is at least 1.5 metres deep and buried along with the fire box, flue, and lower section of the circular firing chamber which is estimated to be around 10 metres in diameter, extending under Thunder Street. The kiln originally stood about 10 metres high but the top of the dome has been partially demolished during construction of the road. The design of the kiln strongly suggests Asian, probably Chinese, technology especially in the construction of the wall-through firebox.

Excavation on the kiln also revealed arteiacts associated with the use of the kiln including brick fragments. Bricks used in the construction of a garden wall in Rowan Street Bendigo are thought to have been manufactured in the kiln.

Excavation of the later deposit which has filled the firebox and a transect of test excavations across the site revealed a dense in situ deposit of mainly late 19th century artifacts such as English and Chinese ceramics, including a number of complete or near complete large earthenware jars, Chinese glass gaming counters and bottle glass related to use of the site as a market garden and residence from the 1880s.”

Fook died in Castlemaine in 1896 at the age of 68.

Knights Lal Lal Fire Brick and Pottery Works Pty Ltd.

Lal Lal is located about twenty-five kilometres south-east from Ballarat on the way to Geelong.  The Aboriginal name for the waterfall is “Perrewurr” means “dashing of waters”, or “Opossum” to the local Tooloora Baluk clan of the Wauthaurong Aboriginal people.  They believe that Bunjil, the eagle creator spirit lives here and is the spirtual resting place of the Kulin people throughout Victoria.  Most notable today for the Lal Lal falls, it is a geologically diverse area.

European settlement began in 1839 when a large sheep leasehold was established by Smith Wynne and Company.  One of the early settlers was W.H.Bacchus, (after whom Bacchus Marsh is named).  Another early settler was Archibald Fisken, originally an early settler in Ballarat West.  Shortly after, in the late 1850s, iron ore and kaolin (china clay), lignite (coal) and gold was discovered.  The kaolin was sent to England to make porcelain.  In 1862, the railway was built between Ballarat and Geelong and a station built at Lal Lal to service local industry and transport these minerals.  Clay at Lal Lal was of exceptional quality.

In the second half of the nineteenth century industrial activity at Lal Lal included gold mining; iron mining; clay mining for the manufacture of bricks, pottery, china and paper; charcoal burning; timber felling; coal mining (the first briquettes were made here); and excavating for sandstone, copper and feldspar.

Into this story comes James Knight, (1807-1888) who had built the North Star Hotel in 1857 on the corner of Lydiard and Seymour streets in Ballarat.  It was the first hotel to be built of brick in the city.  Originally the “North Grenville Hotel”, then the “Soldiers Hotel” in 1857, it was later re-named the North Star and is now still operating as “Seymours”.  William Ambrose Knight, James’s eldest son did later become the licensee of the North Star, in May 1891. James had operated a pottery at Elaine, a small town on the Midland Highway near Lal Lal.  The kaolin there burnt white and was suitable for high grade porcelain, whereas the Lal Lal Kaolin was suitable for coloured porcelain.  James Knight arrived in WA on the "Calista" in August 1829 and his future wife, Mary Ann Smith arrived on the "Parmelia" in June 1829.  They left WA for Victoria in 1853.

To help build the line, the Knight brothers, Andrew Thomas, Charles Edwin (1832-1916) and William Ambrose Knight were awarded a contract to make bricks for the project.  The price for these bricks was twenty-eight shillings per thousand.  This enterprise was named the “Lal Lal Brick Tile and Pottery Works.”  As well as bricks, (including white and ornamental bricks), all manner of other pottery was made, including malting tiles, (a type of perforated floor tile used in the brewing industry).  The works was located at 295 CLARENDON - LAL LAL ROAD LAL LAL, MOORABOOL SHIRE. 

