209 Livingstone road
DA201700180 demolition approved
Marrickville's last dairyman
It’s not what you’d call a conventionally pretty building and you will probably have driven past it without a second glance. Even when walking past, your eyes will be drawn to the enormous Greek Church next door and may not see this innocuous little industrial brick block that is slowly being consumed by graffiti.
What is it?
It is popularly known as the former SES building, but if you stand close and look up to the cream painted panel on the right, you will be able to make out the word “club” that was painted over many years ago. If you peer really closely at the left hand panel, you might just make out the word “girls”. This was the home of the Marrickville Girls Club.
But it wasn’t purpose built for the girls. It was a milk depot, built in 1931 by Cyril Cleveland Cooper who ran the Champion Dairy. And it is a symbol, a place marker representing the end of an era in Marrickville. It is the last significant remnant of Marrickville’s dairy industry and the site of a battle between Cyril and Marrickville Council that lasted from 1928 until Cyril finally succumbed in 1935.
What is it?
It is popularly known as the former SES building, but if you stand close and look up to the cream painted panel on the right, you will be able to make out the word “club” that was painted over many years ago. If you peer really closely at the left hand panel, you might just make out the word “girls”. This was the home of the Marrickville Girls Club.
But it wasn’t purpose built for the girls. It was a milk depot, built in 1931 by Cyril Cleveland Cooper who ran the Champion Dairy. And it is a symbol, a place marker representing the end of an era in Marrickville. It is the last significant remnant of Marrickville’s dairy industry and the site of a battle between Cyril and Marrickville Council that lasted from 1928 until Cyril finally succumbed in 1935.
Cyril was one of eight boys and two girls born to Alfred and Anne Cooper who ran the Champion Dairy on the corner of Botany Road and Queen Street at Waterloo (now Rosebery). They ran the dairy for 30 years from 1884 and it was an awful place to raise a family. There were two boiling down works in close proximity, places where the fat from animal carcasses was rendered to produce tallow that was then used to make soap and candles. There was a brick works further along Botany Road. A kerosene factory and then Upton’s Soap Works were directly opposite. The stench and dust would have been unimaginable. Three of the boys didn’t make it to their second birthdays - first born John and twin babies Henry and George. Daughter Marie died in 1905.
Dairying in Sydney boomed in the 1890’s. Marrickville alone had about 40 dairies registered in 1891. Sydney had a self-sufficient milk supply that was virtually unregulated because local authorities generally failed to prosecute breaches of the Dairies Supervision Act 1886. But there were multiple forces at work that would finally bring the Sydney industry to an end.
The country dairies were on the ascendency and had their eyes firmly on the Sydney market. They had tried sending milk to Sydney from Wollongong via steamship in 1856 but with no refrigeration and a five hour journey, the venture failed after a few months.
Thomas Mort started sending pasteurised shipments from Bowral to Sydney in 1876 using ice as a refrigerant. Mort had coordinated the dairy farmers of the southern highlands to undertake to deliver minimum quantities and he would organise the shipment from Bong Bong railway bridge. This was highly successful and by 1912, in combination with an efficient rail network across the state, country dairies were supplying about 70% of Sydney’s demand.
Meanwhile in Waterloo, the five remaining Cooper boys were working with Alfred in the family dairy which had 80 cows, well over the Sydney average of 40 – 50 cows per dairy. Their own experience of losing three baby boys was not unique and infant mortality became a focus for legislation and philanthropy. Breastfeeding in the western world declined from the 1890's through to the 1960’s as it was seen as old-fashioned and a bit lower class. Infants and children were being fed with cow’s milk. Thomas Mort had stated that he felt the high rate of infant deaths was due to the use of impure cow’s milk, hence his mission to provide pure and unadulterated milk to Sydney from the country dairies. He predicted the demise of the Sydney dairymen. It was prophetic.
The country dairies were on the ascendency and had their eyes firmly on the Sydney market. They had tried sending milk to Sydney from Wollongong via steamship in 1856 but with no refrigeration and a five hour journey, the venture failed after a few months.
Thomas Mort started sending pasteurised shipments from Bowral to Sydney in 1876 using ice as a refrigerant. Mort had coordinated the dairy farmers of the southern highlands to undertake to deliver minimum quantities and he would organise the shipment from Bong Bong railway bridge. This was highly successful and by 1912, in combination with an efficient rail network across the state, country dairies were supplying about 70% of Sydney’s demand.
