29 Woodland st 'geraldine'
da201900302 demolition application
The house that Jack built - Part 1
‘Geraldine’ was the first recorded house that local builder John (Jack) Blamire built. He went on to build several more culminating in the grand home ‘Zanobi’ in Petersham. Jack lived a full and impactful life, but was constantly on the move and searching for his purpose. For much of Jack’s journey he was accompanied by his brother Richard (Dick). The story of the fabulous Blamire boys, two of Marrickville’s unsung pioneers is an extraordinary tale of resilience and determination, wrapped in hope but ultimately forced to face defeat.
Anthony and Maria Blamire emigrated from Lancashire to Australia in about 1863 settling themselves and their five children in Brisbane. They moved south to Petersham a few years later where Anthony found work in the market gardens. In 1870 he bought the block of land at the corner of Wardell Road and Frazer Street in Marrickville, built a cottage for his family and turned his hand to brickmaking. His promise to his family of a better life across the other side of the world was set in motion. He was 55 years old when he set about learning how to make bricks.
Soon after the first fleet arrived in 1788, white clay was found at a location that became known as Brickfield Hill, an area now bounded by George, Campbell, Elizabeth and Goulburn Streets and brickmaking was established as the first manufacturing industry in the colony of New South Wales.
After the British economy collapsed in 1815 Australia saw waves of immigrants arriving, all of whom needed housing. Brickmaking boomed for a time and the standard rose as skilled tradesmen began their new colonial lives, replacing unskilled convict labour. In 1841 Brickfield Hill was closed to make way for Sydney’s expanding population and the brickmakers looked further afield. The land around Alexandria, St Peters and Tempe, through Marrickville and down to Mortdale was nirvana for them. It was deemed unsuitable for food production due to its shallow water, swampy land and mangrove forests but was perfect for making bricks. The three key elements were present: clay, water and timber for stoking the kilns.
Anthony and Maria Blamire emigrated from Lancashire to Australia in about 1863 settling themselves and their five children in Brisbane. They moved south to Petersham a few years later where Anthony found work in the market gardens. In 1870 he bought the block of land at the corner of Wardell Road and Frazer Street in Marrickville, built a cottage for his family and turned his hand to brickmaking. His promise to his family of a better life across the other side of the world was set in motion. He was 55 years old when he set about learning how to make bricks.
Soon after the first fleet arrived in 1788, white clay was found at a location that became known as Brickfield Hill, an area now bounded by George, Campbell, Elizabeth and Goulburn Streets and brickmaking was established as the first manufacturing industry in the colony of New South Wales.
After the British economy collapsed in 1815 Australia saw waves of immigrants arriving, all of whom needed housing. Brickmaking boomed for a time and the standard rose as skilled tradesmen began their new colonial lives, replacing unskilled convict labour. In 1841 Brickfield Hill was closed to make way for Sydney’s expanding population and the brickmakers looked further afield. The land around Alexandria, St Peters and Tempe, through Marrickville and down to Mortdale was nirvana for them. It was deemed unsuitable for food production due to its shallow water, swampy land and mangrove forests but was perfect for making bricks. The three key elements were present: clay, water and timber for stoking the kilns.
The Blamire family entered the Australian industry at a pivotal moment. The brickmakers were using traditional methods. Clay was dug with picks and shovels then mixed with water to achieve the right consistency, placed into moulds and pressed into the right shape before being fired in the kiln. The two decades following Anthony’s entry into the industry would see more change than had been seen in the previous 5,000 years.
It was a family concern. The three boys, Jack, Dick and even ten year old Thomas worked the pit. The land sale contracts that Anthony executed were all marked with a strong, proud ‘X’ but the children were educated and they later proved to be not only eloquent and profuse writers, but born leaders.
Other children were not so lucky. In 1876 a parliamentary enquiry into the employment of children focussed on the brickmaking industry. Boys as young as ten would carry clay from the pits, roll it into a rough brick and then deliver it to the brick moulder. They were found to be carrying up to eight tonnes per day to keep up with the brick moulders. Marrickville Infants School and others around the local area were raided for boys, and the rate of illiteracy in the pits was astounding.
