It may not seem so now but once one cent could buy you quite a bit - five cents even more so. Prior to that a halfpenny and one whole penny had a similar beneficial dividend, monetary wise.
Coins such as these were in short supply when the colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788, in fact it did not have its own currency and had to rely on the coins of other countries. During the early days of the colony, commodities such as wheat and more famously, rum, were sometimes used as a currency because of the shortage of coins.
Spanish dollars were used as currency as early as 1791 by Governors Phillip, King and Macquarie. An 1812 Notice stating:
On Thursday last arrived His Majesty's ship Samarang, Capt. Henry Case, of 20 guns, from Madras the 23d of September last with treasure for the use of Government. Sydney. (1812, November 28 - Saturday). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article628576
HOLEY DOLLAR AND DUMP.
Dr. Houison, of Sydney, has lately been very busy of late amongst all the old historical literature of the libraries looking for something concerning the "Holey Dollar and Dump." This is a rather important matter in the history of Australia's currency, but so far very little has been gleaned, concerning it. Dr. Houison's endeavours have proved successful. Last night he told the Australian Historical Society that he felt rather proud that he should he the first man to make known a certain despatch of Governor Macquarie's which throws a good deal of light as to when this specie was first introduced. In reading the letter which was addressed to the Earl of Bathurst, he said that the Samarang, a sloop of war, arrived in Port Jackson from India on November 26, 1812, with £10.000 worth of dollars for the Government. Governor Macquarie had a special machine made by which he cut the centre out of the coin to the size of a shilling. The rim of the dollar was worth 5s. and the small piece 1s 3d. making the two pieces total 6s 3d. Special proclamations were issued to prevent this specie from being carried out of the colony. HOLEY DOLLAR AND DUMP. (1910, October 12). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 58. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164288672
This still didn't look after the pennies which make pounds though. One shilling would equate to ten cents, 3d, threepence - or three pennies - way too much for halfpennies. Tradesmen who didn't deal in wheat or rum were, according to some sources, giving change as a box of matches or some similar item, some of which were of not much value to their customers and would result in their taking their custom elsewhere.
Consequently what became known as 'Trade Tokens' sprang up as a means to counteract this aversion to losing a halfpenny or penny. Businesses would fashion these small coins from copper and bronze usually incorporating the name of their business or the person who issued them. Under 'Small Change' below, you can see some from one gentleman's collection that are dated 1820, possibly the year that business may have begun, and even one from 35 years later that looks like some of our earliest pennies in incorporating the coat of arms with an emu and kangaroo.
Although this article, of 1907, lists many of the trade tokens as being common then, some are not so 'common' or easy to obtain now, and these rarer versions, fetch a 'pretty penny'. Purchases like this, which are really an investment, should only be made from reputable dealers and those who specialise in Numismatics.
One that holds especial historic value and the telling of a history thereby, is what is known as the Cascade Shilling as it was the first item of Australian decorative art to feature the term Tasmania, and has the earliest depiction of a kangaroo on an item of decorative art available for private ownership. Also known as the Macintosh and Degraves silver shilling, after the men who had it made, it is also the first tradesmans' token manufactured for use in Australia, and as the only shilling token issued by any Australian merchant it is also the largest denomination in the entire token series.
The use of the word 'Tasmania' is recorded as beginning as early as 1808 in a map issued by Laurie and Whittle, and in 1823 the publication of “Godwin's Emigrant's Guide To Van Diemen's Land, more properly called Tasmania”, a guide was purchased by British emigrants considering Tasmania, and believed to be “the first use of the term Tasmania in a stand alone publication.”
An earlier version of this guide was published in 1821, although it is not yet known if it had the same title.
Map of the world issued by Laurie and Whittle in 1808
NEWS FROM TASMANIA.
— A singular and unprecedented circumstance occurred a few days ago in the Macquarie district.— A fine horse, worth 100 guineas, the property of a Gentleman residing in that district, had been missing for several days ; when, to the asto-nishment of many who saw it, the animal was rode at a full gallop down a valley in view of Allenvale-house by a black native girl, with a long tether rope round the horse's neck. A servant was immediately sent on horseback in pursuit of the fair Tasmania jockey (the first of her race who has perhaps ever before been seen on a horse at full speed) ; but, owing to her riding the animal so wonderfully fast, the man could not come up with her, after a pursuit of four days.— The proprietor, Mr. J. Riseley, has requested us to say, that he will give £5 reward for the recovery of his animal. — Hobart Town Gazette, August 23, 1823.
A new Book or Pamphlet, published by Sherwood, Jones, and Co. London, in the beginning of this year, has come under our hasty perusal. Its designation is “Godwin’s Emigrant's Guide to Van Diemen's Land, or Tasmania."
There are some few excellencies blended with a degree of truth, exhibited in this work, if such it can be termed; but, at the same time, every Australian or Tasmanian Reader will say, or those acquainted with the facts pretended to be asserted in this pamphlet, will admit, that the exaggerations put forth amidst the British Public in this catch-penny Guide, are innumerable. We are not angry at the highly coloured portraiture of this "Land of Promise," which the author prettily and judiciously calls Tasmania; but it is matter of regret when such misre-presentations get abroad, to which there is no possibility of affording contradiction for months, at least. The injury such a production is likely to produce is incalculable; for no one, who reads this book in the Mother Country, can avoid becoming transported with such a country as Tasmania is represented. The writer compares the island, which he has doubtless visited, to a second Eden. Whether this is correct or not, must be left to the impartial observer. We may admit the "delicious mildness of her climate, the richness of her vales, the picturesque scenery of her (rising) towns, and her fertile waters," and we wish the inhabitants all the happiness, as well as all the purity, of the citi-zens of the original Eden, so much has New South Wales their welfare at heart; but we can never allow such a Guide to disseminate misrepresentation, without trying to counteract apprehended mischief. Were we inclined to enter the field in review order, it is very likely this Tasmanian amateur would be obliged to sound a retreat in every page.— While our neighbours justly pride themselves on their acquisition of rich territory and congenial climate, yet they must blush at the palpable inconsistencies of this fulsome eulogy. Had the writer merely adhered to the simple truth, and subjoined thereto the information requisite for the guidance of the Emigrant, his essay would have been acceptable enough; for Van Diemen's Land does not require recommendations which are certain to prove fallacious. The words "abound and beautiful" are great favorites; and, in the space of 35 lines, occur such sentences as these, viz. beautiful island, delightful stream, beautiful plain, greatest perfection, beautiful village, &c. &c. The picture is certainly over-done. The other books upon the Colony have justice kindly done to them; but the author well knew that Godwin's Guide would eclipse their beauties. The productions that have appeared, which shed forth the vast superiority of Van Diemen's Land over our poor, un-noticed, arid neglected portion of the Southern hemisphere, have been modestly attired when laid in the scale with this last burning panegyrism. The former may be credited; the latter should not obtain belief. The author has not once failed in his ardour for the cause which he so ingeniously espouses. It is to be hoped that the "ready writer," who may venture to wield his pen in behalf of Australia, will speak the truth, and clothe his language with simplicity and moderation, keeping in mind that passage which says, that "Nature when unadorned, is adorned the most." Another word or two before we part.— If the story of the Hope be true, it is indeed a sorry transaction. But, even admitting its truth, what has such a Report to do with the Guide to Tasmania? Why give an ex-parte Statement of certain transactions said to have occurred in England, to which the parties accused have no present possibility of reply? The whole of this feeling narration is too flimsy and designing not to be seen through; the writer may have something very grand, but no wise honourable, in this attack on absent characters. In proof of this remark, the British Government never would have manifested its beneficent aid to persons who so wantonly and wickedly imposed upon its credulity. So this single fact, as the parties did come out at the expence of Government, but not vic-tualled and provided for as convicts, combats the sophistry of this impassioned writer. The persons alluded to, arrived in the Heroine; are at Van Diemen's Land; and will be able, it is hoped, to establish this fact of the Guide to be a cruel and wilful misrepresentation, to call it by no harsher name. If we are mistaken as to this point, then the reproach and indignation of a world is too small a punishment for such charac-ters, but of THEM better things are hoped. Once more, the sister Colony needs no such production to set forth its real merits; and we must close by saying, this Guide to Tasmania is only calculated to mislead the unsuspecting British adventurer.
N. B.— The above GUIDE is embellished with an imposing Plate, which gives a tolerably correct idea of the Capital of TASMANIA ; but, as for KANGAROOS being introduced in triplicate just above the beach, is all a farce. Like the parent Colony, sportsmen and others have to travel miles from their farms even, ere they can catch a glimpse, and are handsomely requited with ONE of those once numerous animals, for a day's fatigue. As the Country becomes occupied, ABORIGINES and KANGAROOS become scarcer; in proof of which assertion, witness Australia.
The land forces of Great Britain in 1822 exceed those of 1791, by 175,000 men. MAGISTRATE FOR THE ENSUING WEEK, EDWARD RILEY, ESQUIRE. (1823, September 4). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 2. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2182178
Picture: Godwin's Emigrant's Guide to Van Diemen's Land, more properly called Tasmania, containing a Description of its Climate, Soil and Productions; a Form of Application for Free Grants of Land… a list of the most necessary Articles to take out, and other information Useful to Emigrants…. Thomas GODWIN. First Edition Price (AUD): $8,250.00 Available at Hordern House: Rare Books, Maunscripts, Paintings and Prints: Potts Point
Available to read online at State Library of Victoria or from Weiser Antiquarian books Tasmanian Govt Printing Office, 1990. Facsimile limited edition.Hardcover. Octavo. 90pp + 8pp. Half leather over suede boards, title blind-stamped to upper panel; gilt lettering to spine. Foldout plate to title page; foldout map, marker ribbon. One of 500 numbered copies. Facsimile limited edition of the book first published 1823. Gilt-lettering on front board slightly rubbed, else a VG+ copy (no dust jacket issued). Item #30270 Price: $95.00
The reason that 'Tasmania' was used instead of 'Van Diemen's Land' is that although the island was settled as a convict prison in its early years there were also a number of settlers who loved this new homeland, were proud of their achievements, and didn't want these associated with being a convict settlement. This use of 'Tasmania' started as an underground private push for the use of the word decades before being formalised in 1855, appearing in press reports throughout Australia during the 1820's to 1840's and appears in the formation of cultural, social and religious organisations:
1826 - The Tasmanian Turf Club was established;
1828 – The Tasmanian Lodge of Freemansons was established;
1838 – The Tasmanian Regatta was inaugurated;
1841 – Bishophoric of Tasmania was created;
1843 – The Tasmanian Literary Journal appears for the first time. [1.]
