The Thin Clay Line

MITCHAM, VERMONT AND TUNSTALL

The start of the Pottery and Brickworks industry in Mitcham in the 1880s

After the railway line from Camberwell to Lilydale was completed in 1882 a number of brickworks/potteries opened in Mitcham and ran along the southern side of Whitehorse Rd from Springvale Rd to Heatherdale Rd in the east.

An article in November 1887 in The Argus newspaper paints a positive future for Mitcham:

‘The future of Mitcham promises to be one of unsurpassed prosperity. The wonderful clay deposits in the neighbourhood are only just commencing to be opened up, and experts pronounce the quality of clay to be fully equal to anything to be found in the world. This clay, which abounds throughout the district, is capable of being manufactured into every description of pottery, from the ordinary bricks of daily use to the finest qualities of china’

In 1888 Mitcham was being promoted by real estate agents as ‘the future Stafford of Australia’ a reference to Staffordshire in England which at that time was renowned for its pottery.

There were four brickworks/potteries that were established in Mitcham on the southern side of Whitehorse Rd between Rooks and Mitcham Rds. on Lot 120 (150 acres) over a five-year period in the 1880s. These included the Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co., Mitcham Central Brick Co., Australian Tessellated Tile Co. and Monarch Brick Co. The other three brickworks that were established nearby included the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co., Metropolitan Steam Brick Co. and the East Mitcham Pottery Co. The last pottery/brick works to be established in the area was the A. Geal Pottery Works in c1902 and the Wunderlich Tile Works c1924.

Lot 120 (151 acres) was first owned by William Harding in 1858 and ran west along the southern side of Whitehorse Rd from Mitcham Rd to Rooks Rd, south along Rooks Rd to Lucknow St and east to Mitcham Rd.

In 1861 William Harding sold his land to Thomas Parsons who immediately subdivided it into five Lots. He then sold one Lot each to William McGlone - a Mitcham resident and pioneer, Thomas Richards - also a Mitcham resident and to Patrick Gilligan. Then again in 1864 Thomas Parsons sold another Lot to Henry Emery and kept the final Lot for himself.

THE MITCHAM BRICK AND POTTERY CO. - ESTABLISHED c1885

In c1885 the Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. purchased these fifty acres of land from Mitcham resident and pioneer William J McGlone.

The Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. was located close to the southwestern corner of Whitehorse and Mitcham Rd’s. The site ran along the southern side of Whitehorse Rd from Mitcham Rd in the east to approximately 514 Whitehorse Rd in the west and finished to the south at approximately Lucknow St.

On January 6, 1886, the first general meeting of the Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. shareholders was held. At the meeting a report which was submitted stated ‘that the company had purchased 50 acres of freehold property at Mitcham for £5000, which contained extensive deposits of the finest brick and pottery clay and was now being worked’.

On May 14, 1886, a notice in The Argus newspaper mentions ‘The ANNUAL MEETING, Advertised to be held This Day, at 8 p. m., is hereby POSTPONED Until THURSDAY 27th day of May’.

It appears that the directors were planning to start further excavations on the site as on June 1886 in The Herald newspaper it reported ‘Mitcham Brick and Pottery Company wherein the presence of quartz in that district to be verified, and it is the immediate intention of the directors to prospect the property, with a view to ascertain if it would be desirable to open a shaft on the ground’. But it appears that the site did not contain quartz.

Quartz was used in 19th-century Australian pottery production, often as a component of kaolinite-quartz clays found in regional Victorian deposits, such as those near Bendigo. These clays were used for various ceramic products, while milled quartz cobbles from gold mine dumps provided a source of high-purity silica for ceramics and other industries in Victoria.

On October 5, 1887, the Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. was put up for sale and was sold at auction on the 28th. Perhaps the lack of this quartz resource may have been one of the reasons leading to the sale of the site.

In an article in November 1887 in The Argus newspaper mentions ‘The Mitcham Brick and Pottery Company is likely to be soon started again under vigorous management, and steps have been taken for establishing; another large factory, which will shortly commence operations’.

It appears that the brick works did not start up again as there are no records of a brick works operating on this site after 1887.

THE MITCHAM CENTRAL BRICK CO. - ESTABLISHED 1888

In 1888 the Mitcham Central Brick Co. bought approximately 51 acres of land in Mitcham to establish a brick works. The brick works were located on fifty-one acres of land that ran along the southern side of Whitehorse Rd from Station St in the east to approximately 484 Whitehorse Rd to the west and finished to the south at approximately Lucknow St. The Mitcham Central Brick Co. was on the western side of the Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co.

There appears to be very little information about the Mitcham Central Brick Co. in the newspapers and other resources. But I did find an advertisement in the Lilydale Express newspaper in August 1888 placed by the then manager J.J Westwood of the brickworks for ‘2000 tonnes of kiln firewood’ and one in November in The Age newspaper for ‘brick yard hands’.

I also found a reference to the brickworks in an article in The Age newspaper in March 1889 in regard to the insolvency case of a Gustave Lachal who had ‘one- third interest in 51 acres at Mitcham, known as Mitcham Central Brick Company (exclusive of stock, plant and machinery).’

It appears that Gustave had formed a syndicate with Joseph Roff and C. S. Patterson to buy 50 acres of land in Mitcham through Charles McDowall a local land agent. Charles McDowall was a Surrey Hills resident and was involved in a number of issues in the area. You can read about Charles McDowall on the Mont Albert Station page on this website.

Isaac and Joseph Roff are later recorded as the owners of the 51-acre site in Mitcham.

After March 1889 the Mitcham Central Brick Co. appears to have closed down after only two years of operations.

In 1892 Isaac Roff died and, in his Will, he made his son in law William Kemp his Executor. In Isaacs Will it shows that he was still the owner of the land where the Mitcham Central Brick Co. was located.

In 1902 The Reporter - Box Hill newspaper mentions a George Kemp in relation to the land ‘In reply to your letter re valuation of land at Mitcham, owned by Mr. Kemp, as executor in the late Isaac Roff's estate, and described as brickworks, and 50 acres, section 130, situated off Mitcham road……... I have inspected the property, and based my valuation upon a capital value of the land without any improvement., the words "brick works" being simply descriptive, so as to define the location of same…’

This appears to show that the land was still owned by the Kemp/Roff family and that the brick works are not operating. At this time George Kemp was living on Schwerkolt Rd, Mitcham.

THE AUSTRALIAN TESSELATED TILE CO. – ESTABLISHED 1885

Around 1884 brothers Albert, Walter and Arthur Wiseman joined with Frank Stuart and John McCutcheon to form a syndicate to establish a brick works in Mitcham. Box Hill resident Albert Rawlings would later join the brickworks as an ‘acting manager’.

In 1885 the syndicate purchased 20 acres of land from Thomas Richards, set up a brick works and named it the ‘The Australasian Brick, Pipe and Tesselated Tile Company’ and began producing bricks and stoneware pipes on the site in small quantities. The site of the brickworks ran along the southern side of Whitehorse Rd from approximately 484 Whitehorse Rd on the east to Richards St in the west and finished to the south at approximately Lucknow St. The Australasian Brick, Pipe and Tesselated Tile Company’ was on the western side of the Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co.

The Wiseman brothers were partners in the merchant firm Wiseman & Co. and were land speculators, businessman and philanthropists. Albert and Arthur Wiseman were the main partners in the Glenroy Land Company. In 1886 the Glenroy Land Co bought a large farm which they planned to subdivide and sell off. The area where the farm was located would later be known as the suburb of Glenroy. Albert Wiseman was also a director of the East Suburban Property Investment Co. in Mitcham.

In 1885 the Wiseman syndicate recruited Edgar E Walker as the ‘secretary’ and ‘manager’ of the newly created Australian Brick and Tesselated Tile Company which in 1886 began producing bricks, garden edgings, garden gutter tiles and agricultural pipes on a commercial scale whilst the equipment for making tessellated tiles was being assembled.

Edgar E Walker was born in 1862 in Northcote; Victoria and his parents were Alexander and Jeanie Rawline Walker (nee Edgar). Alexander was a partner in the merchant firm of Callender, Walker and Co. Alexander and Jeanie had six children Edgar, Helen, Stuart, Adele, Mary and Lizzie.

In 1870 Edgar’s father died in Essendon when he was eight years old and his mother died in 1872 in Carlton when he was 10 years old. I have been unable to find out who Edgar and his siblings were looked after by or how they coped financially after the death of their parents. The death of their parents would have been a very difficult time for Edgar and his siblings.

By 1874 Edgar aged 12 was employed as an apprentice by Henry Cawkwell the owner of the Australian Steam Tile Works in Malvern. The tileworks had been established in 1860 by Henry Cawkwell and became one of Victoria’s leading suppliers of mosaic and flooring tiles during the 1880s building boom and won awards at the 1880 International Exhibition in Melbourne. The Australian Mosaic Tile Works supplied tiles for many prestigious buildings across Victoria, including the former Victorian Railways Head Office in Spencer Street, the Parliament of Victoria building, various churches, and the Maryborough Railway Station.

The International Exhibition was opened In October 1880 at the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne, it ran for seven months and closed in April 1881. It was a huge success with 1.3 million people visiting it at the time when the population of Melbourne was only 250,000 people. There were 3,200 exhibitors from every state in Australia as well as from 33 countries including France, India, Belgium, Switzerland, United States, Germany, Italy and Japan.