It was a family concern. The three boys, Jack, Dick and even ten year old Thomas worked the pit. The land sale contracts that Anthony executed were all marked with a strong, proud ‘X’ but the children were educated and they later proved to be not only eloquent and profuse writers, but born leaders.
Other children were not so lucky. In 1876 a parliamentary enquiry into the employment of children focussed on the brickmaking industry. Boys as young as ten would carry clay from the pits, roll it into a rough brick and then deliver it to the brick moulder. They were found to be carrying up to eight tonnes per day to keep up with the brick moulders. Marrickville Infants School and others around the local area were raided for boys, and the rate of illiteracy in the pits was astounding.
In 1874 Anthony purchased a second piece of land just around the corner in Livingstone Road and worked the two pits. Once the pit in Wardell Road was depleted, he sold off the land to Edmund Wolstenholme who turned it into a family home called ‘Maybanke’. Marrickville local history aficionados will recognise Edmund as Maybanke Anderson’s first husband. When he deserted her in 1884, she turned her home into the Maybanke College and it is now the Maybanke Aged Care Facility. The very grand home can still be seen amongst the numerous additions.
Anthony sold the pit in Livingstone Road to another Marrickville brickmaker, Nathan Challis in 1877. Along with William Shortus’ pit on the corner of Livingstone Road and Frazer Street it became part of Marrickville Park.
Anthony sold the pit in Livingstone Road to another Marrickville brickmaker, Nathan Challis in 1877. Along with William Shortus’ pit on the corner of Livingstone Road and Frazer Street it became part of Marrickville Park.
Anthony used the sale money to buy 4 acres at the corner of Union Street and New Canterbury Road at Dulwich Hill. He borrowed £1000 for equipment and set up this new pit as Blamire and Sons. But the following year, after barely starting the works, he advertised the pit for sale. The land he had bought wasn’t ideal. It was about 90 metres from the Long Cove Creek at its closest point and the carting was onerous. He had probably tried to buy the allotment next door which had more than 100 metres of creek frontage, but wasn’t able to buy it. As it turns out, four years later the prime waterfront land was sold to the NSW Brick Manufacturing Company.
Alternatively, Anthony may have been trying to sell the land because of a nervousness around the housing market. Records of Anthony’s purchases show an aversion to debt, he was a naturally cautious man. Levels of housing construction had been rising since 1870 and hit their peak in 1876. The 1870s had seen the population of Sydney’s inner suburbs eclipse that of the City for the first time as the suburbanisation of Sydney began. The number of brickmakers in Marrickville in 1877 had leaped to more than twenty. The year before there had been seven. But there was a sharp decline in activity from 1877 that would have been alarming to a cautious man.
Alternatively, Anthony may have been trying to sell the land because of a nervousness around the housing market. Records of Anthony’s purchases show an aversion to debt, he was a naturally cautious man. Levels of housing construction had been rising since 1870 and hit their peak in 1876. The 1870s had seen the population of Sydney’s inner suburbs eclipse that of the City for the first time as the suburbanisation of Sydney began. The number of brickmakers in Marrickville in 1877 had leaped to more than twenty. The year before there had been seven. But there was a sharp decline in activity from 1877 that would have been alarming to a cautious man.
Anthony finally sold the New Canterbury Road brickworks in 1880 to Thomas Saywell, who renamed it the Standard Brickworks.
Thomas Saywell was a new breed of brickmaker. Renowned as a tobacco merchant in Park Street Sydney he had plenty of capital to invest in this venture. He had sold his previous brickworks in Fitzroy Street Marrickville to developers who subdivided it as part of the infamous Tramvale Estate. As well as Anthony’s allotment, he bought three neighbouring allotments including a creek frontage and created a brickworks that was more than 10 acres in size. He retained some of Anthony’s equipment but expanded the mechanisation by adding new technology such as crushing machines and continuous kilns.
At the bottom of a claypit the picks will eventually strike shale. It is in essence compacted clay, requiring additional effort to extract and pulverise before being suitable for bricks. Some brickmakers would simply walk away from the pit at that point. Frederick Goodsell on Edgeware Road had been making bricks from shale since 1870 using a method called ‘dry press’. He had found a way to press the shale, using minimal water, and therefore less drying time. Speed to kiln was increased and output increased exponentially.