Then, as now, a regatta was a great occasion which a wholly maritime community would turn out to enmasse:
NOTICE.
Regatta Holiday.
WE, the undersigned, purpose closing our Establishments To-Morrow, the 1st December, from ten o'clock in the morning until six o'clock in the evening.
John Johnston
John Thomas & Co. J. Gerrand
David Dunkley
Cullen and Boon
George Goggs
J. & W.Robertson
H. Howe
Henry Solomon
William Guesdon
Robert Parker
George Langford
David Barclay
R. Cleburne
William Watchorn.
November 30.
REGATTA.
THE undersigned begs to inform the ladies
and gentlemen of Hobart Town, that he has been granted permission to erect a Tent on the Regatta ground, Pavilion Point, whore he will be able to furnish every description of wines, beer, &c. ; also, geese, turkeys, ducks, fowls, ham, &c, and every other luxury of the season, on reasonable terms, with good accommodation.
John Moses.
St. John's Tavern, Nov 29. Classified Advertising (1838, November 30). The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), p. 3. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4161290
Hobart Town Regatta 1852 by Ludwig Becker, courtesy Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office: WL Crowther Collection
The Cascade Shilling was never circulated. The gentlemen who had it struck prior to their departure from England had purchased a ship, the Hope, in which to transport machinery to begin a mill, which became 'The Cascade Saw Mills' and later Cascade Brewery. They also sold passages to people who wished to emigrate. Soon after leaving the Hope met with a gale in the English Channel and had t return to port, damaged and apparently was further damaged through the carelessness of the Harbour Master.
They had further dramas, outlined in part under Extras, although Major Hugh Macintosh, uncle of Peter Degraves's wife and probably the biggest investor in the Cascade shillings, is largely forgotten. He seems to have bowed out of their joint venture soon after they finally did arrive in Tasmania, settling on a farm on New Norfolk - further up the Derwent River.
Gregory Jefferys, who has since gone on to write a book on the subject, Heroes and Villains, shares some of Major McIntosh's great achievements in his 2011 thesis, Hugh Macintosh and Peter Degraves: the story of an Officer and a Gentleman.
In November 2016 one of these tokens sold, from the private collection of a Sydney owner, and purchased for the London National Collection - Coin-works recording the price paid was 45 thousand dollars - certainly a fair bit more than the 10 cents the shilling had as face value, or may have been more as silver coins and tokens, if pure, could be melted down for other uses.
Some sources state 2000 were struck, others that only 50 were ever circulated and mostly given out to friends on special occasions - where the others may have gone, if they ever existed, remains to be discovered.
The best collection of Australian tokens in the world is in the Museum Victoria Numismatics Collection. In their webpage Australian Traders’ Tokens 1849–1874, state
'In New South Wales some tokens had been made from 1852, the copper blanks being laboriously hand sawn by an apprentice from copper rods. Dropping the dies from a great height impressed the design. In Melbourne a supply of halfpenny blanks came with the press so good quality tokens of that denomination could be made, but pennies were still brought from England until the 1860s. In 1862 Thomas Stokes purchased a mill capable of making copper plates of the desired thickness. This saw tokens issued in such huge numbers that the government felt it had to act.
By then many of the early companies that had issued tokens had gone – without removing their tokens from circulation. Recent archaeological excavations in Melbourne have also shown that tokens from regional Victoria (particularly Geelong), from other Australian colonies and even Napoleonic era pieces from England were in circulation. In addition, the British changed their copper coins for lighter bronze pieces in 1860 and these were now legal in Australia; tokens mimicked the old fashioned coppers. The Victorian Government therefore ordered the circulation of tokens be stopped. Although some companies refunded and removed their tokens, all could not.
One result of this was a flood of Victorian tokens to New South Wales. Help was then sought from Britain. The Sydney mint gathered a sample of the tokens in circulation and sent them to London for analysis (they are still in the Royal Mint’s collection). They were found to be of good quality copper and the British government accepted a request to purchase them at full face value. The tokens were withdrawn from circulation, shipped to London, melted, alloyed into bronze and struck into new pennies, halfpennies and farthings – at a profit.
Some 330 000 tokens were withdrawn from New South Wales; the Victorian number would have been similar. There were 124 Australian firms that issued tokens and they were issued in every colony. Tokens, many made in Melbourne, were also used in New Zealand until 1881. ' [2.]
Collectors of these tokens seek examples of each firm’s penny or halfpenny and even want tiny variations in designs that indicate that different dies were used. Virtually no records of token production have survived though, collectors and researchers must rely on the tokens themselves to unravel questions about their production, and on archaeology for an understanding of their circulation. We found more information on some by searching through TROVE,including the following:
Token Coins
E. P. Pennicott says:. "The late Mr Peek, of George St., Sydney, was the originator of Australian token coinage and his first coins were made from ore procured, from the Burra-Burra copper mines of South Australia in 1832. Many Tasmanian firms soon afterwards came into prominence...Both English, and Colonial medallists were engaged in the manufacturer of Australian tokens . . ."
This may convey the impression that this was the date of the first issue of business coins in Tasmania. Twenty eight years earlier silver tokens were introduced into Tasmania with the arrival of Mr. Hugh McIntosh and Mr. Peter Degraves, founders of the Cascade Brewery, in 1824. Minted in Englandthey did not contain as much silver as the ordinary shilling and were known as "Degraves shillings."
These were the first silver tokens introduced into Australia. Specimens are held by the British, Sydney and Melbourne Museums. The enterprise of McIntosh and Degraves in bringing these tokens to Van Diemen's Land was recognised by Mr Alfred Chitty, Fellow of the British Numismatic Society and Numismatist of the Melbourne Museum, who, at his sole expense, had a centenary medal struck in 1923. Only 50 of these centenary medals were struck. They are nearly as rare as the "Degraves shilling." B. J. CRONLY Hobart. Token Coins (1947, January 23). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26384164
Another example of history acquiring real investment value:
Photos sourced from EBAY - Australia Token. Thornthwaite - 1854 1/2d. Sydney NSW. Fine RARE AU $1,675.00
As you can see from the above it is something that is rare that will fetch a higher price. You don't necessarily have to find something with a century and a half of age attached to it either - RARE is the word. A good example of this would be a single item currently available from Downies, one of our go to resources, along with Coinworks and foremost of course, the Royal Australian Mint, for researching the rare or quirky in the world of Numismatics.
Downies are currently showing a 1966 20 cent piece on one webpage with an asking price of $3,950.00.
How can twenty cents fetch so much? you may wonder. In this case the year provides a clue, and Downies fills in the details: - 'the 1966 ‘Wavy Baseline’ 20c is one of the rarest decimal coins issued into circulation in Australia. Scarce in any grade, this sought after variety is virtually never offered in the pristine Uncirculated condition seen here. With a gargantuan number of coins needed to be struck for the decimal changeover in 1966, Britain’s Royal Mint was called in to help. Of the 30 million 1966 20c coins struck at the Mint, a tiny number were distinguished by the obvious upward curve on the top of the baseline in the ‘2’. Very rare in Uncirculated quality, we have just one example of this famous Australian variety available.'
The rare 1966 Australian 20 cent piece
So a mere fifty year old can be worth much more than its face value too - the word 'rare' is what increases value, and with the less there are around, the more the price goes up. In the same vein, the 1981 20 cent piece made in Canada during the RAM strike won't fetch this amount but you can get around $99.00 for these as there are only 3.5 claws on platypus’ left paw – not 4.
Before you dive into your purse/wallet to inspect all the 20 cent pieces in your possession, and off from this page, remember it is the rare, only a few of a kind coins and tokens that are worth something and these are usually collected for their historical value - and that historical value adds much, as it should.
Younger readers may want to begin collecting their own coins now. If you don't get lucky finding something unusual or rare you can begin your own investments in history and Numismatics by starting small. Not spending again what you have been given in change, or exploring the Royal Australian Mint website where lots of great information, tips, recommended dealers and even an open invitation to visit the mint where you can strike an uncirculated coin in the visitor press (for a cost of $3). Every year, this machine makes a new coin design that you can’t get anywhere else.
History is clearly 'worth' a lot more than we may think. Embarking on finding out more about where we came from can be explored by finding out more about these firms and what they did - that in itself is an enriching experience.
References and Extras
1. Coinworks - https://coinworks.com.au/
2. Victoria Museum - Australian Traders' Tokens 1849-1874 webpage
3. TROVE National Library of Australia
4. Royal Australian Mint
.jpg?timestamp=1480382979874)
However this may be, we know from what history tells us of the achievements of Peter Degraves in Van Diemen's Land that he was possessed of all the qualifications essential to in sure success in the land of his birth. He had served an apprenticeship with the celebrated engineer, Mr.. John Rennie, who, amongst other, monuments of his ability, constructed the Plymouth breakwater and the Southwark and Waterloo bridges over the Thames. In addition to his engineering attainments, Mr.. Degraves was an architect of no mean order, and an able draughtsman. He had, moreover, a knowledge of surveying or land measurement, as it was then generally called, and was an experienced mathematician well versed in the science of Algebra, and especially skilled in making calculations and estimating quantities and values of extensive works.