In the Victorian pavilion Henry Cawkwell had two exhibits - the Australian Mosaic Tile Works and the Australian Steam Tile Works where they exhibited their products and services. In the Official record of the exhibition it mentions ‘In this section of the court has also been erected a mosaic tile-work pavilion by Mr. H. A. Cawkwell, Malvern, which, on account of the quality of the tiles and the many patterns of mosaic work displayed, is well worthy of inspection.’ The firm won a silver medal for its ornamental tiles and ‘H. A. Cawkwell, of Malvern, also carried off a first award for encaustic tiles, of excellent quality, being well made and durable’.

As part of the International Exhibition there was also a Melbourne Juvenile Industrial Exhibition and Edgar Walker won a silver medal which was mentioned in an article in the Telegraph, St Kilda, Prahran and South Yarra Guardian newspaper:

‘E. E. Walker, Malvern, collection of tiles, drainpipes, garden edgings, &c. Silver medal and £1 1s., both the gift of Temperance Societies; flooring tile specially commended by jurors’. Edgar continued working at the Australian Mosaic Tile Works.

Edgar would have known about the pottery/brickworks industry in Mitcham through his professional network as well as from prospectuses for new brickworks that were advertised in the newspapers. At this time, experienced people were sought after by competitors or syndicates interested in investing in potteries or brickworks and Edgar’s experience in working with the renowned Henry Cawkwell would have made him a valued employee. It is not known when and where Edgar Walker and the Wiseman syndicate met but it is likely that they had heard about Edgar and approached him with an offer to run their brickworks in Mitcham, as by 1886 at the age of 24 he was working there as ‘secretary’ and ‘manager’ of newly created Australian Brick and Tesselated Tile Co.

In January 1887 Edgar E Walker and Elizabeth Morgan were married in South Yarra. Edgar and Elizabeth had five children Edgar jnr., Alexander, Joseph, George, Walter and Edith. By February Edgar and his family were living in Mitcham.

The first advertisement for the brick works appears in The Argus newspaper for ‘SEPARATE TENDERS are invited until Thursday next, the 17th inst., for the ERECTION of WORKSHOPS at Mitcham for the Australian Brick and Tesselated Tile Company Limited, for labour and material and labour only respectively. Plans and specifications may be seen on and after Monday next, the 14th inst., at Messrs. Purches Bros, 217 Elizabeth-street Melbourne. Tenders to be addressed to "A Rawlings, Esq Box Hill” The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted E E WALKER, Manager’.

In 1888 the Centennial International Exhibition was held at the Royal Exhibition Buildings. Exhibitors came from around Australia and many countries including Austria, Belgium, France, New Caledonia, Algiers, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, United States of America, United Kingdom, British India, Ceylon and Mauritius. Two million people visited the exhibition, more than twice the number of people living in Melbourne at that time. The Australian Brick and Tesselated Tile Company won second prize for their pottery.

In 1890 the land boom in Victoria ended resulting in the collapse of many industries including the brick making and pottery industries. In the same year union and employer groups were arguing over wages and conditions while signs of a deep economic depression began to appear across Australia.

Also, a strike in Victoria was part of the larger, national Maritime Strike, which involved coal miners refusing to supply coal to non-union ships and striking alongside other unionised workers. The strike also affected the supply of coal to the brick making and pottery industry. Some brickworks and potteries resorted to using wood to keep their kilns operating and some closed down for the duration of the strike laying off hundreds of workers. The strike was a major industrial dispute that lasted two months and ended in defeat for the unions, with workers forced to accept lower wages.

In 1891 a delegation from the Boroondara Council visited the Australian Brick and Tesselated Tile Company’s warehouse to select floor tiles for the new Town Hall in Camberwell. During their visit ‘The visitors expressed themselves surprised at the splendid stock of tiles exhibited, and Cr. Maling, who, by the way, is in the building trade, signified that in future he should give Mitcham tiles the preference to imported ones, as he considered it the duty of everyone to support local industry where practicable’…………’Before leaving the acting manager (Mr. A. Rawlings) expressed his great' appreciation of the favor bestowed upon the company, as it would give them an opportunity of showing the public what work they could turn out’.

In September 1892 in The Age newspaper mentions: ‘An appeal was made to the Treasurer yesterday by the directors of the Australian Brick and Tile Company of Mitcham, and Mr. H. A. Cawkwell, of Malvern, who is also engaged in the same industry, to increase the duty on imported tiles from 20 to 35 percent. It was represented that the increased duty was necessary to stimulate the local industry, and to protect it against the cheap foreign made article’.

Also, in 1892 Edgar Walker was elected as a Councillor in the Nunawading Shire Council serving until 1899. In December Arthur Wiseman the partner in the firm of Wiseman & Co. died.

By September 1895 the company had changed its name to The Australian Tesselated Tile Co. and a second office was opened in Coppin St, Richmond.

In 1899 the well-known Melbourne racing identity J.M.V Smith purchased 600 acres of land in Bundoora which he named the Bundoora Park Estate. In 1900 he built a fourteen-room mansion on the estate with the interior tiles, terracotta ornaments and roofing tiles being supplied by Australian Tessellated Tile Co. The mansion is still there.

In 1902 Edgar was elected as Nunawading Shire President and served from 1902 to 1916. In December Walter Wiseman the partner in the firm of Wiseman & Co. died.

In 1906 Albert Wiseman the last remaining brother and partner in the firm of Wiseman & Co. died and in 1907 Edgar took full ownership of the Australian Tesselated Tile Co.

Edgar was very active in the community and was President of the Mitcham Football Club from 1903 to 1913, Patron of the Mitcham Cricket Club, A Trustee of the Mitcham and District Memorial Hall, Patron of the Mitcham - Vermont Alfred Hospital Auxiliary, Trustee of the Methodist Church and President of the National Federation Vermont – Mitcham branch (The National Federation was a political group supporting the Nationalist Party in the Federal Elections).

In 1908 the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was looking at ways of augmenting the water supply to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. After a number of meetings and reports the MBW selected the O’Shannessy River as the source for supplying water to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The scheme involved the building of a pipe from Warburton to a new service reservoir at Mitcham.

In 1909 the land that the MBW was interested in purchasing 21 acres of land for the reservoir in Mitcham. Ten acres of the land they were interested in belonged to the Australian Tessellated Tile Co. In an article in 1909 in The Age newspaper ‘At the meeting of the board on Tuesday the water supply committee will recommend, in connection with the acquirement from the shire council of Nunawading of ten acres of land; known as Walker Park, Mitcham, as portion of a. reservoir site, that £900 be paid in full settlement for the fee simple of the land, if the O’Shannessy scheme be carried out it will be necessary to have, a distributing reservoir at Mitcham’.

There appears to have been a number of protracted negotiations between Edgar Walker and the MBW over a number of years regarding the construction of the service reservoir and the asking price Edgar wanted for his land. The construction of the service reservoir was finally started in 1923 and completed in the same year.

Edgar E Walker was involved with the Mitcham Football Club for a number of years including as President from 1903 to 1913. For a number of years, the club played matches on Edgar’s land near his brick works and after a portion of his property was purchased by the MBW for a new service reservoir, the club moved to their current home at Walker Park on Whitehorse Rd, Mitcham in 1910.

The land where Walker Park is located was originally part of a 200-acre farm that had been in the Keogh family since the 1880s and was known locally as Keogh’s Paddock - in 1910 the farm was owned by Thomas W Keogh. The farm ran east from McCulloch St, Nunawading along the northern side of Whitehorse Rd to approximately Peel St, Mitcham.

On January 1, 1910, a ‘preliminary advertisement’ in The Age newspaper for the sale of Thomas Keogh’s land mentions:

‘The Nunawading Shire Council has purchased portion of this property for a park, and the remainder of the property will be cut up and sold’.

On January 21, 1910, the meeting minutes of the Nunawading Shire were reported in The Reporter -Box Hill newspaper mentions:

‘From T. W. Keogh, asking that as his land at Mitcham is being surveyed for subdivision, the shire engineer be sent up to select the ten acres required by the council for recreation reserve, at £40 per acre - Agreed to’.

On February 25, 1910, the meeting minutes of the Nunawading Shire regarding the building of a grandstand and pavilion in the recently purchased recreation reserve was reported in The Reporter Box Hill:

‘The Nunawading council, at its last meeting, adopted the proposal that a pavilion and grandstand be erected at Mitcham Park. Cr. Walker pointed out that the council had the money in hand for the work, and it should therefore be proceeded with at once. Cr. Hall agreed with this, and thought also that instead

of spending all the reserve money in one direction, provision should be made for the various sports of the different sections of the community. The engineer submitted plans for a proposed pavilion which he

estimated would cost £220. The reserves committee had recommended £200, and the engineer said that by omitting the lining boards he could erect the structure for that amount. Cr. Walker moved that the clause in the engineer's report which dealt with the matter be referred to the reserves committee.

This was seconded by Cr. Hall and carried. Cr. Chitty was elected to the reserves committee during the absence of Cr. Walker.’

The grandstand and pavilion were opened to the public in late 1910, the recreation reserve became the home of the Mitcham Football Club and was later named Walker Park.

In 1913 the Australian Tesselated Tile Co. supplied the floor tiles for the renovation of the entrance foyer of the State Library of Victoria.

In 1915 Edgar was the vice president of the Australian Protectionist Association. The Australian Protectionist Association was formed after Federation in c1901 to promote protectionist economic policies in Australia, particularly through tariffs on imported goods. At this time the Australian Tesselated Tile Co. opened a new showroom at 11 Queen St, Melbourne.

