Photo's of Bricks

As I traveled around researched for this blog, I came across lots of different bricks from makers all over the place.  Here are some of the photo's collected over the course of this research.  Any comments or news about them would be appreciated. Some of these pictures came from another blog on bricks, "Collecting Australian Bricks" but most are mine.

Hand Made Brick, Single Heart 19th Century, possibly John Hart form French Island or Corinella, Victoria

Hand Made Brick, Double Heart 19th Century

There were Auburn Brick Works in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and America.  Chances are that these are from Melbourne. 1909 to 1934.

Blackburn Brick Company 1892 - 1966

Brick and Pipe Industries. From 1959 to 1989

Bremer Brick Tile & Pottery Co, Dinmore Queensland 1886-

Builders Company later Glen Iris Brick

Charles Butler & Sons 1886-1966

City Brick formerly Spear

Dandenong Brick and Tile Company

D.H.B.W Dandenong

Excelsior (Could be any one of several)

Fritsch-Holzer

New Gamble Brick Company

Glen Iris Bricks

Glen Iris 1950

Glen Iris Royal Visit 1954

Glen Iris 1955

Glen Iris 1956 Melbourne Olympic Brick

Glen Iris (Stamford Brick Company) Olympic Brick 1956

Hand-Made Brick

Hoffman Brick

Oakleigh Brick Company

Oakleigh Junction Brick Company

Oakleigh Black Brick

Lucknow Brick Works

New Northcote

Ross Brick Company, Dandenong

Sale Brick

Sandhurst Brick

Selkirk Bricks Ballarat

Shepparton Brick, Shepparton

Spear Brick, Melbourne (pre City Bricks),
not to be confused with Speare, Sydney

Stamford Brick 1958

State Brick Works, Wonthaggi, Victoria

(SCM was the State Coal Mines)

State Brickworks, New South Wales.

Goding (John and Henry)

John Gordon Goding was born on the 27^th of June 1848 in Banwell, Somerset, England, now part of Avon. He arrived in Melbourne aboard the ship “Sabrina" in April 1857 with his father Arthur, his wife Mary (Stock) and six other children.

Sarah Ann aged 17

Arthur aged 14

James aged 10

Hannah  aged 6

May aged 7

Emily aged 1 died at sea.

The three elder sons came out earlier, as did some male Goding cousins from the same village. (Practically all Godings in Victoria today descend from Arthur Goding or his cousins.  John had been a brick maker for most of his working life, having managed the Ringwood and Dandenong brick works.  John was the first person to make bricks in Oakleigh, having purchased the land from Howard Tapley Clarton.

John married Ellen Elizabeth Brown on 26 Dec 1870 in South Yarra, and they had 9 children. After her death, John married her younger sister Elizabeth Diana Brown, (born 19 Sep 1858 in Brunswick, died 31 Aug 1946 in Oakleigh), and they had a further 3 daughters

Elenor Diana b 1871

Edward John b1873

Henry Walter b 1875

Winifred Louisa b 1877

Frederick James b 1879

Eloise Victoria b 1881

Arthur Ernest b 1883

Ethel Adelaide b 1887

Johnathon Bright b 1889

and

Lena Estella b1891

Emily Wilhelmina b 1896

Evelyn Florence b 1899

Henry Goding arrived on the “Lady Ann” at Sydney in 1854 at age 19.  He found employment as a stockman at Richmond, working on a property owned by Mr W Bowman.  After a few months he left for Melbourne where he began work as a Fireman with the City Insurance Company where he remained for thirty two years, becoming Foreman and holding that position for 20 years.  He retired in 1886 and moved to Oakleigh where he began making bricks with his brother John. 

The land on which the brickworks was built was purchased by the brothers on the 27^th of April 1885.  This partnership continued until the 8^th of February 1886 when John left the partnership, just in time.  

“NOTlCE is hereby given that the PARTNERSHIP carried on for some time past, at Oakleigh, in the parish of Mulgrave, in the county of Bourke, in the colony of Victoria, between us, the undersigned, Henry Goding and John Goding, under the firm of "Goding Brothers" as brickmakers, was this day DISSOLVED by mutual consent. Mr Henry Goding, by whom the business will in future be carried on, is       empowered to receive, discharge and settle all debts due to and by the said partnership concern.      