Meanwhile in Waterloo, the five remaining Cooper boys were working with Alfred in the family dairy which had 80 cows, well over the Sydney average of 40 – 50 cows per dairy. Their own experience of losing three baby boys was not unique and infant mortality became a focus for legislation and philanthropy. Breastfeeding in the western world declined from the 1890's through to the 1960’s as it was seen as old-fashioned and a bit lower class. Infants and children were being fed with cow’s milk. Thomas Mort had stated that he felt the high rate of infant deaths was due to the use of impure cow’s milk, hence his mission to provide pure and unadulterated milk to Sydney from the country dairies. He predicted the demise of the Sydney dairymen. It was prophetic.
The Dairies Supervision Act 1886 was written as a reaction to an outbreak of typhoid that was traced to the well of a dairy in Leichhardt. It attempted to regulate an industry that was seen as generally ignorant of hygiene standards. They found that some dairymen didn’t realise that water needed to be boiled before being used in sterilisation, they were storing milk in uncovered pails as were the shops that sold their milk. They were adding potentially infected water to milk to stretch it further and they were adding chemicals such as boric acid to kill bacteria and extend the life of the milk. But while local authorities were reluctant to prosecute offenders, the practices continued.
In 1893 on the north coast of NSW the North Coast Fresh Food and Cold Storage Co-operative was formed. Its success was driven by demand for butter during World War I by Great Britain, which allowed it to expand and completely dominate the dairy industry in the north of NSW. It was renamed Norco in 1926.
In 1900 in the southern highlands, the Dairy Farmers Co-operative was formed. The cost of shipping milk to Sydney was eroding producer margins and the co-op was specifically formed to bypass the distributors.
These two massive groups of producers were highly organised and able to direct excess milk production to the manufacture of dairy products.
In 1893 on the north coast of NSW the North Coast Fresh Food and Cold Storage Co-operative was formed. Its success was driven by demand for butter during World War I by Great Britain, which allowed it to expand and completely dominate the dairy industry in the north of NSW. It was renamed Norco in 1926.
In 1900 in the southern highlands, the Dairy Farmers Co-operative was formed. The cost of shipping milk to Sydney was eroding producer margins and the co-op was specifically formed to bypass the distributors.
These two massive groups of producers were highly organised and able to direct excess milk production to the manufacture of dairy products.
The Sydney dairymen were oblivious to the behemoth that was slowly circling them.
Life was getting harder for the Coopers at Waterloo. In 1902 Alfred had started renting a dairy at Kurrajong in the hopes that he would be able to build a business outside the oppressive Sydney environment, but he couldn’t afford it and the landlord successfully sued him for non-payment of rent. He was brought before Redfern Court in 1912 for selling adulterated milk and then again for not paying the registration fee for his dairy.
Life was getting harder for the Coopers at Waterloo. In 1902 Alfred had started renting a dairy at Kurrajong in the hopes that he would be able to build a business outside the oppressive Sydney environment, but he couldn’t afford it and the landlord successfully sued him for non-payment of rent. He was brought before Redfern Court in 1912 for selling adulterated milk and then again for not paying the registration fee for his dairy.
In 1913 his son Cyril married Mary and they moved to Livingstone Road in Marrickville, taking over a recently vacated dairy. They called it Champion Dairy after the family dairy in Waterloo.
The following year Alfred threw in the towel at Waterloo and sold his 80 cows, 3 bulls, 4 milk carts and 17 horses plus all of his dairying equipment and the milk run.
He moved to Marrickville.
But retirement wasn’t in Alfred’s plans. He moved into a house in Marrickville Avenue next to Cyril’s dairy and continued on with the only life he ever knew. Later that year he waved off his boys Alfred junior and Joseph as they went to war but he was never able to hug Joseph again. He died on the battlefield less than one month before the end of the war. The eight boys had now become four.
In 1919 Cyril leased the old Taylor’s dairy at the corner of Illawarra Road and Hill St and Alfred kept himself busy running it. But in 1920, at the age of 70 Alfred milked his last cow.
There were only 10 dairies left in Marrickville by the time Alfred passed away. The population had increased from 11,800 in 1890 to 43,000 in 1920 and pressure from ratepayers to remove the dairies was relentless. There were countless complaints sent to Council about cows straying around the street, especially at night time when it was common practice to let the cows out to feed on grass along the roads. Although the number of dairies declined in the 1920’s the number of cows impounded increased. By 1923 there were only 9 dairies left with 370 cows in total, but throughout the year, 171 of them had been impounded waiting for the fine to be paid before they would be released.