In February 1925 a number of companies involved in the production of pottery products in Australia submitted applications to the Tariff Board in Sydney in regard to increasing the duties on imported glazed and ceramic tiles. These companies included the Australian Tesselated Tile Co., Mitcham and Fowlers Limited. At this time British companies were the largest supplier and exporter of ceramic and glazed tiles into Australia and their Australian importers protested against the proposed increase. In September the Tariff Board ‘Upon the evidence adduced the board was, satisfied that Australian tile manufacturers in order to keep their factories going had been compelled to quote prices which allowed them practically no profit, and it recommended that instead of the existing duties new duties should be imposed’.

By the late 1920s the Australian Tesselated Tile Co. had established an office and showroom at 39 Pitt St, Sydney.

In 1927 the Brunswick City Council approved the construction of two swimming pools with the ceramic tiles being supplied by the Australian Tesselated Tile Co. and the pools were completed in 1929.

In 1929 the facilities of the Melbourne City Baths (west of the tennis Centre on the northern side of the Yarra River, demolished 1997) were upgraded including the construction of a new pool. As part of the upgrade 1,000,000 tiles were supplied by the Australian Tesselated Tile Co. Also, the construction of a new G J Coles building on Bourke St was completed and contained 2, 100,000 tiles that were also supplied by the Australian Tesselated Tile Co.

In May 1936 Elizabeth Walker died and Edgar E Walker died in July, both at Mitcham and both were buried in the Box Hill Cemetery.

After Edgar’s death the company continued operating under the management of his sons George, Alexander, Walter, Joseph and Edgar jnr.

In 1938 the company supplied the tiles for the new Box Hill Swimming Pool on Surrey Dr, Box Hill and the floor tiles for the entrance foyer of the new MLC building on the corner of Collins and Elizabeth St’s, Melbourne. For many years the company also supplied floor and wall tiles for hospitals, churches and public building around Australia.

The Australian Tesselated Tile Co. was acquired by Rocla Industries in 1960 and continued production until 1965 when the tile works were closed. In 1971 the tile works were demolished.

In an article in 1997 in the Whitehorse Post in regard to pottery that was made at the Australian Tesselated Tile Co. and was held in the collection of the Nunawading Historical Society (now the Whitehorse Historical Society) that was loaned to the Whitehorse council mentions:

‘One of the most famous companies in the area was the Australian Tesselated Tile Company of Mitcham…. A selection of tiles from the company will be on display at the Nunawading Civic Centre, Monday to Friday until May 30 as part of the Whitehorse City Culture Down Under Heritage Festival ...’

THE MONARCH BRICK CO. ALSO KNOWN AS THE MONARCH TILE WORKS -

ESTABLISHED EARLY 1880s

Around the early 1880s the Monarch Brick Co. bought approximately four acres from Thomas Scott to establish a brick works. The land where the brick works was located was on the south western corner of Whitehorse and Rooks Rd at the northern end of the 24 acres that was owned by Thomas Scott. The brick works were on the western side of the Australian Tessellated Tile Co.

Thomas Scott was born in Maryport, England in 1820 to John and Mary Ann Scott (nee Fuller). Thomas’s occupations were listed as ‘seaman’, ‘mate’ and ‘master’ in the British Merchant Navy.

In 1851 Thomas is recorded as living in Maryport, England but by c1875 he is living in Swanston St, Melbourne and his occupation is listed as ‘iron bedstead maker’.

In Melbourne Thomas Scott and Emma Elizabeth Weston were married and had eight children: Emma Cecilia, Emma jnr., Walter (b:1872 d:1872), Louisa, Janette, Walter (b:1877), William and John did not survive past infancy.

In 1885 Thomas and Emma’s son William was born in Box Hill. In an article about the Scott family in the Whitehorse Historical Society Newsletter, October 2023 by Barbara Gardiner she mentions:

‘In the 1880s they moved to Mitcham and lived in a bark hut in Queen Street. Thomas opened a business in Victoria (Rooks) Road, (opposite the site of what would later be the Migrant Hostel), manufacturing every description of light forged work, such as grid irons and meat stands. Eventually, he owned a large holding of land stretching from the Tessellated Tile land to Carween Avenue along Rooks Road’.

There is very little information in the newspapers and other resources about the brickworks on this site. But I did find an advertisement in 1888 for the auction of the brickworks that mentions:

‘…MCLURE, VALANTINE. and Co. have Instructions from Messrs. McLean and Co., to SELL on the ground (situated between the Metropolitan Brick Company and the Australian Tessellated Tile Works) All that valuable plant consisting... ‘smith's tools, belting, picks and shovels, 360ft of siding rails and sleepers, 48ft railway rails, lot of 5 x 3 quartering, 17 trucks and wheelbarrows, 1 ladder, lot tramway rails, cart wheels, and tramway plates. Tank, portable forge, Brickmaking machine, 1 Iron truck by Buncle, driving wheels and pulleys, wire cutting machine, two trolleys, 1 brick making machine, 1 iron truck, 1 tip truck, 1 galvanised Iron table 150,000 bricks, including those kilns, Weatherboard house 20 x 10. 3, 2 brick kilns 50x 25ft, galvanised roof, 1 brick kiln 21x 8ft, 1 brick kiln 26 x 26ft, galvanised roof, building. galvanised Iron, 50 x 46ft, 5 drying sheds 111 x 54ft, 4 drying sheds 130 x 4Sft. And a large quantity of building materials, tools, & too numerous to name in an advertisement’.

It appears that the land did not sell as the brickworks continued operating.

A strike in Victoria was part of the larger, national Maritime Strike, which involved coal miners refusing to supply coal to non-union ships and striking alongside other unionised workers. The strike also affected the supply of coal to the brick making and pottery industry. Some brickworks and potteries resorted to using wood or coal to keep their kilns operating and some closed down for the duration of the strike laying off hundreds of workers. The strike was a major industrial dispute that lasted two months and ended in defeat for the unions, with workers forced to accept lower wages.

In 1909 Thomas Scott died in Mitcham and was buried in the Box Hill Cemetery. In his Will Thomas left 22 acres of land to his wife Emma.

In 1915 Emma Scott subdivided the 22 acres and named it Scott’s Garden Estate. On the plan of the subdivision a Monarch Brickworks Co. is shown on the southern side of Whitehorse Rd. On the northern side of Scott St (now known as Thornton Cr) there is a house on the grounds of the brick works with the name ‘Mr. Scott’ next to it. It appears that the subdivision did not sell as the brick works were still there in 1918 when the Builders Trading and Roofing Company bought the brick works and made terracotta roofing tiles there until 1965.

Between 1965 and 1970 the brickworks were demolished and the land was redeveloped into an industrial park consisting of a number of small companies/businesses.

There were two buildings remaining from the former brickworks on the Southcorp site at 9 – 19 Thornton Cr. These two former brickwork buildings are mentioned in Andrew Wards 2001 heritage report, but they were both demolished between 2005 and 2015.

THE EAST MITCHAM BRICK AND POTTERY CO. ALSO KNOWN AS THE EAST MITCHAM

BRICK CO. – ESTABLISHED 1888

The East Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. was located on 276 acres of land that ran west from Heatherdale Rd along the southern side of Whitehorse Rd, to approximately Linlithgow St and south to Canterbury Rd and east to Heatherdale Rd.

In August 1888 the Prospectus of the East Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. was advertised in The Argus newspaper and mentions:

‘The company has secured at a cheap rate and on good terms a site of 276 acres midway between Mitcham and Ringwood with a railway running through the property, which is all clay of the very finest quality’.

The provisional directors of the company included Alfred Rawlings an early Box Hill pioneer,

Frederick W Purches who had large land holdings in Mitcham and Blackburn from the early 1800s to the late 1920s and Albert Wiseman of Wiseman & Co. who was a director of the East Suburban Property Investment Co. and was also involved in the development of the Australian Tessellated Tile Co.

The first meeting of the directors took place in November of the same year and was reported in The Argus newspaper:

‘Mr R P. Vincent jnr. being in the chair. There was a full attendance of shareholders, who manifested a great interest in the proceedings 'The following gentlemen are elected directors, viz: Messrs, R. P. Vincent, J. E, Dodds, R. Haughton (managing director), Alfred Rawlings, D. Hicks, and Fred. Walter Purches….…. the company had secured a large area of land at Mitcham on most advantageous terms.’

In February 1889 a special general meeting of shareholders was held at the Mitcham property, and it appears that very little work had been done in establishing the brickworks:

‘Mr. R. P. Vincent, the chairman of directors, occupied the chair, and said that just now almost every company was looked upon with suspicion, and the directors had determined to call the shareholders together that they might see their property and what had been done, and learn whatever they desired as to the position of the company. In answer to questions, the managing director said that he would be making bricks in a very few weeks, but that it might be 12 months before bricks would be turned out in large quantities for sale. If the whole of the shares were issued he should like to put on 200 or 300 men, and turn bricks out in a much shorter time. The works had been laid out with a view to the outturn and delivery of bricks with the least possible handling. The siding would come in on an easy gradient between the permanent kilns, which were so placed as to have ample work for about the next 15 years in clearing away a large hill of the finest material, and still leave the land in an elevated position with good drainage, and a splendid site for a township as soon as the time came for the creation of a station on the property, which is midway between Mitcham and Ringwood’.

In June at an ordinary general meeting a number of shareholders raised questions about the legality of the East Mitcham Brick and Pottery Co. purchasing the land for the brickworks from the East Suburban Land Co. as both companies had the same directors.

After the ordinary general meeting a group of shareholders held another meeting that was reported in The Argus newspaper:

‘The dissatisfied shareholders of the company having decided to hold a meeting, Mr Steel was voted to the chair. The Chairman suggested that they should form a committee for the purpose of testing the legality of the contract between the two companies there was little use in their continuing to pay money for calls when it was certain to be squandered in unproductive works. With the shares held as they were in lieu of purchase money, they would require to make enormous profits before the shareholders outside the directorate got any return….’