Dated this 8th day of February, 1886  

HENRY GODING  

JOHN GODING

Signed by the said Henry Godlng, and John Goding in the presence of George John Sims, Solicitor, Melbourne.”

Like many companies of the time, Henry ran foul of the finance company.  On the 10^th of April 1886, the Universal Permanent Building and Investment Company took over Henry’s share of the property.  Henry tried to sell the property in October 1887.  At that time, the works consisted of a pugmill, horse drawn rollers, two kilns and four drying houses.  He stated that 40,000 bricks were ready for burning.  This would suggest that the kilns were rectangular downdraught.  Henry continued there until the 8^th of November 1887 when the property was transferred to Edwin Wade.  Henry was by then in his early 50s.  

John must kept his hand in because he was advertising 80,000 bricks for sale in 1914, along with other building material.  He was in his mid 70s so he probably had them at his home.  John died at the age of 84 at his son in law’s home in Ferntree Gully Road Oakleigh on the 7^th o f November 1932.

Dixons Brickworks

Name	Dixons Brickworks
Also known as	Dicksons Brickyard
Address	Park Road, Oakleigh
Location	Dandenong Road, between Park Road and Marriott Street
Years of Operation	1891 to 1895

One of the things that made it difficult to find the right person was that; (a) in those days, he is recorded as being either Dixon or Dickson, and (b) there were several James Dixons around.  This James Dixon was the proprietor of the Oakleigh Hotel between 1885 and 1890.  He sold the hotel to Mrs M A Einsiedel and in 1891 he began Dixons Brickworks in Park Street Oakleigh.  

This was another  short-lived brick making venture in Oakleigh, lasting around four or five years.  James was also a builder and owned a number of other properties in and around Oakleigh.  Among them was a large block along Dandenong Road between Park Road and Lever Street extending back towards Scotchmans Creek.

It appears that James was also buying up properties, probably at a significant discount due to the recession in Melbourne at the time and the consequential collapse of real estate prices.  James owned housing blocks around Oakleigh as well as the large property where the brick works was located.

All trace of the brick works had disappeared and no pictures of the works were available by the time the first aerial photographs were taken in 1931.  All that remained were the tracks and roadways in the centre of the photograph.  It appears that the works are where the tennis courts are now.  Homes had been built over much of the other area of the works.  These tracks also disappeared when the football ground was built over them later.  In 1958, a swimming pool was built and the area where part of the works had been is now tennis courts.  I believe that the brick pit was near where the swimming pool is now because an ornamental lake that doubled as a swimming pool was opened there also.  

I suspect that this was a low volume works operating rectangular down draught kilns. 

Atlas Cement and Tile Company

Also known as	Atlas Products (Victoria) Pty Ltd
Address	496-500 Neerim Road Carnegie
Location	-37.88967. 145.06849
Years of Operation	1931 to 1936

Sun Cement Tiles Pty Ltd

Trading Name	Sun Cement Tiles Pty Ltd
Years of Operation	1935 to 1977
Company Number
Address	135 Neerim Road Carnegie from 1935 to 1957 30 Hargreaves Street Huntingdale from 1957 to 1976.
Council Lot No.
Coordinates
Current Use	Light Industrial

One of many cement tile manufacturers in the area, this company originally operated from Neerim Road in Carnegie from 1935 until 1957 before moving to 30 Hargreaves Street in Huntingdale where it operated, not far from Masonry Veneer, until the mid to late 1970s.  There were two brothers, Hopetoun Robert Whitelaw and Mervyn Murray Whitelaw.  Mervyn’s wife Valma and Hopetoun’s wife Rita were also partners in the business, as was Ian Ritchie, an accountant.

Starting at the height of the great depression, this company was one of several that began in Neerim Road, along with another couple on Dandenong Road Carnegie.  The high cost of producing terra cotta roofing tiles led to the establishment of these companies.  The premises in Hargreaves street were not large and the parners lived nearby.