SMALL CHANGE
COPPER TOKENS FIFTY YEARS AGO.
BY A. J. C.
Some sixty years since the war of "small change" in Australasia, and especially in New South Wales, led to the issue by tradesmen of copper tokens, and these, coming from reputable firms, passed freely from hand to hand. The first tokens struck in Sydney were those known as the 'Tea Stores,' and represented a penny, the earliest issue being in 1852. These were made to the order of Samuel Peek, by J G Thornthwaite, a seal engraver, who had arrived from England three years before. Having no press, his dies were prepared with a hammer, and the pieces consequently lacked finish. This token bore on the obverse a view of Peek's establishment, 424 George-street, while on the reverse, was a helmeted figure of Britannia sitting on a shield, and holding a trident, as on the contemporary English penny.
Mr. Peek's example was quickly followed by other tradesmen, and tokens became plentiful as "small change" all over the colony until 1868. On September 22 of that year a Government notice was issued directing the withdrawal of a previous notice, under which copper tokens were authorised to be taken in the ordinary transaction of business in the various public departments. This order was issued in consequence of the receipt by the Government of a quantity of new bronze coin from England, which the notice said "was to replace the old copper coin" of the realm and the copper tokens now in circulation in the colony of New South Wales, and that the Government would for a period of one month exchange copper tokens in circulation in the colony; that is to say, for every 8lb avoirdupois of such tokens, there will be exchanged 240 bronze pence.
The following brief sketch of some of these tokens may be of interest :—
Obv.: William Allen, Jamberoo. In centre a floral device displaying the rose, thistle, and shamrock. General Stores in circular form around the device. Rev.: Australian Arms;. Advance Australia above, 1855 beneath. This 1d token is a rude specimen of colonial workmanship. Rare, when fine. Obs:: Battle and Weight in three lines within a circle in centre. 81 and 83 South Head-road, Sydney, drapers, etc., around the token between the dotted edge and inner circle.; Rev.: Female standing facing left, holding scales in right hand and horn of plenty in left, out of which is issuing fruits and flowers;, water and ship in the distance. ' 1d common.
Obv.: James Campbell in half-circle above. General Stores in two curved lines in centre, Morpeth beneath. Rev.: Female standing facing left, eyes bandaged, holding scales in right: hand and horn of plenty in left, out of which is issuing fruits and flowers. Water and ship in the distance. Australia in half-circle above the figure. 1d common. Halfpenny: Obv. and rev. same as proceeding. common.
Obv: Collins and Co. within a circle in centre. Cheap Clothing Bazaar, Bathurst, around the token between the dotted edge and circle. Rev.: A kangaroo and emu facing. New South Wales in half-circle; 1864 beneath. T. Stokes beneath the emu. Melbourne beneath the kangaroo. 1d; scarce. Obv.: Davies, Alexander, and Co., Goulburn. A golden fleece, with a dotted circle in centre. Rev.: Australian Stores, Goulburn, Australian Arms within a dotted circle in centre. Established above. 1837 beneath the Arms. The Arms are quart red with a golden fleece, a ship, an ox, and an anchor. Advance Australia on scroll. 1d; scarce.
Obv.: Flavelle Bros, and Co., Sydney and Brisbane, around the token. One penny, in two straight lines, in centre; Rev.: Kangaroo and emu facing. W. T. Taylor beneath the emu. London beneath the kangaroo. 1d; common. Obv.: Flavelle Bros. and Co. in half-circle above. One Penny in two lines beneath. Opticians and Jewellers, Sydney and Brisbane, in two half-circular lines beneath the word one penny. Rev.: Same as previous token. Common.
photo sourced from Ebay - currently $157.50
Obv.: Hanks and Compy., in three straight lines in centre. Australian Tea Mart in half- circle above. Sydney beneath. Rev.: Australian Arms. The quartering on shield is a golden fleece, a ship, an ox, and anchor. Advance Australia on scroll. Peace and Plenty in half circle above. Date 1867 beneath the arms, 1d common. Half-penny — Obv. and Rev same as preceding. Common. Obv.: Hanks and Lloyd, in three straight lines in centre. Australian Tea Mart in half-circle above; Sydney beneath. Rev.: To Commemorate the Opening Of, around the token. The Sydney Railway, 26th Septr., in four lines in centre 1855 beneath. 1d; common. Half- penny — Obv. and Rev.: Same as preceding. Common. This firm also issued two other pennies and two half-pennies having a slight alteration in words from the two preceding tokens.
Obv: Iron merchants and General Ironmongers around the token, between the dotted edge and inner circle. Established 1820, Iredale and Co, Sydney, displayed in four lines within a circle in centre. Rev.: Britannia seated facing left, holding olive branch in right hand, and trident in left. Shield at side. Water and ship in the distance. Britannia in half-circle above. H. and S. in minute letters on rock at back of shield (Heaton and Sons); 1d, common. The design on the reverse of this token is precisely similar to the design on the reverse of the English penny of King George III., 1806. There are several other tokens is- sued by this firm, varying slightly in the formation of the letters. The rev. of one has the female standing, eyes bandaged, scales in right hand, and horn of plenty in left. Common.
Obv. : J. M. Leigh, Tobacconist, 524 George st., Sydney, displayed in four lines. Rev.: Britannia seated facing left, holding olive branch. Britannia in half -circle above. 1d, common. Obv.: W. F. and D. L. Lloyd, Drapers; Grocers. Wine and Spirit Merchants, Wollongong, displayed in six lines. Rev. : Colonial Produce taken In (1859) Exchange around the token between the dotted edge and inner circle. Australian Arms within a circle in centre (golden fleece, ship, ox, and anchor on shield), 1d. common. Half -penny— Obv. and Rev.: Same as preceding. Common.
Obv.: Love and Roberts, in straight line across centre, Storekeepers in half-circle, also in centre, Wagga Wagga in half -circle above. New South Wales in half -circle beneath. Rev. : A plough in centre. T. Stokes, Melbourne (small), (small), 1865, beneath the plough. The Com-mercial, Pastoral, and Farming Interests, around the token, 1d, common.
Obv.: J. Macgregor, 320 George-street, Sydney, displayed in four lines within a dotted circle in centre. The City Tea Warehouse around the token, between the dotted edge and dotted inner circle. Rev.: Australian arms within a dotted circle in centre. Established in half-circle above, 1855 beneath. The Sultan's' Steam Coffee Works, * Sydney * around the token between the dotted edge and dotted inner circle. 1d, common. Half -penny, common. Obv. and Rev.: Same as preceding. Obv,: Metcalfe and Lloyd, 478 George-street, Sydney, displayed in five lines in centre. Shipping and Family Grocers in three parts of a circle above. Rev.: Wine and Spirit Merchants in four lines in centre. Purveyors of the Concentrated Family Coffee— 1863; around the token. 1d, common.' Half-penny.- Obv. and rev. : Same as preceding.
Obv.: B. Palmer, Pitt and King Street. Sydney, in three lines, in centre. Wholesale in half circle above. Wine and Spirit Depot, in half-circle beneath. Rev.: A. bird (the liver) holding an orange branch in its mouth. Liverpool above; Arms -beneath.'- 1d, common.
Obv: Smith, Peate. and Co., Grocers, Tea Dealers and Wine Merchants, 258 and 260 George-st., Sydney, displayed in eight lines. Rev. : Female, facing left, holding scales in. right hand, and cornucopia in left. Water and ship in distance. Established above; 1836 beneath, 1d, common. Half-penny — Obv. and rev.: Same as preceding. Obv.: A view of stores, 424 over' the door. In the rear a second building on which is Tea Stores, Steam Coffee Mills, in five lines. Established 1835, Sydney, in three lines beneath the building. J. C. T. in small letters at foot. Rev. : Britannia seated facing left. Helmeted. Trident in left hand. Britannia above; 1852 beneath. 1d, scarce. Half-penny— Obv., and rev.: Same as preceding. Scarce. Two other penny tokens were struck for this firm, with slight alterations from the two preceding ones. These tokens, with a view of tea stores, etc., were about the first is-sued in Sydney (1852), struck by J. C. Thornthwaite for Samuel Peek. Obv.: J. C. Thornthwaite, Bourke-street, Surry Hills, around, the token. Die Sinker, a floral device of rose thistle and shamrock and a rose and three leaves. Medallist arranged within a circle in centre. Rev.: Australian Arms. . Advance Australia in half circle above. 1854 beneath. 1d; scarce. Half-penny— Obv,. same as preceding. Rev.: Australian Arms, Sydney New South Wales in half circle above, 1854 beneath, scarce .
Obv.: A. Toogood; merchant, Pitt and King streets, Sydney displayed in four lines. Rev.: Female sitting on a bale, eyes bandaged, holding scales in right-hand and horn of plenty (cornucopia) in left, cask at back. Australia in half circle above, 1855 beneath. 1d, common.
Obv.: Weight and Johnson, drapers and out-fitters displayed in six lines in centre. Liverpool and London House in half circle above, Pitt-street, Sydney, in half circle beneath. Rev,: Female standing facing left, holding scales in right hand, and horn of plenty in left, out of which are issuing fruits and flowers. Water and ship in the distance. 1d, common Half-penny— Same as preceding. Common. This firm had several other tokens with slight alterations in the readings from the above.
Obv: Head (probably of one of the makers) to left, Whitty and Brown, makers, in half circle, above, Sydney beneath. Rev.: Female standing, facing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopia in left. New South Wales in half circle above. 1d, scarce. This firm being makers, issued several 1d tokens, for general use, without any tradesmen's name. The obv. of one was a ram in centre. Peace and Plenty, Sydney, N.S.W., around the ram. 1d, scarce. Rev.: 'Same as preceding. Another obv.: One penny, in two lines within a circle in centre, Advance Australia around the token: Rev.: Same as preceding. Miscellaneous 'Tokens. — Of these there were several circulating throughout the colony. The most conspicuous one, a penny. On the obv,: A ram in centre. Peace and plenty, Sydney, N.S.W., around the ram. Rev.: A kangaroo and emu facing; W. J. Taylor; (small, maker's name) beneath the emu, and London (small) beneath the kangaroo. Common.