‘A resolution was then carried constituting all present a committee to take action to test the legality of the sale by the East Suburban Land Company to the East Mitcham Brick Company, and Messrs. J C Steel, W Burrows, and E Moore were appointed an executive committee’.

The case went to court and in October and the judge’s verdict was published in The Age newspaper:

‘His Honor found for defendants, but without costs. Plaintiffs were, in his opinion, sufficiently well acquainted with the circumstance’s attendant on the formation of their company and would not have desired to get out of their bargain had land maintained its value’.

It appears that the directors may have been trying to appease their unhappy shareholders as it was reported in February 1890 in The Argus newspaper:

‘The committee reported that they had decided at their first meeting that the East Suburban Property Investment Company Limited should be asked to reduce the price for the land by about 10 per cent, leaving £17,000 at 6 per cent, for four years to be punt. The vendors, however, declined to accede to this request, but asked that the interest on the principal amount should be paid in two months, and that the balance, £3,312 10s, should remain for the present. The committee recommended that the vendors should be requested to allow this balance, together with the £17,000, to remain at 6 per cent, interest, which in the opinion of the committee would materially facilitate the company in carrying out the proposed works….’

‘Mr. W. Haughton and Mr. A. Rawlings, two old directors, made explanations with reference to several transactions, and on an amendment, having as its object the postponement of the meeting for 14 days to enable communications to be opened up with the vending company as to the terms on which it would agree to cancel the contract, being lost, the adoption of the committee's report was carried’.

W. Haughton was also involved with establishing and the running of the Haughton-Park Brick Co. in Box Hill.

In an article in November 1890 in The Hearld newspaper mentions:

‘NEW INSOLVENTS - ‘William Haughton, Whitehorse road. Box Hill, late manager of the East Mitcham Brick Company Limited……Causes; Loss of situation as manager of the East Mitcham Brick Company Limited, owing to that company stopping operations.’

By 1893 the East Mitcham Brick Co. was listed in the Table Talk journal as insolvent and by 1895 the company offices were listed in the directory at the City Bank Chambers as ‘in liquidation’ and appears to have closed down soon after.

It appears that the only part of the brickworks that was constructed on the site was a dam and a clay pit.

On a 1920 map of the subdivision a diagram of the brickworks dam and overflow courses can be seen near what is now the Heatherdale Ponding Basin and sports ground (56 Purches Rd, Mitcham). The dam is also referred to in a general meeting of the company reported in February 1889 in The Age newspaper: ‘Mr. J. B. Steel made some suggestions as to strengthening the main dam and making further provision for over flow’.

In 1900 a new company was operating on the site, and it was listed in the directory as ‘John Gravett, East Mitcham Pottery’ but by 1905 the land was listed in the directory as ‘vacant’.

John Gravett and his family lived in Mitcham since c1894, and his occupation is listed as ‘potter’.

In 1902 an article in the Mornington Standard newspaper mentions:

‘Somerville, Brick, Tile & Pottery Proprietary. Operations by the above company are to be commenced in the course of next week, under the management of Mr John Gravett, late of the East Mitcham Pottery, at the company's works, situated one mile and a half south of the Somerville railway station Mr Gravett (whose father is the proprietor of the Burges Hill Pottery Brighton, England) learnt his business in the old country, and is thoroughly master of pottery and brickmaking in all their respective branches.’

By 1920 the land where the brickworks were located was sold as part of the Heatherdale Estate, Mitcham subdivision.

Purches St, Mitcham was named after Frederick W Purches who was one of the directors of the East Mitcham Brick Co.

TUNSTALL

Between 1886 and 1945 the area of Nunawading around the Nunawading railway station was known as Tunstall after the town of Tunstall, England, which was famed for its potteries.

For most of its life Tunstall in the Nunawading District (now the City of Whitehorse) was a small town in a mostly rural landscape with small farms, orchards and brickmaking.

THE TUNSTALL BRICK CO. 56 – 74 STATION ST, NUNAWADING – ESTABLISHED 1885

In her book ‘Suburban Heartland – The History of the City of Whitehorse’, Lesley Alves mentions how Tunstall (now known as Nunawading) got its name and the development of the brick and pottery industry:

‘…Tunstall…. was named after a town near Stoke on Trent in England, which had clay deposit similar to those found in Nunawading. The band of Silurian clays that stretched across Nunawading Shire was ideal for making bricks, tiles and pottery, and there was plenty of timber in the forest to fuel the kilns’.

The City of Whitehorse Heritage Review: Building Citations that uses the City of Nunawading Heritage Survey Project 1994 states when brickmaking started on the Station St site:

‘Brickmaking was established on this site by Staple and Dilby in 1885……. the Municipal Directory of 1892 shows a 22-acre site, from Whitehorse Road south to the present alignment of Carween Avenue, to be owned by the Tunstall Brick Co’.

The ‘Staple’ and ‘Dilby’ referred to in the report is Charles R Staples (see biography below) and Robert W Dilly who were the founders of the Tunstall Brick Co. which was the first brickmaking factory on this site and was later renamed the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co.

The Tunstall Brick Co. was built on land owned by the McClelland family. In 1869 John McClelland (see biography below) rented an 80 acres block of land (Allotment 118b) in Tunstall and moved there with his family; by 1876 he had bought the land which he had been renting near the southwestern corner of what is now Station St and Rooks Rd’s, Nunawading. He then subdivided the land between himself, his sons Thomas and William whilst keeping approximately 22 acres on the western side either vacant or establishing his market gardens.

It is interesting to note that about 8 years later in c.1884 the Metropolitan Steam Brick Co. was established to the eastern side of the McClelland property on the adjacent Allotment 118a. At this time, the manager of Metropolitan Steam Brick Co. was Robert Henderson who prior to working at the Metropolitan Steam Brick Co. was the ‘manager of works’ at The Hoffman Patent Steam Brick Co. in Brunswick.

In 1888 Charles R Staples purchased the western half (22 acres) of John McClelland’s property where he established the Tunstall Brick Co. In June the company was registered on the Melbourne Stock Exchange and Robert Henderson was now the new manager of the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co. It is likely that he worked with Charles Staples in setting up the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co. on the site.

In an article in 1889 in The Argus newspaper the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company were looking for investors it mentions:

‘In consequence of a resolution having been passed by the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company to increase the capital by an additional 20,000 shares, to be paid up to 10s, per share, the public were invited to inspect the company's works at Tunstall yesterday. A special train was hired for the occasion, and about 100 people embraced the opportunity of visiting the works and judging for themselves. Those who went out were shown over the works by Messrs Staples and Dilley. The kiln is adjacent to the railway line, and there is a siding, which facilitates the loading of the railway trucks from it. The company have a property of 23 acres of land, on which is erected one Hoffmann kiln and machinery for turning out at present 150 000 bricks per week, the engines consisting of one 12 hp for driving the machine and 30 hp. for hauling clay and grinding it ready for manufacture, there is another 30 hp engine in course of erection for providing power for supplying a Second Hoffmann kiln, the stack for which is nearly completed, and the foundation for which is being laid’.

In 1890 the land boom in Victoria ended, resulting in the collapse of many industries including the brick making and pottery industries. In the same year union and employer groups were arguing over wages and conditions while signs of a deep economic depression began to appear across Australia.

A strike in Victoria was part of the larger, national Maritime Strike, which involved coal miners refusing to supply coal to non-union ships and striking alongside other unionised workers. The strike also affected the supply of coal to the brick making and pottery industry with some brickworks and potteries resorting to using locally sourced wood or coal to keep their kilns operating; but some closed down for the duration of the strike resulting in the ‘laying off’ of hundreds of workers. This strike was a major industrial dispute that lasted two months and ended in defeat for the unions and workers forced to accept lower wages.

During the strike the management of the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company decided to close the brick works for the duration of the strike.

In May 1890 in an article in regard to the brick makers strike The Herald newspaper mentions:

‘Matters in connection with the strike at the Hoffman Company's works at Brunswick remain in much the same state, the reply from the directors being looked on with great disfavor by the men. Last evening a number of the committee, with the secretary, proceeded to Mitcham, where a mass meeting was held, delegates being present from Tunstall, Box Hill, Ringwood, and other places around. The following resolutions were then put to the meeting and carried with cheers " That this meeting sympathises with the; ' Brunswick brickmakers in their endeavor to secure the operation of the Eight hour principle and the abolition of boy labor," also, " That this meeting expresses a determination to assist the men by forming an Eight Hours' Union in conjunction with the Brunswick brickmakers."

The strike ended in July 1890.

In October 1891 it was reported in The Argus newspaper that at a ‘extraordinary general meeting’ of the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company they decided ‘to pass a resolution to wind up the affairs of the company’, ‘Mr R. W. Dilly, managing director, occupied the chair, and there was a moderate attendance of shareholders’. It was decided at the meeting to wind up the company due to it being unable to service its debts and appointed Robert Dilly and Lomer Andrews as the liquidators.

In November 1891 an advertisement for the sale of the Tunstall Brickworks mentions:

‘Lot 6 -Tunstall About 21 acres, on which is erected brick works known as the Tunstall

Brick and Pottery Company Limited, being on part of Crown Allotment 118a, parish of Nunawading, county of Bourke’.

In December 1891 it was reported in an article in The Age newspaper:

In 1896 in an article in The Age newspaper mentions the amounts owed by Charles Scales to his creditors as well as his other liabilities and mentions:

‘the like held by insolvent on account of the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company Limited, £12,500’. It is interesting to note also that Charles’s creditors included John McClelland, Thomas Robert McClelland and William McClelland who were owed £12,233 - this may have been for the land that Charles bought from the McClelland family in Tunstall. During the time of the trial the Tunstall Pottery and Brickworks Co. was closed.

