George Marks (Ballarat Pottery Pty Ltd)

This is the first part of a three part story of a business that continues today, first as the "Ballarat Pottery Works Pty Ltd" run by George Marks.  The second was Martins Stoneware Pipes, and finally, the third incarnation, Vitclay. 

This photograph of the Ballarat Pottery Works was taken shortly after Martin's takeover in 1921.  The buildings in the picture were destroyed by fire in 1922.  You can just make out Martins sign to the left of the door.

George Marks was one of the early potters in Ballarat.  Unlike so many others, he had not made his way to the goldfields in search of riches.  He arrived in Victoria aboard the SS Norfolk in 1858 from London.  Like so many others, fortune did not happen, although he did become a shareholder in the Windsor Gold Mining Company in August 1864 and the Nairnshire Gold Mining Company in 1871.  He had accepted an offer to work at a works in Brunswick, Victoria as a potter.  Although a Londoner, George had trained at the Doulton and Sons pottery in Staffordshire.

In 1861, George Marks established his first Ballarat Pottery Works on Creswick Road in Ballarat, near the Old Cemetery. There with the help of four boys he produced salt-glazed drain pipes, chimney pots and tiles for Ballarat builders as well as a quantity of wheel-thrown jars, flower pots and saucers, water monkeys, bread pans, butter pots, ginger beer bottles, etc. The business flourished and the building of the railway through his property gave him the opportunity to relocate closer to town at 306 Creswick Road.    Principally, the reason was that he could not obtain title to the land near the cemetery.  Clay was obtained from a number of sites around Ballarat.   

The first building on the new site was a two-storey timber framed construction of 47 feet by 90 feet.  The triple fronted timber building with the square chimney was later built.  (Square chimneys are usually of Welsh manufacture whereas circular chimneys are usually Cornish.)  Another chimney was built on top of a circular two-storey kiln containing three furnaces.  This wood and coal kiln was used to fire flower pots and chimney ornaments.  A second coal only fired kiln nearby was lined with firebricks made by Taylors Brickworks at Black Hill.

A ten horsepower horizontal steam engine was also installed to operate the machinery at the plant.   The initial processing of the clay was carried out at the rear of the property by a horse drawn pug mill.  Different products required different grades of clay.   The pug mill worked the clay to a proper consistency that was then moved in large lumps into sheds ready to be converted into various articles.  The clay that is now pretty solid and “stiff” is then placed in a small press with a perforated bottom.  The press was worked by hand, and after the clay had passed through the perforated bottom it was almost free from stones and fit to be made into the rougher articles, such as flower-pots and tiles.  The clay from which ginger-beer bottles, water monkeys, preserve pots etcetera, were made was all carefully washed in tubs and worked up by hand before it was put upon the potter’s lathe.

The following comes from a newspaper article from “The Star”.  “but by far the most interesting of the work is that done by Mr Marks on the potters lathe or wheel.  The potter’s wheel is a small iron table made to revolve by means of cog-wheels upon a handle like that of a windlass being turned.  Upon this wheel, or revolving table, the potter makes flower pots and saucers, water monkeys, bread pans, butter pots, ginger beer bottles, and various other things.  The potter from practice knows the size of the piece of clay he will require for any particular article.  He takes this lump of clay, puts it on the wheel, dips his hands in water, and the boy in attendance sets the table revolving rapidly.  In a few seconds the operator, using only his hands and a small piece of tin for a scraper will turn out such small articles such as ginger-beer bottles, blacking pots, and small jars of all shapes and so quickly does he do it that the operation appears like a sort of magic to one who knows nothing of the work.

 The larger articles, such as 6 and 7 gallon butter jars, or large bread pans capable of holding five or six loaves, are more difficult and take longer to make, but Mr Marks turns out any of these out, perfectly formed, in less than five minutes.  The trueness of curve and shape generally in all these things seems wonderful, for the potter does his work with great speed and has only his hands and eyes to guide him.  Chimney pots of all sizes and shapes are made by Mr Marks.  The plain round ones are made with the press in the same manner as the pipes, but the octagonal pots, moulded in the ordinary way with wooded moulds, and the sectional pieces are afterwards joined together.  Some of the designs here for chimney pots are very pretty, and there were all kinds of wonderful inventions for doing away with the smoky chimneys.  Some of the Ballarat builders deal largely with Mr Marks for chimney pots, and he turns out a large number weekly. 

The clay for the manufacture of the rougher kinds of wares, such as pipes and chimney pots does not need to be very fine, and after a very slight preparation it is ready for use.  Great care, however, has to be taken in the preparation of the clay for the manufacture of such things as preserve jars, water monkeys &c.  The clay for these things is put through the pug-mill, then puddled in a tub, and when it is of proper consistency it is placed on a wooded table and worked up like dough only much more carefully.  Every little stone is picked out and the clay is worked for hours before it is fit for the potter’s wheel.  After all the smaller articles are made on the wheel they can be removed by hand, but the larger vessels being soft cannot be handles.  Before they are made, therefore a piece of wood is fixed in the wheel and the vessel after it is made, are removed together.

The next process is the drying.  Drainpipes, tiles, bottles and jars, are all stacked, and allowed to dry for a certain time until they are ready for baking in the kiln.  The drain pipes and chimney pots are burned in a kiln by themselves.  This kiln holds about 8000 drain pipes, and a large number of chimney pots, and if the  pottery was in full work two kilns per week of these articles could be baked.  This kiln has six fire holes, and costs £8 per week for fuel, both coal and wood.  A glaze is put on the pots and pipes by a large quantity of common salt being thrown in the kiln at the top.  The flower pots and other small articles are baked in a separate kiln, as they are of a frail and delicate nature, and will not stand rough handling.  The kiln set apart for them is a small one, and is divided into small compartments, made with large, flat, clay tiles.  The flower pots are not glazed, but the jam jars and ginger-beer bottles are glazed in the same manner as the drain pipes. 

The small sized drain pipes are sold in large quantities to farmers and others in the district, and there is a good demand for flower pots among the gardeners and nurserymen.  Mr Marks says he can manufacture drain pipes, flower pots, plain and ornamental chimney pots, and jars of all kinds at a much lower rate than these articles can be imported for.  The Lextonshire and Avica shire councils purchase large numbers of the 26-inch drain pipes for culverts.  Mr Marks’ chief difficulty is the want of good clay for the making of the finer sorts of pottery ware, and he is at present experimenting with various kinds of clay obtained from different parts of the district.  Most of the finer articles he has made up to the present time have been made more by way of experiment than with the hope of immediate profit, although Mr Marks is confident that the proper material he can turn out wares that will be cheaper and of as good quality as imported wares.” 

He was also making pipes too.  From small “aggie” pipes, 2” in diameter to water pipes up to 18” diameter.  Output of pipes was restricted by the space available to dry them, leading to delay in filling orders.  As the town expanded, sewage pipes were also made in increasing numbers.

When these were made, the clay was put in the press,  but the perforated bottom is removed, and in its place a mould was fixed, according to the size of the pipes to be made.  The press was raised from the ground about three feet, and after the clay had been put in, a wooden table, running with weighted cords placed over pulleys in the roof of the shed, was allowed to run up close to the bottom of the press.  Then the operator set the press in motion and as the pipe was forced through the mould, its weight forced the table down.  When the pipe was long enough it was cut off with a piece of string and removed, and the weights caused the table to rise up ready to receive another pipe.  This was carried on until all the clay in the press was exhausted; and the press having been refilled with clay the operation was repeated, the moulds being altered as pipes of different sizes were required.  The making of these pipes was the chief business carried on at the pottery,

In 1869, George won a prize of 2 for his display of “Colonial made pottery (adapted to domestic purposes and ornament)” at the ninth Annual Spring Show of the Smeaton, Spring Hill and Bullarook Agricultural Society.

In 1878, George left to work at the Adelaide Pottery and Drainpipe Works, at Brompton and Caversham, leaving the running of the Ballarat Pottery mostly to his new partner Samuel Coyte.  The owner of this company was William Martin who would later buy out the Ballarat Pottery Company in 1921.  There had been a huge expansion of the sewage system in Adelaide and George was in the position to satisfy this demand.  Martins were a well known family in Adelaide, as James Martin had been a major manufacturer of farm machinery.  George died in Hindmarsh, Adelaide in 1918 at the ripe old age of 79

Within a few years the Ballarat Pottery had ceased to produce domestic wares although it continued making pipes and fittings until 1921, when it was taken over by William Martin and became Martin Stoneware Pipe Pty Ltd.  It is impossible to accurately identify the pottery output of this pottery because so few pieces were ever marked.  This appears to be a common element amongst the makers in and around Ballarat.

In 1922, the old works were destroyed by fire and Martin’s rebuilt.

The site of Martin's in 1981

Aspinall, Elijah

Name	Elijah Aspinall
Address	Peel Street Ballarat East
Occupation	Brickmaker
Born	1817, Bolton, Lancashire, England
Parents	Thomas and Elizabeth
Died	1877 Age 60
Burial
Occupation	Brick Maker
Period Active	1857 -1877
Married	Elizabeth Margaret Radcliffe, Bolton
Children	Elizabeth (Betsy) 1846-1914 Thomas  1851-1918 Maria 1859-1859 Sarah Ann 1862-1951
Arrived	In Melbourne, February  1855 on board the “Shalimar”

At a meeting of the Eastern Municipal Council on Tuesday the 8^th of July 1862, the Town Clerk read a letter “from Elijah Aspinall stating that he had seen in the Star that Mr John Hurst of Mopoke Gully had made application to have the present surveyed street (Peel Street) and that a very little deviation would take it over a better course, &c.  If such deviation should be agreed (contended the writer) all of the brick clay used by him and five or six other persons who followed the avocation of brick makers would be interfered with as well as some twenty ratepayers who had registered frontages on the new line of the street.  He protested on anything of the kind being done, as it would ruin him and the rest of the brick makers.  He was struck dumb with astonishment at the utter selfishness and ingratitude of Mr Hurst’s application.  As it was he who had showed him where to set down to brick making in 1857 and it was all nonsense for Mr Hurst to say that he had expended £500 in plant &c, when £10 would start any brick makers in the business, and his business could be removed to the line of Peel Street for £20.” 

In August 1864, Elijah advertised 5,000 bricks for sale at £1 per thousand.

On Friday, the 7^th of October 1864, Elijah was charged with “threatening behavior and obscene language.”  He was fined 20/- or 48 hours imprisonment.  Against whom is not known.

On Tuesday the 18^th of October 1864, C.W.Sherard, Commissioner for Crown Lands forwarded an application from Elijah for the granting of a license for brick making near Brougham Street, Ballarat East.  The application was referred to the Engineer.

On Friday the 15^th of February 1867, he was charged and convicted of failing to take out his license as a brick maker.  He was fined 40/- with costs.

Darley Firebrick Company Pty Ltd

Firebricks, comparitively have never been produced in quantity in Victoria.  Only a few companies produced them.  Other than Darley, there were the Ordish Fire Brick Company in Dandenong, the Australian Gas Retort & Fire Brick Manufacturing Co of South Yarra and Hoffman Brick & Potteries in Northcote.

A firebrick is made to withstand high temperatures.  They are fired at a higher temperature than ordinary bricks and are used in areas where an ordinary brick would not endure, such as inside kilns and furnaces, potteries, foundaries and smelting furnaces.  They also have greater insulating properties.  They are also used where exposure to chemicals is also a factor.  

Darley is now a suburb about 2 miles (3.2km) north of Bacchus Marsh, now a feeder area for Melbourne.  In the early 1900s, it was well out into the country west of Melbourne and had been a stopping point on the way to Ballarat.  The area is geologically divers, having deposits of coal, as well as clay deposits, suitable for brick making.  First recorded brick makers there were Thomas Akers (1848-1928) and William Thomas Wittick.  In partnership, they established the Darley Firebrick Company in 1893 on Bald Hill, Darley.  Thomas had arrived from Coventry in England.  He married Mary Ann Worthy in 1873 and they went on to have 15 children.  William Thomas Wittick (1857-1939) was born in Richmond, Victoria.  He married Hannah Barton in 1876.  They had 10 children.  William died in Sunshine and is buried at Bacchus Marsh.  William’s grand son later became the Manager at Darley.