Another prominent token was that of a maker of these would-be coins, which had on the obv.: The Australian Tokens, manufactured by T. Pops and Company (coin and press makers), St. Paul's Square (Birmingham), are very profitable to export.. Displayed in nine lines. Rev. Britannia seated, olive branch in right hand, trident in left, shield at side, water and ship in the distance. ( Britannia in half circle above. Common.
Last but not least in the circulation throughout the whole of the colonies was the token issued by 'Holloway's.' Obv.: Head of Professor Holloway, to left. Professor Holloway around the head, London (small) beneath the neck. Rev.: Female seated between two pillars; serpent coiled partly around the pillar to right. Holloway's Pills and Ointment in three parts of a circle above the figure, 1857 in ex- ergue. Several others of the "Professor's" tokens (both penny and -half -penny), with some slight alterations in words and figures, also circulated. Common.
Some of the sketches are from specimens in the collection of Mr. Morris Marks, of Ashfield. SMALL CHANGE. (1907, June 29). Evening News(Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), p. 11. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115228500
AUSTRALIAN TRADE TOKENS,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE AGE.
Sir, — Reading about the tokens in The Age" newspaper which were found at St. Kilda, reminds me that I have one which was found in a back yard in West Melbourne some years ago. It has on one side, "T. Stokes, 100 Collins-street, Melbourne, military button and token maker." and on the other side is Victoria, 1862, "In Vino Ycriltis," and a bunch of grapes and leaves. I was born in Richmond in 1857. — Yours, .&., - R. E. Brunswick, 12th January. AUSTRALIAN TRADE TOKENS. (1931, January 17). The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203337370
COLONIAL PENNY TOKENS.
The curator reports : — A recent donation to the Launceston Victoria Museum, comprising a number of the now historical colonial trade tokens, has been received from Mr. George McArthur, of Maldon, Victoria. The donor has further increased the interest attaching to his valuable contribution by a short account of the origin of the Australian trade coinage of the early fifties, in which he says:- "Previous to the introduction of these coin tokens in 1854, we had suffered great inconvenience as well as loss from the total absence of small change, sixpence being the smallest coin of the realm then in circulation in Victoria, and the change usually given by tradesmen to their customers was a box of matches, a reel of cotton, or other small article of trifling value, or possibly of no actual value to the recipient; such a custom materially increased the profits of the vendor at the expense of the purchaser, who was quite helpless in the matter. But this state of thing was eventually remedied by the leading tradesmen themselves, who, finding that there was no law to prevent them, took upon themselves the right to coin, and issue for general circulation, the tokens in unlimited quantities. The immediate gain to the tradesmen who coined tokens is said to have amounted to 100 per cent, besides the great advertising privileges of this medium. But, on the other hand, the pressing want of small change was fully met, resulting in mutual benefit and convenience all round. However, in course of time the Government and the banks imported a sufficient supply of the ordinary bronze coinage from England to replace the tokens, and in 1860 the further issues of them were prohibited, and they were withdrawn from circulation as a legal currency.
The number of tradesmen issuing the tokens in Victoria reached 64 and in Queensland 12, in New South Wales 23, South Australia 7, and in West Australia 2; while in New Zealand there were 49, and in Tasmania 20, making in all 177 who issued coin tokens. The above number comprises the distinct coiners, although in the several issues from those, occasional variations occurred in some of the designs, so that some complete collections are said to contain nearly 400 varieties of tokens. But "Stainsfield”, who is a very generally accepted authority on the Australian trade tokens, catalogues 230 issues only as being sufficiently distinct to warrant especial enumeration.' In addition to the collection of I coin tokens forwarded to the museum by Mr. M'Arthur is a small medal having especial interest for Tasmanians, viz., the 'Henty Jubilee Medal.' On the reverse of this medal are the words, 'Henty 's Jubilee, Portland, 19th November, 1884;' and on the obverse is the engraved bust of the fine old colonist who was the earliest pioneer settler of Victoria, and who was, moreover, a Launceston man. So that the initial colonisation of Victoria, as well as the original founding of the city of Melbourne, both emanated from the enterprise of plucky Tasmanians; consequently, Victoria may fairly be regarded as an off-shoot of Tasmania, as much as America is the giant off-shoot of Great Britain, and in both cases the off-shoot has far outgrown the parent stem. COLONIAL PENNY TOKENS. (1895, February 22). Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928), p. 1. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153473239
Australian Coins -
For many years after the first Australian colony, New South Wales, was founded in 1788, it did not have its own currency and had to rely on the coins of other countries. During the early days of the colony, commodities such as wheat were sometimes used as a currency because of the shortage of coins.
Spanish dollars were sometimes cut into "pieces of eight", quarters, and then into 2/3 and 1/3 segments, with the 2/3 segments (1/6 of original coin) being "shillings" and the 1/3 segments (1/12 of original coin) "sixpences". In 1791 Governor Phillip of New South Wales fixed the value of the Spanish dollar to equal five shillings.
Under the decree of 19 November 1800 by the governor Philip Gidley King, the following coins were legal tender for the exchange value of:
Guinea = £1/1/- (One pound and one shilling)
Gold Mohur = £1/17/6 (one pound, 17 shillings and sixpence).
Spanish dollar = 5 shillings.
Ducat = 9/6 (9 shillings 6 pence).
Rupee = 2/6 (2 shillings and 6 pence).
Pagoda = 8/- (8 shillings). .
Dutch Guilder = 2/- (2 shillings).
English shilling = 1/1 (1 shilling and 1 penny).
Copper coin of 1 oz = 2 pence.
The settlers did have some George III one-penny coins, which were referred to as "Cartwheel pennies". These were the first British coins to be officially exported to the Australian colonies, and so can be considered Australia's first official coins. They were dated 1797 and 1799, with Britannia on one side and King George III on the other.
In 1812, Governor Lachlan Macquarie of New South Wales bought Spanish dollar coins, following the arrival of the ship Samarang at Port Jackson with 40,000 Spanish dollars, paying four shillings and nine pence for each dollar. He was worried that the coins would quickly be exported out of the colony and had holes cut in the middle of them to try to keep them in Australia. These were known as Holey dollars (valued at five shillings), with the piece from the middle being called the Dump (valued at around 15 pence). Both were declared legal currency on 30 September 1813 and went into circulation in 1814.
British currency became the official currency of the Australian colonies after 1825, with almost £100,000-worth of British coins being imported during 1824–25. The Holey dollar was no longer legal tender after 1829.
Gold coins and Sovereigns
Australia 1857 Sovereign (proof)Australia (coin), courtesy the National Numismatic Collection (image) - National Museum of American History
Unofficial gold coins were used during the gold rush of the 1850s. Traders' tokens were also used because of the shortage of coins caused by the large increase in population. Requests to make gold coins in Adelaide in 1852 to compensate for the shortage of coins were rejected by Britain after 25,000 One Pound pieces were struck.
Australia's first official mint was in Sydney, founded in 1855. The British Secretary of State gave acceptance to the colonial government to establish a mint in Sydney which was to be the first branch of the Royal Mint outside England. The rear side of the mint became the coining factory. This was housed in the Rum Hospital, so called because the contractors were paid in rum, 45, 000 gallons of it, as this was one 'currency' then.
The Sydney Mint produced gold coins with an original design between 1855 and 1870, with "Sydney Mint, Australia, One Sovereign" on one side and Queen Victoria on the other, or "Sydney Mint, Australia, Half Sovereign", before starting in 1870 to mint gold coins of British design. One gold sovereign equaled £1. Coins of Australia. (2016, September 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coins_of_Australia&oldid=737651858
SYDNEY MINT.
AT length we have the formal sanction of her Majesty's Government for the establishment in this colony of a branch of the Royal Mint, together with the terms and conditions upon which the sanction is given. In the first place, the Colonial Mint is to be established under the authority of an order of the Queen in Council, which shall constitute such mint as a branch of and subordinate to the Royal Mint, and describe the duties and. functions.of the principal officers to be appointed to conduct it. Then, the dies from which the coins are to be struck will be furnished by the Master of the Mint in London. Precise directions are to be given as to the fineness and weight of the coin, which must in those respects correspond with the coins of the realm. And to insure this correspondence, a certain proportion of the colonial coins are from time to time to be transmitted to England. in order that they may be assayed and tested by the "Master of the Mint. The principal officers are to be appointed by the Crown, and to hold their appointments during pleasure.
All these are wise and salutary precaution and so completely do they identify the Colonial with the Imperial Mint, and the Colonial with the Imperial coins, that we are at loss to understand for what sufficient reasons the Lords of the Treasury should have impaired the identity by stipulating that the coins issued froin the Colonial Mint must be stamped in such a manner as may render them distinguish-able at sight from the coins of the realm. Their Lordships do, indeed, state a reason, namely, that the colonial coins will not, under the laws of the United Kingdom, be legal tender in that country. If a sovereign coined in Sydney be intrinsically of equal value with, and extrinsically undistinguishable from, a sovereign stamped in London, it will in Eng-land be a legal tender. But if, retaining its intrinsic value, it bear upon its face a distinctive stamp, it will not be a legal tender in Eng land. Tile Lords of the Treasury, making sure as to the value, insist upon the stamp - thus producing the very effect which they assign as the cause. They might as well prove, by blowing out a candle, that a candle blown out will give no light. It is seriously said that if colonial coins be made legal tender in England, colonial mints will have it in their power to expand the currency of England to an indefinite and mischievous extent. Now, supposing such a thing were possible -- supposing we could remit to England, in exchange for her saleable commodities, so vast an amount of our homecoined money as to make her mischievously rich -- yet would she not have in her own hands the means of putting a check to her prodigality? Our mint, be it remembered, is colonial in no sense of the word but the local; in all other respects it is Imperial. Its relation to the Mint in London is sufficiently designated by the Treasury Minute - "as a branch, of and subordinate to the Royal Mint. Like the latter, it derives all its powers from the Sovereign's prerogative, and is subject in all its operations to the Sovereign's. control. If, therefore, the strange apprehensions expressed by the Times had in them anything worthy of grave consideration, it would be quite competent to her Majesty's Government to obviate the danger, by fixing a maximum on the annual amount of our coinage.- Sydney Herald. SYDNEY MINT. (1853, July 27). Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 - 1856), p. 1 (DAILY. : SUPPLEMENT TO THE GEELONG ADVERTISER AND INTELLIGENCER). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94359579
THE SYDNEY MINT.