Operating as a partnership until the move to Huntingdale, the partners formed a limited company in 1956.  They continued until 1976 when profits were so low as to make the company non viable.  They ceased trading in 1977.

I have written in detail about cement tiles on the Masonry Veneer post. So here, I will talk about using cement tiles.  They are cheaper than terra cotta as they are easier to make, but can be more difficult to install, especially along ridge-lines and valleys.  A special saw, requiring skill to use is needed to cut them properly.

Cement tiles will generally last between thirty to fifty years according to most sites on the web.  Something to bear in mind is that cement tiles continue to harden with age and become less porous.  This means that they will often last longer.  There are many houses in my area with cement tiles that are over sixty years old.  The Romans used concrete over two thousand years ago and it is still in good condition.  This is because concrete absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, making it stronger. 

Some problems have occurred as a result of the battens and flashing being incorrectly fitted.  Sometimes the battens need to be replaced before the tiles due to inferior timber being used, especially on houses built in the 1950s and 60s before treated timber became available.

Cement tiles will fade naturally with age as a result of air pollution and ultra violet rays.  Roof coating is usually only a cosmetic solution.  Re-coating is generally needed.  These coatings will eventually fade and peel and cannot be walked on.  Blending in replacement tiles creates a colour-matching problem. Concrete tiles do not absorb water although some clay tiles will with age.   Some salts will precipitate from the cement leaving a whitish discolouration but this does not affect their performance.  This “efflorescence” will dissipate over time.

Material used to make cement tiles are non toxic and water collected from a roof   is usually safe to drink, but deposits left by our various avian friends may affect this, so be careful.  If you look at a lot of terra cotta tile roofs, especially in Melbourne, lichens grow quite extensively.  These do not create a problem and add character to the roof.  They can easily be cleaned using proprietary cleaning products.  Sometimes they may clog drainage channels.

Moroney Brothers

Trading Name	Moroney Brothers
Years of Operation	1890 to 1897
Company Number
Address	Stamford Road Oakleigh
Council Lot No.	21, 22, 23
Coordinates	-37.892991, 145.101221
Current Use	Public Open Space Park & Commercial Warehousing

Michael and Thomas Moroney were born in Oakleigh to Patrick and Winifred (McMahon).   They lived in Stamford Road near brickworks but later became dairy farmers.

 

Victoria and its Metropolis Alexander Sutherland 1888

Their brick works was built on land they owned on the west side of Stamford Road and was later used by the Oakleigh Brick Company.  The land was purchased by Patrick Moroney in 1864 and sold to the Oakleigh Brick Company in 1903.  Nothing remains of their company but in the aerial photographs of the property, there was an old kiln on the Lever street side that I was told had made the bricks for the Hoffman kilns that were used until the works closed.  It is possible that this was the original kiln at the rear used by the former owners for smaller scale production.  To the North on the other side of Scotchmans Creek is the rise still known as Moroney’s Hill.  There is a reference to the Oakleigh Junction Brickworks being started by the Moroney Brothers; there appears to be some evidence for this but I cannot be sure. 

The Moroney Home "Fair Hill" on Moroney's Hill in Oakleigh

 

.

Stamford Brick Company

Location -37.892991, 145.101221

 The Stamford Brick Company was the parent company of Glen Iris Bricks.  It was established on the 23^rd of November 1923. 

Company Profit for 1938

Stamford Brick Company No 004 106 399  was de -registered in the late 1970s.  By this time, there were three directors, Laurence and Arthur Phillips and Charles Chandler.

Eureka / Excelsior Brickworks

Trading Name	Eureka / Excelsior Brickworks
Years of Operation	1889
Company Number	440954F
Address	Dandenong Road to the South, Lever Street to the East and Park Road to the West, with the  Brick pit to the North.
Council Lot No.	21,22,23
Coordinates	-37.894075, 145.095255
Current Use	Eureka . Excelsior Brick Works were on the site  taken over by Evans Brothers Tile Works, now  the site of the Garry and Warren Smith car  dealerships.