The Darley Fire Brick Company had a second part in the outer Melbourne area of Montrose.  This began in 1904 when David Mitchell, (1829-1916) father of Dame Nellie Melba purchased 10 acres of land from James Walker, a brick maker who began making bricks, including firebricks in Montrose in 1898.   James Walker had been making fire bricks at Montrose, as well as ordinary house bricks.  David took a controlling interest in the Darley Fire Brick Company in 1898.  They used rectangular downdraught kilns to make their bricks.  Among many other notable Melbourne buildings, David built the Exhibition Buildings in the Carlton Gardens, the only surviving example of 19^th C exhibition buildings in the world.

  

This land was on the corner of Montrose and Cambridge roads, (Lots 35b & C).  The works were situated on a small creek that flowed parallel to Cambridge Road and eventually into Olinda Creek.  David arrived in Melbourne aboard the ship “Anna” on the 6^th of April 1852.  He worked as a mason and builder as well as spending time on the Bendigo goldfields.  In 1856 he married Isabella Dow, daughter of James Dow, an engineer at Langlands foundry, South Melbourne.  (A Fitter at Langlands, Herbert Austin, later returned to England to begin the Austin car company.) 

David was quite a businessman.  In 1859 he had a brick making company in Burnley Street and in 1874 and later became a shareholder in the Builders Lime and Cement Company.  In 1890, he and his partner R.D. Langley began a Portland Cement factory at Burnley using kaolin from Lilydale.  In 1878 he purchased Cave Hill Farm at Lilydale and started excavating limestone from the property.  The “Darley Firebrick Company Pty Ltd” was formally begun on the 9^th of May 1898.  David Mitchell was the majority shareholder.

The works then had an output capacity of 82,000 bricks per week produced in a bottle kiln and three downdraught kilns.  They would go on to produce over 100 different shapes and sizes of refractory bricks and tiles.

This article from the local newspaper at the time, describes the works much better than I could.

The large 2-storey wooden -buildings, and iron and brick chimney shaft, erected by the above company about 2 miles to the north of Bacchus Marsh, fill a conspicuous place in the landscape, and when the lengthy brick-drying sheds are roofed in the " factory" appearance will be very marked. In addition, there will be 1 or 2 large kilns. It will be 2 or 3 months yet before everything is in working order to make bricks.  Wonderful progress has been made in a short time under the practical supervision of Mr. William Emslie, a right trusty manager for many years for Mr. David Mitchell, of Cave hill, Lilydale, the well-known agriculturalist, dairy farmer, cement manufacturer, contractor, &c., and famed also as being the father of Madame Melba.  A great quantity of cement concrete and brick foundation work has been put in, which is not very noticeable now that the wooden buildings cover them. The principal building is 34ft. x 24ft, and 20ft. high, and it has an upper floor to receive the pulverized clay. The lower floor will contain the pug mill and brick-making machinery, very little of which is yet on the ground. At the upper side of this building, to wards the clay pit, and with a floor 4ft. higher, is the Chillean mill shed, 23 x 19, and 16ft. high. Here a very massive Chillean mill, 9ft. in diameter, and with 2 iron rollers weighing 2 tons each, will pulverize the blended material (the proportions of which are a trade secret) of which the bricks will be composed. The clay will be received above the mill in a hopper, to the mouth of which trucks will run on an up and down tramway from the clay pit, part of the distance being bridged by a timber staging, or viaduct. The bed-plate for the Chillean mill is in position, on a substantial concrete foundation, and all the working parts are lying round ready for erecting. The mill will dry crush', all the material put into it, and the product will be taken by elevators to the upper floor above the pug mill, where 90 tons can be stored, under cover, the object being to keep the stuff dry until it is." tempered" in the pug mill, and otherwise prepared for the brick moulding, and pressing.  Elevated water tanks will supply the sprinklers, or whatever methods of applying the water is used,and a shaft is being sunk to obtain this indispensable fluid. It is down 106ft, in very hard conglomerate, and water has not yet been got, but the work will be persevered with. The shaft is substantially slabbed all the way down. At right angles to the 2 sheds (which are practically 1 shed) containing the machinery, are the engine house and boiler house, side by side. The engine is a horizontal one, 25 h.p, and the boiler is 20 ft. long by 54-ft. diameter. The boiler, with a 55ft. chimney, is built in and all ready for work. The engine bed is ready, but the engine it self is lying outside the building. The boiler house is 30 x 10, and 11ft. high. The engine house 24 x 13, and 13ft. high. A brick drying shed, 180ft. long, and 34ft. wide, joins end on to the boiler house.  At the further end of this shedthe brick-burning kilons will be erected. The first 1 is to have 5 fires, and will be 32ft. x 40ft., and 20ft. high. The plant is capable of turning out 15,000 bricks per day, and a large number of men will be employed. It is said that the demand for fire bricks in Melbourne amounts to about 50,000 per week, half of which are imported at present, but it is claimed for the Darley bricks that they will supersede the imported ones. They have given tests, with imperfect puddling, 40 per cent, better than expected. The supply of clay is believed to be what is termed "practically unlimited."  The company, which consists of 5 shareholders, of whom Mr. David Mitchell is chairman, has an area of 15 acres, all of which is believed to contain the very purest and best fire clay. At the pit or quarry opened up by Mr. W. T. Wittick, one of the shareholders, there is a " face" showing 7ft of ordinary brick-making clay and gravel, then 10 ft. of the best and purest fire-clay. A shaft underfoot has disclosed 2 more seams-3,ft. and 2,ft., with gravel clays in between, and the shaft sunk further away from the hill side to get water has gone through a 35ft. seam of fireclay. Such immense seams are seldom met with. Mr. Wittick has burnt about 100,000 firebricks from the clay, all of which found ready sale. He has now got capitalists to take up the venture, and the amount of money they have spent upon developing it, and the still larger amount yet to be spent, be sides the working capital required, all give agreeable proof to this district, at any rate, that they have every faith in their good works.  If the output is as extensive and as profitable as everyone hopes it will be, there is every prospect of the Railway Department running a light line from the Bacchus Marsh station yard to the boundary of the Company's property. The surveyed line is there now, having been surveyed as part of the projected railway to Coimadai and Bullengarook.  We repeat what we have frequently stated-namely, that the best hopes for Bacchus Marsh development lie in this northerly direction, and it is very gratifying to find such a man as Mr. David Mitchell putting his ability, energy, and capital into what may be called the head debouchure of that large and much undervalued region.

Bacchus Marsh Express, 18 January 1902. P3

In 1982, the company changed its name to Darley Refractories Pty Ltd following its purchase of the South Yarra Firebrick Company, making it the sole producer of firebricks in Victoria.  

Montrose Brickworks

Hardly anything remains of this brick-works today.  The area has been made into parkland and considerable regrowth has obliterated almost everything of the brick-works.  The only areas remaining relatively untouched are the ramp along which the clay trucks were pulled up from the pit and the platforms where the buildings were located.  Much of the pit has been filled with rubbish, like so many other pits around Melbourne.

The first small-scale brick works in Montrose was opened by James Walker in 1891 at a site on Mount Dandenong Road where the CFA Fire Station is now located.  Hand-made bricks were made from red porous clay dug at the site to be used in baker’s ovens; and white kaolin clay used for fire-bricks.  These types of clay were unique to this location.  James had a store on the corner of Mount Dandenong Road and Montrose Road that he named “Rose Mont”, said to be the origin of the town’s name.  The original brick-works site closed in 1920.

In 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.  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. 

Construction of a Rectangular Downdraught Kiln at Gulsons Brick Works in Goulburn NSW

The dried raw bricks are arranged in the kilns so as to form flues connecting the fire-holes or eyes, and they are packed (crowded) in such a way to leave small spaces between the bricks from bottom to top and front to back and side to side through which the fire can find its way to and around every brick. A modification of the Scotch Kiln is sometimes to have openings in the floor like latticework, through which the heat ascends from arched furnaces underneath.

After the dried bricks are loaded into the kiln, the ends (or wickets) are built up, and plastered over with clay. At first the fires are kept low, simply to drive off the moisture.  After about three days the steam ceases to rise and the fires are allowed to burn up briskly.  The draught is regulated by partially stopping the fire-holes with clay, and by covering the top of the kiln with old bricks, boards, or earth, so as to keep in the heat.  It takes between 48 to 60 hours for the bricks to be sufficiently fired, and they will have shrunk to the appropriate size.  The fire-holes are then completely sealed with clay and all air excluded.  The kiln is then allowed to cool gradually.

About a half-ton of soft coal is required for burning each 1000 bricks. The exact quantity depends upon the type of clay, quality of fuel, and the skill in setting the kiln.

A convenient size for a Scotch kiln is about 60 feet by 11 feet internal dimensions, and 12 feet high. This will contain about 80,000 bricks. The fire-holes are 3 feet apart. These kilns are often made 12 feet wide, but 11 feet is enough to burn through properly.

An early Scotch Kiln showing the way bricks were stacked and the size of timber for firing.

A kiln takes on an average a week to burn, and, including the time required for crowding and emptying, it may be burnt about once every three weeks, or ten times in an average season. This will produce about 800,000 bricks that is about as many as would be turned out by two moulders in full work.  The bricks in the centre of the kiln are generally well burnt. Those at the bottom are likely to be very hard, some clinkered. Those at the top are often badly burnt, soft, and unfit for exterior work.

A Scotch Kiln is of a type known as an intermittent kiln.  A Hoffman Kiln is known as a continuous kiln.  In a continuous kiln bricks remain stationary and the fire moves through the kiln with assistance or help of a chimney or by a suction fan.  Most brick works in Victoria ended up using the “Hoffman” kilns of this type.  The kilns at Montrose were intermittent types and could not compete with the volume produced in the Hoffman Kilns in Melbourne.

Fire Bricks, or refectory bricks are used to line high temperature fireboxes, such as furnaces, kilns and fireplaces.  They are also used for processes with extreme chemical stresses.  They are also used in processes using electrical or gas fuels.  They also have better insulation and sound proofing qualities and do not fracture when exposed to rapid temperature changes.  They can withstand heat of up to 2,800 degrees C.

The next chapter began with David Mitchell (1829- 1916) who is best known as the father of Australian icon Dame Nellie Melba.  Davis arrived in Melbourne on board the ship “Anna” on the 6^th of April 1852 and worked as a mason and builder as well as spending some time on the Bendigo goldfields.  In 1856 he married Isabella Dow, daughter of James Dow, an Engineer at Langlands foundry.  (A fitter at Langlands, Herbert Austin later returned to England to begin the Austin car company.)

David Mitchell

On the 29^th of August 1904, David Mitchell bought 10 acres of land from James Walker on the eastern corner of Montrose and Cambridge roads (Lots 35 B & C).  The works was situated on a small creek that flowed parallel to Cambridge Road and eventually into Olinda Creek.  Mitchell became the majority shareholder in the Darley Fire Brick Company, outside Bacchus Marsh (Registered Office Olivers Lane Melbourne) in 1902 and began manufacturing of fire bricks in Montrose as well as Darley  using rectangular downdraught kilns.  

David built the Exhibition Buildings in the Carlton Gardens and St Patrick’s Cathedral, Eastern Hill, just to mention a couple of his projects.  In 1859, David had a brick-making company in Burnley Street and in 1874 he became a shareholder in the Builders Lime and Cement Company.  In 1890, he and his partner R.D Langley began a Portland Cement factory at Burnley using Kaolin from Lilydale.  In 1878 he purchased Cave Hill Farm at Lilydale and started excavating limestone from the property.

“Brick works of every description have cropped out within the last 2 years 6 months. Under the management of Messrs Naylor, Tranter and Derbishire, who keep things in full swing huge storage sheds, for moulded material have been erected some 250 feet long, other buildings attached, engine house and otherwise, where the bricks of all sorts are turned out by the thousands.  A good start considering the time, roads and sundry obstructions to develop such as a brick making industry.  Since the long expected railway has flown to a better land I'm told flowing with milk and honey and otherwise which had caused us of Montrose to look after it, and of our own lookout as a dark blot, and prospects unsolaced for its prosperity since the Creator, looked back on it and so leaving his huge foot mark behind in disgust as he disappeared to mould a brighter place, possibly our neighbours doorways, Lilydale and Wandin districts; possibly the luck they have stolen has paid them.

