AUSTRAL PAPER MILL

"Austral Paper Mill, Geelong"

This paper mill was built at Geelong in 1890 by William Daniel Hughes, a former manager of the Barwon Paper Mills at Geelong. Hughes, an experienced papermaker from Lancashire in England, constructed the Austral Paper Mill at Marnockvale and imported his own machine from England. He appointed Richard Race Lewis as the manager of the mill.

"Geelong Advertiser" 19 October 1889

"Barwon Bank"

The following article appeared in the "Geelong Times" of 15 March 1890:

"The house and land known as the Barwon House Estate has just found a purchaser in Mr. W. D. Hughes. As our readers are no doubt aware of the admirable position of this estate, standing on the high ground of Prince’s Bridge, commanding a view of the valley of the Barwon and the Barrabool Hills; and, although the house was built in the early days above the flood marks of the Barwon, about half a mile on the town side of Geelong, it is without doubt a most substantially built structure. Mr Hughes will shortly remove to the house and he will then commence the erection of a Paper Manufactory, fitted with the most modern machinery for making paper bags. We understand the bag making plant will be capable of turning out three million bags weekly. There will also be added special printing machines for the printing of grocers, drapers and all other kinds of bags and wrapping papers. This industry alone will find work for fully 200 young women.

The Paper Mill will be laid out to accommodate three paper making machines. The first machine that is to be erected is now about to be despatched from England and is capable of making paper 84 inches wide. It is of the latest pattern, fitted with all improvements up to date, and has 13 drying cylinders, each 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, as well as all the requisite rolls for finishing the paper with any desired surface. This machine will be capable of making of upwards of 40 tons of paper weekly. Immediately this is in action, a second machine will be put down for making the thin glazed papers, now so largely used by drapers and soft goods houses. This will be the only machine in the Colonies of its kind. There will be room left to accommodate a third machine which it is intended to use for the manufacture of the higher classes of white and coloured printing papers. The other machinery comprised in the mill to the making of paper there will also be the finest machinery yet invented for the manufacture of all knids of paper used in Australia. In addition will be steam power of fully a 1,000 indicated horse power. The rag or pulp engine will each be double or treble the size of any yet at work this side of the "line," while the rag boiulers, choppers, dusters, &c., will all be of the most improved labour-saving kind. The mill buildings will cover an area of between three and four acres and will be substantially built of brick with stone facings. The mill chimney and boiler flues will be constructed on the most scientific principle, with due regard to economy of fuel, and nothing will be omitted to make this mill worthy of the important position it will fill as one of the largest industrial wonders in the colonies. The manufactory will be known as The Austral Paper Mills.

Mr. Hughes is being joined in the enterprise by some capitalists from England, who are quite satisfied with the state of trade in Victoria and the representations made by Mr. Hughes, and the prospects of a good return on their capital. Mr. Hughes personally will have a large interest in the concern and will have sole charge both of the Mill and Warehouse which will be opened in Melbourne, as they propose to distribute their own productions direct to the grocers, storekeepers, soft goods houses, &c., without the intervention of any of the wholesale houses in Melbourne.

In the meantime, during the erection of this new factory, Mr. Hughes has built a factory in McKillop Street, fitted with a most complete plant for printing, bag making, and the samples he submitted to us yesterday morning were really excellent specimens. Mr. Hughes gives us to understand that, when this new factory is in full work, he will find employment for at least 600 work people in the various departments."

The "Geelong Advertiser" of 7 April 1892 reported "A very violent assault was yesterday forenoon made upon Mr. W. D. Hughes, proprietor of the new paper mills at Chilwell, and his son Alfred Hughes, by two men, one of whom was Thomas Crossley, formerly an employee at the mills. On Monday last, Mr. Hughes had occasion to disapprove of the action of a couple of his men, whom he punished by dismissal. The next day he sent them the wages due to them, but they refused to accept the money, and one of them, Crossley, took out a summons against Mr. Hughes for the recovery of a larger sum, and he served the summons on his former master at the mills. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Hughes, accompanied by his son and Mr. R. R. Lewis, his manager, started for town in a buggy, and when a quarter of a mile from the mills, Crossley and his mate stopped the party. Crossley got into the buggy and savagely assaulted Mr. Hughes, senior, and dragged him out of the trap, whilst his companion struck young Hughes, a mere boy, and then Crossley threatened to knock Mr. Lewis' brains out, and the pair decamped. Warrants for the arrest of the men were procured by Mr. Hughes and a summons was taken out by Mr. Lewis against Crossley, with the view of binding him over to keep the peace."

Austral Paper Mill Buildings

Though the mill was completed and the papermaking machine arrived at Geelong, William Daniel Hughes became insolvent before he could commence production.

"Melbourne Argus" 23 August 1893

On 4 April 1896 the "Geelong Advertiser" reported "A short time since the paper mills known as Hughes' Austral mills, situated on the banks of the Barwon, were purchased by a small syndicate for £1,500. Within the last few days the machinery that it contained has been sold for £1,600 sterling, and is in the course of transit to Sydney. The whole of the purchase money was paid on Thursday last."

On 16 April 1896 the "Geelong Advertiser" further reported "Advantage was taken yesterday afternoon of the presence of the steamer "Age" in Corio Bay, whilst that vessel was low down in the water with a heavy cargo of coal, to ship the large boiler obtained from the Austral paper mills at South Geelong, which has been purchased by Mr. George Adams, of Sydney, who is about to start a paper mill in that city. The boiler, which forms a portion of the extensive plant of the Austral mills, measures about 30ft. in length, and weighs 14 tons, and it proved a very awkward piece of machinery to handle on the Yarra Street wharf. Quite an army of wharf labourers was engaged for several hours in rolling the boiler off Mr. Jos. Bannister's huge lorry, employed in farm work at Webbibee, up the skids and on to the steamer's decks. This was successfully accomplished without any accident, and the steamer left the bay for Melbourne, where the remainder of her cargo of coal has to be discharged, and the "Age" will return to Geelong tomorrow afternoon to take on board the rest of the paper mill machinery, which weighs altogether about 150 tons. The bulk of the plant from the Austral mills, a portion of which was shipped to Sydney last Friday by the steamer "Era," is lying on the western platform of the Yarra Street wharf."

George Adams used the papermaking machinery in his Waterloo Paper Mill near Sydney, New South Wales.

The Austral mill buildings were purchased by The Australian Paper Mills Company Pty. Ltd. in 1899 and sold by a Mr. Renton for them in 1905 to Mr. J. S. McGill who was connected with the woollen industry, with the condition that they would not be used as a paper mill.

Sources:

Amcor Archives (University of Melbourne Archives, Baillieu Library, Melbourne)

Hughes, Geoffrey Graham Tong Personal communications (relative of William Daniel Hughes)

Hughes, Ian Alexander "Hughes, A Family of Papermakers" (privately published, Melbourne, Vic., 1979)

Hughes, Norma Joyce Personal communications (descendant of William Daniel Hughes)

Romanov-Hughes, Alexander "Papermaking in Australasia to 1900 - Austral Paper Mill" (website)

Sinclair, E. Keith "The Spreading Tree, A History of APM and Amcor 1844-1989" (Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, N.S.W., 1991)

Newspapers:

Victoria "Geelong Advertiser", "Geelong Times," "Melbourne Argus"