Trading Name
|
Glen Iris Bricks
|
Business Name
|
The Glen Iris Brick Tile and Terra Cotta Co Pty Ltd
|
Years of Operation
|
1912 to 1972
|
Company Number
|
ACN 004 063 843
|
Address
|
Stamford Road to the West and Estelle Street to the North
|
Council Lot No.
|
|
Coordinates
|
-37.892991, 145.101221
|
Current Use
|
Public Open Space, Sporting ground
|
The
Glen Iris Brick Tile and Terra Cotta Co Pty Ltd began as a
response to the Co-operative by disgruntled builders. Office holders were Benjamin
J Davis Chairman, Isaac Fenton Secretary and Charles Stacey Manager. The company commenced on the Oakleigh
site on the 5th of March 1912.
In April 1912, an agreement was entered into by the Glen Iris Brick and
Tile Company for the lease on a portion of land at Thornbury acquired by the
late Sir Thomas Bent for the purpose of brickmaking. Under the provisions of the contract, the company had control of
of land comprising about 30 acres in all, for a long term. They agreed to pay £150 per annum and to
supply the brick requirements of the Government for seven years at 31/- per
thousand.
As the Government had only paid £5,000 for the whole area, the deal with
the company, (bricks will be supplied for all state works at 7/- per thousand
less than the current going rate) was regarded by the authorities as highly
satisfactory. No selling price to the
public was included in the agreement.
This would depend on circumstances, but the company has undertaken not to enter into any agreement with any
other manufacturer of bricks in order to fix prices or regulate output. It proposes to conduct its business on
independent lines.
Everything was in
readiness on the part of the company to start operations at once. Up-to-date equipment had been manufactured
for them by Messrs Anderson and Sons of Richmond who made milling machines and
the power would be supplied by a suction gas engine manufactured by Kynoch Ltd
of Birmingham, a munitions company still in existence, that had taken over the
Forward Engineering Co that made the gas engines. A Hoffman kiln and two drying chambers were to be erected and it
was intended that everything in connection with the whole plant would be the
most modern design.
It was the intention of the company at first to establish works in the
neighbourhood of Glen Iris, hence the name.
Some 40 acres of land was secured at Camberwell on one side of Gardiners
Creek and 6 acres in Malvern on the other side of the creek. The intention of the company, the capital of
which consists of 20,000 shares of £1 each was to build its brick making plant
at the site of the clay deposit in Camberwell and to erect its kiln on the
Malvern site.
It was further proposed to cut up a portion of the area for workmen’s
homes and to enable the land to be purchased on reasonable terms. Anticipating that there would be no
obstacles to an enterprise that it was thought would give employment to about
150 men. The brick making plant
intended for Camberwell be placed on the Thornbury land was ordered and the
suction gas engine was arranged for.
The Camberwell Council however took action that prevented the company
from starting operations there and caused the directors to turn their eyes in
other directions. A by-law of the
council provides that neither quarrying nor blasting shall be allowed in
certain areas. This particular land
came within the prescribed area and the council decided that the by-law should
be enforced in regard to it.
Councillor Rooks, was a member
of the Camberwell Council, and also a shareholder in the
City Brick Company. During
his term of office as Mayor of Camberwell, he had a
by-law framed stopping quarrying in the municipality, and thereby gave
a monopoly to the Camberwell and Auburn Brick Companies,
that were operating in the city at the time and not affected by the new bv-law. Blocked on both sides, the company put its case before the Premier.
The brickworks from inside the pit.
Photo 's courtesy of H.Gobbi, Taking its Place: a History of Oakleigh
An offer was made
to him that if he gave his support, the company would supply bricks at a
reduced cost to the Government. The
Premier, Mr Murray suggested the erection of a kiln on the Thornbury
Estate. At a saving of 11/- per 1,000 during a term
of 21 years (the length of time
the company was to hold its lease), the Government would save £5,250 per annum, and £110,250 over the whole term. He
estimated that the income to the Government
for the lease of the land, at £12.10/ per acre in 21 years would have been £3,150.
They were located on St Georges
Rd in Thornbury, bordered by Miller St to the North, Watt St to the South and
the railway line to the East. The site had first been promoted as a possible
state brickworks in 1905 by then Victorian Premier, Sir Thomas Bent. Bent was
unimpressed with the control that Melbourne’s major brickworks exorcised over
the price of bricks and was keen to force a better deal for the
government.
The government had bought 30
acres of land in Thornbury in December 1904.
Bent was aiming to bluff the brick company cartel to lower their prices
from 40 shillings per thousand. After
going as far as clearing the land and putting up buildings on the site, the
brick companies conceded and dropped their price to 38 shillings per thousand.
Development of the site was halted. However the fallout would continue to
reverberate.
In mid 1905 the Auditor General had queried the purchase of the land, as the
funds had been set aside for the construction and maintenance of workers’ homes
in the area. Bent was later found to have misled parliament when he stated that
the land had been bought for this purpose.
This, along with some other questionable land dealings, would bring
about the downfall of Bent’s government in 1908.
By 1912 the land, which had been the subject of rumour ever since the
brickworks were originally planned, had been subdivided and looked set to be
sold. Then, suddenly, in April of that
year, the Murray Government, who had launched the original royal commission in
opposition in 1905, announced that they had let a large part of the land in
Thornbury to the Glen Iris Brick Company.
They began operations in 1912,
and initially endured hostile press from the Leader and protests by local
residents. But they stayed, and the government, having signed a long-term
contract with the state government to supply bricks for thirty-one shillings
per thousand, were thrilled with the situation.
Glen Iris Brickworks, Oakleigh 1931
Though the brickworks has long ceased operation, the land remained crown until
the late 1970’s when the Northcote Council suggested that the Aborigines
Advancement League pursue developing the land for a new home. Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls had originally
founded the League in 1958 with headquarters in Cunningham St. In 1981 the Victorian Government ceded two acres
of the old quarry land to the league as well as contributing part of the $750,000
needed to fund the building. This was the first freehold land granted to
indigenous people in Victoria. The rest of the site is now devoted to the Sir
Douglas Nicholls Oval and some housing blocks.
Under the terms of
the original 1912 agreement, should the company combine with any other works or break any clause of the
undertaking, the whole of the company's works would
revert to the Crown.
The kilns anyway, would go to the Government at the end of 21 years. It was
believed that pressure had been brought to bear on the councils to stop the erection of the Glen Iris Company’s works
Brickworks 1945
The Glen Iris Company has been making bricks on a small scale for about
two months. As some difficulty in
obtaining bricks for the kiln that was intended to build at Camberwell was
feared, a small hand plant and kiln was placed on land at Oakleigh in order
that requirements could be met. These
bricks would now be used at Thornbury.
As part of the deal, a railway siding was built to help transport their
bricks. There is a conspiracy theory
that the State Brick Works was allowed to fail because of the Government deal
with Glen Iris Brick Co and their ability to get bricks to Wonthaggi more
cheaply than the locally made product.
Originally their capacity was
four million bricks per-annum but in 1936, new kilns were opened increasing
capacity by eight million bricks to twelve million per annum. Boral Bricks
purchased Glen Iris in 1970. By 1975
they had acquired almost 95% of the shares in the company. Takeover was completed on the 4th
of February 1976 when Glen Iris Consolidated Industries was de-listed by the
Australian Stock Exchange. Nothing
remains on site except the remains of the brick pit that was filled as a
Council garbage dump and is now a sports ground.
Glen
Iris Brickworks, Stamford Road, Oakleigh 1968
Glen Iris Brickworks, Stamford Road, Oakleigh 1972