In 1876 another brother Andrew joined the firm after he had been prospecting for several years.  Thomas Leighton, a friend of Andrew also joined.  Some believed that Thomas brought much needed investment, I think that he was a potter.  They began producing a variety of domestic pottery items from this time under the name “Victoria Pottery Lal Lal” and even exhibited at the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1891.   The Melbourne international Exhibition was held in Melbourne at the Royal Exhibition Building from the 1^st of October 1880 to the 30^th of April 1881.  The building was completed in 1880 to host the building.  The official catalogue of exhibits (No 949 ) shows  “Victoria Pottery Co., Lal Lal.—Tiles.” Almost 1.5 million people visited the exhibition, yet it made a financial loss.

 A Malting Floor Tile, made by Knights at Lal Lal.

Some marked “AT Knight & Leighton.”  The official record also shows “Knight A & Co., Lal Lal Stoneware”. It is not known what was displayed.  This advertisement appeared in the Melbourne “Argus” newspaper in October 1875.  Thomas left in the early 1880s.

Stoneware is fired at high temperatures. It is nonporous and so does not need a glaze. The key raw material in stoneware is either naturally occurring stoneware clay or non-refractory fire clay.  Stoneware can be once-fired or twice-fired. Maximum firing temperatures can vary significantly, from 1100 °C to 1300 °C depending on the flux content.  Typically temperatures will be between 1180 °C to 1280 °C.

By the time of the Exhibition, William was also long gone.  He had left to run a hotel at the town of Majorca, 11 km south of Maryborough.  His son also named William was born there in 1868.   Andrew was keen to produce quality domestic goods.  He and James continued running the brick works and hired an experienced potter from North Staffordshire, James Brough to manage domestic production at the “Victoria Pottery Lal Lal.”   This apparently didn’t suit him and he  was said to have become a school teacher at Lal Lal before becoming the manager of the new brick works at Ballan in February 1889 then later moving to Lithgow, New South Wales to work in the pottery there.   (He actually only rented the school residence for a short period and is not listed on the register of teachers for the school.)  Established in 1833 and located behind Lithgow Valley Shopping centre in Silcock Street, it is now Australia's oldest commercial pottery.

There are still several buildings in the area made from local bricks.  One of these is the former home of Otto Steinkrause, a local potter and later the founder of what became the Eureka Tile Works.  One sad and prominent remnant is the kitchen building of the now demolished original Lal Lal Falls Hotel on the corner opposite the existing hotel.  On completion of the contract, the brick works continued to operate. 

Several old places were built of these bricks, one being the old brick hotel on the corner near the railway line. Bricks cost 2 shillings and 6 pence per 100, or 25/- per 1,000. This kiln closed down in 1898.  The Knight brothers had owned a hotel in Ballarat, from there they came to Lal Lal and worked under contract with the railway. 

Kitchen building of the now demolished Lal Lal Falls Hotel, photo, authors collection

  

Original hotel showing kitchen building at rear.

There is a reference to another brick maker at Lal Lal, his name was Archibald William Galloway, married to Elizabeth Viccars.  He appears in the Victorian Post Office Directory in 1893/4.  This was around the time when Knight and Viccars, like every other brick maker, was experiencing a downturn due to the depression of the 1890s.  He only appears once in the directories.  The family moved to Broken Hill, New South Wales where he died in 1909.  Charles Knight and his wife Margaret also had a hotel and store at the post office site.  Andrew was married to Judith Riley but divorced in the 1890s; they lived in Peel Street Ballarat.

Andrew also became Deputy Electoral Registrar for the Buninyong Division of the Electoral Division of Grenville, and for the Buninyong Shire Division of the South-Western Province.