Volume	Folio	Title Holder	From	To
1376	275075	Howard Tapley Clarton	27 Jul 1882	27 Apr 1885
1685	336948	John & Henry Goding	27 Apr 1885	10 Apr 1886
		Universal Permanent Building and Investment Society	10 Apr 1886	8 Nov 1887
1685	336948	Edwin Wade	8 Nov 1887	28 May 1898
1685	336948	Henry Ethell	28 May 1898	21 Jan 1908
3251	650102	Abraham Baxter & John McKell	21 Jan 1908	21 Jul 1921
		Oakleigh Brick Company	23 Jul 1921
9264	450	City of Oakleigh	20 Jan 1979

Another popular name for brick works.  Several companies called themselves “Eureka” as well as “Excelsior”.  Edwin operated under both names, which makes things a bit confusing because neither of them lasted long.  Described in their advertising as being “nearly opposite the Post Office”, the Eureka Brick Works were on the site taken over by Evans Brothers Tile Works.

John Wright (1858 to 1931) managed his father-in-law Edwin Andrew Wade's Excelsior Yard on the west side of Stamford Road.  Wade's daughter Frances Sale Wade, who was born at her parent's house on Broadwood Street in 1861, assisted her father and husband in the business.  They married in 1882.  Edwin must have been a poor businessmen because the Council was chasing outstanding rates from him in 1881 before he bought the site.  He owed 1 pound, but the Council settled for 12/6 after making an order for that amount.

John and Henry had been Firemen in Melbourne for many years and were obviously better firemen than brick makers.  They didn’t make a go of it and the property was taken over by the Universal Permanent Building and Investment Society.  They sold to Edwin Wade on the 8^th of December 1887.  Edwin operated as Eureka until the 28^th of May 1898 when he sold to Henry Ethell.

The following item appeared in the Oakleigh, Caulfield and Fern Tree Gully Times Saturday December 2nd 1905 in the Local News Column.  "A shocking fatal accident occurred about 4.15 on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Charles E. Davis was driving a newly-wedded couple in his hansom to the railway station, and when at the junction of Dandenong and Neerim Roads saw young Jack Wade, who was learning to ride a bicycle, coming towards him. He was on his right side and gave the lad plenty of room, but just as he came abreast of the hansom he appeared to loose control of the machine and he fell with great force against the wheel of the vehicle. The cab was pulled up instantly, and Mr. D. J. Stein who was just behind and witnessed the occurrence, carried the unfortunate lad into Mr. Claney's house opposite and telephoned for the ambulance, but it was nearly 7 o'clock before it arrived. At an inquest held yesterday a verdict was returned of death from laceration of the brain and that no blame was attachable to anyone. The bereaved parents have been the recipients of numerous expressions of sympathy.”

If you want to see what type of bricks they made, look at the facade of the Mechanics Institute building in Oakleigh.  It appears that he was not crushing the shale as fine as many others because of the size and number od small pebbles and other gravel in the mix.

“Excelsior” was a popular name for early brick works in Victoria.  There was one in   Braybrook,  (cnr of Duke & Gloucester Sts) another in South Yarra, (between Melbourne High School and Chapel Street) and yet another in Frankston.  There appears to be no connection between them.  There were also “Excelsior” works in Sydney, as well as England and the United States.

Royal Commission 1914

Brick makers in Melbourne complained about the Co-operative Brick Company that was established in 1896.  It was alleged that the Co operative was responsible for high prices, poor quality, refusal to supply products and various other monopolistic practices.  In 1913, the Victorian Government established a Royal Commission that eventually determined that the Co-op was not a monopoly as some of the companies outside it were.  The First World War seems to have overshadowed the recommendations of the report and they appear not to have been implemented.  Despite complaints about the resulting price increases, the 1914 Royal Commission on the Brick Manufacturing Industry of Victoria found that the prices charged for Melbourne bricks were fair and the quality high.

A partial Government response was to attempt to introduce more competition by developing a State run brick works.  Land was purchased in Thornbury (now partly the site of the Aboriginal Advancement League) in 1908 and construction began.  The Co-operative then lowered their prices to 38 shillings per 1000 bricks.