It will be seen, by a notification in yesterday's Gazette, which we append, that the works designed for carrying on the operations of the Sydney Mint are so far completed that the Mint will be opened on Monday to receive gold bullion for coinage. The whole of the machinery has been put up, and a short period of trial only is needed to bring it into perfect working order. We have before given detailed descriptions of the machinery, and it will be sufficient here to observe that everything appears admirably adapted for the purpose for which it was designed. The appearance of the interior of the building, with the massive machinery appropriately disposed, is of a character more striking, we think, than would be generally supposed. The number, magnitude, and complexity of the apparatus required for the operation of coining, will be a matter of surprise to any one not previously acquainted with the process; nor would many persons be prepared to see so spacious and handsome a building as has been erected for the purpose of carrying on the various operations of the Mint.
We are informed that regulations are being framed under which persons will hereafter be allowed to visit the Mint but, for the present, it will not be open to visitors.
We subjoin the notification before referred to:His Excellency the Governor-General directs it to be notified for general information, that the Sydney Brunch of the Royal Mint will be open on Monday next, the 14th instant, to receive gold bullion for coinage, on the following conditions, to continue in force till Friday, 29th June next:1st. Importations of bullion, in quantity from one thousand ounces upwards, will be admitted daily (Saturdays and holidays excepted), between the hours of 11 o'clock a.m., and 3 o'clock p.m.
2nd. The value of the bullion will be calculated at £3 17s. lO 1/2d. the ounce standard, and determined on the Reports of the Mint Assayers. It will then be converted into coin with all convenient despatch.
3rd. Payment for importations will be made in the order of their receipt, subject to a deduction of three-fourths per cent, as a Mint charge.
4th. The Mint will also issue, if required, gold bullion, ingots, or bars, at £3 17s. lO 1/2d. the ounce standard.
2. The advantage anticipated from the introduction of a Branch of the Royal Mint in Sydney, is the facility such an establishment will offer for the conversion of standard gold bullion, and of bullion, the produce of Australian colonies, into the legal coin or tender for payment ; to this and every assistance will be given. The Sydney Mint is not open for melting and refining plate and jewellery and bullion which has been previously wrought, or for converting such into coin. Any importations, therefore, which, after being melted and assayed at the Mint, shall appear to the deputy-master to have been brought to a state difficult or expansive to restore to standard purity will be returned to the importers, subject to a charge of three-fourths per cent, on its value, reckoned at £3 17s. lOjd. the standard ounce. Further particulars can be obtained on application at the Royal Mint.
4. The above arrangement will be in Operation only until the 29th June, after which a different scale of charges (to be hereafter notified) will be in force. THE SYDNEY MINT. (1855, May 12). Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1875), p. 5. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60177918
Coin Press at The Sydney Mint. (1888, July 14). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907), p. 24. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71099936
AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE.
(A Letter to the Editor of the Nation.) THE above three polysyllables refer to a subject which, as appears from speeches delivered by him at Sydney and Melbourne, has attracted the attention of Mr. Duffy, and become, as he says, "a private hobby" of his. Knowing that whatever you publish is sure to come under his notice and that of others concerned, I am tempted to send you a few remarks upon the subject. They shall be as brief as possible. The pleasantest reading upon Australia that I have come across is contained in "Our Antipodes," by Colonel G. C. Mtldy, nosy Under Secretary at the Warn Department. In page 225. Vol. I., of that interesting work, I find the following interesting observations: "Some of the native names of places are grandly sontorous and pollysyllabic. It is well when they are retained by the English possessors of the lands, instead of substituting vulgar and ttmeaning European titles. Here are (? is) a string of names--taken at hazard (that sort of hazard that suits a purpose)-almost no round-sounding as old Homer's muster roll of heroes, and not unmusical in the shape of hexametors: Geelong, Bendendera, Coolapatampa, Tangabalanga, Pejar, Parramatta, Ruyana, Menangle, Gobberalong, Nandowra, Memendere, Ponekeparinga, Yass, Candalga, Molong, Karrajong, Naradandara, Bongbong."
It is to be regretted that the good taste which the Colonel displays upon this point has niot been more generally prevalent, and particularly that the larger divisions of the great Southern Continent have to be bpatised upon this pripnciple, instead of receiving the preposterous anid inappropriate designations to which some of them at present bear.
Should Mr. Duffy's suggestion, as to naming those anew; come to be hereafter acted upon, and I think it is not unlikely that it will be, regard may be had either to the names of origial discoverers or to the distinctive charactistics of each particular country.
I. The first discoverer of Australin said to have been the Spaniard, De Quiros, in 1609. The second white man who touched its shores was Dick Hartog, of Amsterdam, later in same century. In 1644 Abel Tasman explored its coasts, and, like an honest Mynheer as he was, called it New Holland. He gave the name of his beloved Maria Van Dieman to the fair island since cursed by convictism, and now known as Tasmania; her Christian name having been imposed upon that Maria Island which the penal exile of William Smith O'Brien has consecrated in the memory of every true Irishman. In 1777, James Cook, whom Colonel Mundy calls a Welslman, but who is more generally supposed to have been Yorksireman, called the country New South Wales-apiece of bathos that Mr. Duffy does not approve of. From these men, then, we may get such names as Quirosia, Hartagla or Hartogland, Abella, and Jamesland. To those who may object to the latter two designations, as taken from the christian name, I have only to suggest the precedent of America, Amerigo Vespucci was its sponsor, and he gave it his own first come.
II. Leaving the titles which the names of discoverers suggest, we may consider the characteristic of each colony, and draw an appropriate designation from them. Colonists have had no difficulty in inventing nicknames; the white natives of New South Wales are called Cornstallks, and these of Victoria, Gum-suckers. With better taste they might give their respective countries such names as Goldland, Richland, Fairland, and Freeland. Or they might with poetical appropriateness, adopt such a title as Waratah, for instance, from the beautified flower which is called the Queen of the Bush. Vegetable products have already given a name to Chili and Brazil. AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE. (1856, November 22).The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 - 1859), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118314201
THE SILVER FALL, BOWER GULLY, MOUNT WELLINGTON, TASMANIA.
Sketches with Pencil (1874, September 5).The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil (Melbourne, Vic. : 1873 - 1889), p. 85. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60606250
Died at the Cascade on Wednesday, 24th December 1834, Major Hugh Macintosh, formerly of the H. E. I. Company's Service, and more latterly attached to the Persian embassy, aged 58. Family Notices (1835, January 2). The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4182303
A PAGE FROM THE PAST. The Cascade Estate For 100 Years.
A Moving Story. Hardships of the Early Pioneers. The Degraves Centenary.
BY CECIL ALLPORT
(Special to The Mercury )
Amongst the captains of enterprise and industry, who in the early twenties of the nineteenth century, left their English homes to seek fortune, wealth, and comfort in these southern lands, the name of Peter Degraves should for ever occupy a prominent place. Born in 1778 but two years after the celebrated declaration by the American colonists that they were free and independent of the Crown of England the late Mr. Peter Degraves passed his boy hood and early youth in the town of Dover, where his father carried on a lucrative practice as a physician and surgeon. In those far-off days the inhabitants of Dover were generally the first to receive news of the stirring events taking place in Europe, and Peter Degraves from earliest youth would hear of the wars, and rumours of wars, of the battles by sea and land in which his country was almost continuously involved. Ere he reached the age of 15 Maximilian Robespierre had inaugurated the Reign of Terror, and the horrors of the French Revolution had burst upon an astonished world. But a few years more and Napoleon Bonaparte had been proclaimed Emperor of France, and established a despotism over Europe, destined to last until his final overthrow on the field of Waterloo. It is not to be wondered at that men, who in youth and early manhood had lived in close proximity to such happenings, and witnessed the devastation wrought by internecine strife, should resolve to leave the land of their forefathers and seek, with their wives and families, their future fortune in the Greater Britain beyond the seas.
However this may be, we know from what history tells us of the achievements of Peter Degraves in Van Diemen's Land that he was possessed of all the qualifications essential to in sure success in the land of his birth. He had served an apprenticeship with the celebrated engineer, Mr.. John Rennie, who, amongst other, monuments of his ability, constructed the Plymouth breakwater and the Southwark and Waterloo bridges over the Thames. In addition to his engineering attainments, Mr.. Degraves was an architect of no mean order, and an able draughtsman. He had, moreover, a knowledge of surveying or land measurement, as it was then generally called, and was an experienced mathematician well versed in the science of Algebra, and especially skilled in making calculations and estimating quantities and values of extensive works.Right: Peter Degraves - same photo as in article - clearer from and courtesy Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office
Before leaving England he was regarded as an authority on boring for water, and had successfully carried out schemes of this nature for the Duchess of Buccleuch and for the Marquis of Stafford. Yet, notwithstanding his successes and prospects of advancement in England, Mr.. Degraves in 1820 resolved to emigrate. His brother-in-law, Major Hugh Mcintosh, decided to accompany him, and it was arranged that they should enter into partnership as sawmillers, and take out to Van Diemen's Land an extensive plant with the most up-to-date machinery then obtainable. There was much to be done before they could embark. A ship, called the Hope, was obtained, but whether this had previously been the name of the vessel, or whether it was conferred upon her as expressive of the wish of Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves for the success of their enterprise cannot now be ascertained. The sawmilling machinery and plant was selected and put on board, and when all preparations were finally completed Mr. Degraves, with his wife and children and Major Mcintosh, with a large number of other passengers, left England.