In April 1863 “The Ballarat Star” reported “‘A novelty in kaolin has been discovered at Lal Lal in the leasehold held by Smith, Wynne and Co. In opening up the ground some four feet of white pipeclay, as supposed, was gone through before the Kaolin was reached. A subsequent examination, however, has shown that this stratum is pure kaolin, nearly as fine as that prepared for the market by washing. This discovery will no doubt greatly enhance the value of the company’s ground. We mentioned some time ago that a stratum of yellow kaolin had been found, believed to be valuable, but it has been ascertained that the color is due to the presence of iron, and therefore this kaolin is far less marketable than the pure white.” (Friday 10 April 1863, page 2)

As a result, a small pottery, probably to test the kaolin was established, although no details exist.  (It may however have been James’ pottery at nearby Elaine). This was operated by the Knights and expanded into a thriving brick works.  The town grew with people mostly associated with the local mining industries and with it came development, hotels and a favourite pastime of the era, horseracing.

On completion of the contract, they continued their brick works.  Charles was also the owner of the hotel and store there.  He had previously been an hotelier and storekeeper on Soldiers Hill in Ballarat.  Charles also witnessed the burning of Bently’s hotel and the Eureka uprising.  The kiln closed down in 1898.  Another later Lal Lal Brickworks was opened by Richard Viccars in 1913, but it was said to be not very successful because the bricks were very soft and of poor quality. It closed in 1915 and most of the shareholders, who were from Ballarat, lost their money.  Their company documents show the business was still operating as late as 1924.  I suspect that they were simply another casualty of the glut of bricks on the market and their location made production uneconomic.

Lal Lal people were said to have been refused shares in this business and Richard Viccars is said to have kept the secret of hard brick making to himself.  Again, I find this difficult to accept as brick makers were plentiful around the state at this time and therefore there would have been no difficulty in obtaining sufficient expertise.   Viccars was originally in partnership with Charles Knight.  The Lal Lal school was made from these bricks and is still in use today.  The Viccars and Knight families continued living in Lal Lal after the brick works closed.  What is not in dispute is that no one from Lal Lal apart from the Knights were shareholders in the company.  Knights retained ownership of the property and leased it to the company.

An aerial view of part of the site showing the brick pits in the centre and to the left.  The pool to the right is the old railway water reservoir and may have originally been a brick pit. The picture below shows the location of the actual brick works. 

One of the Lal Lal kilns tried to make briquettes from the local lignite, the first attempt of this kind in Australia, but with the primitive methods used, it was a failure. The Lal Lal ironworks, of which the blast furnace survives in ruins, is nearby

“The late Mr Andrew Knight who passed away at the residence of his daughter, Mrs Albert Wohlers, last week, was a native of West Australia, being born at Perth in 1837, thus being in his 85th year. His father, the late Mr Jas Knight was reputed to be the first white man to set foot on land in W.A.; also his parents were the first couple to be married there. Mrs. Wohlers still has their marriage certificate (marked No. 1) in her possession .  At an early age, Mr. Andrew Knight with his parents, came to Victoria, and took part in the Eureka Stockade disturbances at Ballarat.  Later he acquired the Lal Lal pottery and brick works, and for many years lived at Lal Lal.  He took a keen interest in mining matters, and had an active part in opening up the Lal Lal iron mines. He leaves a family of two sons and four daughters. The internment took place at Morrisons Cemetery.”   Andrew later attended the 59^th anniversary of the revolt.

Victoria's only attempt at mining and smelting iron ore took place at Lal Lal in the latter stages of the nineteenth century; the Knights were also involved in this venture. In the mid 1870s, the Lal Lal Iron Company installed mining machinery, erected a large blast furnace and constructed a tramway to convey ore from the mine. For a brief time in the early 1880s, the Lal Lal Company had over 100 men engaged in mining and smelting the iron ore, gathering limestone (flux) and firewood, and manufacturing charcoal. The company also operated a foundry at Ballarat. The Lal Lal Iron Works had ceased operations by the end of the 1880s.