Despite legislation targeting dairy and milk vendor hygiene, little improvement in the quality of the urban milk supply was seen. In 1923 nervous doctors advised mothers to use powdered milk instead of cow’s milk. But the number of Sydney dairies continued to climb. In 1911 there were 350 registered dairies in Sydney, by 1921 there were 427.
Marrickville Council could no longer ignore the voices of the ratepayers. In 1926 they advised the municipality that they would no longer accept new dairy registrations and in 1928 they stopped re-registering existing dairies. Cyril was given time to relocate his dairy and was also given permission to build a milk depot at 209 Livingstone Road. The proud dairyman was to be turned into a milk vendor. He built the depot but refused to budge from the dairy. He had been leasing the land since 1913 and finally managed to buy it in 1925 and was not ready to give up his family’s future.
Further north, Dennis Fitzgerald at 108 Edinburgh Road was hanging on as well but the registration for his Federal Dairy was cancelled in 1930.
And Cyril became Marrickville’s last dairyman.
He was summoned to appear before Council in 1935 where he pleaded to remain in the only business he had known. Two of his sons, Alfred and David were now dairymen working alongside him and Australia was in the midst of another depression. The dairymen were providing much needed employment for their families across the entire country but Cyril’s pleas fell on deaf ears, so he wrote to the Milk Board who gave him a hearing in February 1935.
Further north, Dennis Fitzgerald at 108 Edinburgh Road was hanging on as well but the registration for his Federal Dairy was cancelled in 1930.
And Cyril became Marrickville’s last dairyman.
He was summoned to appear before Council in 1935 where he pleaded to remain in the only business he had known. Two of his sons, Alfred and David were now dairymen working alongside him and Australia was in the midst of another depression. The dairymen were providing much needed employment for their families across the entire country but Cyril’s pleas fell on deaf ears, so he wrote to the Milk Board who gave him a hearing in February 1935.
Cyril’s battle was lost and he was ordered to sell his dairy. He auctioned everything including his 70 cows, the roan bull and all the equipment he had invested in to ensure his milk was of the highest standard. He sold the land that the milk depot was on to Dairy Farmers. Later that year, Dairy Farmers also bought the milk vending business of Michael McNamara who had been dairying directly across the road from Cyril between Arthur Street and the railway line since 1900. He had stopped dairying in 1920 and became a milk vendor operating out of 242 Livingstone Road.
1935 was the peak of smallholder dairying in NSW in a large part due to families digging in to survive the depression. The Norco and Dairy Farmers conglomerates took the industry over and the Sydney market was flooded with cheap country milk. But it didn’t all go their way. Margarine had been invented, in fact the Marrickville Margarine Company set up in Edinburgh Road in 1908. It was a low-cost oil based product that was gaining popularity. When Britain joined the EEC, Australia lost the export contracts. And the profit margin on dairy products became so small that the government intervened with assistance to the industry. It still struggles.
1935 was the peak of smallholder dairying in NSW in a large part due to families digging in to survive the depression. The Norco and Dairy Farmers conglomerates took the industry over and the Sydney market was flooded with cheap country milk. But it didn’t all go their way. Margarine had been invented, in fact the Marrickville Margarine Company set up in Edinburgh Road in 1908. It was a low-cost oil based product that was gaining popularity. When Britain joined the EEC, Australia lost the export contracts. And the profit margin on dairy products became so small that the government intervened with assistance to the industry. It still struggles.
Cyril sold the balance of the dairy land to Marrickville Council for £3200 who declared that it would become Marrickville’s next park. Instead, we got a playground called Ness Park and we got Hollands Avenue. Harry Hollands, a Summer Hill developer got the land in 1935 and was given 18 months to build 22 cottages. His work in Hollands Avenue was so exceptional the street has been heritage listed. Cyril himself bought two sets of semis that he kept as an investment.
Cyril found it impossible to imagine a life for himself without dairying in it. He used the money from the sale of the land to buy a dairy in Hurstville. A year later in a ‘dairy swap’ he sold the Hurstville dairy to Edward Stubley and bought Stubley’s dairy at Narrabeen. But he didn’t leave Marrickville. He had bought 207 Livingstone Road years before and had raised his family of seven children there, close to St Brigid's Church which he was devoted to. He remained in Livingstone Road, a proud dairyman, a proud Marrickvillian.
