Secondary Industry
Written by Graham Wilson
Australian Theme- developing local, regional and national economies.
NSW Theme- industry.
Local Themes- Associated with the manufacture, production and distribution of goods.
Butter factory, freezing works, workshop depot, timber mill, quarry, blacksmith foundry, kiln, smelter and factory offices.
As with many other country towns, Bingara, Warialda and the smaller villages developed a number of secondary industries to meet the needs of local business residents of the district. In time, these industries collapsed as they faced competition from cheaper imports brought to the towns by improved transport. A search of records held by the NSW Corporate Affairs entitled ‘Dead Companies Index’ and lodged in State Records indicate the following dissolved companies:
- Gwydir Freezing Company- date of incorporation 31 December 1920 and dissolution date 31 December 1936.
- Warialda Motor Engineering- date of incorporation 31 December 1920 and dissolution date 31 December 1936.
A number of secondary industries were once located in the Shire detailed reports are provided in other section of this history. The industries include a butter factory at Gineroi; wool-scouring; brickworks and their quarries; flourmills; cordial factories; freezer works, electrical power stations and a number of saddlers, blacksmiths and wheelwrights. The demand of the building industry led to the establishment of sawmills, brickworks and quarries. The sawmills were established on pastoral stations, farms as well as the urban areas.
Butter Factories
By January 1907 interest in dairying around Warialda had increased substantially as butter and cream production offered small farmers a source of cash. At the time, the editor of the Warialda Standard thought ‘the establishment of a butter factory must be a matter frequently of’.
It was in February 1907 that the editor of the Bingara Telegraph appealed to farmers to establish a butter factory near Bingara. He wrote:
Some time ago, in these columns the writer strongly advocated the establishment of a Butter Factory in or close to Bingara, but somehow those of the settlers who would be likely to reap the greatest benefit from such an industry are disinclined to entertain any idea of embarking upon the venture.
The arrival of the railway meant that milk and cream could be transported to the Inverell Butter Factory that opened in 1903. Well into the twentieth century, supplies were placed on railway sidings by farmers and collected by the train as it proceeded from Moree to Inverell.
Gwydir Butter Factory
The Gwydir Butter Factory was built during 1911-12 on ‘Gineroi Station’ then owned by the NSW Land and Mortgage Company on the western side of the Gwydir River on the property known as ‘Glenroy’.
In November 1914, A.S. McColl invited tenders for cement repairs to the factory; specifications could be seen at ‘Bangheet’ or ‘Gineroi’ stations.
Photograph left: Gineroi Butter Factory, Blake & Wilson 2005
A meeting of all residents interested in forming a company to purchase the Gineroi Butter Factory on co-operative lines was held in the Bingara Picture Theatre on Saturday 17 September 1921. It was hoped that the Gineroi Co-operative Dairy Products Ltd. would commence operation on Friday 24 February 1922 and be in full swing on the following Monday. A detailed report on its operation appeared in the Warialda Standard, 20 February 1922. Since the original building was completed and plant installed, the regulations of the Dairy Industry Act (1915) had been re-drafted. All buildings, plant and machinery and general equipment had to be inspected by a dairy officer. Thus, the start was delayed because a Government Inspector was unavailable for the final inspection as required by the above Act.
A meeting of dairymen took place at the Warialda Railway on Tuesday 21 February 1922 to consider the best means of conveying cream to the factory. A number of Directors appeared at this meeting to answer questions. A further meeting of shareholders was held at Bingara on Saturday 4 March. At the meeting, it was reported that a new pasteurising plant was installed and a highly qualified manager appointed. At that stage, the manager’s residence was nearing completion. The following Provisional Directors were re-appointed including A. Capel, E.E. Hallman, A.S. McColl, H.J. McInnes and C.H. Rouse.
Situated in County Burnett, Parish Singapoora, the factory was located on the banks of the Gwydir River on a very high embankment. It was constructed of concrete with a flat roof and with parapet walls to form a huge fresh water storage, but problems arose when weight of the water caused partial collapse of the roof. The idea was abandoned and water was pumped from the river into water tanks. Machinery included condensers, pasteuriser, compressor churns, steam boiler, engine, pumps, testing and grading equipment and cold store.
In 1921 Mr Brorson was chosen as manager and he took up residence with his wife and family in the manager’s residence that year. James Smith of ‘Caroda’, Albert Gill ‘Elcombe’ and Ted Gill ‘Kelvin Grove’, a property on the other side of the river, supplied cream. Cream also came from Delungra and Myall Creek. Butter was sold and branded ‘Gineroi’.
An auction sale of the Gineroi butter factory and plant by Cecil Rouse of Gravesend, took place on 1 April 1925. The sale included thirty-three acres of land, manager’s residence, factory building and boiler.
It was state legislation implemented in the 1920s requiring new health standards and consequential building modifications that led to the eventual demise of the smaller butter factories.
Freezing Works
L. Stehr opened a freezing works in Warialda in November 1915. The Warialda Standard, 15 October 1917 reported that the freezing works erected by J. Moore was now in full swing, ‘supplying a great deal of employment’ by rabbit freezing. By December 1930 rabbit freezing works were also established on three acres of ‘Red Bank Station’ one mile from Gravesend on the Warialda Road.