RETURN TO PORT.
Before embarking Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves, following the usual practice, had obtained from Lord Bathurst, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, letters to the Governor of Van Diemen's Land recommending them as desirable settlers, these letters bearing date the 21st June and 12th July, 1821.
Hardly had the Hope left England when tempestuous weather was encountered and damage sustained which necessitated a return to port to effect repairs, and the vessel reached Ramsgate on November 18, 1821. Complaints were at once made that the ship was unseaworthy and overcrowded, and application was made to the authorities to send a number of the passengers to Van Diemen's Land by another vessel. An inquiry held as to the condition of the Hope and also as to the overcrowding, proved that the ship was thoroughly seaworthy, but the complaint as to the overcrowding was at first upheld. A further and fuller inquiry was then demanded, and allowed, and the former decision as to overcrowding was ultimately reversed.
Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves at this time became involved in some litigation and this, together with the time occupied over the inquiry into the condition of the Hope and other matters, occasioned so much vexatious delay that the vessel did not finally sail for Hobart until September 19, 1823. She then carried 43 passengers and was again freighted with the valuable sawmilling machinery and plant with which Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves intended to establish themselves in business on their arrival in Van Diemen Land.
Amongst the list of passengers on this second occasion are seen names afterwards well and widely known throughout Tasmania, for instance, Mr. and Mrs. Marzetti and Mr. J. E. Mace.
The ship called in at the Cape of Good Hope, left there on, February 18, 1824, and finally reached Hobart on Saturday, April 10 following. That some adverse criticism levelled at Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves in consequence of the former unsuccessful attempt to navigate the vessel to Australia, was not shared by the British authorities, is best shown by the fact that Lord Bathurst not only instructed the Governor of Van Diemen's Land to allot Mcintosh and Degraves an area of 2,000 acres of land for which they were to receive a grant from the Crown, but also immediately after the sailing of the Hope, wrote a further letter to Lieutenant-Governor Arthur setting out the additional assistance which His Majesty's Government desired the Colonial Government to render them on arrival at their new home. This letter was couched in the following terms:
Downing-street,
October 2, 1823.
Sir, - In consequence of various circumstances connected with the ship Hope, but to which I do not deem it necessary more particularly to advert upon this occasion, the late owners of that vessel, Mr.. Degraves and Major Mcintosh have acquired some claim to the protection of His Majesty's Government. I have, therefore, been induced so far to assist Mr.. Degraves and Major Mcintosh in their individual arrangements of emigration to Van Diemen's Land, by allowing to them the expense of conveying a sawmill which they propose to erect in the Colony and I have further to desire that you will afford Mr.. Degraves the assistance of three convict carpenters and one smith, together with rations, for the purpose of working the mill during a period of six months, provided such an arrangement can be made consistently with the exigencies of the public works.
"I have also to instruct you to grant rations for six months to Mr.. and Mr.s. Degraves and eight children, and to Major Mcintosh and one child.
"I have, etc.,
"BATHURST."
The inconvenience and loss occasioned the passengers of the Hope on her first departure from England in 1821 seems to have been partly brought about through their being informed that the vessel would sail earlier than she actually did. This was one of the com-plaints made when the vessel was driven back by storms, but it may well be doubted whether Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves were responsible for it. Under any circumstances it seems to have been a common practice in the early days. In Syme's History of Van Diemen's Land, published in Dundee in 1848, there occurs this passage:
The emigrant should ascertain as near as he can the time of sailing, as it is usual for the broker, in order to get his vessel as forward as possible, to state the time to be much earlier than it can, or in reality does, take place, and I have known a large family expend nearly as much money in Gravesend waiting for their vessel as they had paid for their passage in the cabin. It is not customary for passengers to lay in their own provision, otherwise a considerable saving might be made in the expense of the voyage.
ARRIVAL IN TASMANIA.
Mr. Peter Degraves, on arrival in Tasmania, was 45 years of age, and therefore well advanced in life. He was accompanied by his wife and eight children - four sons and four daughters also by his brother-in-law and partner. Major Mcintosh. It is said that this latter gentleman was accompanied by one child, but the statement is not borne out by the passenger list published in the "Hobart Gazette" of 16th April, 1824, and circumstances which occurred at a later date lead to the conclusion that he was unaccompanied by any member of his family though the letter from Lord Bathurst of 23rd October, 1823, shows it had been the intention of Major Mcintosh that his child should accompany him.
Amongst the articles of utility which Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves brought to Van Diemen's Land were a number of the silver coins now known as "Degraves shillings." These coins were minted in England to the order of Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves and brought to Tasmania for circulation in connection with their business. They were, of course, only tokens and did not contain so large a quantity of silver as an ordinary shilling. They were, however, the first silver tokens introduced into Australia, and on this account alone are extremely interesting. The exact number placed in circulation is unknown, and it is improbable at this distance of time that it can ever be ascertained. Though they are now exceedingly rare, specimens can be seen in the British Museum, in the Museums of Melbourne and Sydney, and no doubt in some other public institutions as well as in some private collections; collections; while one is, or at all events was until recently, worn on a watchchain in Hobart. The great bulk of these coins, however, must have long since disappeared in the melting-pot.
As an interesting reminder of the Degraves shilling and of the enterprise of Mcintosh and Degraves in bringing these tokens to Van Diemen's Land a century ago, Mr.. Alfred Chitty, Fellow of the British Numismatic Society and Numismatist of the Melbourne Museum, had a centenary medal struck last year. This is about the size of the double florin and was prepared under the instructions and at the sole expense of Mr.. Chitty. The obverse embodies in the centre the design of the Kangaroo as shown in the original token with the date 1823-1923 below.
The reverse contains the following inscription:- "To commemorate the Centenary of the issue of the Mcintosh and Degraves Tasmanian shilling."
The medal is a handsome reminder of an interesting event, is greatly prized by collectors now, and will be much more so as years go on. Mr.. Chitty only had 50 of these centenary medals struck, and four of these, thanks to his kindness, are now held by Tasmanians.
The Hope landed her passengers on the Old Wharf at Hunter's Island, and discharged her cargo, and Messrs. Mc-intosh and Degraves lost no time in waiting upon the Lieutenant-Governor and presenting him with their credentials. They were at once promised every facility for selecting the location and referred to the Surveyor-General, Mr.. G. W. Evans, who was instructed to give them all necessary information as to the areas still available for location and settlement.
Having completed their inspection, Messrs. Degraves and Mcintosh on June 3, 1824, applied by letter for a location to them of certain land therein referred to as situate between Lowes Distillery and Table Mountain, and which had been pointed out to them by Mr.. Evans as "in every way suitable" for their purpose, being thickly covered with timber, and with a waterfall running through it," and on June 11 Sir George Arthur addressed a letter to the Surveyor-General in the following terms:
June 11, 1821. Government House.
Sir, - You are hereby authorised and required to locate and measure to Messrs. Degraves and Mcintosh, free settlers, under order of His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonial Government 2,000 acres of land of which they are to receive a grant.
GEORGE ARTHUR.
Lieutenant Governor. G.-.W. Evans, Esq.,
Surveyor-General.
The area referred to in the above location order was then a wild, primeval forest untouched by the hand of man. It was very heavily timbered and lay on the south-eastern slopes of Mount Wellington between the Hobart Rivulet and Guy Fawkes Rivulet on the northern side, and the Sandy Bay Rivulet on the Southern side, while it is bounded on the eastern side by a location held by Robert Lathrop Murray and another held by Thomas Yardley Lowes, the former of whom had arrived in Van Diemens Land in 1818, and the latter in 1822.
WRECK OF THE HOPE
Before following the fortunes of Messrs Mcintosh and Degraves let us turn for a moment to the subsequent history of the Hope. Having completed her unloading and taken in such cargo as was available at Hobart Town the vessel left for Sydney on May 18 1824 and reached there in due course she after wards left there for Mauritius and re-turned to Sydney in February 1825 with a cargo of sugar.
From this time the Hope seems to have entered the lists as a regular Australian trader until on April 22 1827 we find her leaving Sydney for Van Diemen's Land with numerous passengers and large cargo on her last eventful voyage. Passing Tasman's Island on the afternoon of Saturday April 28 1827 and proceeding up past Cape Raoul Pilot Mansfield joined the ship and took charge while the captain, worn out by forty eight hours rough weather, retired to rest. Some discussion seems to have taken place as to the pilot's ability to navigate the vessel into the river during the dark and rainy night that was then approaching and the captain advocated the more prudent course of standing outside until daybreak. The pilot however urged that his long experience in the River Derwent would enable him to take the ship up in safety without waiting till morning and the captain acceded to his request and left the vessel in his sole charge. The night continued dark and heavy rain fell and about two hours before daybreak the Hope ran ashore on the long stretch of sand which extends beyond Iron Pot Island and opposite Betsey Island. Heavy surf at once broke over the vessel and very shortly a leak was sprung. Nothing could be done till morning and as soon as it was light two whaleboats came across from Bruny Island to render assistance. Efforts were then made to get the ship off but these being unsuccessful, a number of the passengers were landed and taken to Hobart Town with news of the disaster.