Cyril found it impossible to imagine a life for himself without dairying in it. He used the money from the sale of the land to buy a dairy in Hurstville. A year later in a ‘dairy swap’ he sold the Hurstville dairy to Edward Stubley and bought Stubley’s dairy at Narrabeen. But he didn’t leave Marrickville. He had bought 207 Livingstone Road years before and had raised his family of seven children there, close to St Brigid's Church which he was devoted to. He remained in Livingstone Road, a proud dairyman, a proud Marrickvillian.
After Cyril died in 1950 his house at 207 Livingstone Road passed through several sets of hands before being sold to the Greek Orthodox Church. The house was demolished to make way for the commanding building we see today.
Dairy Farmers sold the milk depot next door to Marrickville Council in 1945. Council had decided to buy it to prevent any new industry starting up in an area they had designated residential. They made it the home of the Marrickville Girls Club that formed in 1944. This land was also eventually sold to the Greek Church and Cyril’s milk depot is earmarked for demolition in order to make way for a 24-room boarding house.
Looking back with 21st century eyes, can we say that the annihilation of the Sydney dairy industry resulted in improved infant survival rates?
Dairy Farmers sold the milk depot next door to Marrickville Council in 1945. Council had decided to buy it to prevent any new industry starting up in an area they had designated residential. They made it the home of the Marrickville Girls Club that formed in 1944. This land was also eventually sold to the Greek Church and Cyril’s milk depot is earmarked for demolition in order to make way for a 24-room boarding house.
Looking back with 21st century eyes, can we say that the annihilation of the Sydney dairy industry resulted in improved infant survival rates?
Lack of hygiene in production and distribution certainly didn’t help the mortality rate but it is unlikely to be the primary cause. Cleanliness of the milk supply wasn’t achieved until the Milk Board was given broad powers under the Metropolitan Milk Act of 1930 but the infant mortality rate had been declining since 1900. It is generally accepted that improved survival rates were due to a combination of compulsory education mandated in 1880 plus the establishment of infant welfare programs in the early 1900’s. At the turn of the century young mothers had been educated in domestic science and mothercraft. They had learned that the primary source of infection is the home and were taught how to overcome that. Infant welfare programs were established in Sydney especially in the poorer parts – Darlinghurst, Newtown and Alexandria. The Metropolitan Medical Officer organised for around 4,500 babies per year to see health visitors. In 1870, the infant mortality rate was 157 deaths per thousand. By 1930 it had plummeted to 39 per thousand. The main cause of death had been diarrhoeal conditions which declined with improved sanitation, sterilisation techniques, improved water supply, as well as a cleaner milk supply.
The exodus of the dairies from Sydney is likely to have been the result of other factors: the high cost of land, increased running costs such as fodder and wages as well as the pressure of an increasing population.
For half a century the dairymen of Marrickville lived an impossibly hard life, one of continual sacrifice with little reward. In the end, they were crushed on the regulatory battlefield.
A single memorial remains …. for now.
Acknowledgements
To Dr Milton Lewis from the University of Sydney whose brilliant essay on Sydney’s milk supply helped me understand why the Cooper’s never stood a chance.
“Milk, mothers, and infant welfare”, published in Twentieth Century Sydney: Studies in urban and social history, edited by Jill Roe
To John Wilkinson whose paper opened my eyes to the history of an industry I have never given a second thought to. He amazed me.
“Dairy industry in New South Wales: past and present”, published in 1999 by the NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service.
Copyright © 2019 Marrickville Unearthed. All rights reserved.
The exodus of the dairies from Sydney is likely to have been the result of other factors: the high cost of land, increased running costs such as fodder and wages as well as the pressure of an increasing population.
For half a century the dairymen of Marrickville lived an impossibly hard life, one of continual sacrifice with little reward. In the end, they were crushed on the regulatory battlefield.
A single memorial remains …. for now.
Acknowledgements
To Dr Milton Lewis from the University of Sydney whose brilliant essay on Sydney’s milk supply helped me understand why the Cooper’s never stood a chance.
“Milk, mothers, and infant welfare”, published in Twentieth Century Sydney: Studies in urban and social history, edited by Jill Roe
To John Wilkinson whose paper opened my eyes to the history of an industry I have never given a second thought to. He amazed me.
“Dairy industry in New South Wales: past and present”, published in 1999 by the NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service.
Copyright © 2019 Marrickville Unearthed. All rights reserved.