Possibly we could expect to see a tram track to the kilns; if only bricks sold well and a dozen yards were set in full swing, and fire clay in abundance. But trade is not good enough to gratify any other attempts at present.  Perhaps fail latter on. Roads not fit to pay to cart along. Fire clay of the very best can be got. Tiles, pipes, fire bricks and a dozen other sorts are turned out.  Very good assortment for the time to prove how trade runs. The works are not 10 minutes walk from the Montrose store and post office, even at this some residents a mile off are not aware of such a company as brick-works in the district to the present. Three fair sized kilns are kept going continually the clay is hawled (sic) up by steam power and the bricks of all sorts cut and set and then pressed to finish for the fiery kilns. Some 9 or 10 workmen are kept going regular as clockwork. £60 or £70 per month ($30 to $35) worth more or less are turned out. Not so bad since developing a trade to be included no small matter.”

Richard Walker Lilydale Express 11 October 1901

But early on, David had his eyes elsewhere.  In 1902, he bought into another brick making plant at Bacchus Marsh.  The clay was considered superior to the local clays in Montrose and the area available for the brick works was much larger.  Output was higher.  In time, the majority of manufacture was undertaken there.  There was  already a brick works operating there, having been established in 1893 by Thomas Akers and William Wittick.  David bought into the partnership in 1898.  This additional capital allowed for expansion.  On the 9^th of May 1898, the “Darley Firebrick Company Pty Ltd” was formed.  Mitchell holding the majority of shares.  It is now known as “Darley Refractories Pty in 1982 following acquisition of the South Yarra Firebrick Company.

In 1914, the Button family came to Montrose.  Clarence Lloyd “Clarrie’ Button was born in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand around 1878.  Clarrie died at age 73 and was buried in the Lilydale Cemetery on the 30^th of August 1951.  Clarrie and his wife Mary Jane (Daughter of WJ Walker) lived at 14 Walker Road Montrose.  They were married in 1900.  Mary Jane died in 1941 age 61.   He was by profession a Builder who had lived and worked in  New Zealand and Tasmania, as well as inner suburban Melbourne.  Clarrie is listed as being “Manager” of the brick-works in 1920.  Clarrie and his nephew William (Billy) Walker, an experienced brick-maker, took over the company.  They greatly expanded the business.  The Darley Fire Brick Company continues today at Bacchus Marsh, on the opposite side of Melbourne.

Fire-Lumps, Agricultural Pipes and Partition Bricks at the Montrose Brick Works.

The bricks made at the Montrose brickworks were sold throughout Victoria.  In 1928 the brickworks were cutting 16,000 bricks per day and employed up to 20 men.   Montrose still specialised in two types of firebricks; bricks for Bakers ovens made from red porous clay and fire bricks made from white clay.  They also produced fire lumps (for furnaces) agricultural pipes of all sizes, perforated bricks for iron furnaces, sole tiles and gutter bricks, as well as normal house bricks.  A Fire-Lump is a large brick between approximately 18 inches to 2 feet long by 9 inches deep and 6 inches thick.  They cover the floor and lower side if the furnace.   A Sole-Tile is placed at the bottom of a drain to provide a firm base.  Hard clay bases do not need sole-tiles.

Layout of the works

The great depression hit Montrose Brickworks hard, along with many other brick-makers throughout Australia.  Brick making has and is a high volume, low profit margin business.  It does not take much to tip a company over the edge.  The Montrose brickworks was finally brought to a halt by World War II.  In 1946, staffing shortages were affecting brick makers across Australia.  In Victoria, soldiers returning from the Second World War were not willing to come back into the hard, dirty and dangerous environment of a brick works.  Before the war, there were 34 brick kilns in Melbourne, employing 1034 men.  After the war, there were only 30 kilns operating, employing 600 men.  There was a particular shortage in the roofing tile industry.  New homes were being built quickly, with weatherboard being used extensively.  Even though the homes were timber, they still used fired roof tiles. 

This new drying shed was built in 1931

Many of his workers had gone to war leaving Clarrie with no choice but to sell the business to Rimingtons Nursery in 1945.  The site was used to make flower-pots until the late 1950s, possibly until the early 1960s.   This was necessary because of the shortage of terra-cotta pots after the war.  The brick-works made pots up to 12” in diameter.  They did not use metal pots.  Rimingtons was a large wholesale and retail nursery business, plus ornamental trees, with properties in inner suburban Kew, their retail outlet and propagation nursery as well as Clarinda, their distribution centre and 100 acres at Toolangi as well as Montrose.

They produced a range of products from clay, not only fire bricks, that were used for chimneys and fireplaces but also agricultural pipes, partition bricks, fire lumps for furnaces, as well as house-bricks.  The Montrose Historical Society purchased 700 of the Montrose bricks and had them made into a memorial and display for this almost forgotten part of local history.  In it’s day, it was the only major industry in the town and most men at one time or another had worked there.

Montrose bricks can be mostly identified by their stamps.  Early bricks were stamped “DFB Co” (Darley Fire Brick Company), “DFB Co Works Montrose”, “Montrose” or “Montrose Fire Brick.”  Some bricks have thumb-prints, believed by some to be a counting technique, but also made when pushing bricks from a mould (some bricks were hand made in pairs).  If you want to see any quantity of these early bricks, I suggest you visit the Ballarat Lodge and Convention Centre.  When this establishment was built, they used bricks from the ovens of the now demolished Sunshine Biscuit factory in Ballarat.

  

Part of the Montrose Brick Display at the Montrose Shopping Centre.

My thanks to the volunteers at the Lilydale and District Historical Society for much of the information contained in this post. 

William Axtell

Name	William Axtell
Address	Carngham
Occupation	Cowkeeper, Brickmaker, Miner
Born	St Pancras, London, 1817
Parents	John Axtell and Catherine (Humphries)
Died	Beaufort, Victoria, 13th July 1894
Burial	Beaufort, Victoria, 15th July 1894
Occupation	Brickmaker
Period Active	1862-?
Married	Geelong, Victoria, to Ellenor Purcell 1835-1931
Children	Catherine b 1853 Mary Jane Elizabeth 1855-1941 Maria 1859-1863 Mary Elizabeth 1863? William Thomas 1864-1955 Emily Mary 1867-1955 Robert John 1869 Sarah Ann 1862 Ellen Therese 1873 1944 Jewell Victoria 1874-1953 Johann 1877-1879
Arrived	Melbourne, 1852 as unassisted migrant aboard the “Beulah”

Little is known of their movements for the next ten years, and it may be assumed that, like many others, he was a not too successful gold miner in the nearby fields in or near Ballarat.  They were living in Cargham, near Ballarat when, in 1862, William received permission to commence brick making.  Carngham is 27 kilometres west of Ballarat and about 30 kilometers from Buninyong.  The name Carngham is said to derive from the Wathawurrung people's word for house or hut.  In 1838 James and Thomas Baillie squatted there and adopted the Aboriginal place name for their property. The local clan was the Karrungum baluk or Carringum balug.

According to the census of 29 March 1857 there were 459 people in Carngham, 292 males and 167 females. This figure probably includes the population of Snake Valley. Until that time, the area had been farmland owned by In 1854 there had been 58 people, 15 males and 13 females.  Carngham is 4 km north of Snake Valley and was a mining township, surveyed and proclaimed in 1855.  State School number 146 operated at Carngham from 1856 until 1911.  Today Carngham is little more than a few houses where the Snake Valley-Trawalla road crosses the road from Ballarat to Beaufort.  Snake Valley is still the larger settlement. Overlooking Carngham is the old cemetery but William isn’t there.  William died on the 13^th of July 1894 at the age of 72 in the nearby town of Beaufort and was buried there two days later on the 15^th of July 1894.

Robert Adair

Name	Robert Adair
Address	Peel Street (on the left when traveling north to south)
Occupation	Labourer / Brickmaker
Born	County Armagh, Northern Ireland 1833
Parents	F.  Joseph Adair,  M.  Jane Bailiff
Died	Ballarat, Wednesday, 21 February 1872 Aged 38
Burial	Ballarat, New Cemetery, Presbyterian “A”, Sec. 19, Grave 41 (Unmarked)
Occupation	Brickmaker
Period Active	C 1867 to 1872
Married	Louisa Mohoney or Manley , St Kilda, Victoria 20 Dec 1858 (1833 – 1924)
	(Louisa died at the age of 91.)
Children	9 children, Loisa Mohoney Adair (1858-1859) Caroline Jane Adair (1860-1860) Robert John Adair (1861-1950) Henry Joseph Adair (1862-1942) Alexander James Adair (1865-1955) Thomas Adair (1866-1955) Eliza Jane Lillian (Lily) Adair (1866-1953) George Adair (1970-1953) Louisa Adair (1872-1942)
Arrived	Melbourne, Victoria from Liverpool on “Sardinian” 19 Mar 1857

On the 26^th of February 1867, Robert purchased several parcels of adjoining land in Ballarat east.  They were Section 59, allotments 11,12,13 & 14.  Purchased for the price of 2-10/- each.  It is nor known if he was making bricks prior to this, but I would assume that he was, probably on a smaller allotment in the same area, as many others were doing. 

He had been a successful brick maker at this location for several years before his early death at the age of 38 from pleurisy, which normally follows pneumonia.  His death certificate states that he had this condition for 8 days.  He died at the end of summer in 1872.  Brick makers, like miners, were exposed to extremely high levels of dust and as a result, were also subject to silicosis or “black lung.” 

The site of his brick works is now a public park.

On the day he died, the Ballarat “Courier” had the following report on the weather.  “The muggy and unhealthy weather we have experienced for the past ten days changed last night, and there is now a prospect of people being able to breathe again with something like comfort to themselves and safety to their lungs.  Last night about nine o’clock, the wind shifted to the south, after several pretty heavy showers of rain.  The warm weather has caused a great deal of sickness in Ballarat, but the change that has taken place it is probable those who have managed to pass through the trying ordeal will find themselves restored to health.  Children especially have been sufferers by the recent muggy weather.”  Sadly, too late for Robert.

Like many of his era, Robert lies in this unmarked grave in the old Ballarat cemetery, just to the left of the cement lined grave.

"At least one member of his family followed Robert in the brick making business,  This obituary appeared in the "Courier" on the 9th of February 1918. “The many friends of Mr Thomas Adair, a former resident of Black Hill will regret to hear of his death, which took place yesterday at the residence of his niece, Mrs J. Craddock, Sturt Street.  The deceased, who was 63 years of age leaves a family of three sons and two daughters.  In the seventies, the deceased who was a Brickmaker by occupation was engaged in his calling on the reserve now occupied by the Black Hill Progress Association since when he visited various parts of Victoria and several of the States and he was well known in the brick making game.  He was of a genial disposition and possessed a fund of knowledge of reminiscences of early Ballarat and district.  Mr Alec Adair of “The Courier” linotype staff is a brother of the deceased.”

Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company Australia Limited

Over the years, a fair bit has been written locally about this company.  I would like to elaborate on what has been produced so far.  There are still a lot of people around who either worked there or had family who did.  If you have any more information, please get in touch. The earliest reference to any works around this location is just prior to the Eureka Rebellion.  The person concerned was Paulo Brentani who arrived in Australia at the age of 26 in April 1853 aboard the “Appleton” He made his way to Ballarat and presumably tried his luck at gold mining.  He was a Ballarat resident in 1854 and the only other Italian mentioned by Raffaelo Carboni in his book “The Eureka Stockade”.

“Once, I had seen him with my mate, Paul Brentani, about manufacturing bricks from the splendid clay of the gravel pits.  Mr. Rede received us as gentlemen, and by way of encouragement, said to Paul, “Je viex bien aider, car tout est encore a batir a Ballaarat, et il nous fait des briques – revenez me voir.”

(The Eureka Stockade” Raffaello Carboni Sunnybrook Press 1942. P60.) 

My High-School French is a little rusty but roughly translated I think this means “I am willing to help because everything is still under construction in Ballarat and we need bricks.  Get back to me.”

(The “Gravel Pits” were described as being adjacent to the Eureka Stockade site.)  (Over the years Raffaello produced a number of literary works but a thing I note about this book was his continuous and excessive display of his classical education.)  There is no record of Paulo getting back to Commissioner Rede, because other events tended to overtake them both.  