The Victoria Iron Company was established in 1873, but went into liquidation shortly afterwards.  The Lal Lal Iron Mining Company was formed in 1874 after the liquidation of the Victoria Iron Company.  The company set up an iron ore quarry and smelting works, which at its peak employed 160 men. Charcoal from local timber, brown coal from the area and Ballarat coke were all used as fuel for the smelting process.  One of the Lal Lal brick kilns tried to make briquettes from the local lignite, the first attempt of its kind in Australia, but with the primitive methods used, it was a failure.

The photograph following shows what the remains of the blast furnace look like in 2014.   The gates and iron railings around Ballarat's St Patrick's Cathedral and the Ballarat Old Cemetery gates were fabricated from Lal Lal iron.

Otto Steinkraus was a German potter who bought a shed at the old tile works in Lal Lal in the 1880s and made pottery that he and his wife sold around the district.  His site was purchased by two local businessmen, William Miller and George Clegg who went on to found Eureka Tiles in 1890, a company that continues today on the original site as PGH Bricks.

Part 2; The Processes

Bricks are everywhere.  They are one of the oldest building materials known and are an almost universal method of building.  Historically, if suitable material was available, bricks were made close to their intended use.  This was also the case in Victoria.  Several brick works were built in the Ballarat district and surrounding area during the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries to service construction works in the newly established and rapidly growing area. 

Making bricks goes on all over the world and has done for thousands of years.  The basics are the same wherever you go and are similar to baking a cake or a loaf of bread.  You mix the ingredients, put them into a mould, bake them, let them cool, and use them.  With brick making, the process needs lots of continuous heat, usually from a fire and an insulated chamber to fire them in.  Huge quantities of wood or coal were burned to make each batch.  

An early photograph of the works showing (from left) Charles Knight, Edward (Teddy) Enwright and Richard (Dick) Viccars, probably taken in the late 1880s.

(How Charles lost his leg is not yet known.)

When someone came to an area that had sufficient clay, a small kiln, usually made of mud or unfired clay (and known as a “Clamp”) would be built to hold the “green” bricks.   The Brick Maker stacked the bricks appropriately to ensure sufficient space around them to conduct the heat.  When the bricks were suitably “fired” they could be used.  The brick maker would eventually make enough bricks to build a simple Scotch kiln or rectangular downdraught kiln.  This type of kiln was popular at the time and generally had sufficient capacity to hold up to forty to sixty thousand bricks. 

This meant that the kiln had sufficient thermal mass and volume to produce commercial quantities of bricks necessary to ensure that the kiln cooled slowly and less heat was lost during firing.  The vast woodlands around Lal Lal were quickly used up by this process and by the many farmers moving into the area.  Put simply, bricks are man-made rocks.  We take sedimentary material and turn it into a metamorphic one by applying heat. 

They are small individually moulded rectangular blocks of clay of uniform size that are baked in a kiln until hard and used as a building or paving material.  The first attempt to standardize the size of a brick in England was in 1477.   Much later, Queen Elizabeth 1st granted a charter to brick and tile makers, after which a standard size of 9” x 4 ¼” x 2 ¼ inches became common, although variations in size continued.  In 1849 the Statute Brick was required to be this size.  Today, in Australia, they are produced in a standard size; 2 ¼ inches by 3 ¾ inches by 9 inches, or 75mm by 115mm by 230mm. Whatever size, the ratio of 4:3:2 is standard; although there is still no accepted world standard brick size.

Wood chopping events were common in the area towards the end of the 19^th Century.  Fortunately reserves of brown coal were near the railway, but the problem for many early brick works was that they were operated by a sole brick maker who needed to be there twenty-four hours a day to set up, load, fire, unload and remove the bricks.  A mixture of wood and coal was often used by brick makers to ensure an even, consistent firing.

It was hard, dangerous, physical work demanding long hours and hard work for little return, except for volume production.  A single kiln with a single operator could take around two weeks to make a batch, and then set up ready for the next one.  If a fire went out, it was hard to re-start and a batch of bricks could be ruined.  Many batches of under fired bricks (or doughboys) were made during this period.  Although the workers were paid little and generally considered to be from a lower socio-economic group, the work needed skill and judgment and expert timing to be done properly.  Because competition was fierce and margins were tight, a sole proprietor also needed to have the optimum number of firing cycles from each kiln to maximize output and profit.