As the other brickmakers followed suit the air above Marrickville was thick with gunpowder and dust as they blasted through the now workable shale.
1880 was a big year for the Blamires. Anthony retired after the sale to Thomas Saywell and now owned no land or brickworks. Second son Dick married Emma Clissold, from another Marrickville brickmaking family. Jack decided to leave brickmaking and become a builder. And the Blamires built a church.
Thomas Saywell was a new breed of brickmaker. Renowned as a tobacco merchant in Park Street Sydney he had plenty of capital to invest in this venture. He had sold his previous brickworks in Fitzroy Street Marrickville to developers who subdivided it as part of the infamous Tramvale Estate. As well as Anthony’s allotment, he bought three neighbouring allotments including a creek frontage and created a brickworks that was more than 10 acres in size. He retained some of Anthony’s equipment but expanded the mechanisation by adding new technology such as crushing machines and continuous kilns.
At the bottom of a claypit the picks will eventually strike shale. It is in essence compacted clay, requiring additional effort to extract and pulverise before being suitable for bricks. Some brickmakers would simply walk away from the pit at that point. Frederick Goodsell on Edgeware Road had been making bricks from shale since 1870 using a method called ‘dry press’. He had found a way to press the shale, using minimal water, and therefore less drying time. Speed to kiln was increased and output increased exponentially.
As the other brickmakers followed suit the air above Marrickville was thick with gunpowder and dust as they blasted through the now workable shale.
1880 was a big year for the Blamires. Anthony retired after the sale to Thomas Saywell and now owned no land or brickworks. Second son Dick married Emma Clissold, from another Marrickville brickmaking family. Jack decided to leave brickmaking and become a builder. And the Blamires built a church.
The Blamires were active in the Primitive Methodist Church and attended services in Chapel Street Marrickville. They were also very active in the Stephen Loyal Orange Lodge which met once a month in the Church. These two organisations were full of brickmakers and it was a large part of the Blamire social circle. For a time, Jack held the highest office in the lodge, that of ‘Worshipful Master’ and Dick was secretary. Now that the Blamires had moved to Dulwich Hill, they and a band of brickmakers pooled their resources to buy a piece of land in Constitution Road and built Dulwich Hill’s first church. It was a Primitive Methodist Church and also served as the meeting place for the Canterbury Loyal Orange Lodge. It was only used for ten years until a much grander church was built on Canterbury Road. That one was also demolished and is now the Dulwich Hill IGA.
The Blamires didn’t fit the brickmaker’s mould, who generally had a fearsome reputation that had begun at Brickfield Hill. Convicts were sent to work there as punishment and it was truly was hard labour. Gangs of 12 convicts dragged carts laden with bricks to Farm Cove about one kilometre away heaving 750 kilograms at a time. A curfew was put in place to ban them from the city after dark as they were blamed for most of the crime committed in Sydney’s early years. Being the last ‘village’ on the road to Parramatta before the railway was built, it attracted travellers with its grog shops, brothels, cock fighting and dog fighting.
Once the convict system was dismantled, brickmakers still had the Australian weather to contend with. The summer sun was harsh and unrelenting. The smoke of the kiln and the dust of the pit made it unbearable. The rain would come in on the back of the afternoon southerly and leave the pits as quagmires. And still the men were expected to achieve their tally for the day.
The Blamires managed their pits with a fair but firm hand. At the peak of their business they had 40 hands working for them. The Standard Brickworks, under both Thomas Saywell and later Hart and Gallagher were beset with industrial trouble as the employees fought for an eight hour day.
The Blamires didn’t fit the brickmaker’s mould, who generally had a fearsome reputation that had begun at Brickfield Hill. Convicts were sent to work there as punishment and it was truly was hard labour. Gangs of 12 convicts dragged carts laden with bricks to Farm Cove about one kilometre away heaving 750 kilograms at a time. A curfew was put in place to ban them from the city after dark as they were blamed for most of the crime committed in Sydney’s early years. Being the last ‘village’ on the road to Parramatta before the railway was built, it attracted travellers with its grog shops, brothels, cock fighting and dog fighting.