The site remained a Crown Allotment until 1915.  In 1857, an application to quarry stone in the vicinity was made to the Ballarat East Council.  There is no evidence that this was proceeded with.  On a map produced in 1861, the site was described nearby as “Cattle Yards.”   The site had remained a Crown Lease for the next fifty years with various lessees occupying the site.  It is worthy of note that many of the lessees are shown as being in Ross Street.  One was John Nedwell who had the one-acre block on the corner of Charlesworth and Stawell streets.  Another was Arnold Heering Holst, (1836 – 1916) a Danish migrant who occupied the block at the other end at Stawell and Eureka streets. Another Holst, Frederick William, held a miners lease over a larger portion of the site.  Frederick Holst was a Stockbroker who had done well in Ballarat. 

There is no evidence that he or his company actually mined the lease, but several leads converged at the top of the lease.  He built a substantial home at 126 Webster Street.  This home later became the Ballarat Teachers College.  As of November 11, 2012, F.W.Holst & Co Pty Ltd. was acquired by E.L. & C.Baillieu Stockbroking Ltd. F.W. Holst & Co Pty Ltd., is a stockbroker, providing financial and investment advisory services for private clients. 

In 1895/1896, Alfred Lugg (1878-1949) transferred ownership to James Croughey.  Alfred had owned the lease since around 1891/1892, prior to that, the land had not been sub-divided, and the nearby Chinese Town was located close by.  In 1902/1903, James Croughey sub-let the land to Lawrence Murphy. It was at this time that the hut is first mentioned in the rate books.  In 1903/1904, August Steinkraus took over from James Croughey.  It is not until 1908/1909 that the site is listed in the rate book as being “ wood hut and pottery”.  It must have been only newly built as the Annual Value was more than double as were the rates.  

 Early site map and map of gold leads in the area.

The document shown below is a copy of the lease on the property granted to Holz & Co.

August (Otto) Edward Steinkraus had arrived in Melbourne at the age of 33, on board the Catania, a passenger/cargo steam ship built in 1881, arriving in Melbourne in July 1883 along with many other German migrants.

Steinkraus is the traditional Middle German for a Potter or Innkeeper.  Stein is stone and Kraus is a jug.  Otto operated a pottery at Lal Lal from 1896 until 1902.  It is likely that he began working for the Knights at the Lal Lal Brickworks as a potter before starting out on his own after the brickworks closed.  He was born in Graudenz, the city of good luck, West Prussia in 1848 to Johann Steinkraus and Caroline (Mielke). 

The city, now in Poland, was then undergoing a turbulent process of “Germanization”.  This unrest may have been why Otto migrated.  Otto first settled in Lal Lal with his wife and his two sisters.  There is still a Steinkraus Lane in Lal Lal, but Otto lived on Clarendon Road.  The property was sold in February 1915 and the house there was then occupied by Ted Enwright, one of the early partners in the nearby Lal Lal Brick works. 

After moving from Lal Lal to Ballarat, they later lived in a small cottage at 15 Princes Street South, Ballarat.  This cottage, that still exists, was not too far from his pottery in Stawell Street.  Initially, Otto worked with another potter, Walter Heggie Troup (1866-1939).  This arrangement was short lived.  August died in Ballarat East in October 1930 at the age of 82.  His wife Florentine (Flora) died in November 1926 at the age of 77.  They are buried together in the Ballarat Cemetery, Lutheran Section 5, Grave 4. 

Otto built what appears to be a medium sized circular kiln on the seven-acre property near to the Lal Lal Brick Works and proceeded to make a wide variety of domestic pottery.  No known examples of his work survive, but he is reported to have made teapots, jugs and milk setting dishes for skimming clotted cream.  I don’t know if he stamped or marked his work.  It is also reported that he used kaolin clays from the area, kaolin is generally used to make china or porcelain but it is uncertain what material he used.  There was excellent clay on the site that he would have used.  The kaolin deposits are a little way out of town.  Polish pottery has been made from a type of white clay found only in the Boleslawiec region.  This pottery is fired at temperatures in excess of 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit.  They used lead and cadmium free glazes. 

The Remains of Otto’s Kiln in 1951

The photographs of his kiln at Lal Lal, (possibly earlier than 1951) shows a type that may not have been capable of achieving the temperatures needed for porcelain, but I could be wrong.  The terms are sometimes interchangeable; it is different to China, which is softer and fired at a lower temperature.  China is fired at 1,204 degrees Celsius and Porcelain at 1,454 degrees Celsius.  China is opaque and porcelain is translucent.  Fragments obtained on-site show that it is most likely that he made some tin glazed earthenware, popular at the time and giving the appearance of china. 

This appears to be the remnant of a type of what is known as a bottle kiln.  So named because of the shape.  The top section appears to be missing from the photograph.  What you see is the outer section known as a “hovel” which acts as a flue to create air-flow through the kiln and remove smoke.  It also acts as an outer skin to protect the inner chamber from the outside.  There is an inner chamber known as the “dome” that holds the pottery.  

The iron bands, known as “bonts” hold the kiln together during the expansion and contraction caused through firing.  The doorway was sufficiently high to allow Otto to go inside with a “sagger” on his head.  A sagger is a container of pottery.  There were a number of “firemouths” around the kiln.  The number of these is not known.  Inside the kiln, above the firemouth was a “bag”, their purpose is to direct the fire underneath and protect the saggers.  There were also flues underneath the firemouth to direct the heat to the interior of the kiln.  In the centre of the floor was a well hole.  A chimney is placed over the well hole to direct the smoke out of the kiln.  This is known as the “pipe bung.”  

Otto may have been influenced by Johann Gottleib Altman, a Prussian (1801-1885) who began working in the 1830s.  Altman made patterned products applying a clear glaze and firing the work at a high temperature, between 2 & 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  This resulted in a durable product with the white background made by the clay.  Known as Bunzlauerware, it is a form of high-fired earthenware.  Although none of Otto’s pottery is known to exist, the site of his kiln does.  This site is still littered with broken bricks and pottery apparently dating from his day.  Otto made glazed earthenware, including transfer printed ware judging by some of the pieces still lying around. 

Wherever pottery is made, large quantities of broken pottery (wasters) are found.  Broken, distorted and over-fired pottery is always found in great quantities close to the kiln as a large percentage of pottery fired in a kiln ends up unable to be sold.  It seems that some of his output was similar to the dark brown glazed earthenware so common and popular in the day.  Next time you see an old brown jug in an antique store, it may be one of his.  The site at Lal Lal is littered with small pieces of broken white china and earthenware.  The old kiln is long gone, but a circle of bricks in the rear yard may show where it once stood.

The Steinkraus Home, Lal Lal in 1971

Otto was described in the “Courier” on the 27^th of May 1964 as “Ballarat’s First Potter.”  This is simply not true.  There were many people operating brick works in Ballarat prior to Otto’s arrival and several of them produced pottery, for example the Ballarat Pottery operated by Robert Smith in Mopoke Gully.  On Thursday the 26^th of January 1869, the “Star” had an article listing many of the types of pottery produced there.   (See my post online on Smiths Steam Brick Pipe & Pottery Company.)

Otto and Florentine would sell his pottery door-to-door in and around Ballarat. These trips would often involve overnight stays in Ballarat.  There is a reference to Mr.s Steinkraus sleeping in barns or under the cart.  Sometimes she accepted offers of accommodation. Described in his day as being very courteous and around 5’6” tall with a full figure, Otto drove a long-shaft wagon pulled by a “baldy faced horse.  This describes a horse with a very wide blaze extending to, or past the eyes.  Some, but not all bald face horses also have blue eyes.  Although not recorded, I consider that the wagon would be a two-wheel, straight-shafted type.  He is also recorded as being kind to his horse, coaxing it on with a handful of hay, rather than the whip.

The story of the Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company really begins when Ballarat Architect, William Miller approached Otto to ask him to make a particular type of chimney pot.  Otto had been producing some pottery products for the building trade.  So far, writers have told Otto’s story but not so much those of his customers.  They were Frederick Sutton, George William Clegg and William Miller.  Clegg and Miller were Architects and Fred was described as an Importer but was a son of the Sutton’s Music Store founder.  

George William Clegg (1870-1958) was an Architect who had an office in the London and Lancashire Chambers in Lydiard Street Ballarat.  He designed the Titanic Memorial Bandstand in Sturt Street in 1915 and the Protestant Hall.  He had previously been in partnership with William Miller and W.G Kell when they designed the second storey to the Council Chambers in 1898, a grandstand and St Patrick’s Hall in 1900.  George later went into partnership with Morrow when they designed additions to the School of Mines in 1914/15 and another bandstand in 1922.  Gilbert and Clegg are credited with designing a residence at 802 Sturt Street, but this is unsubstantiated.  Frederick Sutton (1863 – 1927) lived at “St Hilary, 116 Webster Street and was a member of the Suttons music family.  He is described in the Ballarat and District Directory as being an “Importer.”

(Ballarat A Guide to Buildings and areas 1851 – 1940 Jacobs, Lewis,Vines & Aitken - Hedges and Bell 1981)

(Frederick was the brother of Henry Sutton, one of the great minds of his age and very under appreciated today.)

William Miller asked Otto why he was not making roofing tiles.  Otto replied that although the clay on site was excellent for the purpose, he was too old at age 62 to go into such a large   new business. 

The Architectural firm of Clegg and Miller began in 1905 and was located at 5 Lydiard Street Ballarat.  It was a large practice with clients in Ballarat and throughout the wider district.  Part of their business was the importation of French roofing tiles and English slate for roofing.  After due diligence, the Architects purchased the pottery and engaged Otto as their Works Manager.  The property occupied by the Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company Limited bounded by Stawell, Charlesworth and Ross Streets Ballarat was not all on the one title.  It was described as being Section “Y”, parts 4, 4a and 5.

The Works in 1930.  The building to the right was their office in Charlesworth Street.  Mr Heathcote is standing on the verandah.  The wooden buildings to the centre-left were destroyed by fire in 1936.  The Works Manager, Mr W.E. Grey is in the centre of the group (the one with the tie).  Very few of the others are identified.

Section 4 was the first and largest parcel to be sold to the Company on the 15^th of June 1915, followed by Section 5 on the 26^th of June 1838, then Section 4a on the 15^th of October 1942.  This was a tiny parcel that appears to have been incorrectly surveyed originally and had been included in Section 6, owned by neighbour Mr. M.A.Feary.  Section 4 had been held by “Miners Right” by the Company Accountant Mr. Frederick George Hook (1886-1959).  Although the company occupied the site, only an individual could hold a Miners Right.

On the 29^th of July, 1936, Frederick assigned his right to the Company.  The allotment of 1 acre was later sold to the company in April 1938 for seventy-five pounds.  Although the area remained Crown Land, Council rates were still paid by the occupants.

The equipment purchased and used at Eureka is not recorded.  Steam was the source of power at most works at the time.  A list of equipment used at the Creswick Brick Tile and Pottery Company may be instructive.  It consisted of;

“To tile, brick and pipe manufacturers : important sale by auction of 16-inch cylinder engine, Cornish flue boiler, 7 feet Chilian mill, with perforated bottom; clay mixing machine, pug mill, pipe making machine, pipe trimming machine, 40 lb. and 14 lb. rails, 3 circular brick kilns, several galvanised iron and W.B. buildings, freehold and leasehold land : at the North Creswick Brick, Tile and Pottery works : by order of M. Batkin, Esq. Wednesday, 30th January, 1929, at 2 o'clock sharp.”

The process is the same in any steam powered works.  There are four parts to the process. 

1, A form of combustion, either coal or timber was used to fire the boiler.

2, A boiler full of water to be heated and turned to steam.

3, An engine, consisting of a cylinder and piston.  Steam from the boiler is piped into the cylinder making the piston move up and down along it.  This in and out movement is known as “reciprocating”& used to turn a drive wheel.

4, The machinery attached to the piston.  In the case of the Tile Works, this was the crusher for the clay and the Tile Press.

A “Cornish Flue Boiler” was popular among mining companies in the area.  This was the most common type of internally fired boiler in use at the time, along with the Lancashire Boiler.  They consisted of a cylindrical shell with flat ends, or “heads”.  The boiler is traversed from end to end by a large, often corrugated flue, or fire tube.  The corrugations add to its strength.  The fire burns within the flue on a grate at each end of the boiler and the gasses produced are returned alongside the outside of the shell, imparting more heat to the water in the boiler.  The large flue can also have strengthening rings fixed at intervals.