In September 1899 an auction of the buildings, timber, bricks and corrugated iron was held at the Tunstall Pottery and Brickworks Co. The auction was conducted by Blackburn resident and real estate agent Thomas R. B. Morton. You can read about T.R.B Morton on the Blackburn Lake page of this website.

By 1904 the brickworks appear to have gone back into the ownership of the McClelland family as an advertisement in The Age newspaper mentions:

‘Messrs. W. S. Keast. and Co. report having, submitted to public auction yesterday Messrs. M'Clelland Bros. brick works, at Tunstall. The bidding started at £500 and rose quickly – to £1400 at which price it was passed in not reaching the owner's reserve. It was afterwards leased for a term of three years at a satisfactory price’.

In 1907 the brickworks were put up for sale again by the McClelland brothers who appointed W. S. Keast. and Co. again to handle the auction.

In 1911 John McClelland snr. died in Tunstall and he was buried in the Box Hill Cemetery. In John’s Will there is a diagram that shows the land the family owned on the southwestern corner of Rooks and Whitehorse Rd’s that includes where the Tunstall Pottery and Brickworks Co. is located with the words ‘Transferred to C.R Staples’ written on it.

It appears that the brickworks site did not sell at auction in 1911 as there is no mention of it in the newspapers or other sources until July 1916 when it is referred to in the minutes of the Nunawading Shire council meeting:

‘From M. Kemp. approving of council’s terms for supply of electricity to tile works at Mitcham. -Received’. Matthew Kemp was the new owner of the brickworks.

KEMP BROS. AND MCGREGOR - ESTABLISHED 1916

In 1914 Matthew Kemp was the first manager of the Eureka Terracotta and Tile Company in Ballarat. While he was there, he introduced a new method for making terracotta roofing tiles by using metal moulds instead of the costly Plaster of Paris method.

By c1916 Matthew Kemp and his family were living at Tavistock at what is now 192 Union Rd, Surrey Hills.

At this time Matthew, with his brother Charles and Donald McGregor together formed the brick making firm of Kemp Bros. and McGregor and were now running the former Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co. brickworks. Matthew Kemp’s occupation at this time is listed as ‘works manager’, Charles Kemp’s as ‘terracotta presser’ and Donald McGregor’s as ‘dentist.’

Obviously, Donald McGregor was an investor in the firm and was a very well-known Melbourne dentist; a founding member of both the Odonatological Society of Victoria (later becoming the Victorian branch of the Australian Dental Association) and the Melbourne Dental Hospital.

In 1919 the War Service Home Commission advertised for tenders to supply building materials including tiles, baths, flooring and joinery and Kemp Bros. and McGregor won the tender to supply 250,000 terracotta roof tiles over a period of five years.

The War Service Homes Commission was created in the same year by the Federal Government to assist returned servicemen and their families to buy affordable houses by providing low interest loans to purchase homes built by or on behalf of the Commission, or existing houses. From 1919 to 1922 the Commission purchased large areas of land and built houses in advance of applications in a range of standard designs prepared by the Commission's architect.

In 1919 Graham Kemp, Matthew’s son joined the firm.

In 1920 the brickmaking partnership of Kemp Bros. and McGregor was dissolved; Donald McGregor at the age of 70 years ‘retired from the partnership’ and also ceased his Dentistry practice, but the brickmaking firm continued as Kemp Bros.

In 1928 the Kemp Bros. sold the brickworks to the firm of Daniel Robertson.

Matthew Kemp died in Hawthorn in 1936 and was buried in the Burwood Cemetery.

Graham Kemp – the son of Matthew and Hannah Kemp

The Kemp family have had a long connection to the City of Whitehorse as Graham Kemp lived and worked in Burwood.

In 1928 Graham Kemp applied to the ‘Blackburn and Mitcham Council’ to set up a ‘roof tile’ factory on Springvale Rd near where the Geal Bros. pottery works were located (corner of Milton St and Springvale Rd, Nunawading), but by 1931 it appears to be involved in a legal dispute and the Kemp Roofing Tile Co. PTY. LTD. was never established.

In 1935 Graham Kemp, Arthur Lane and Rupert Willis formed the firm of Lane, Kemp, Willis Potteries Pty Ltd.

In a notice in June in The Herald newspaper an advertisement under the heading ‘New Firms’ mentions:

‘Lane Kemp Willis Potteries Pty. Ltd. merchants and manufacturers of all kinds of bricks, tiles, etc.—To acquire, among other assets a piece of land situated in the Parish of Nunawading. Regd. Office 422 Collins Street. Melbourne.’

By 1936 the firm had factory at 109 Highbury Road, Burwood and shop at 329 Warrigal Road, Burwood.

In 1939 the company was in liquidation and a ‘notice of intention to apply for registration’ as Lane Potteries Pty Ltd was lodged. Arthur Lane and Rupert Willis were to be directors of the new company but without Graham Kemp.

I have been unable to find where Graham worked after Lane, Kemp, Willis Potteries Pty Ltd. went into liquidation, but his occupation is listed as ‘manufacturer’ in directories up until his death in 1961.

DANIEL ROBERTSON BRICK WORKS - ESTABLISHED 1929

In an interview of Peter Robertson, a descendant and managing director of Daniel Robertson that appeared in the Whitehorse Gazette in 1997 he mentions:

‘…. But it was different story when the company was founded by John Robertson in 1853. Soon after arriving from Scotland, John Robertson, a slater by trade, opened the Excelsior Slate and Tile Yards in High St, Prahran.

His son Daniel joined the business in the late 1860s and took over the reins in 1885, shifting its head office to King St and changing the name to Daniel Robertson…..’

‘The business John Robertson founded in 1853 was an importer of roofing slates and roofing contractor. The slates that John had sourced in Wales for his business in Glasgow were transported to his new home in Melbourne as ballast in the old sailing ships’. From the paper ‘Daniel Robertson - a tradition continues’.

John Robertson was born in Edinburgh in 1820 and was the son of Duncan and Ann Robertson (nee Gourlay).

John Robertson and Mary Winnett were married in 1847 in Hertford, England and they had four children: Daniel, Martha, Mary and Christina.

By 1851 John was living in Surrey, England and his occupation listed as ‘journeyman slater’ in the England Census. A journeyman is ‘a master craftsman who has served his apprenticeship and mastered his craft; properly, who no longer is bound to serve for years but is hired day to day (often self-employed)’.

In 1852 John and Mary and their children travelled from Bristol, England on the sailing ship Clara Symesto Melbourne as ‘unassisted passenger’s’. On the ships passenger list John’s occupation is listed as ‘farmer’.

At the time the Robertson family arrived in Melbourne, the ‘gold rush’ had started in 1851 and as a result Melbourne’s population was expanding. New homes/building were being constructed to meet the needs of the growing population. Building materials such as roofing slate were popular for roofing. Small amounts of slate were being imported as ships ballast from England and the America, but the majority was sourced from the slate mines in Mintaro, South Australia.

By 1875 John Robertson was living at 100 High St Rd, Windsor and his occupation is listed as ‘slater’. Five years later in 1880 he was operating his business Robertsons Slate Yards on the corner of Bourke and Spencer St’s, Melbourne.

After working in the family business for a number of years, around 1887 Daniel Robertson took over the running of his father’s slate yard operations and changed its name to Daniel Robertson.

In 1890 the land boom in Victoria ended resulting in the collapse of many industries including the construction and slate industries.

In 1891 John Robertson died at his home at Browning St, South Yarra.

Daniel Robertson appears to have survived the 10-year depression that followed the crash of the land boom as his occupation is listed in the 1895 and 1900 directory as ‘slater’ at 264 King St, Melbourne. By 1901 the company is known under the short-lived name of the Excelsior Slate Yards, located at 262 King St and by 1910 the company also has a tile yard in Normanby St, South Melbourne.

In April 1914 Daniel Robertson died at his home in Fulton St, St Kilda.

In July 1918 the meeting minutes of the South Melbourne Council was reported in the Record newspaper mentions:

‘…. that the following factories be approved: - (a) Daniel Robertsons, Whiteman street, cement roofing tiles manufacturer….’

It appears that the council approved of Daniel Robertson’s application as an advertisement in February 1919 in The Age newspaper mentions:

‘TILES. - Terra Cotta and Cement Tiles any quantities estimates complete roofing…. Daniel Robertson.’

In the Whitehorse Gazette in 1997 an interview of Peter Robertson, a descendant and Managing Director of Daniel Robertson mentions in regard to the running of the company after Daniel’s death:

‘His sons, Valentine and Edward, took over the business but later fell out and divided the business, leaving Valentine with the slate importing, roof contracting and cement tile business and Edward with the real estate holdings.

A shortage of locally supplied roofing tiles and long waits for imported tiles forced Valentine to seek an alternative supply.

He bought the Tunstall Brickworks at Nunawading for 8000 pounds in 1929 and began manufacturing terracotta roof tiles.

The business survived the Depression but was forced to close its King St plant.

Valentine died in 1940, and the business closed during World War II. When his three sons, Kenneth, Norman and Alan returned from the war, they re-opened the business. But when the local supplies of clay ran out, they bought 30 acres of market gardens in Fern Tree Gully, which is still the main supply source today.’

The company operated for many years and developed new and innovative styles of bricks and pavers.

In 2013 Daniel Robertsons was closed and put up for sale as part of an ‘Expression of Interest’ campaign and was sold to a developer in November.