Significant deposits of suitable shale/clay under Lal Lal were exploited to manufacture bricks and the forests that previously existed were used to fire the brick making kilns.  Little now remains in the area of this now vanished industry, and what does remain receives little, if any recognition.  Throughout Australia, historic brickworks sites generally exist now only through neglect. 

Significance

It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, No H7722-0012.  They list the Heritage Inventory Significance: “Knights were an important regional brickworks producing firebricks which were used at Smeaton Mill, Coimadai Creek Limekilns, and the Lal Lal School. The development of firebrick production fits with the pattern of industrial development within the Lal Lal area with the iron works and coal mines.”

Brick, tile and pipe making facilities are historically significant due to their association with the economic and social development of the local area during the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries and their association with community and economic life.  The brick works are also of scientific and technological significance for European style manufacture and construction.  The individual bricks and the brick making facilities were examples of the technological development that took place during this period.  The bricks are also of scientific interest as they provide information on Victorian 19^th and 20^th Century brick making techniques.

The brick, tile and pipe works sites around Ballarat and district are also of local historical significance for their association with the gold era and the post-World War 1 & II housing construction booms, because bricks, pipes and tiles were much in demand as a mass-produced, and relatively easy to use building material.  Some remaining Works also helped revolutionize aspects of the building industry in the post-war periods. These sites produced the bulk of the local brick, tile and pipe requirements during this period. The sites are also significant for their association with Ballarat as a centre of mining and industrial activity at the time. 

By the 1860s in Victoria, there were more than 40 brickworks and potteries in Brunswick alone. But the industry gradually spread east, with works established in Box Hill, Nunawading, Oakleigh and Camberwell.  Many brick works manufactured not only bricks, but also building materials such as roof tiles, drainage pipes and domestic items such as mixing bowls and garden pots.  For example, Hoffman's brickworks in Brunswick also had a major role in manufacturing the pipes for Melbourne's sewerage works.  Knights also branched out later into pottery making.

As a result of the depression in the 1890s and diminishing clay supplies from their original pits, many brickworks scaled down production.  Then, another blow in the 1930s, saw the disused clay pits and quarries used for rubbish and garbage disposal or swimming holes and, once filled in, converted into parks or shopping centres (such as Highpoint City, Altona Gate and Northcote Plaza).  Many, many brick works in Victoria closed in 1898 as a result of this depression.

Firebricks

An original product, which is also in the name of the company were firebricks.  These bricks (Refractory) were used for the lining of furnaces fireplaces, chimneys and kilns. They came in a variety of shapes (i.e. Straight, Tile, Split & Arch/Taper) and are made from clay and fired to withstand very high temperatures.   Refractory bricks also need to have high resistance to chemicals encountered in raw materials and slags, as well as the ability not to flake over an extreme temperature range.  Firebricks containing a high percentage of alumina are better at withstanding these temperatures and loads than conventional fireclay based bricks. There are various grades of firebrick (i.e. alumina content) suited to different temperature ranges.  Anything from 20% to 30% alumina is needed.

Special refractory mortar is used to bind the firebricks together. These days, Firebricks are also used in the domestic market to line the inside of household heater fireboxes. Firebricks protect and prolong the life of the external metal casing. Additionally, firebricks maintain higher temperatures allowing more efficient combustion. Furthermore, heaters lined with firebricks retain their heat long after the fire is extinguished due to its extra mass. The increasingly popular wood fired pizza ovens also make use of firebricks.

The depression of the late 1920s and 1930s hit brick makers hard and saw the end of brick making at Lal Lal.  Production declined in line with falling sales.  It was not until the late 1930s that sales of bricks picked up again in Victoria, however price controls later introduced during the Second-World-War meant a constant battle with bureaucracy to keep surviving brickworks financially viable.