A Chilean Mill was a device first used in Ballarat to break up gold-bearing rock.  They were originally driven by horse-power.  A poor sad horse would spend its days endlessly walking in circles to turn the rollers.  In the Tile Works, it was steam-powered and was used to crush the clay and shale prior to moulding the tiles.  The device comprised two rotating stone or metal wheels that revolved over a depression filled with clay or shale. 

These rollers are on display at Brickmakers Park, Stamford Road in Oakleigh

Making tiles at the time was 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 tiles could be ruined.  Making tiles was a 24hour per day job and many batches of under fired tiles were made during this period when fires were not maintained and temperatures fell inside the kilns.  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.  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 were exploited to manufacture bricks, tiles and pipes and the forests and woodlands that previously existed in such abundance were used to fire the 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. 

W.H.Rocke & Co first imported “Marseilles” tiles to Australia in 1886.  Originally grey in colour, they were soon being made in the now familiar red terra cotta used in what was called the “Queen Anne” style and after a slow start, became the most prolific roofing material used, first in Sydney, then later Melbourne and the rest of Australia.   Rocke was originally a furniture company, but after early imports dried up during the depression of the 1890s, they were taken over by Wunderlich who began making their own version.

Imports of tiles again dried up in 1915 and local makers looked to local engineers to make machinery to produce roofing tiles.  George Foster & Sons eventually produced the “Foster Pentagon Drum Machine’ capable of churning out 5,000 tiles a day.  It is likely that this is what was in use in Ballarat.  Wunderlich in New South Wales had pioneered the manufacture of the “Marseilles” tile in Australia and by the mid 1930s; they were making them in there millions.  Economies of scale meant that most of the smaller companies could not compete and were soon out of business.

Wunderlich was a family business started by Ernest, Julius and Frederick Wunderlich.  The firm grew into a highly successful company with branches in all Australian States and in Wellington, New Zealand. Wunderlich Ltd was the first Australian firm to introduce a 44-hour week without a pay reduction (1908) and in 1914 started a profit-sharing scheme for employees.

The type of tile they produced was a form of the “Marseilles” tile.  Until World War 1, most roofing tiles were imported, but when imports ceased, local makers filled the void.  First made in France in 1874, they became popular when the moulds and presses were sold as a package deal.  They became the first world standard for roofing tiles and it was this style that Eureka made.  Eureka were an exception, commencing tile production earlier than World War 1

The “Marseilles” tiles can best be described as interlocking tiles with both the top and side locking into another tile.  This improves both wind and water protection and is also a good noise and heat insulator.  This type of tile is the most used today and is what most of us would regard as a standard roof tile.  

This is an example of a Marseilles tile made by The Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company Ltd.  Like bricks, roof tiles were made close to the source of clay.  Terracotta tiles have been used for millennia because of their ease of manufacture and durability.  Even though concrete tiles are now popular, terracotta retains its reputation as a better product.  Warranties for concrete tiles are around half as long as those for terracotta.

1.   The process of tile making began with the extraction of the clay.  Mixing several types of clay sometimes made tiles, or rock like material but the shale of Ballarat was ideal for roofing tiles.

2.   The mixed clay was stockpiled to age the material.3.  The clay was then blended by an apron feeder, a series of steel pans attached to a chain drive that drew the crushed clay from the stockpile at a controlled speed and thickness.4.   The blended clay was fed into a wet pan where it was extruded through a perforated   floor.5.   The clay was then crushed through differential rollers set about 1.5 metres apart.6.   The clay then went through a second set of rollers about .75 metres apart.7.   The now powdered mixture was then fed into a store mixer.8.   The clay was then extruded through a pug mill and cut into lengths to form batts.9.   The batts were fed into a mechanical press that formed them into the required shape and size.10. These “green” tiles were then stacked in a stillage. (A pallet or skid with a cage or sides or some form of support tailored to the material it is intended to carry.  Some designs are stackable.)11.  Tiles were air-dried until the moisture content was significantly reduced.12.  The downdraught kilns fired the tiles.The fired tiles were sorted and stacked.

The site is now occupied by businesses not involved in tile manufacturing.

Kiln Types

Rather than describe the kilns in use at each of the works in Ballarat, it is probably better to generically cover the types of kilns they used, otherwise I would be repeating the same thing over and over.  Brick kilns first started in pits then walls were added.  As mentioned earlier, these are known as “Clamps.” that were ventilated at the top, rather than have a chimney.  Building a tall chimney stack, allowed the fire to burn more efficiently by improving air flow or “draw” through the kiln.  The bricks produced by Clamps were not of high quality.   Variations of the different kilns have been invented over the years with varying degrees of efficiency and cost, but all kilns fall into one, or both, of two categories: Downdraught and Tunnel.  More about Tunnel Kilns later.

Intermittent

As the name implies, these are used to make individual batches one at a time.  Usually these kilns are either clamps or rectangular downdraught kilns that are sealed or “scoved” by smearing wet clay over any openings.  Much like rendering a house, and the internal temperature increased according to a specific process or timetable. After the firing process is complete, both the kiln and tiles are cooled. The kiln is left to cool sufficiently before the tiles can be removed.  Due to the relative ease and cost of construction these are the kilns types were primarily used in one-man operations with low volume output.  No details of the type of works Otto had in Ballarat now exist but it is reasonable to assume that it was initially a type of bottle kiln or a clamp, followed by a Scotch Kiln.

Tasks

At the time, most of tasks at the Tile Works were performed manually.  From digging the clay, to loading the fired tiles, the work was hot, dirty and physically demanding.  Although no records still exist, it is reasonable to assume that the workers at the tile works may have been paid at fairly low rates.  A leading hand made sure that work continued.  Pitmen were either covered in dust or mud, depending on the weather.

Pitmen

The process began with the Pitmen who dug the clay from the pit.  This was done with pick and shovel into a steel truck.  The truck was then wheeled on a steel rail track to a collection point or tipped into a cart.  Work in the pit was captive to the vagaries of climate.  If the weather was too wet, no work was done and the men did not get paid. At the time, horses pulled carts of clay to an elevator in the pit that took the clay to the top.  Clay was transported the short distance to the works where it was stored under cover until needed for processing.

Clay or shale was originally removed and broken up from the face by using a “spalling hammer.”  Spallers had a high incidence of eye-injury as eye protection in earlier times was not mandatory.  Small trolleys of up to one ton were filled by hand and pushed along narrow-gauge rails to either a “truck hole” where the contents were tipped into a skip that was then hauled up an inclined cable railway to the brick works.  The bottom of the pit may have had a network of rails. 

  

Other names for pitmen were Quarrymen, Shooters, Jumpermen or Breakers.  They also dug drains and sump-holes to keep the quarry face clear.  The Clay Getter-gets clay and a General Hand did anything else.  Pitmen worked by removing clay from a series of descending horizontal terraces, by digging, filling and wheeling away the clay.  Quarrying soft clay doesn’t need explosives but was done either by hand or mechanical excavator with continuous buckets.  

Clay was stored and left to partially dry before being crushed and fed into a Pugmill.  This was a large wooden vat with a central shaft with paddles attached.  A horse was hitched to a large horizontal pole attached to the shaft.  The horse spent its days walking around and around, mixing the clay and water (pug).

This Pugmill was used at the Ordish Brickworks in Dandenong and is similar to those used at other works.  Some works had their crushers located in the clay pit where the crushed clay was then transported by a conveyor direct to the works.  This had the benefit of separating a very dusty part of the process, and allowing wind to disperse the dust within the pit.

For the purpose of storing and protecting mined clay, a large drying shed would have been built.  This shed would have been a large open sided area with a corrugated iron roof.  The open sides allowed for airflow and the sides could be enclosed if the weather was inclement.  Clay was stored before going into a hopper at one end of the process and “green” (unfired) bricks were stored there for drying for up to a week before being loaded into the kiln.

Drying Shed at Eureka Tiles

A hopper fed the clay into a press and the green tiles were wheeled to the drying shed.  The wheelers then took the “dry” tiles to the kiln.  Wheelers were the people who pushed wooden barrows of tiles to the Setters or from the Draggers.  Generally, the rule of thumb was that the load should not exceed 50kg.  The centre of gravity of the load was the determinant.  Usually it did not go above the height of the wheelbarrow handle when the wheeler was standing upright.

Setters

A setter does all the work inside the kilns.  Green tiles are soft and require careful handling during this process. Work is restricted only by the capacity of the tile making machines.  In some works, tiles arrived at the kiln in the form they were placed inside, so the setter just ran them in using an overhead carrier.  This was usually done in a Clamp, (or Scove Kiln) not other types of kiln.  

Tiles were set in rows or “bolts.”  A good setter would arrange the ends of the tiles in the bolts so you could see from the front end of the stack, to the back.  This lets the air flow uninterrupted so the steam in the drying stage and the gasses in the firing stage can pass without staining the tiles.  Tiles are set as close to the roof as possible in an arched kiln to reduce the effects of hot air rising.  As the stack rises, the space between the tiles is reduced.  Setters must keep the rows in line with the flues to ensure proper airflow.  Sometime a Setter will also build flues into the stacks to aid airflow.   Supervision of Setters was essential to ensure the correct positioning of tiles in the kiln.  Even firing results in even tiles.  When the kiln is opened, the fired tiles were then sorted, as they were unloaded.

Unloaders

Burners

The most important and specialized job at the works was that of a Burner.  They were responsible for controlling the temperature of the fire.  This job was to ensure that opening and closing the flues allowing heat into the chamber controlled the drying process and shrinkage. 

Controlling the evaporation of moisture from and around the tiles was the first stage of a Burners duties.  As around 20% of the raw tile was water, evaporation was essential.  Initially, the heat of the kiln heated the water in the tile, causing it to expand and turn to steam.  This is the “baking” stage.  Burning is complete when the fired tile does not shrink any more and has a distinct ring when hit with a metal object.  This is where the burner’s skill comes in because if the tiles are fired too long, they begin to distort.  There is not much of a difference between a fired tile and a “blown” tile.   A Burner would judge the firing by the colour of the fire inside the kiln.  Depending on wind direction, smoke would settle over the surrounding area.  This created problems when washing was drying on clothes-lines. 

Draggers

Unloading a kiln was another specialized job.  In larger companies, the job of loading and unloading was split between the Setters who loaded the tile into the kiln and the Draggers who unloaded them.  This was not a popular job.  Sometimes the Draggers would have their trousers catch fire because of the heat from the tiles.  To combat the effects of heat, Draggers would wear leather or rubber “mits” or “cots.”   They consumed copious quantities of water, along with salt tablets.  Beer was generally an after hours essential.  It was hot, dirty work.  Draggers would load tiles onto a trolley, usually made of wood, with a rubber wheel. 

 The different types of clay around Ballarat produced bricks and tiles of varying colour and quality.  These tiles were produced initially in a “Scotch Kiln.”  In the English-speaking world, this is the term for a kiln used to make a smaller supply of bricks.  It is also known as a Dutch or Scove Kiln.  It is the type of kiln most commonly used in the low volume manufacture of tiles.  

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 tiles set in clay.  There are several openings called fire-holes, or " eyes," made of firebricks and fire clay, opposite one another. 

Tile Colour

The naturally occurring minerals that are kiln fired to burn in their colour and strength determined the colour of clay bricks and tiles.  The composition of the raw materials as well as the firing process would cause each batch to differ.  The resultant colour variation was inherent in the process and part of the visual appeal of the tiles.  Usually those tiles contained approximate amounts of the following ingredients:

Silica (sand) between 50% to 60% by weight

Alumina (clay) between 20% to 30% by weight

Lime between 2 to 5% by weight

Iron oxide up to 7% by weight

Magnesia – less than 1% by weight

Colour is not only determined by the colour of the clay and its chemical composition, but also:

The colour of the sand used in the moulding;

The moisture content before firing;

The fuel used to fire the kiln;

The volume of air during firing; and

The temperature in the kiln during firing.

Tiles

What is a terra cotta tile?  Put simply, they 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 41/4” x 2 ¼ inches became common, although variations in size continued.  In 1849 the Statute Brick was required to be this size.  Today, 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 4:2:1 is standard.  Clay bricks and tiles come in several basic types;

The clay for stiff plastic tiles has slightly higher water content (up to 17%).  The clay is forced under pressure from an auger into a mould.  A different machine is needed to make wire-cut tiles. The water content is higher again (up to 25%).  The clay is forced using an auger into a conical tube tapering to a die.  The resulting rectangular sausage of clay is then cut into tiles by a wire or wires. Extruded tiles are usually smooth but can also have a pattern or texture applied.