Between 2015 and 2016 planning applications were lodged with the City of Whitehorse by the developer to demolish and clear all the buildings on the site except the heritage protected chimney stack.

In 2020 Whitehorse councillor Ben Stennett had become concerned about the development as no construction on the site had taken place and in March posted on his Facebook page:

‘FORMER DANIEL ROBERTSON BRICKWORKS SITE AT 56-74 STATION STREET NUNAWADING— A 7 YEAR EYSORE WHICH I HOPE WILL SEE ACTION SOON!!!

‘…. Dustin Halse MP can you do something in parliament to address the issue of developers holding onto land like this, to force them either to act on approved plans or dispose of the site to someone else that will.’

The construction of the 173 townhouses and 180 apartments began in 2023 and is continuing as of April 2026.

ASSOCIATED BIOGRAPHIES

John McClelland – the owner of the land at 56 – 74 Station St, Nunawading

The McClelland family became a locally well-known family in the Tunstall area after their arrival in 1863.

John McClelland was born in Armagh, Ireland in 1836 - the son of Robert and Anne McClelland (nee Jane). In 1861 John McClelland married Eliza Wilson in Seagoe, Ireland. Eliza Wilson was born in Ireland in 1839 - the daughter of Robert and Mary Wilson (nee Walker). John and Eliza had one child Thomas, who was born in Ireland and then a further five children - William, John Jnr., Mary, Clarissa (Tess) and David who were all born in Box Hill.

In May 1863 John, Eliza and their three months old son Thomas travelled from Plymouth, England on the sailing ship Caduceus arriving in Melbourne in July. On the ships passenger list John’s occupation is listed as ‘agricultural labourer’ and under the heading: ‘Disposal - By whom engaged’ is written ‘to cousin P Walker, Nunawading’.

Parker Walker owned 39-acres of land (Allotment 117a) on the southeastern corner of Whitehorse and Springvale Rd’s. Parker did not live on his Nunawading land as he was living in Kew. It is highly likely that John McClelland and his family lived on Parkers land soon after arriving in Melbourne as Allotment 117a is to the west of Allotment 118b which John McClelland would later purchase.

Since 1869 John McClelland snr. had rented an 80-acre block of land (Lot 118b) in Tunstall until he bought the land in 1876. The land he bought was on the south western corner of what is now Station St and Rooks Rd’s, Nunawading. He then subdivided the land between himself, his sons Thomas and William and used the remaining 22 acres on the western side as a ‘market garden’.

In the book Windows on Nunawading by Diane Sydenham she mentions:

‘The McClelland market garden did well. Unlike many who selected land in the nineteenth century, McClelland knew something about farming and was prepared to work hard. Produce grown in the fertile soil was taken by horse and dray to Kew and the Melbourne markets. The family prospered and two more sons and two daughters were born to John and Eliza to carry on the traditions of local involvement and participation’.

In the book ‘Suburban Heartland – The History of the City of Whitehorse’ by Lesley Alves mentions:

‘the family increased to five children and outgrew their wattle and daub house’….’before large scale brickmaking was established it was common practice for bricks to be made of the clay dug on or near the building site’.

The Metropolitan Brick Company had been established in c1884 on the adjacent property to the eastern side of John’s property and John McClelland may have realised the value of his land if used for purposes other than farming, when he sold his approximately 22 acres to Charles Staples who then in May 1888 established the Tunstall Pottery and Brickworks Co. on the site.

John’s son Thomas was involved in local politics as well as operating a business. In the book Windows on Nunawading by Diane Sydenham she mentions:

‘….in 1875, Thomas Robert McClelland…. went initially to Gippsland where as a young man he selected land for a mixed farm.’ After returning to Tunstall in 1890 from an overseas trip, Thomas ran as a candidate for the Mitcham Riding in the 1891 Nunawading Shire elections and was one of the three candidates who won……….His business interests included brick works and the hay and corn store which stood in Tunstall on the corner of Springvale and Whitehorse Rd's.'

In 1911 John McClelland snr. died in Tunstall and was buried in the Box Hill Cemetery.

In John’s Will there is a diagram showing the family-owned land which includes a western section of land on the southwestern corner of Rooks and Whitehorse Rd’s, with the words ‘Transferred to C.R Staples’ written on it. This is where the Tunstall Pottery and Brickworks Co. was located.

Charles R. Staples – a founder of the Tunstall Brick Co.

Charles R. Staples was born in 1852 in Broadmarsh, Tasmania (North-east of Hobart and in Central Tasmania), the son of James and Grace Staples (nee Smith).

In 1863 October James Staples and his family travelled from Hobart to Melbourne on the sailing ship Tasmania. By 1864 the family were living in Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne) but Charles remained in Broadmarsh, Tasmania. At the age of 12 years Charles was given the task of selling his father’s lease of the property they had occupied.

The family later moved to Essendon and were involved with the local community with Charles joining the local Football and Cricket clubs, as well as running in the athletics competitions in 1873 and 1874.

In 1882 Charles visited Sydney for the first time and in the same year he appears to have tried his hand in the ‘milk supply business’ as an advertisement in the Gippsland Times newspaper mentions:

‘MILK. -WANTED 150 Quarts daily, pure, 6 months; state price delivered at railway; cash on delivery. Address, C. R. STAPLES, Hotham’.

1883 was a busy year for Charles as in January he again visits Sydney and applied for an auctioneer’s license which was granted and by March, he has set up the Real Estate firm of Staples and Co. The firm operated from 267 Crown St, Sydney and sold a variety of buildings/businesses including butchers, furniture retailers, hairdressers, iron mongers, farms and boarding houses.

By August 1883 Charles joined the recently formed Sydney Newsboys’ Brigade and when Mr Whitney, the Honourable Secretary at that time resigned, Charles was ‘unanimously elected in Mr Whitney’s place’ (The Sydney Mail and NSW Advertiser, Sat 11 August 1883). ‘The Newsboys’ Brigade’ is a Christian youth organization with companies across the country. It is not a historical group or a specific military brigade, but rather a modern organisation for boy’s aged 5 – 18 that runs youth programs focused on fun, adventure and challenge. (The Boys’ Brigade Australia).

In November Charles sold the 300 acres Mount Pleasant Estate, Penrith which was his largest property sale to date and then handled the subdivision of that land under the name of the Penrith Estate.

In December 1883 Charles Staples and Emma Dunban are married in Redfern. Emma was the daughter of James and Sophie Dunban (nee West). Charles and Emma had three children Charles jnr., Eric and Ruby.

Throughout 1884 the business appears to have gone from strength to strength as each month newspapers carried a number of advertisements with properties for sale. To increase his business Charles would occasionally include in his advertisements ‘Free advertising unless sold’.

In December 1884 Charles travelled to Melbourne via express train and by February 1885 Charles and his family were living in Malvern. He established the real estate firm of Staples, Wise and Co. with offices at 18 Collins St, West, Melbourne. In an advertisement in the newspaper Lorgnette on Sat. 14 February 1885 the company is listed as the real estate agents handling the sale of the Stanhope Estate subdivision in Malvern which was a 600 Lot subdivision.

Charles’s business partner J.H. Wise was a well-known Sydney based builder, real estate agent, businessman and later company director and Member of the NSW Legislative Council. He did not live in Melbourne; preferring to live in Sydney all his life.

From 1885 the firm of Staples, Wise and Co were very busy handling numerous subdivisions such as the Stanhope Estate, Laverton Township, Excelsior Estate and Bellevue Estate in Footscray as well as the sales of shops, homes and offices.

By c1887 Charles and his family were living at Ilapa in Princess St, Kew. In July Charles was nominated by the residents of Kew to run in the Council elections, and it was reported in The Herald newspaper:

‘A deputation of ratepayers of the Borough of Kew, waited upon Mr C. R. Staples, of the firm of Staples, Wise & Co., at his residence, Princess street, on Wednesday evening, requesting that he would allow himself to be nominated as a candidate at the municipal elections to take place on the 11th August. Mr Staples, on being assured of support from all classes of the ratepayers, consented to stand, and an influential committee is being formed to secure his return’.

In August 1887, the winners of the Council elections were announced in The Age newspaper and Charles was elected - coming in third.

1888 was again a very busy year with Charles establishing the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co. on the land that he had bought from John McClelland in Tunstall. He also started a movement to establish a Foundling Home in Melbourne but withdrew the suggestion ‘In consequence of the opposition manifested to the establishment of a Foundling Hospital, I have decided, so far as I am individually concerned, to take no further steps towards its establishment as a public institution’. (The Argus Friday 24 August 1888).

Charles founded the Victorian Freehold Bank in April 1888 in partnership with T. H. Braim Esq. of the firm Messrs. Bruford and Braim; Francis R. Barlow, Esq., architect, William Street, Melbourne and his brother John R Staples Esq. (late manager Henry Arnold and Co. Limited). The secretary of the company was Mr. W. Kelty (late manager Land Company of Australasia) and their major financial backers were the Mercantile Bank of Australia and the London Chartered Bank of Australia. The Victorian Freehold Bank was later renamed the British Bank of Australia.

Then in December 1888 Charles Staples with Sydney Allwright, Robert Dilly, D. West and John Wise formed the Anglo Australian Investment and Banking Company and all five were listed as ‘Directors’.

Charles had strong political aspirations as in June ‘COUNCILLOR C. R. STAPLES, of Kew, is going to run for Parliament at the next general election. He is managing director of the Victorian Freehold.’ (The Melbourne Punch, June 1888).