These price controls lasted into the 1950s and improved pay and conditions for workers during this period meant further strain on the business.  Costs were continuing to rise and many other brick-works did not reopen after the war because of these increased costs and their inability to attract enough workers. 

For much of the life of Knights Lal Lal Brick Works, most bricks were stamped with the name of their maker.  This is because, for a brief period in our modern history, the names of makers and/or brick works were stamped onto their bricks.  Prior to the 18^th Century, most bricks were handmade, unmarked and locally made and used near to the brick works.  These earlier bricks were rectangular with all six sides being flat.  Later, an indentation called a “frog” appeared when machine pressed bricks became the norm to better bond courses of bricks. During the 18^th Century, some makers again began to impress their names into the unfired clay. 

 The Co-operative Brick Company

Part of the reason for the demise of many Victorian brick works, including Knights, was the creation of the Co-operative Brick Company.  It was also responsible for the survival of just as many.  In 1896, 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 in 50,000 shares of £1. The word ‘proprietary’ 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., Blackburn Brick Co., City Brick Co., and the Standard Brick Co. (Box Hill) became associated.  The company was taken over by Brick and Pipe Industries Pty. Ltd., William Street, Melbourne, in 1966.

This photograph shows Robert Thomson and his son George at their works in Malvern sometime between 1886 and 1888.  The kiln behind them is a Clamp that has been broken open after the firing of the bricks that can be seen still stacked inside.  The roof is open.  The timber stacked against the fence will be used to fire the next batch.  Wood of between 4 and 5 feet in length was preferred.  The drying sheds can be seen at the rear.  The covered ramp was used to carry clay to the crusher to be milled.  The bricks stacked at the right of the kiln opening were used as a door or “wicket.”  This is how the Knights would have started their works,for the railway contract,  using at least one, possibly several of these.

Scotch Kiln

In much of the English-speaking world, the term for a kiln used to make a smaller supply of bricks is known as the Scotch kiln.  It is also known as a Dutch Kiln or a Scove Kiln.  It is the type of kiln most commonly used in the manufacture of bricks. Scoving is the process of covering the kiln in wet clay to seal any openings.  A Scotch Kiln is often used to make the quantity of bricks needed on site for a Hoffman Kiln.  This can be around 400-500,000 bricks.  

It is a roughly rectangular building, open at the top, and having wide doorways at the ends. The sidewalls are built of old or poorly made bricks set in clay.  There are several openings called fire-holes, or " eyes," made of firebricks and fire clay, opposite one another.  

A photograph of the shareholders of the new company in 1913.

Shares to the value of £50 each were issued in the 19^th of August 1912.  Shareholders were;

H.Wardle & Son	Doveton St Ballarat	Timber Merchant
A.Knight	Lal Lal	Brickmaker
H.V Wardle	Dawson Street Ballarat	Clerk
H.A Wardle	Dawson Street Ballarat	Art Teacher
W.H Gent	Sturt Street Ballarat	Tailor
S.Gent	Sturt Street Ballarat	Tailor
R.Graham & Sons	Armstrong Street Ballarat	Leather merchant
W.J.Carthew	Skipton Street	Butcher
George Eason	Scotsburn	Contractor
James H. Hill	Barkly Street Ballarat	Contractor
S,M. Dean	Learmonth	Married Woman
David Anderson	Lydiard Street	Accountant
John Freeman	Longwarry, Gippsland	Sawmiller
George H Warner	Armstrong Street Ballarat	Ironmonger
L.L. Simpson	Sturt Street Ballarat	Bookseller
P. Messenger	Drummond Street Ballarat	Contractor
W.B. Radley	Barkly Street ballarat	Plasterer
David Ronaldson	Creswick Road Ballarat	Engineer
M. Eason	Scotsburn	Married Woman
J.H Jones	Sturt Street Ballarat	Jeweler
H.T. Wardle	Doveton Street Ballarat	Timber Merchant

The chimney at the revamped brick works was constructed in September 1913 and was 110 feet high.  The rectangular downdraught kiln it was built for had a capacity of 40,000 bricks.  (The bricks for the chimney were made in Ballarat.) 