  

As an example, these are the Scotch Kilns at Wonthaggi with the brick making plant behind.  Note the timber for fuel stacked around the kiln.

After the dried tiles are loaded into the kiln, the ends or wickets are built up, and plastered over (or scoved) with clay. At first the fires are kept low, simply to drive off the moisture.  After about three days the steam ceases to rise and the fires are allowed to burn up briskly.  The draught is regulated by partially stopping the fire-holes with clay, and by covering the top of the kiln with old bricks, boards, or earth, so as to keep in the heat.

It takes between 48 to 60 hours for the tiles to be sufficiently fired, and they will have shrunk to the appropriate size.  The fire-holes are then completely sealed with clay (scoved) and all air excluded.  The kiln is then allowed to cool gradually.

De-aired tiles made by vacuum extrusion were still in the future and local bricks were fired in a variety of wood and coal fired periodic kilns.  The ability to control temperatures was still more art than science.  High temperatures in the kiln produced high-strength bricks.  Areas in the kiln with lower temperatures produced lower quality bricks.  This resulted in a variety of colour and absorption rates.

Fuel

Size Of Kiln

Time Of Burning And Production

Tunnel Kiln

About a half-ton of soft coal is required for burning 1000 tiles. The exact quantity depends upon the type of clay, quality of fuel, and the skill in setting the kiln.  Most Scotch Kilns were fired with wood.  This wood was cut into lengths of around 1 metre.  Some Scotch Kilns were fired with half wood, half coal.  Some with just coal, others, just wood, depending on the quality of the coal.

A convenient size for a Scotch kiln is about 60 feet by 11 feet internal dimensions, and 12 feet high. This will contain about 80,000 bricks. The fire-holes are 3 feet apart. These kilns are often made 12 feet wide, but 11 feet is enough to burn through properly.  The existing pictures of the Wonthaggi kiln show a much smaller kiln (or kilns) of around 20 to 30,000 bricks per firing.  This is likely to have been the size of the original kiln at Eureka.

A kiln takes on an average a week to burn, and, including the time required for crowding and emptying, it may be burnt about once every three weeks, or ten times in an average season.  This will produce about 400 to 600,000 bricks or tiles which is about as many as would be turned out by two hand moulders in full work.  The tiles in the centre of the kiln are generally well burnt.  Those at the bottom are likely to be very hard, some clinkered. 

Those at the top are often badly burnt, soft, and unfit for exterior work. It took one week to stack and arrange the bricks or tiles in the kiln.  It took another week to fire them, consisting of three days to dry out the bricks or tiles and four days at 2000 degrees Celsius.  It took another week to unpack.  These kilns usually had metal bracing to prevent them from falling apart during firing.  This sometimes consisted of pieces of old steel railway track buried vertically about one and a half meters into the ground at regular intervals around the kilns.  These posts went to roof height and metal strapping or bars were fixed horizontally around the kiln to brace the brickwork. 

At the time, these kilns were rare in Australia but were quite common in the United States, with over 600 being used.  This was what was in use later at Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company.  The Commonwealth Brick works in Canberra had two, and one was used in Hobart.  Selkirks in Ballarat had also built a tunnel kiln in the early 1960s.  A tunnel kiln is a type known as a continuous flow kiln.  Tunnel Kilns were a later addition that consisted of a long straight “tunnel” through which the tiles pass on trolleys through the various stages of cooking.  The initial drying stage is first, then warming, firing, and cooling.

A tunnel kiln, as the name implies, is a tunnel of firebricks approximately 4’6” wide, with a 6’ high arched roof.  The firebricks are about 12’ Square and about 6” thick.  The tunnel itself can be up to 300’ long.  The Ballarat kiln was not that long.  The floor of the kiln was fitted with rails along which a series of kiln cars progress.  Sand filled troughs were fitted along the sides of the rails and the space between the rails was used as a cooling and inspection chamber.  Furnace oil was used as a fuel.

Cross Section of a Tunnel Kiln

At the entrance to the kiln, a double lock gate was installed to permit the entrance to be air-tight.  An hydraulic ram pushed the last kiln car into the tunnel.  Because all the cars were connected, this meant that the first car with the fired tiles was pushed out the other end.  The kiln cars were made of metal and had four wheels.  They had metal strips to the side to fit with the side troughs to form a heat seal.  The kiln cars carried firebrick on the bottom to also form a heat seal and provide insulation between the kiln and rails and the metal undercarriage of the cars.  The top of the kiln cars were also covered with refractory material.

There were openings in the roof and sides of the firing zone.  This was a forced-draught system that allowed hot gasses to be directed to the pre-heating and drying zones.  It also removed waste gas from the feeding section.  Rails, trucks and transfer platforms were there to allow transfer from the tile making plant, the unloading section and back to the tile making plant.

Tiles were fed on a conveyor belt from the tile making section onto the kiln cars.  The setting station could raise the kiln cars to simplify the setting of tiles on the cars.  Loaded cars were either loaded into the kiln, or set aside for firing as time permitted, either at night or during quiet times. 

At intervals of about one hour, a car was pushed into the air lock chamber of the kiln.  After the outer door was closed, the green (unfired) tiles were pushed by the hydraulic pusher into the first zone.  This served as a drying zone and was fed with waste gasses.  The tiles were heated to higher temperatures as they progressed through the kiln.  They went through a pre-heating zone before going into the firing zone for a relatively short time.  After being fire, the tiles went through a cooling zone where they cooled sufficiently to be handled.

After firing, the tiles moved to the unloading zone where they were unloaded and stored awaiting loading onto trucks for delivery.  Sometimes they were loaded directly onto trucks.  The kiln cars were then ready for re-use.  

There were many advantages of a tunnel kiln

·        The amount of staff needed was about 30% less than traditional brick making; for example, a kiln attendant could operate the oil firing as well as operating the kiln cars;

·        Fuel costs were significantly lower, being 1/3 less than coal fired kilns;  oil was more expensive, but produced a more uniform heat with less rejects.  Oil was fed automatically and did not need a firer like those at a Hoffman kiln.  Thermal efficiency was much better than coal.  (In the day, this was 18,500 BTUs for oil and 13,500 to 14,500 BTUs for black coal.)

·        Heat was constant and did not fluctuate like other continuous kilns.

·        Maintenance and upkeep costs were lower because there was not the constant expansion and contraction experienced in Hoffman kilns.

·        Heat control means better firing and product uniformity.  

The Firing Area of a Tunnel Kiln Installed at the Colac Brickworks

Bricks being loaded into a Tunnel Kiln at the Colac Brick Works in the 1950s.  Note the metal skirt under the kiln car, the brick insulation under and over the bricks.  The outer gate is visible at the top of the picture.

Brick, Tile and Pottery Workers

There are many different tasks undertaken at a brick or tile works.  These depend on the type of work and the type of kiln.  Modern automated works have caused the loss of many of these occupations, having only quarrymen at the beginning of the process and unloaders at the other.  Until the 1970s, there were different employment categories for men, women and juniors.  Female rates were about 1/3 less than the rate for males and the junior rate was about 1/3 of the adult rate.  The following is a list of categories from the Department of Labour and Industry Pottery Board in September 1968.

These many skills were developed and employed at a brick, tile or pipe works.  As plant became larger and more sophisticated, so too was the division of labour.  Because most  works are now almost fully automated.  These skills are no longer performed.  Sometimes when special orders for hand made bricks at one of the few surviving smaller specialist works comes in, some of the skills are still used.

  

Leading Hand

A leading hand that was a person who assumes any responsibility other than that customarily done by an ordinary employee usually controlled the manual work in the works.  They were usually men of long experience in most, if not all facets of brick making who would assume the responsibility of training all the other workers in their tasks.  An additional wage loading was paid to a Leading Hand.

Pitwork

Quarrymen, Shooters or Jumpermen worked in the pit and were also known as pitmen or breakers.  They also dug drains and sump-holes to keep the quarry face clear.  The Clay Getter-gets clay and a General Hand do anything else.  Pitmen worked by removing clay from a series of descending horizontal terraces, by digging, filling and wheeling away the clay.  Quarrying soft clay doesn’t need explosives but was done either by hand or mechanical excavator with continuous buckets.  Later dragline excavators or power shovels were used.  This does not leave loose material on the face as it leaves a smooth surface.

Setters

A Setter or Stacker does all the work inside the kilns.  Green bricks and tiles are soft and require careful handling during this process. Work is restricted only by the capacity of the  machines.  Up to 3 setters could work in a kiln.  Bricks or tiles were brought to the door of the kiln and the setters would place them inside.  In some works, bricks or tiles arrived at the kiln in the form they were placed inside, so the setter just ran them in using an overhead carrier.  This was usually done in a Clamp, not other types of kiln.  A good Setter could place up to 70,000 bricks per day.  

For this rate to be achieved, a conveyor delivered the bricks or tiles to the Setter and could be adjusted to the height of the stack as it became progressively higher. 

Bricks or tiles are set in rows or “bolts.”  A good setter would arrange the ends of the bricks in the bolts so you could see from the front end of the stack, to the back.  This lets the air flow uninterrupted so the steam in the drying stage and the gasses in the firing stage can pass without staining the bricks.  Bricks or tiles are set as close to the roof as possible in an arched kiln to reduce the effects of hot air rising.  As the stack rises, the space between the bricks is reduced. 

Setters must keep the rows in line with the flues to ensure proper airflow.  Sometime a Setter will also build flues into the stacks to aid airflow.  Setters placed the bricks or tiles  in rows called “blades.”  Each blade was made up of 1000 bricks or tiles, 50 long and 20 high.  Usually, to make a stack, two blades were made together and supported at heights of 5, 10 and 15 bricks high.  Supervision of Setters was essential to ensure the correct positioning of bricks or tiles  in the kiln.  Even firing results in even bricks or tiles.  When the kiln is opened, the fired bricks and tiles were then sorted, as they were unloaded, usually into “firsts”, “seconds” and “clinkers.”   Salary was dependent on the type of kiln.

Draggers

Unloading a kiln was another specialized job.  In larger companies, the job of loading and unloading was split between the Setters who loaded the bricks or tiles into the kiln and the Draggers who unloaded them.  This was not a popular job.  Sometimes the Draggers would have their trousers catch fire because of the heat from the bricks.  This sometimes happened on Fridays when the fire would catch up with the bricks or tiles .  To combat the effects of heat, Draggers would wear leather or rubber “mits” or “cots.”   Draggers consumed copious quantities of water, along with salt tablets.  It was hot, dirty work.  Draggers would load bricks or tiles onto a trolley, usually made of wood. 

Wheelers

Wheelers were the people who pushed the wooden barrows of bricks or tiles to the Setters or from the Draggers.  Generally, the rule of thumb was that the load should not exceed 50kg.  The centre of gravity of the load was the determinant.  Usually it did not go above the height of the wheelbarrow handle when the wheeler was standing upright.