In October 1888 Charles ran as a candidate in the Evelyn district elections. The electoral district of Evelyn ran from Gembrook in the south to St Leonards in the north and from Greensborough in the west to Mt Baw Baw in the east. There was strong opposition to Charles’s running in the election and in November he withdrew his candidacy. But in November 1888 the Lilydale Express mentions:

‘A petition (says the; " Boroondara Standard") bearing over 400 signatures, will be presented to Mr. C. R. Staples of Kew, asking him to contest the newly formed electorate of Boroondara, and there is no doubt but what the gentleman, named will consent to allow himself to be nominated’.

But 1889 did not start off so well for Charles as he ‘retired’ in March from running as a candidate in the Boroondara elections. An article in The Argus newspaper mentions:

‘that Mr Staples had been compelled by financial pressure to give place to Mr Gillies and he specifically stated that the Bank of Victoria, of which Mr R Murray Smith and Mr Carter, M L.A, are directors had informed Mr Staples that unless he at once paid in gold the amount of his overdraft (£14, 000) his estate would be sequestrated’.

In April 1889 Charles put his large painting collection of Australian and European artists up for auction and the proceeds were possibly put towards paying off his £14,000 debt to the Bank of Victoria.

In 1890 the land boom in Victoria ended resulting in the collapse of many industries including the construction and brick making industries.

In August 1891 Anglo - Australian Bank suspended payments after the collapse of the British Bank of Australia. Both these banks were run by Charles Staples on behalf of a number of investors including Charles himself.

In October 1889, at a company meeting Robert Dilly the managing director of the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co.put forward a resolution ‘to wind up the affairs of the company’. By November the firm of Patterson and Sons were instructed by the British Bank of Australia ‘to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION, on Tuesday, 24th inst., in the large hall of the Olderfleet……. Lot 6 -Tunstall About 21 acres, on which is erected brick works known as the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company Limited, being on part of Crown Allotment 118B, parish of Nunawading, county of Bourke’

An article in December in The Age newspaper mentions:

‘The affairs of the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company are about to form the subject of an examination sittings in the Insolvency Court, in affidavit from Lomer Andrews, one of the liquidators of the company, was placed before Mr. Justice Molesworth in the Practice Court yesterday, in which he stated that business of a complicated nature had been transacted between the company and the Anglo Australian Bank, now in liquidation under the direction of the court. J. M. Templeton was the official liquidator of the bank, C. B. Staples, of Kew, a director both of the company and the bank; and F. E. Norwood, of Thrapstone, South Yarra, the owner of a large number of shares in the company’.

The Tunstall Brick and Pottery Co. did not sell and was put up for sale again in August 1892. ….’C.W. MILES will SELL by AUCTION, as above, the whole of the extension BRICKMAKING and POTTERY PLANT lately used by the Tunstall Brick and Pottery Company) Limited (in Liquidation) Comprising Engines, Boilers, Pumps, Chilian mill, Drilling machine, Tramway rails, Shafting, etc...’

After a number of hearings and court appearances in December 1892 it was reported in the Launceston Examiner newspaper that ‘Charles R. Staples, John Haraldson, Francis E. Norwood, and Robert W. Dilly were before the City Court to-day, charged with unlawfully concurring in making a written statement and account with intent to defraud the creditors of the Anglo Australian Bank. The Crown not being ready to proceed a remand was granted till Monday’

In March 1893 Charles Staples was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour, Francis Norwood and John Haraldson to two years, Robert Dilly to two years with hard labour and Sydney G Allwright was fined £100.

In 1896 Charles’s sentence ‘was remitted by the Governor in council’ and he was set free.

Charles Staples snr. later moved to Sydney where he set up and operated the real estate firm of Staples & Co. for many years. His son Charles jnr. like his father entered the real estate business and set up his own firm of Charles Staples & Co. in Woy Woy, NSW.

Charles Staples snr. died in Bellevue Hill, New South Wales in 1941.

A. GEAL POTTERY WORKS LATER KNOWN AS GEAL BROS. POTTERY,

264-272 SPRINGVALE RD, NUNAWADING - ESTABLISHED c1902

Around 1902 Albert Geal bought the 8 acres of land in Tunstall to establish a pottery works from Arthur Hunt.

The site of the brickworks was on the southern side of what is now the corner of Milton St and Springvale Rd, Nunawading.

Albert Geal was born in Nutfield, England in 1862 the son of George and Philadelphia Geal (nee Tullett).

In 1884 Albert Geal and Alice Huggett were married at Reigate, England. Albert and Alice had eight children: Edwin, Alice jnr., Albert jnr., Lizzie, Mabel, George, Walter, William and Sidney. At this time Alberts occupation is listed as ‘labourer’.

In 1889 Albert and his family travelled on the sailing ship Ivanhoe from London to Melbourne and by 1892 the family were living in Preston.

Albert Geal is mentioned in the book Victoria’s Earliest Potteries,2019 by Gregory Hill:

‘By the mid-1880s Michael Emery had apprenticed George Westmoreland as a potter and he went on to be an important figure in the industry. He was taught the skill of throwing on a pottery wheel but no doubt also picked up the rudiments of the industry. He worked there until about 1895 and started a pottery with Albert Geal in nearby Percival Street in 1897. They had met at the St. John Pottery where Geal had worked and where he was probably trained. The new business operated from an already established pottery begun in 1894 by Benjamin Bailey. This arrangement ceased a year later when a new pottery works was established by Moreland and Geal in Clyde St, Northcote, and Bailey resumed his occupation at Percival St. Geal left the partnership with Westmoreland in 1900 and started a pottery works called the Tunstall Pottery (1903-1973) in Mitcham’.

In 1897 George Westmoreland created the pottery firm of Westmoreland’s. By c1915 George Westmoreland and Henry Emery (nephew of Michael Emery) went into partnership and created the well-known Northcote Tile and Pottery Co. which is still in operation today.

The St. John Pottery, Fitzroy was owned by Henry Emery and his brother Michael who also owned Emery’s Brick and Tile Pottery Co. on Springfield Rd, Blackburn North. Henry Emery was also one of the founding directors of the Haughton Park Brick Co. in 1884 in Box Hill and he owned land in Mitcham.

By 1903 Albert is listed in the directory as ‘Geal. A., Pottery works, Springvale-rd. Tunstl.’ The pottery works was located on the land he had bought from Arthur Hunt in c1902. Albert had designed a ‘butter cooler’ and applied for the copyright which was granted for three years. Initially the company made products for the domestic market but seeing opportunities in the growing number orchards and farms in the area they moved into also making agricultural pipes.

Albert was later joined by his sons Albert jnr. whose occupation is listed as ‘potter’ and George whose occupation is listed as ‘driver’ at the pottery.

Involvement in the Pottery industry seemed to run in the family as in c1912 Albert’s son, Edwin Geal moved to Maryborough, Queensland and continued working as a ‘potter’. In 1913 Edwin Geal and Lily Schonrock were married in Maryborough, Queensland.

The First World War had started in 1914, and the following years was a difficult time. This period was made even more difficult for the Geal family when Albert Geal jnr. was ‘killed in action’ in 1916 at Fleurbaix, France and then George Geal was also ‘killed in action’ in 1918 at Étretat, France.

By 1917 Edwin and Lily were living with Edwins family back in Tunstall and then they were living in Ringwood by 1919. At this time there were three brickworks next to each other in East Ringwood. They included the Ringwood Brick, Tile and Pipe Co., Victorian Ornamental Brick and Tile Making Co. and the Ringwood Brick Making Co. It is likely that Edwin may have worked at one of these companies.

By 1925 Edwin and Lily had moved from Ringwood and are living in Wide Bay, Queensland with Edwin’s occupation still listed as ‘potter’.

In 1929 Edwin established his own pottery in Kalka, Queensland and named it Fitzroy Pottery. Continuing the family tradition, Edwin’s son George also worked with his father in the pottery.

Back in Mitcham around 1921 the company changed its name from A. Geal Pottery Works to Geal Bros. Pottery. The company was now run by Albert’s son’s Walter, William and Sidney.

Albert snr. died in Box Hill in 1922 and was buried in the Box Hill Cemetery.

The pottery operated for many years producing agricultural pipes and other products. In 1973 the pottery was sold by the Geal family to the construction firm of A.V. Jennings.

Between 1973 and 1981 the brickworks were demolished and the quarry was filled in.

The site was then redeveloped as a retirement home and currently operates as the Forest Hill Retirement Village.

VERMONT

THE WUNDERLICH TILE WORKS, 656 MITCHAM RD, VERMONT ESTABLISHED c1924

The land where the Wunderlich tile works was built was owned by William Matters and then by his son Richard Matters.

The Matters family have had a long connection to Mitcham since William Matters’s brother John Matters first arrived in the Nunawading District in the early 1860s. By the mid-1860s John was joined by his brother William Matters. Around 1872 John Matters left the Nunawading District and became one of the first settlers in Upper Pakenham.

William Matters remained in Mitcham and in 1867 he and Margaret McSporran were married in Box Hill. William and Margaret had eight children - Richard, William jnr., Elizabeth, Mary (b: 1875 d: 1877), Mary (b: 1878), John, Joseph, and Alfred. William snr’s. occupation is sometimes listed as ‘farmer’ or ‘orchardist’.

By the 1870s William had purchased approximately ten acres of Lot 121 (138 acres) north of Canterbury Rd. Lot 121 ran from Rooks Rd in the west to Mitcham Rd in the east and north from approximately Carinya Rd to Redland Dr.