In April 1912, Andrew Knight and Henry Wardle, a Timber Merchant from Ballarat leased the property at Lal Lal  from the land owner Charles Knight for a period of ten years at an annual rental of £20.  Officeholders in the new company were;

Chairman	H.T. Wardle, Timber Merchant Doveton Street, Ballarat
Manager	A.Knight Brickmaker Lal Lal
Secretary	H.Wardle Clerk Doveton Street, Ballarat

The new company seems to have struck trouble from the start, having to re-capitalize just over a year later.  In March 1913, the directors sought an additional £2,500.  Only half were taken up.  The number of Directors was increased to five;

H.T. Wardle,              Chairman

D.Ronaldson              Engineer

H.T. Wardle              

James Graham

J.H. Jones

In November 1914, the name of the company was changed to :Lal Lal Fire Brick and Pottery Works Proprietary Limited.”  In December 1913, another capital raising took place.  This time, to the value of £2,100.

R.Graham & Sons	Armstrong Street Ballarat	Tanners
H.Wardle & Son	Doveton St Ballarat	Timber Merchant
H.V Wardle	Ballarat	Clerk
H.A Wardle	Ballarat	Art Teacher
Hilda Wardle	Ballarat	Teacher
David Ronaldson	Creswick Road Ballarat	Engineer
John Jones	Sturt Street Ballarat	Jeweler
Phillip Messenger	Ballarat	Engineer
Lewis Simpson	Ballarat	Engineer
David Anderson	Ballarat	Accountant
James Hill	Ballarat East	Contractor
George Warner	Ballarat	Merchant
George Eason	Scotsburn	Farmer
Adam E Ronaldson	Ballarat	Engineer
Herman E Gordon	Ballarat	Merchant
M.B. John	Ballarat	Brass Founder
Harry Davies	Ballarat	Draper
William Sloss	Ballarat	Doctor
Robert Scott	Ballarat	Surgeon
Frank Williams	Ballarat East	Bookshop
Frederick Mitchell	Ballarat	Dairyman
James Tyler	Ballarat East	Draper
Harry E Batten	Ballarat	Accountant
Andrew B Berry	Ballarat	Printer
Thomas Kennon	Hawthorn	Tanner
Mary eason	Scotsburn	Home Duties
Eric McLeod	Ballarat	Clerk
Walker, H.C. Kerwin	Ballarat	Solicitor
Robert Taylor	Ballarat	Hotel Keeper
William E Russell	Sydney	Engineer

The Directors were;

George Warner

D. Ronaldson

John Jones

J.Graham

Frank Williams

Twenty-six shares were unallocated.

This still wasn’t enough to keep the company running smoothly.  In December 1913, another call on capital was issued.  This time, £6,400 was required.  In February 1914, another £3,900.  Almost all of the existing shareholders purchased additional shares in this issue.

On the 18^th of August 1919, a meeting of shareholders passed the resolution “That certain assets of the company be disposed of by an asset sale.” And; “That the company not go into liquidation at present but hold the lease for future consideration."

Company Directors in 1924 were;

George Henry Warner

David Ronaldson

James Irving Graham

John Hutton Jones

Frank Williams  

The list of shareholders in 1924 still contains most of the names from the original share issue.

The value of capital was £6,400, the value of the previous issue.  What happened next is lost to history, but obviously, the company ceased trading.  The ownership of the site remained with the Knights.

Special thanks to Pauline Holloway and Geoff Dowling for their contributions, documents, information, help and support.