Glew

Glew, John 1822-1893

 John was born in Yorkshire, England in 1822.  He arrived in Victoria as an assisted migrant on the 4^th of April 1849 on the ship “Mary Shepherd.”  A job for John was arranged on his arrival to  work with brick maker Thomas Manallack for a few weeks in his Brunswick brick yard, the first in the area.  It is said that this was where he learned brickmaking, but because he arrived as an assited migrant, I believe that he must have already a competent Brickmaker.  An earlier story about John in 1931 confirms this.

(http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/4415581?sarchTerm=john%20glew%20brick&searchLimits=l-title=13|||sortby=dateAsc|||l-category=Article )

John then purchased a small piece of land close to the Moonee Ponds Creek in Hodgson Street Phillipstown, (an early name for Brunswick) and started brickmaking and quarrying in June 1849, a business he continued for the next eleven years.  For the first six months he worked alone and then engaged two men.  In 1860 he started a second yard in Brunswick and in 1866 bought the business of Pohlmans Paddock brickmaking Company off Orrong Road which he carried on for six or seven years.  (That's POHLMAN, not POHEMAN as some others report.  Polhlman was R.W.Pohlman, an early settler and landowner in Prahran.)  When this pit was worked out he set up another in Barkly Street East.

The prefabricated iron houses from England he erected for his employees still stand in Brunswick Road.  Clay and stone were found in many parts of the district and most of Brunswick's parks, apart from Brunswick Park and Warr Park, are filled-in quarry holes.  John got an honourable mention for his bricks and tiles at the International Exhibition of 1862.

About 1871 he opened another brick yard at Essendon and at that time was carrying on the four places and employing an average of fifty hands, which number he kept up for a period of over twenty years, turning out upwards of 4,000,000 bricks a year.  Mr Glew retired from business in 1884 and paid a visit to the old country in 1886.  He has been connected with the Brunswick Council for thirteen years and was at one time Mayor of the Borough. 

While in business, Mr Glew did a great deal of Government work and supplied bricks for the Treasury, Parliament Houses, Post Office, Town Hall and many of the principal buildings of the colony.  He was the first to introduce fancy white bricks into Victoria and was awarded first prize for bricks, tiles etc. at he London Exhibition 1850-51 and at Dublin in 1865 for Terra Cotta ware.

Two years before his death, John moved to Ocean Grove, on Victoria’s west coast, now a popular seaside holiday destination.  He died aged 71 years there on Friday the 29^th of September 1893.  He is buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery.

 Glew, Samuel  

Brunswick, was born in Melbourne and after working for a number of years with his father, John Glew, took over his brick and tile making business during 1884, in Brunswick at Weston Street.  He employed on an average from sixteen to eighteen hands in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and fancy brick-work.  All bricks from this establishement were hand made and turned out at a rate of from 20,000 to 25,000 per week.

Glew Samuel  -1879

Son of William

Glew, William 1809-1898

Arrived in Victoria aboard the “Western Empire” in August 1870 with his son, also William and after working with John Glew for two years as a brick-carter, commenced brick making on a site in Orrong Road, Armadale in 1872.  He employed an average of twelve hands, and turned out from 30,000 to 35,000 bricks per week, all of which were hand made and of the ordinary description, the clay being hoisted by horse-power.  His business was principally confined to contract works in various suburbs, especially Prahran.

The depression in Victoria was a tough time for almost everyone, brick makers included.  Rising costs and low prices forced a forerunner to the brick Co-operative.  This was formed in 1892 and was called the “Brickmasters Association.”  Comprising;

The Northcote Brick Company Limited

The Hoffman Patent Steam Brick Company Limited

The Wilmore Brick Company Limited

The South Preston P Brick & Tile Company Limited

The Builders Brick & Tile Supply Company Limited

The South Brunswick Brick Company Limited

The New Northcote Brick Company Limited

 The Walkerden F Brick & Tile Company Limited

The Upper Hawthorn Brick Company Limited

The John Glew Brick Company

The Blackburn Brick Company

Cornwell’s Pottery & Brick Works.

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