The large freezing works at Warialda Railway, which had not been used for some four years, were destroyed by fire on Monday 8 January 1934. The works were under the control of Johnson and Edwards as liquidators for the company and were established some thirty years ago. ‘They had not been in operation for over four years, owing no doubt to the close proximity of the Gravesend freezing works’.
In 1921 the Warialda Standard announced that L.A. Scandrett had brought about a large amalgamation in the rabbit freezing works and export worlds. A new company was registered with a capital of ₤100,000. It had taken over: Bombala Freezing Company Co. Ltd., Gwydir Freezing Co. Ltd., Woolbrook Freezing Co., Yamble Freezing Co. Ltd., Crystal Freezing Co., Crystal Packing Co. Ltd., Boggabri Freezing Co. Ltd., Darby Freezing Co. Ltd. with freezing works at Birralong, Boggabri, Bombala, Darby’s Falls, Gravesend, Newbridge, Quirindi, Warialda, Woolbrook, Yamble and an organization in Sydney. Thus the company now owned two local freezing works at Gravesend and Warialda.
In the eastern end of Hope Street near the Warialda Creek, Roger Moore conducted his electrical works, freezing works, a cordial factory and community swimming pool. Freezing works were constructed in 1946 and these works provided domestic ice for Warialda and district as well as the freezing of rabbits for domestic trade and international export. Moore’s cordial factory was built on this site in 1959 and a swimming pool was situated near the factory. It was in May 1963 that the Warialda Standard described tributes to Roger Moore and his related businesses.
Roger Moore was awarded the BEM for Meritorious Service to the community in September 1977. He died in September 1985 and a detailed account of his Warialda businesses was published in the North West Magazine, 22 September 1985.
Flour Mills
In 1881 or 1883 or 1881 J.T. Wearne built a ‘very compact and substantial flourmill’ in Bingera. This was the first flourmill and Wearne also established an early sawmill. In November 1897, the Bingara Telegraph announced that W. Finkernagel had purchased J.T. Wearne’s Mill and was about to have it refitted with new machinery. A new boiler and other machinery arrived for the mill in July 1898. That month, William also took over the storekeeping business conducted by his brother, Bernard Finkernagel as he was leaving for Barraba.
John Byrnes, the first Municipal Mayor of Bingara established a general store in Maitland Street in 1883. Six years later he established a large store opposite the Imperial Hotel and later the ‘Gwydir Lily’ flour mill in Finch Street. This mill was located on the site of the present R.S.L. Memorial Park next to the first Municipal Chambers; now the site of the R.S.L. Club. In November 1897 a large grain store was erected at the rear of the mill. When the mill was closed Ray Whitfield and the Hayes Brothers, proprietors of the Bexley Stud, purchased it in partnership. The top half of the mill was relocated to Ray Whitfield’s property ‘Towarra’ as a shearing shed.
John Byrnes died in October 1935. In April 1936 a public auction was advertised involving the dispersal of the iron and wooden buildings known as the Old Flour Mill on lots 15/16 section 39 fronting Finch Street, Bingara. Today this site is marked by the Memorial Gardens.
Bilton and Taylor
In September 1900 a public meeting, called by Bilton and Taylor, was held in the Warialda School of Arts. The gentlemen acknowledged competition from flourmills at Bingara and Inverell. They had decided on a location near the Kelly’s Gully railway station and the need for an initial capital of ₤5000. They also proposed that the community of Warialda construct the mill and they would lease it from them for a number of years. Several gentlemen spoke and said ‘although they should have liked to have the mill erected … Messrs Bilton and Taylor were going late into the business solely on their own account it was for them alone to say where they would be carrying on operations’.
Cordial Factories
Each country town had its own aerated water and cordial factory. Water quality was always a problem and flavoured water offered an alternative to poor water. Many of the companies flourished after World War One with the growth of the temperance movement and its campaign against alcohol. In time, the family cordial businesses were bought out by larger corporate companies and closed down particularly after World War Two.
Warialda Aerated Water and Cordial Factory
Peter Gilmour conducted the Warialda Cordial Factory by June 1886. He was also a carpenter, joiner, cabinetmaker and undertaker.
In January 1900, Thomas Heyden offered his aerated water business for sale and in the following month, he and his wife left Warialda after twenty year’s residence.
By February 1902, the Warialda Aerated Water and Cordial Factory was established alongside the School of Arts. In December 1902 R.H. Stewart advertised his aerated water machine and appliances at his factory.
In July 1910, the Warialda Standard announced that W. Bartier has taken over the Bakery and Cordial Business from P. McCosker. He was still there in April 1911.
Egan’s cordial factory in Geddes Street was destroyed by fire on Wednesday 16 June 1921. The fire commenced in the residential part of the building and quickly spread but W. Doak’s nearby residence was saved.
Bingara Cordial Factory
Henry J. Fay started a cordial factory in the large shed at the backyard of his Finch Street home in the early 1900s. It was taken over by Bill O’Dell who operated the factory into the 1930s.
Gravesend Wool-Scouring Company
By November 1908 the Gravesend Wool-Scouring Company was established with R. Hayne as manager. Trucks delivered all wool to Gravesend Railway Station.
Bingara Wool-Scouring Works
Taylor and Hulbert operated a wool-scouring and fellmongering works at Bingara by August 1897. This partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in July 1899 and Mr F.R. Hulbert announced his intention to carry the business on. It was still in operation in March 1900.