This, and the controversy resulted in the project being stopped and the buildings being sold to Clifton Bricks.  Two years later, as part of the State Coal Mine at Wonthaggi, the State Brickworks was started.  Initially it was to provide bricks for the mine and to supply the railways.  It was also hoped that the cheap coal would produce competitively priced bricks for the Melbourne market.  Poor quality was alleged (supposedly by those associated with the Co-operative) and by 1912 the works were effectively closed.

By this time, a serious rival had emerged, in the Glen Iris Brick Tile and Terra Cotta Co started by disgruntled builders.  It had a site at Glen Iris but had to move to because the local Council and the Co-operative blocked access to the land.  An agreement was also entered into for a lease of Government land at Thornbury commencing in 1913 and to provide the State Government with bricks at a reduced price.

The Co-operative Brick Company Limited

In 1896, the Oakleigh Brick Company became a member of the Co-operative Brick Company Limited This company was formed by agreement between the Hoffman Patent Steam Brick Co., Northcote Brick Co. Ltd., New Northcote Brick Co. Ltd., Chas. Butler & Son and Fritsch, Holzer and Co., and registered on 10 September 1896. Authorized capital was £50,000 in 50,000 shares of £1. The word ‘proprietary’ was added and registered on 11 February 1897. Authorized capital was increased to £150,000 on 17 July 1927.  During its 70 years of business the Oakleigh Brick Co., Clifton Brick Co., Blackburn Brick Co., City Brick Co., and the Standard Brick Co. (Box Hill) became associated.  The company was taken over by Brick and Pipe Industries Pty. Ltd., William Street, Melbourne, in 1966.

In evidence before the Royal Commission, William Gardner Sprigg, Accountant said;

“It was a matter of common knowledge that the brick industry was in a very bad way.  A large number of kilns were closed, and those that were open were in competition so keen that most were losing money, and none was making a profit.

Various persons in the industry had spoken to me as to whether something could not be done to remedy, the evil.  That was early in 1895.  Several meetings were held with a view to see whether the live companies could not be made profitable by amalgamation into one.  The difficulties, however, wore considerable, and that course was abandoned.  Then at the request of some of the directors I called the representatives of the companies together to talk things over, and see if some feasible scheme could not bo devised for remedying the evil state of affairs.

The result was that it was agreed to form an association for regulating the price and output of bricks.  It was then felt that some provision must be made for the control of the large interests that at the time were in abeyance. Large companies had ceased work and were in the hands of financial institutions, and it was necessary, in order to make a safe association that some terms should be made whereby the closed yards and stagnant companies should get some return, and not be absolutely starved.  Ultimately I made terms with these idle companies through the banks, but it took many months, and it was not until the end of November that the association had completed such negotiations to enable it to carry on with safety.”

Holding Companies

  

A Holding Company or a Parent Company are companies that own other companies’ shares and usually refers to a company that does not produce anything itself.  Its purpose is to own shares in other companies. It does not have any operations, activities, or other active business; instead, it owns assets.  Holding companies allow for the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow the ownership and control of a number of different companies.

The thing that makes a holding company is that it has no day-to-day role in any of the companies, each is run by its own management team. In other words, as a holding company, the job is executive oversight and or passive investing, depending upon its’ corporate strategy. Its job is to put money to work and determine if Company management is doing a good job.  If it owns enough stock to control an investment, it can fire the managers and replace them at its own discretion.

A Parent Company is a company that owns enough stock in another firm (a subsidiary) to control management and operations by influencing or electing its Board of Directors.  Another benefit is that if the Holding Company goes bust, it does not affect the companies owned by them.  This was seen in the 1990s when a lot of long established English pottery companies were sold off (Usually by management buyout) by their Holding Companies.  Most are still doing well.  During the life of several of the brick works in Oakleigh, they were owned by holding companies.  For example, some of these being;

The Stamford Brick Company

Evans Brothers Holdings Ltd

Glen Iris Holdings

The Co-operative Brick Company

Brick and Pipe Industries