  

Clay Pipes (Males)

Automatic Extruder Operator (i.e. a man operating extrusion, dressing and loading machinery)

Automatic Machine Loader and Unloader Assistant

Bitumen Jointer

Burner

Clayhole Men (Employer to provide tools)

Drawer (i.e. drawing inside kiln)

Drawer, other

Drying Room Attendant

Feeder of Pipe Machine

Greenware Sorter

Grinding Attendant

Hand Feeder of Raw or Burnt Clay into crusher or grinding pan

Junction Sticker and/or Knocker Operator

Junction Repairer of Burnt Ware

Kiln Labourer (i.e. a person whose duties comprise assisting a Placer, Drawer Setter or Tunnel Kiln Operator and/or the cleaning of fire holes and/or flues)

Machine Rigger

Mandril Operator

Man carrying or wheeling into or out of kiln or to or away from kiln

Man in charge of Pug or Mixer Machine

Man operating or taking off machine making Siphons, D traps, inlets and the like

Man taking off Pipe Machine

Man sorting pipes

Man working Pipe Flanging Machine

Man boring or using explosives

Mouldmaker

Packer of goods into Railway Trucks

Pipe or bend dresser

Pipe Cutter of burnt ware

Presser

Setter (i.e. setting inside kiln)

Setter, other

Tunnel Kiln Operator

Hand Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Kiln Placer and/or Unloader

Man Hand Pressing dust tiles or working semi-automatic tile press

Slip House Attendant

Tunnel Kiln Operator

  

Dust Tile Making (Females)

Automatic Glazing Machine Attendant, including Feeder and/or Cranker

Boxer, including Tile Sorters

Hand Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Insulator Making (Males)

Burnt Ware Sorter

Caster

Clay Shaper

Driller and/or Grinder of unburn ware

Glazer

Greenware Sorter

Grinder of burnt ware required using calipers

Grinder of burnt ware other, 1^st six months experience

Jolly Hand and/or Profiler (including semi-automatic machines) 1^st six months experience

Jug Cutter

Kiln Car Placer and/or other Unloader

Male Machine Operator

Man cementing and/or leading insulators

Man sanding insulators

Mill Room Hand

Mould Maker

Packer

Presser (screw and lever type inclusive)

Presser (automatic)

Pug Mill Hand

Sagger Maker

Sagger Maker’s Assistant

Setter inside kiln

Thrower-1^st six months experience

            Thereafter

Tunnel Kiln Operator

Turner (required to use calipers) 1^st six months experience

            Thereafter

Turner other 1^st six months experience

            Thereafter

Assemblers

Bitumen Sprayer

Cleaners and Finishers

Glazer

Glazer’s Attendant

Glazing Machine Attendant (Automatic)

Jug Trimmer

Packer of Fired Ware

Machine Operator

Placer

Presser (screw or lever type)

Press Operator (Automatic)

Spray Operator

Test Room Hand

Turner (required to use calipers) 1^st six months experience

            Thereafter

Turner, other 1^st six months experience

            Thereafter

Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Jigger Hand (including semi-automatic machine)

Jolly Hand (including semi-automatic machine)

Mouldmaker

Placer and/or Drawer

Polisher of Glazed Ware

Slip House Attendant

Tunnel Kiln Operator

Cup and Caster Sponger

Dipper

Fixing handles and/or spouts

Gilder on glaze, Gilder, Bander, Stamper

Handle Maker

Handle Trimmer and/or Cutter

Jigger Hand (including semi-automatic machine)

Jolly Hand (including semi-automatic machine)

Packer/ Carton Packer

Polisher of glazed ware

Tower

Transferer-slide on

Caster-Sanitary Ware

Caster-other

Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Grader of Glazed Ware

Green Ware Inspector

Grinder of Burnt Ware

Hand Feeder of raw or burnt clay into crusher or grinding pan

Kiln Car Placer and/or Unloader and/or other Placer

Man fixing handles or spouts

Mouldmaker  (blocks and cases)

Mouldmaker (other)

Packer

Slip House Attendant

Tunnel Kiln Operator

Turner, Jolly Hand and Jigger Hand (including semi automatic machine)

Caster-Sanitary Ware

Caster-other

Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Fixer of Handles or Spouts

Jug Trimmer

Packer

Turner, Jolly Hand and Jigger Hand (including semi automatic machine)

Caster-(other)

Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Mouldmaker

Packer

Placer and/or Unloader

Slip House Attendant

Dipper and/or Spray Operator

Examiner and/or Finisher of Green Ware

Packer

Placer and/or Drawer

One of the most productive areas often overlooked when reporting on brick or tile making is the use of explosives to loosen the clay or shale.  In the end, it was explosives that caused the closure of a number of quarries close to populated areas.  Councils, including Ballarat passed by-laws prohibiting the use of explosives. 

Using explosives for blasting is sometimes necessary for the recovery of clay or shale in many quarries. Blasting can cause noise and vibration that have an impact on the surrounding environment. Proper security of explosives and control of blasting practices is necessary to ensure the safety of employees and the protection of the community and environment from adverse effects.

Blasting will result in both ground and airborne vibration. The latter commonly includes both audible noise and vibration known as air blast, that causes objects to rattle and make noise. At the levels experienced from blasting associated with quarrying, structural damage to adjoining properties is unlikely to occur. In addition, the noise levels experienced from blasting at a quarry site, are unlikely to cause any hearing damage to anyone outside the worksite.  Duties include;

check blasting areas to make sure that safety regulations are met

cut channels under working faces

check borehole depths and ensure that they are clean

decide quantity of explosives required

insert detonators and charges into holes

connect and test or inspect the blasting circuit

fire charges

inspect the area to make sure all explosives have been detonated

check site safety after blasting (falling rock hazards, underground mine roof supports and harmful fumes, for example), and declare the area safe

Annoyance and discomfort from blasting can occur when noise startles individuals or when air blast or ground vibration causes vibration of windows or other items at a sensitive Site. The degree of annoyance will therefore be influenced by the level of air blast and vibration as well as factors such as the time of day, the frequency of occurrence and the sensitivity of individuals.

In most cases, a competent operator can reasonably predict the level of air blast and ground vibration.  However the generation and transmission of air blast and ground vibration is affected by a number of factors including blast design, meteorology (particularly wind speed and direction and temperature inversions), topography, geology and soil water content.  It is possible that on some occasions the level of air blast and/or ground vibration will exceed the predicted levels.  These days, several people are involved when once, only a Shot Firer was used.  Shot firers assemble, position and detonate explosives to break or dislodge rock and soil or to demolish structures. 

Security of explosives was viewed somewhat flexibly in former days.  Some were stored in sheds secured with a bolt and padlock.  Sometimes, the explosives were stored in a dugout in the quarry with a loose fitting door.  There were several thefts of explosives and detonators from often poorly secured stores.

Creswick Powder Magazine

Hand operated jumper bars were used in most pits until the introduction of electric rotary rock drills.  Explosives are now electrically fired, making the process safer.  This is now the only method used in pits today.  The use of a “cuddy” or safety shield is also mandatory.  The dangerous practice of “bulling”, or dropping explosives with the fuse lit into a hole by hand or using a tamping rod has now thankfully passed into history.

Following an explosion, “barring down”, or manually clearing loose clay or shale from the face was done.  An early safety device was to tie a rope around the waist of the worker in case of a collapse on the face.  Even hard-hats were not worn.  Later, safety belts and hard hats were made mandatory.   Softer clay was loosened by hand or mechanically.  Shale was then removed using a power shovel or excavator.

This image shows a quarry worker gently pushing an explosive charge down a hole bored in the rock. The reel next to his right foot contains a cable to permit detonation from a safe distance. The work is hot, dirty and dangerous.  As well as the obvious trauma hazard, this procedure (shot-blasting) can generate large concentrations of silica dust.

Silicosis is a serious and progressive disease. The term mixed dust fibrosis describes the pulmonary disorder caused by the inhalation of silica dust simultaneously with another non-fibrogenic dust.  Most dust particles in a brick works settled quickly as they were large and were stopped by the nasal passages.  Finer particles of less than.0002” were dangerous, but Government testing found no particles that exceeded the minimum standard.  To reduce dust inside the works, grinding was done outside where the wind dispersed the dust.  Good in summer but quite cold in winter.

Clay or shale was originally removed and broken up from the face by using a “spalling hammer.”  Spallers had a high incidence of eye-injury as eye protection in earlier times was not mandatory.  Small trolleys of up to one ton were filled by hand and pushed along narrow-gauge rails to either a “truck hole” where the contents were tipped into a skip that was then hauled up an inclined cable railway to the brick works.  The bottom of the pit may have had a network of rails.  Later, bulldozers were used to push the clay to the conveyor.  This is many times more efficient than by hand.

Some brick and tile works had their crushers located in the clay pit where the crushed clay was then transported by a conveyor direct to the works.  This had the benefit of separating a very dusty part of the process, and allowing wind to disperse the dust within the pit. 

Clay came originally quarried from the pit nearby and brought to the works by conveyor.  It was milled while still moist and went through a pug mill where it emerged as a continuous mass onto a roller table where it was cut into blocks.  These blocks were transported into a double-sided press where they were shaped into tiles.  Excess water was expelled during pressing.  At the Eureka Tile Works, the green tiles moved from the press onto a conveyor belt where they were trimmed by hand of any surplus clay.  

Tiles were then put onto trays and moved to the drying racks where they dried for up to two weeks.  They then moved to the drying floor where they were placed on racks to dry.  After drying, they were packed onto a barrow that was placed onto a lift and lowered to where they were loaded into the kiln.  The dried tiles were fired in stages at up to 1100C.  After cooling, the fired tiles were removed, graded and stored ready for shipping. Drying was done upstairs where the heat from the kiln was ducted to aid the process.  They dried for up to two weeks. 

Evans Brothers Tile Works, Oakleigh, Late 1940s

 Tile Cleaning, Evans Brothers Oakleigh 1947

As seen here, bricks and tiles had there rough edges trimmed.  Here, workers use their hands. but often a wire called a “bow” was used on the soft clay in the moulds.

The following information was given to me by Pauline Holloway who had obtained it from Max Phillips.  Max has done an excellent job compiling it.  I have modified it somewhat to make it more current.  As discussed previously, the Architectural firm of Messrs George W Clegg and William Miller of 5 Lydiard St, established in 1905, was enjoying a very extensive practice throughout Ballarat and country districts and was engaged in importing French terra cotta tiles and English slates for roof construction.

William Miller approached a potter, August E (Otto) Steinkraus, who owned and operated a pottery on the site adjacent to the Eureka Stockade Reserve where the former Eureka Tiles Pty Ltd office and factory still stand, to enquire about a special chimney pot and asked the potter why he did not make roofing tiles. The potter replied he had excellent clays for the purpose but was too old to be launching out into an extensive industry.  Otto Steinkraus would have been 62 years of age at the time.

After some investigations Messrs Clegg and Miller purchased the pottery and started the first roof tile manufacturing factory in the State. The business started off in a small way in a building about 100 ft long by 30 ft wide with one small kiln, and according to an article in the edition of the Ballarat Courier on the 27^th of October 1911, they engaged the potter Steinkraus as manager. The article read:-  "An industry which is likely to give a large amount of employment in the near future has been thoroughly established in Ballarat East.  We refer to the Eureka pottery, established under the management of Mr. A E Steinkraus.  Machinery has been installed for all kinds of pottery ware; but the chief product will be roofing tiles and fancy terra cotta ware.  An interesting exhibit of terra cotta ware is now on show at Gordon Bros".

An early photograph of the works from around 1930

The first batches of tiles were made with the machinery imported from England only to discover that the clay was not entirely suitable which necessitated research for a suitable deposit of clay. From investigations, it was discovered that the clay deposits from certain abandoned sluicing and dredging claims proved on analysis to contain pure terra cotta clays. These were possibly more valuable than the gold extracted from them previously, being in readily workable form. Immediate steps were taken to secure the clay to last the Company in excess of fifty years, and at the inaugural meeting held on the 12 th of April 1913, the proprietary company “Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Co Pty Ltd, came into being with a working capital of 10,000 pounds. This amount was expended during the next 12 months building workshops to cover an area of over half an-acre, with two modern kilns and machinery to produce 5000 tiles per day.

Early success in firing roof tiles prompted further expansion and it was decided to float the venture into a public company. Even at this early stage, over 100 separate items were being fired by the company, including chimney pots, fancy ridging and hips; besides many attractive gable finials.  Capital of 100,000 pounds in shares of one pound each was sought in a prospectus drawn up by the promoters. Provisional directors of the new company were :- 

Frederick Sutton, Esq; (Suttons Pty Ltd., of Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo and

Geelong), chairman.

Frank Hermarn Esq. (Goller and Co Pty Ltd., Ballarat);

John Robertson Wotherspoorq Esq. (Wotherspoon and Co., Merchants, Beaufort);

George William Clegg, Esq. (Clegg and Miller, Architects, Ballarat);

Hugh Victor McKay (Manufacturer, Sunshine) who was to join the board after the company' s incorporation.  The first secretary and one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the company was architect William Miller and works manager, Matthew Kemp.

The public company, named the “Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Co of Australia Ltd.", was duly formed in May 1914, and took over the existing factory and plant of the proprietary company, together with the lease of some 100 acres of valuable terra cotta clay deposits around Ballarat, Creswick and Castlemaine. These creamy, non-adhesive clays proved to be almost grit free and an enormous asset to the company.  The free flowing character of this material enabled the Eureka factory to mould its Marseilles tiles direct from iron dies; a far more efficient method than the plaster of paris dies employed by French manufacturers at the time. Also it appeared that no other area in Australia could offer such a concentration of suitable clays as Ballarat.