Once the convict system was dismantled, brickmakers still had the Australian weather to contend with. The summer sun was harsh and unrelenting. The smoke of the kiln and the dust of the pit made it unbearable. The rain would come in on the back of the afternoon southerly and leave the pits as quagmires. And still the men were expected to achieve their tally for the day.
The Blamires managed their pits with a fair but firm hand. At the peak of their business they had 40 hands working for them. The Standard Brickworks, under both Thomas Saywell and later Hart and Gallagher were beset with industrial trouble as the employees fought for an eight hour day.
We will never know the reason why, but in 1882, at the age of 67 Anthony bought land for three more brick pits. Hurlstone Park had opened up as Robert Campbell’s daughter Sophia started selling off the land she had inherited from her father. It had a creek running through it and was perfect brickmaking country. Anthony bought two allotments along the creek – lots 1 and 2 of section 15 in this map. Later that year Anthony bought land at Auburn along Duck Creek, and at Bardwell Park along the Bardwell Creek.
The building boom had bounced back from its abrupt halt in 1877. The population of Marrickville increased from 3,500 in 1881 to 13,500 in 1891 and created a buzz in the industry that would have been difficult for Anthony to turn his back on. The tramline to the corner of Illawarra and Marrickville Roads had opened in 1881 and the trainline (where Sydenham Station is now) was to open in 1884. The suburb was flourishing and building supplies were in demand. Across Sydney 3704 new rooms were built in 1880. The following year it was 27,856.
Building techniques had changed as well. The introduction of the cavity wall meant damp could be eliminated from brick buildings and of course they used twice as many bricks. Elevators had been effectively installed into warehouses in the 1870s and were now appearing in retail shops which meant buildings were able to climb higher and higher. It was a great time to be making bricks and in 1886 there were 113 brickyards across Sydney.
Building techniques had changed as well. The introduction of the cavity wall meant damp could be eliminated from brick buildings and of course they used twice as many bricks. Elevators had been effectively installed into warehouses in the 1870s and were now appearing in retail shops which meant buildings were able to climb higher and higher. It was a great time to be making bricks and in 1886 there were 113 brickyards across Sydney.
But the industry transformed across the 1880s and mechanisation was no longer optional. Throughout the 1870s, while teething problems with the new technologies were being ironed out, there was room for the more expensive, but consistently high-quality hand moulded bricks. Eventually the family owned businesses just couldn’t compete. Johnston Brothers at Fitzroy Street were producing 300,000 bricks per week. Thomas Daly’s Standsure Brickworks on Sydenham Road could produce 100,000. The Blamires could produce 60,000 but it wasn’t enough. While the boom was on both government and private contracts required huge volumes and short turnarounds.
Anthony’s aversion to debt meant he was too nervous to take it on. He saw the writing on the wall and tried to sell the Dunstaffenage Street brickworks but there were no takers. He had invested only minimally in infrastructure, the works were outdated and the land was working against him again. The clay was only 20 feet deep, Canterbury Road had been 50 feet deep.
He sold the land at Auburn and paid out the mortgage on Dunstaffenage Street but immediately re-mortgaged it. The land value was all that was sustaining the failing business. The land at Bardwell Park had been sold years before.
The building boom ended in 1888 and Anthony lost Dunstaffenage Street in a mortgagee sale. It was the end of the family business.
Now the family looked to Jack. They had no one else.
To read part 2 click here
Copyright © 2019 Marrickville Unearthed. All rights reserved
Anthony’s aversion to debt meant he was too nervous to take it on. He saw the writing on the wall and tried to sell the Dunstaffenage Street brickworks but there were no takers. He had invested only minimally in infrastructure, the works were outdated and the land was working against him again. The clay was only 20 feet deep, Canterbury Road had been 50 feet deep.
He sold the land at Auburn and paid out the mortgage on Dunstaffenage Street but immediately re-mortgaged it. The land value was all that was sustaining the failing business. The land at Bardwell Park had been sold years before.
The building boom ended in 1888 and Anthony lost Dunstaffenage Street in a mortgagee sale. It was the end of the family business.
Now the family looked to Jack. They had no one else.
To read part 2 click here
Copyright © 2019 Marrickville Unearthed. All rights reserved