By his own admission, Thomas Mewburn was the earliest
brick maker in Ballarat. Little
information is available about him other than him operating in Inkerman Gully
(Ballarat North). It is likely,
although not certain that his brickworks was in Simpson Street on the site of
the Inkerman Gully Playground and reserve.
At the time, he would have made bricks by hand. I have seen one example that is hand made
and stamped with a metal brand “T Mewburn” on one face. This was most likely made in a Scotch Kiln, like
many other makers of the day.
Thomas, a brick maker (1816 - 1902) was born in Huxworth
on Tees, County Durham. He married Jane
Hurst on the 21st of August 1837 at Deanne Bolton, Lancashire. They had 9 children, including a son, also
named Thomas Thomas (Snr) died in 1902
in Ballarat, Australia at 86 years of age.
He is buried in the Old Ballarat Cemetery, Area Private D Section 13
Graves 16 & 17. His son George
(1846-1918) was also a Brickmaker in Ballarat.
He advertised his bricks often and invited people to visit
his brickworks to see the quality of his bricks compared to other makers. He says the brick works was the “top brick
yard Inkerman Gully.” In 1858, he began
making fire bricks, advertising them as being “tested in five successive
meltings of a blast furnace; the result is in every way, satisfactory.” The number of blast furnaces in use in
Ballarat at that time would not have been large.
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