The park at Lake Esmond in Ballarat was once a quarry used by The Eureka Tile Company, as was a large area of land now intersected by the freeway to the north of Ballarat at what was then between Haynes and Lofven streets.

After the successful floatation and registration of the company, the factory was developed on a much larger scale.  A further six kilns were added to total eight kilns, and the output capacity of the company was in excess of 3,000,000 tiles per annum. The factory covered nearly three acres of ground and was situated on six and a half acres, in the vicinity of the Eureka Stockade Reserve.  At this stage the paid up capital was 52,250 pounds.

The result was the production of terra cotta articles of such high finish colour, texture and durability as to command a market far outside the Ballarat district. Melbourne and Geelong and other centers were soon seeking supplies from the new company that never looked back. The interest shown by Melbourne architects in the company's products was such that an office was established in South Melbourne.

A controversial railway spur line which was to be constructed through the Eureka Stockade Reserve was eventually passed by council on 30^th of June 1916, after considering the many objections by local organizations and residents, it was built through the works to bring in fuel and raw materials, and around the company's yard to give easy access for the loading of the company's products to be transported to Melbourne and Geelong.

This is the loading area of the spur line installed in 1916/1917 at the works.

It was the Board's policy to update with more modern and efficient machinery as the plant needed to be replaced, and in 1919  they decided to send William Miller to America to investigate the latest development in plant for the production of clay products for the building industry.  On his return considerable improvements were made to the plant.  The company, through the introduction of other varieties of tiles, such as English shingle, Spanish “Cordova” and the “Hughes Armstrong " tile for which Eureka Tile Co held the patent rights, was then recognized by leading architects as the most enterprising tile manufacturer in Australia.

From the mid 1920's through to the early 1930's there was a severe down turn in the building industry and the supply from the roofing tile industry, which by this time had increased to 20 manufacturers, greatly exceeded demand. The Eureka Tile Company however, under the works management of Mr. F W (Fred) Hammer and later Mr. W (Billy) Guy, an unorthodox cricketer of note, had been able to maintain its position due to ihe special goods manufactured to suit architects requirements, and had undoubtedly built up a great goodwill for the future.

An industrial chemist, Mr. Norm Grifiiths, a graduate from the Perth University, was employed by the company to test the properties of clay and, with the assistance of management, develop new products. One of the products developed was the company's registered “tapestry brick” which was produced in multi colours from the wide range of clays available and from firing and glazing techniques. The tapestry bricks, with a range of textured faces, were used for decorative fireplaces and special features etc and commanded a large market.

Orders were coming in from different parts of Victoria and Australia, including Canberra.  The factory was working at full capacity with sufficient orders for months ahead, when on the 6^th of October 1934, the factory buildings and plant were completely destroyed by fire.

Many predicted that the fire was the death knell of this promising industry but the Directors, Messrs J Wotherspoon (chairman), F Herman and W Carthew, held a meeting on the afternoon of the fire and, with an estimated loss of 25,000 pounds and insurance coverage of 15,000 pounds (the insurance coverage was reduced during the depression years), decided that as far as possible activities would carry on and it would be "business as usual". At this time Mr. W R (Bill) Lewis was secretary/manager and Mr. A E (Sonny) Mark, a well known Ballarat sportsman, was Works Manager.

After much discussion as to whether the factory should be relocated to Melbourne where the principal market existed, the Board decided to rebuild on the existing site because of the availability of the Ballarat clays which were far superior than clays available elsewhere.  The factory was replaced by a modern steel girder construction and the latest tile making equipment purchased from overseas.  The clay grinders and extruders were of Australian manufacture.  Fortunately, the kilns and their contents survived the fire but all other work in progress along with 200,000 pine drying trays was destroyed.

The tile pressing machines in use before the fire left excess clay at the edges of the tiles that was trimmed off by female employees after the tiles were dried.  The imported machines were fitted with trimming knives that resulted in tiles free from excess clay at the edges thus eliminating the need for female labour. Some of the ladies employed worked for a few weeks after the fire to assist with the re-establishment of the factory after which it became an all male environment.

The companies products continued to be in demand after the rebuilding of the factory and management launched into an extensive development program to satisfy architects requirements, such as an extended range of coloured roofing tiles to give an alternative to the red tiles normally produced, accessories such as ridging and valleys for the English shingle tile, extended range of texture bricks, terra cotta lumber for high rise buildings (hollow ware), quarry tiles, pavement tiles, heeler bricks and other decorative articles made from clay which were used in buildings.

The market continued to expand during the latter half of the 1930's to the Western District and the Wimmera and interest was shown from architects in Adelaide. The Melbourne market remained strong and some of the buildings that Eureka supplied materials for were the Royal College of Surgeons, Comedy Theatre, Commonwealth buildings, eight buildings for the Bank of New South Wales, hospitals and numerous residences in Toorak.

One of the most prestigious buildings for which Eureka supplied most of the materials was the Littlejohn Memorial Chapel at Scotch College, Melbourne. The three young architects who designed the building made personal enquiries before they completed their specifications, as they were anxious to include special features and were looking for a manufacturer who could supply them. The product was “Rippletex” bricks with many shapes manually made on a specially designed table with a perpendicular wire supported from its center. A template for the required shape would be placed on the extruded "green' brick and passed around the wire. Mi H R (Bert) Parsons, works foreman in the 50's and 60's, stated that winning the Scotch College contract pre-war provided the company with much needed work when building activity was low and resulted in maintaining the workforce;

Littlejohn Memorial Chapel

as many of the key personnel joined the services. Eureka contributed by supplying acid resistant ceramic rings for vats that were used at the Ballarat Gun-Cotton factory. Acid-resistant ceramic rings are widely used in refineries, chemical engineering, acid plants, gas plants, oxygen plants, steel plants and pharmaceutical plants. They are mainly used as linings of reaction vessel in washing towers, cooling towers, reclaiming towers, desulphurization towers, drying towers and absorbing towers. They can also be used as lining bricks in anti-corrosion pools and channels.

These are two segments of an Acid Resistant Ceramic ring made by Eureka during the 2nd World War for making Gun-Cotton.  This also known as Nitrocellulose which is a highly flammable compound formed by treating cotton wool (cellulose) with a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and sulphuric acid. The resulting material looks like ordinary cotton wool but it burns much more fiercely, in a sudden flash. Only gaseous products are formed, so the combustion is ashless.

After the war years and into the early 1950's the demand for roofing tiles was such that clients who were seeking a quotation were told that it would be a nine months wait and that they should look for an alternative.

Another initiative taken by the Board in 1949 was to apply for an allocation of timber from the Forest Commission and establish the company's own sawmill to produce hardwood battens for the construction of tile roofs, as it was company policy to install the complete roof to new buildings with the specialized staff employed for that purpose.  The demand for hardwood timber for house framing from the sawmills was such that 2" x 1" battens were in short supply. The mill was built, commissioned and managed by Cr A E (Alex) Mills who became sales manager in 1959. The Board of Directors, under the chairmanship of Mr. L H Vernon, continued to increase the capacity of the plant and in 1959 extended the building, and installed two additional oil fired kilns, each with a capacity of 25,000 tiles, tile making equipment and a larger capacity extruder for building accessories with a major update of the clay grinding and screening plant.  At this time, the manager Mr. W R Lewis, who commenced with tile company in 1923, resigned through ill health.  Mr. L T (Len) Izard was appointed general manager in 1960. The severe recession in the early 60's, (known as the “credit squeeze”) and the competition from concrete roof tiles resulted in a build up of stock and it was at this stage, as suggested by Mr. Vernon, products for the domestic market were designed. These included sill tiles as an alternative to bricks on edge for window-sills in brick veneers, and capping blocks and capping bricks for brick fence construction. These products were sought-after as brick manufacturers turned from pressing solid bricks to extruding perforated bricks, a technology which had been mastered and used by the Eureka Tile Company more than 30 years previous. Under the management of Mr. lzard to combat the increasing acceptance of the cheaper concrete roof tile long-term employee Mr. Alex McNeiI was given the task of visiting builders in country Victoria to promote the company's product, as the company never had the need for such representation in the past. The company streamlined the production to meet the sales forecast and introduced a bonus scheme based on volume and quality. Unfortunately the use of the railway for delivering the company's products to intra and inter state became too expensive because of the double handling and was dispensed with in favour of road transport which could deliver direct to the building sites.  Palletization of the products and forklift truck loading of transports followed. Further improvements were made with the installation of an “humidity dryer”, using the latest technology of heating the products through in a humid atmosphere before-extracting moisture.   With this method the tiles could be dried from the time of pressing and racking in 36 hours compared to the previous time of up to seven days, depending on climatic conditions. The latest method developed in Europe for the production of "quarry 'tiles” for floors was to extrude the tiles in pairs, back to back cut to length automatically by a machine developed in Switzerland for that purpose, and separated after firing as part of the grading process.  The Eureka Tile Company was one of the first to purchase the extrusion dies from Germany and introduced the "split tile" as an Australian made tile for the Australian market. To keep abreast of the-latest developments in the clay industry a de-airing extruder was installed in 1967 for the production of building accessories, Mr. Gratton Shiel, the Chief manager of Brick and Pipe Industries, Melbourne was appointed to the Board and on his recommendation two gas fired shuttle kilns were installed in 1969/70 for the firing of floor tiles etc, and two additional de-airing extruders in 1970/7.  The grinding equipment was up-dated with the latest technology in "multi-deck"' screening to double the prepared raw material output.   The Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company Pty Ltd still maintained its position with the best-equipped factory in Australia for the production of all types of clay roof tiles and clay building accessories with the further ability to manufacture world-class floor tiles.  In 1970, Mr. Izard resigned his position as Manager to return to the Country Roads Board in his position as a Civil Engineer.  The installation and commissioning of the new plant was left in the hands of factory management headed by Works Manager Mr. S A (Syd) Robinson, who retired in 1971 after fifty-one years service. A modern equivalent of the de-airing extruder produced by the same company that made the machine in 1967. After this time, things started to change.  This article appeared in the Melbourne “AGE” newspaper on the 7th of March 1973. This article appeared in the Melbourne “AGE” on the 30th of November 1972. Hebrides Equities was a company registered in Gibraltar No 01594) now defunct.  Soon after this takeover, the new owners began to sell off the assets.  On the 2nd of April 1973, PGH Industries Ltd purchased the property and equipment and began trading as “Eureka Ceramics.”  In 1974, Eureka Ceramics and PGH Quarry Tile were merged and combined with their Sydney PGH works at the outer suburb of Woodcroft.  This new entity was named “PGH Eureka Ceramics.”  The next act in this part of the story took place on the second of May 1974 when the Eureka Terra Cotta and Tile Company of Australia Limited was de-listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.  The name was changed to Eureka Australian Assets Limited.  This company was also de-listed, this time on the 30th of June 1976.  P.G.H. Eureka Ceramics was deregistered as a business on the 5th of November 1985. In 1982, their parent company was taken over by ACI (Australia) Ltd who were taken over in 1989 by the English company, BTR Nylex Ltd.  They sold off most of the ACI holdings but kept PGH Eureka Ceramics.  On the 3rd of July 1991,a notice appeared in the Victorian Government Gazette stating that Eureka Ceramics had abandoned their application for a mining lease. In 1992, the Woodcroft plant closed and was their bathroom products division was relocated to Ballarat where Eureka Tiles Pty Ltd once again became a privately owned company.  Eureka Tiles was majority owned by an Australian private equity company, Catalyst, following a management buyout in 1997.  Eureka Tiles, which had two plants in Ballarat employing about 90 people, was Australia's largest tile producer. This continued until May 2002 when the company was bought out by Brickworks Limited.  They combined with the Austral Tile Company and continued under the name “Eureka Tiles Australia.”   Austral Tiles Pty Ltd, wholly owned by Brickworks, paid $12.75 million for Eureka, which has an annual production capacity of one million square metres of unglazed and glazed floor tiles and more than 200,000 units of bathroom fittings.  The acquisition includes $9.6 million in land, plant and equipment and $4.7 million in inventories.  Eureka Tiles Australia Limited closed on the 23rd of December 2009 citing cheap Asian imports and the strong Australian Dollar as reasons for the closure.  There were 24 employees at that time, an indication of how automation had impacted the industry.