William and Margaret appear to have enjoyed their lives with their nine children and they and their family seem to have kept to themselves as there is very little information about the family in local newspapers and other resources. But I did find a letter that was written and sent by John Matters to The Agenewspaper in 1935 reminiscing about his and his brother Richards time at the Vermont State School ….’In 1872 the Government took over the school and erected a small school house on the site of the present palatial building on the corner of Canterbury and Mitcham roads. The school had its jubilee in 1919, many of the original pupils answering the roll. Among those present were Abe Rooks, Walter Boyle, Richard Matters and Wm Crow. My connection with the school commenced on 4th April, 1885, the said Mr. Brown being the first to guide my wayward fingers over the pages of the copy book, for we were put straight to the 3 R's in those days….’

‘In 1887 Mr. Brown was transferred, and William Watchorn came and stayed thirty years. Vermont school was fortunate in having two such splendid men as head teachers. I am honored by the thought that Mr. Watchorn took a special interest in me, and I give him all the credit for any little knowledge and culture I may possess. Through his efforts I gained a scholarship, and in 1894 left the school to attend Surrey College. To me he was a superman, embodying all the qualities of the great headmaster whom he tried to emulate in every way. All down through the years he has had my whole-hearted respect, veneration and reverence, and during my thirty years sojourning in foreign lands I always kept up a correspondence with him. His death on 7th September last deprived me of a mentor, guide, philosopher and, best of all, friend.

I would be glad to hear from some other former pupils. — Yours. &c., Vermont. JOHN MATTERS.’

William Matters died in Mitcham in 1902, and he was buried in the Box Hill Cemetery. In his Will William left the farm on Mitcham Rd, Mitcham to his son Richard who continued living there.

In 1903 William and Margaret’s daughter Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Matters married Charles Rooks at her family’s home on Mitcham Rd, Mitcham. Charles Rooks was the great grandson of Vermont pioneer Abraham Rooks after who Rooks Rd is named.

From the mid-19th century onwards Vermont, Mitcham, Blackburn were well known for their high-quality clays. The area where Wunderlich established its clay pit and tile works contained plastic clay which was suitable for the manufacture of Terracotta roof tiles and bricks.

Was there a brickfield or quarry on the site prior to Wunderlich establishing their factory? It is highly likely as Wunderlich bought the land to establish its clay pit and tile works there and probably already knew of the type and uses for that clay present on this site. Areas where bricks were made were known as brickfields where ‘itinerant brickmakers’ were employed to make bricks. In 19th-century Melbourne, ‘itinerant brickmakers’ were tradespeople who travelled to a brickfield/building site to hand-make bricks on the spot for a specific project/order, rather than being a permanent employee of a large brick works. They made bricks by mixing local clay with other materials like sand or ash and then used moulds to form, dry, and fire the bricks on-site in temporary built kilns, a practice common for individual homes and buildings. The key was the local availability of suitable clay and wood fuel, as transporting heavy materials at the time was difficult and expensive. The duration an ‘itinerant brickmaker’ spent on a brickfield varied depending on the length of the contract/s for supplying bricks and economic conditions at the time.

Around 1922 Richard sold the western end of his property to Wunderlich Proprietary Ltd but he continued to live and farm at the eastern end. A year later the Nunawading Council was attempting to gauge how the residents at the southern end of Rooks Rd felt about the possibility of a factory being established near them. An article in 1923 in The Reporter – Box Hill mentions the issue of the factory being established on Rooks Rd which was discussed at a Nunawading Shire Council meeting:

‘PROTEST AGAINST FACTORY H. Klemm and others wrote protesting against factory being established in Rooks road, Vermont, by the Wunderlich Proprietary Ltd. It was stated that the residents had settled in the district for health reasons, and did not the desire the introduction of works of the nature proposed. The engineer stated, in reply to Cr. Tainton, that no application to start a factory had yet been received. It was decided to notify the residents to this effect, and to – inform them that in the event of an application for a factory the applicant would be informed that the locality was a residential area. Crs. Tainton, Jack and Halliday spoke on the subject, supporting the attitude taken up by the residents. The matter generally was referred to the Public Works Committee for consideration’.

A year later the Wunderlich Proprietary Ltd. was operating on the site. Fern Tree Gully News article in November 1924 regarding Nunawading Shire Council minutes mentions: ‘At the Wunderlich works, it was stated that operations were being carried on in the residential area. Clay is being used for business purposes. There is another plant on the opposite side of the road, but this was working before the council's by-law was passed. Cr. Halliday said the drainage easement should be cleaned out from Mitcham road to the creek, and the engineer agreed that this should be done.’

In May, 1925 the Blackburn and Mitcham Shire Council was established, after it seceded from the Shire of Nunawading; its first council meeting held in October of that year, and later became the City of Nunawading before merging into the City of Whitehorse in 1994.

At a Blackburn and Mitcham Shire Council meeting in December 1925 it is mentioned - ‘In Rooks road the council visited the property of Wunderlich's Ltd. and various other properties owned by pottery companies. It is expected that further consideration will be given to the lifting of the residential ban which at present applies to this road, as it is ideal for a factory area’.

At that time in The Brunswick and Coburg Leader newspaper it was reported that numerous complaints were being made by residents to the Brunswick City Council regarding to the noise that was coming from the Wunderlich’s Brunswick tile works at night and a petition from local residents was presented to the Brunswick City Council.

In 1926 Wunderlich Proprietary Ltd. submitted a proposal to the Blackburn and Mitcham Shire Council for the building of a terracotta factory at their site on Rooks Rd. The council stated ‘No objection will be made by the Blackburn and Mitcham Shire Council to a proposal of Wunderlich, Ltd. for the erection of a terracotta factory at the rear of their property at Rooks road, Vermont. The property will be laid out on town-planning' lines, and provision will be made for workmen's homes, &c’.

In 1927 Wunderlich Proprietary Ltd. decided to close down their Brunswick factory and by 1932 they had transferred production and some machinery to their Vermont factory.

At the beginning of WW2, Wunderlich closed their Vermont tile works and then was reopened by the Housing Minister Mr. Barry at the end of the war in 1946 presumably to assist with the supply of materials required for the post war housing boom.

The employees from of the different brick and tile works around Mitcham obviously interacted with each other in the community but not always in a positive way as shown in this December 20, 1952, report in The Herald newspaper:

‘ITALIANS, POLES IN HOTEL BRAWL. There were many sore heads among Italians and Poles around Mitcham today. Thirty of them were in a brawl at the Reserve Hotel, Mitcham late yesterday, and 12 police were needed to quell the fighting. Several men were hit with bottles and beer glasses, - and a policeman had his uniform torn. An Italian, who is alleged to have fought a policeman, was locked up of offensive behavior, resisting arrest and assault. Another was admitted to hospital. The brawl began in the hotel's main bar at 5.30 p.m. and finished on the road half an hour later. Police rushed reinforcements from the city and Box Hill. They were told that the Italians, who are employed at the Wunderlich Tile Co. Mitcham Road, Vermont, had a Christmas break-up party 'yesterday afternoon, and then went to the hotel. About 15 Poles who work at me Australian Tessellated Tile Works, Mitcham were drinking in the bar. Angry words and blows were exchanged when the Poles objected to listening to Italian songs while they were drinking, the police were told. HEAD WOUNDS - When Constable Evans, of Mitcham, arrived about 30 men were shouting and struggling on the road. Two were bleeding from head wounds. Constable Evans sent for help, and when Senior Constable Lucas, of Mitcham, arrived, Evans, with his new shirt torn, was grappling with a man. He was arrested and taken to Camberwell detective office. Antonio Crevelli of Lennox Street, Richmond, was admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital with concussion and a head wound. Later, police Interviewed a Pole at Mitcham. He had cuts and bruises on the head and two black eyes’.

The Wunderlich tile works continued operating, employing many local residents over many years.

In 1969, Commonwealth Sugar Refineries (CSR) acquired the Wunderlich clay roof tile manufacturing business.

In 1983 Monier purchased Wunderlich and in turn Monier was acquired by CSR Ltd in 1994.

Development of the site

Since 1994 the site has undergone extensive redevelopment including the demolition of the two chimneys, kilns and its surrounding factory buildings and then built new warehouses.

In his book This is Vermont: The Green Hill Where I Live, 2010 by Tim Shambrook he mentions:

‘Unfortunately, in 1993-1994, an attempt by the Council to save the remaining Wunderlich chimneys failed based on safety concerns should the structures be retained’.

Heritage Protection

The original office and some of the factory buildings are still there and are covered by a Heritage Overlay (HO5) and were listed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 1996.

In a later Victorian Heritage Database Report, 1999 of the former Wunderlich tile works site at 656 Mitcham Rd, Mitcham it states:

‘Statement of Significance

How is it significant?

The former Wunderlich terra cotta tile works is of historical and architectural significance to Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The works are historically significant for their association with the Wunderlich company, the principal importer of terra cotta roofing tiles in Australia from 1892 to the outbreak of World War I. The Wunderlich company became the largest Australian manufacturer of terra cotta roofing tiles, a material which literally changed the appearance of southern Australian suburbs, and which continued to remain popular one hundred years after its introduction.

The Vermont manufacturing plant, which retains its original office building, is the largest and most intact pre-war tile works in the State. The down draught kiln is the earliest known survivor of its type.

The works are architecturally significant for their use of lattice (Belfast) timber roof trusses in the curved roof structure which housed the kilns. This roof structure, probably relocated from the Brunswick tile works, is a rare industrial roof form, and the only known extant example of this type of truss in Victoria’.

The former factory is now known as the Monier Roofing - Terracotta Plant and Distribution Centre.

Sources

Ancestry

Art Blart _ art and cultural memory archive

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THE THIN CLAY LINE© - PART 2

Sources

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