Later in the day the agent of the vessel Mr.. W. A. Bethune despatched the sloop Recovery to the scene of the wreck with instruct-tions to save as much of the cargo as possible. The rest of the passengers meanwhile remained on board but during the following night the position became worse. The rudder gave way and the upper part of the stern was driven in and all on board were employed assisting at the pumps. The masts were then cut away but it was evident all hope of saving the vessel must be given up. The remainder of those on board were landed in safety and the ship virtually abandoned. The first succeeding southerly storm completed the destruction of the Hope and left her stout timbers strewn and shattered on the beach that ever since has borne her name.
Although the passengers and crew of the Hope were all saved there was one tragic circumstance connected with the wreck which evoked an outburst of sympathy from the inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land. On 9th May, 1827, the wreck was sold for the benefit of all concerned to Captain John Laughton formerly of the Apollo which vessel had a few weeks before been lost on the East Coast of Van Diemen's Land. Immediately after making his purchase Captain Laughton proceeded down the river with a view to saving all that was practicable of his property. While inspecting the wreck with Captain
Cunningham, who had been in charge of the Hope, their boat was struck by a sea and filled with water. Captain Cunningham succeeded in reaching the land but Captain Laughton unfortunately was drowned. Almost the whole of his property had been lost with the wreck of the Apollo and owing to this further affliction his widow and children were left unprovided for. Descendants of Captain John Laughton have ever since been identified with this country and a grandson Mr.. James Laughton is now the well known registrar of births, deaths, etc., for Tasmania.
THE CASCADES.
The country lying at the foot of Mount Wellington or Table Mountain, of which McIntosh and Degraves were authorized to take possession was then known as the Cascade. It is uncertain when this name was first given to the locality or the reason which induced it or the per son by whom it was conferred. There appears to be only one reference to the name in the early press prior to the arrival of Mcintosh and Degraves. This is in the Hobart "Town Gazette" of January 17, 1818:-
The bridge at Cascade was burnt down on Tuesday owing to the grass and shrubs in that neighbourhood being set on fire; which, we understand, is supposed to have been maliciously done by some persons at present un-known, but who, we hope, will yet be discovered.
It has been supposed that the name was given to the district by settlers who arrived here from Norfolk Island from 1806 to 1808, but the only reason for this is that a settlement there had been known as Cascade, almost from the first colonisation of Norfolk Island. The idea has not, therefore, much to com-mend it, and a far more likely explanation of the term is that in the early days of last century the Hobart Town Rivulet was a much larger and more important stream than it is to-day.
In a work on Van Diemen's Land by Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys, R.N, the original owner of Frogmore, Sorell, which was published in London in 1820 and was indeed the first book about this country written by a settler, there occurs the following paragraph with reference to Hobart Town and the Rivulet:-
The town is pleasantly situated in a gently sloping plain, at the foot of Table Mountain. It is near one mile in length from north to south, and about half a mile in breadth, containing three hundred houses, occupied by a population of from eleven hundred to twelve hundred persons. A beautiful stream of fresh water runs through the centre, with a cur-rent sufficiently strong to turn any number of mills, several being already erected; and such is the abundant flow, that were the population twenty times its present magnitude, the in-habitants would find from this rivulet, an ample supply for all the pur-poses of comfort and convenience.
It is evident from this passage, and the statement is borne out by later writers, that the flow of water in the Town Rivulet more than a hundred years ago was much greater than that, now meandering down the channel of the creek.
At that time the south eastern slope of the mountain was an almost impenetrable forest, the densest growth being naturally on both sides of the bed of the rivulet which was completely overarch-ed by fern trees scrub and lofty trees. As the forest and undergrowth have been thinned out and removed the springs have diminished in volume or al-together disappeared, and the flow of water has proportionately ceased. The stream, moreover, was, in the early days, greatly obstructed by large trees which had fallen across it, and debris having silted up, this would naturally tend to produce a series of slight falls or cascades which, in all probability, gave rise to the name by which the locality has ever since been known. This view is supported by the statement as to a waterfall in the letter of June 3, 1824, above referred to, and is also borne out by the memorandum of January 19, 1833, referred to below.
Photograph from a sketch drawn by J. Skinner Prout, in 1844, showing portion of the Cascade estate.
It is said that Mr. and Mrs. Degraves, with their family and Major Mcintosh, on their arrival in Tasmania stayed with the late Mr. John Walker, who had reached here three years earlier, and was then in charge of the Government mill in Barrack and Collins streets. In June, 1824, however, they took possession of their location, and on the 26th of that month the Colonial Secretary in-formed the firm that on the Monday fol-lowing an overseer with a gang of 20 men would be ready to assist them in any necessary work. This gang was at once employed in clearing the sites for the sawmill and for a dwelling, digging out the foundations and forming a mill race. The water of the tributary stream, known as Guy Fawkes Rivulet, was led into the town rivulet shortly above the site marked out for the mill, and a dam constructed, from which the combined water of both rivulets flowed to the wheel by which the sawmill was to be worked.
ERECTION OF THE MILL.
DISPUTE ARISES.
In 1825 the mill was in active operation, the "Gazette" published on August 13 of that year containing the following paragraph:—"We are happy to ob-serve that the sawmill erected near the cascade on the town rivulet by Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves is now in full and active operation. It is one of the most complete machines of the kind in any country, and timber is cut by it with astonishing nicety and rapidity. The public are called upon to patronise such patriotic and beneficial undertakings."
The work was hardly completed, how-ever, when trouble arose. The original locatee of the land on the south-eastern side of the location to Messrs. Degraves and Mcintosh was Mr.. Charles Robertson, who had transferred his rights to Mr.. Robert Lathrop Murray. Mr.. G. W. Evans, the Surveyor-General, had pointed out to Mcintosh and Degraves the line of boundary between their land and Robertson's, thus indicating where their buildings might be erected. It afterwards turned out, however, that erroneous information had been supplied, and that the mill had, as a fact, been erected on the land located to Robert-son, and, further, that the right to this location had been transferred, to Murray. Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves thereupon presented a memorial praying that the grant to Robertson's land should be withheld, and Governor Arthur, on this being referred, to him, wrote to Colonial Secretary Goulburn as follows:-
"Government House,
Hobart Town,
September 15, 1825.
"Sir,-I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th of March last referring to my consideration by direction of the Governor a memorial from Major Mcintosh and Mr.. Degraves, praying that a grant of 500 acres of land at the Cascade, near Hobart Town, may be withholden from its grantee, Mr.. Charles Robertson, for the reason assigned.
"I had already brought this case, which is a most glaring land job, under His Excellency's consideration. As long since as the 7th of August, 1824, I entered fully into the shameful barter of land, which had taken place in this colony, and took, the liberty of suggest-ing to the Governor that a strict inquiry here should precede the delivery of every grant, so that it might be with-held and reported upon in all these cases wherein it might be manifest that the parties had already violated the conditions of the grant.
"I have, etc.,
"GEO. ARTHUR."
Although the sawmill continued working without any apparent interference by Mr. Murray, the error in the boundaries was not rectified, and on January 19, 1827, we find the matter referred to by Mr.. Acting Surveyor General Dumaresq in a lengthy report addressed by him to Colonial Secretary Burnett. The sixteenth paragraph of this report states:
"A reference to the very voluminous correspondence on the subject of Messrs. McIntosh and Degraves land, and the erection of the valuable saw mill and other machinery on land, granted to C. Robertson and by him made over to R L Murray, will show the great importance of another error I am about to describe.
"It appears that Mr. Evans pointed out to Messrs. Mclntosh and Degraves the ground on which they might erect their mill etc, informing them that it was beyond the land included in the grant to C. Robertson (that is R. L. Murray); nevertheless when the mill was completed it appears by the plans which are in the office and by one drawn by Mr. Scott (for the express purpose of elucidating, and accompanying the correspondence, amongst the papers of which I found it), that the sawmill is included in Murray's land. On very minutely examining Mr. Scott's plan, I discovered some errors, which are by no means apparent at first view, but which have consequences of the utmost importance to the interests of those concerned. In the first place, one line is a little prolonged (as appears by the plan), and then a different bearing of a few degrees from the proper one ac-cording to the grant, is given to the next By these means, the valuable sawmill, etc, of Messrs Mcintosh and Degraves is included in Murray's land. But the most remarkable circumstance, and to me convincing proof of intentional error, is that there is a slight pencil mark just on the line of proper bearing by the grant, but which was so faint that I did not discover it until I had applied my protractor for the purpose of drawing it. It is also remarkable and unusual that the lines, purporting to include 500 acres, only contain 385 acres, while the next adjoining grants, as usual, include more than the quantity mentioned. . . ."
Many years elapsed before this error was rectified, but ultimately a new south-western boundary of Robertson's location was marked out and the land between this and the former south-western boundary on which the sawmill and other buildings had been erected passed by private arrangement from Mr.. R. L. Murray to Mr.. Peter Degraves. Throughout his life Degraves blamed Evans for this matter, and on more than one occasion used his facile and often caustic pen to refer to Evans in terms of the most unqualified vituperation and invective.
WATER SCHEME FOR TOWN.
It was impossible for a man with the mental activity of Peter Degraves to be idle, and in the month of December, 1824, while the work of erecting the sawmill was being vigorously pushed forward we find him preparing plans to secure a better water supply for Hobart Town.
In the Gazette of December 17, 1824, occurs the following passage:-
Mr.. Degraves, whose ingenuity is well known by all who have the pleas ure of his acquaintance, has submitted a proposal for laying down water pipes throughout this town, provided the Government will grant him a prescriptive charter, so as to secure a fair remuneration for the necessary outlay of time and capital. We think the proposal is extremely handsome, and as to the favourable public results of legislatorial compliance with it there cannot possibly exist a doubt.
Nowithstanding the offer of Mr. Degraves and the favourable comment set out in the "Gazette" nothing appears to have been done, the town continuing to obtain its supply of water in the same way as previously.
IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT
In April, 1826, but little more than six months after the sawmill had been cutting, Degraves was called upon to face the greatest trouble that beset his long and eventful life. Prior to leaving Eng-land he and his partner, Major McIn-tosh, had become involved in a dispute which culminated in legal proceedings being instituted against them. It is impossible at this distance of time to ascertain the merits of the claim, but judgment appears to have been obtained by the plaintiffs, though Degraves always asserted that justice had not been done However this be, no objection seems to have been raised to Degraves and his partner emigrating to Van Diemen's Land, and apparently they came to the conclusion that with then departure from the homeland the matter was at an end. Early in 1826, however, the proceedings initiated in England were continued here, and these culminated in the issue of execution against Mcintosh and Degraves, and the publication of an advertisement by the Sheriff on the 6th of April, 1826, in the following terms.
"Sheriff's Office,
"April 6th, 1826 "In the Supreme Court
"Bishop and Another v. McIntosh and Degraves.
"To be sold by auction, by direction of the Sheriff, on the premises at the Cascade, on Monday, the 17th instant, at 12 o'clock, that capital sawmill with all its machinery, etc, complete, and a quantity of sawn timber and a small house, also seven working bullocks, a cart, etc, together with a small quantity of household furniture. At Mr. W A. Bethune's, on the wharf, at 3 o'clock on the same day, a pair of excellent millstones and a small box containing bolting and bristles and wire, the property of the above defendants, unless this execution be previously satisfied."
The defendants met this challenge by filing their declaration in insolvency, and the plaintiffs thereupon retaliated by causing Mr. Peter Degraves to be arrested for debt, and confined in the Debtors' Prison. In those far-off days imprisonment for debt was allowed by the law of England, and also by the laws of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, but relief from actual imprisonment appears to have been obtainable according to English law when once the defendant had been declared insolvent. This rule was followed in New South Wales by the three judges who then presided on the bench of that colony, but for some reason Chief Justice Pedder, the first Chief Justice of Van Diemen's Land, took a contrary view, and Mr. Degraves was thus deprived of liberty by his inexorable creditors, and remained under arrest for several years.
During this time many efforts were made to secure a modification of the law or of Mr. Justice Pedder's interpretation of it, and Mr. Degraves himself addressed to the authorities numerous letters on the subject couched in the trenchant language which he knew so well how best to employ. One lengthy epistle addressed to His Excellency Sir George Arthur on this subject by Mr. Degraves concludes as follows:—
I wish to impress on the mind of Your Excellency that, with a family of eight children, I have now endured eleven months' imprisonment at the suit of these plaintiffs to whom I am not indebted one single shilling, and impatience under punishment so severe and unmerited is but natural, feeling as I do, that I am here chained up like a dog, unheeded and forgotten.
In these more enlightened days all will agree with Mr. Degraves, but unfortunately it was impossible nearly a hundred years ago to obtain any modification of the hardships to which he was condemned. At last relief came, and in July, 1831, Mr. Peter Degraves was once more at liberty, and able to go forward on the path of progress and prosperity which from that time onward he followed until the close of life. Throughout his long period of confinement he had displayed great fortitude and endurance and patience under adversity such as few are called upon to face.
From 1826 the sawmill had continued at work, the absence of Mr. Degraves having occasioned no interruption of the business, which was presumably being carried on in the interests of the creditors. Even while under arrest for debt Degraves kept himself busy, and, face to face with the evils and inconveniences resulting from a small and over-crowded house of correction, he endeavoured to assist the Government of the day by preparing elaborate plans for a new and more commodious gaol, the authorities then having under consideration the construction of a new prison on another site.
IMPENETRABLE FOREST.
After his release, Degraves again took up his residence at the Cascade, and the work of the mill proceeded as before. During 1831, however, a change came. In that year, with a view to increasing the flow of the water in the Hobart Town Rivulet, Governor Arthur had a channel cut on the slope of Mt. Welling-ton, above the level of the Springs, for the purpose of diverting into the town creek part of the water which would otherwise have flowed into Brown's River, and about the same time a tunnel was completed by which water was taken from the rivulet for the use of the town. This tunnel was supplied by means of a dam raised across the rivulet about 200 yards above the old dam of Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves, which had been constructed in 1824 and 1825. By this tunnel water was then conducted from above Mcintosh and Degraves's intake through their land to a point a little below the upper end of what is now known as the Cascade-road, and thence to the town. This state of things seems to have continued till to-wards the end of 1834, or the beginning of 1835, Mcintosh and Degraves apparently making no complaint, because the extra water turned into the rivulet, as mentioned above, gave such an additional flow as left them, in much the same position as before.
In 1833 Messrs. Mcintosh and Degraves applied to the Government for the issue of their grant to the 2,000 acres which had already been so long delayed. The Government, in reply, pointed out the difficulty in getting the boundaries laid down owing to the impenetrable nature of the forest, but gave the applicants a more extended location order with the following memorandum, which is dated the 19th January, 1833:—
"As some time must elapse before the boundaries of this forest land can be completely laid down, and as it is essential to the grantees that in the interim they should be secured in the possession of some definite limits, they are hereby authorised to hold possession, pending the survey of the land, of all that tract of ground which is bounded on the north-east, north-west, and on the south-east in the manner described in the annexed location order, and on the west by a northerly line touching a point in the upper Mill-road, which is two miles and ten chains in a direct line from the north-east boundary near this mill, and touching another point near the King's pits (beyond them), which is one mile and three-quarters, distant from the mill in a direct line.
"But it is to be clearly understood that this authority will only hold effect as long as the location remains un measured and that a more particular description of the grant will supersede this, upon the actual measurement being completed."
The King's pits referred to in the above memorandum were situated on the slope of Mount Wellington, and the site may still be seen. James Backhouse in his narrative of a visit to the Australian Colonies says: "On April 15, 1832, we held a meeting with some sawyers in their huts at a place called the King's Pits, on the ascent of Mount Wellington, at an elevation of about 2,000ft, and about four miles from the town. The forest among which they are residing is very lofty, many of the trees are clear of branches for upwards of a hundred feet. It caught fire a few months ago and some of the men narrowly escaped. The trees are blackened to the top, but are beginning to shoot again from their charred stems. The brush-wood is very thick in some of these forests . . . The brook that supplies Hobart with water flows from Mount Wellington through a valley at the foot of the mountain. Here the bed of the creek is rocky and so nearly flat as scarcely to deserve the name of the Cascades, by which this place is called"
These pits were located at the very source of the Guy Fawkes Rivulet, and not far below the New Town side of the face of the organ pipes. The locality used to be known as "Brown's Flat."
MOUNTAIN LAKE
In 1834 Major Mcintosh died leaving all his interest in the property to his brother-in-law.**The summer of 1835 proved exceedingly dry, but little rain fell, and the water in the Rivulet suffered serious diminution. In addition the tunnel was at this time in much need of repair, and a large quantity of water was lost owing to leaks and soak age. The town supply thus became deficient, and the inhabitants raised serious complaints, these culminating in constables being employed to break down Mr. Degraves's dam. As this was some two hundred yards below the dam which supplied the tunnel its destruction was obviously useless, and while adding nothing to the supply of water in the tunnel merely had the effect of leaving the water wheel of the mill dry, in consequence of which shortly after wards the wheel fell to pieces. For this Degraves brought an action and recovered damages which were paid by the Government. Mr. Degraves then entered into a more ambitious project by tapping the Rivulet some three quarters of a mile higher up the stream and con ducting the water in a race or water course along the side of the hill to what was afterwards known as the Moun-tain Lake. From this point the water was run by means of pipes, supplied by the Lieutenant Governor, who re garded the work as beneficial to the community, to the site of an hydraulic mill which Mr. Degraves was then erecting for grinding corn. From this point the water flowed into a large pond or reservoir constructed for its reception, and from this reservoir it could be transported to a new mill wheel 40ft in diameter, which was erected in place of the wheel destroyed, and from there it passed into the town tunnel. This work, of course necessitated some alteration in the old tunnel, which thenceforth received the water at a lower point and that part of the tunnel which was above the new intake then be-came useless, and was never afterwards resorted to. During the year 1835 the Government proposed to make a reserve along the banks of the rivulet within the land which had ever since 1824 been occupied by Peter Degraves. To this he naturally took great exception, and at once addressed a strong protest on the subject to the Surveyor-General, pointing out that portions of his buildings were erected on the land which it was now proposed to exclude from his location. The stand taken up by Mr.. Degraves on this occasion, caused the Government to reconsider the matter, and the proposal to attempt creating a reservation of land along the rivulet was then abandoned.
Photograph taken in April, 1924, from the same site as was occupied by the painter of No. 1 Is Actually The female factory from Proctor's Quarry J.S. Prout. Author/Creator: Prout, John Skinner, 1805-1876. Publication Information: [Hobart] V.D.L. : T. Bluett, 1844. Print, courtesy Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office
Early in the year 1832 Mr.. Peter Degraves commenced the erection of a brewery, and during that year the necessary building was constructed and all machinery installed. At the beginning of 1833, in fact probably a little earlier, the brewery was at work, and regular supplies of Cascade beer, ale, and porter were available to customers.
In Ross's Almanac for 1833, published on 31st December, 1832, we find the following advertisement:-
"CASCADE BREWERY AND MALT HOUSE.
"At this establishment publicans and private families can be supplied at all times with genuine beer from malt and hops, either in cask or bottle, and of very superior quality. The local advantages possessed both as respects water and other conveniences enable the proprietors to perform the whole operation of the business in a manner that cannot be excelled in this colony, and by which means they supply a beverage upon moderate terms fully equal to the best London manufacture.
"Orders left at Mr. Pinker's, Elizabeth street, directed for Mr. Degraves, will receive immediate attention.
"The growers of English barley of good quality are invited to make tenders of their produce, and for which the highest price will be always given.
"N.B.-Bakers regularly supplied with the best yeast."
CASCADE SAWMILL.
"Orders for this establishment to be directed to Mr. Degraves and to be left at Mr. Pinker's, Elizabeth-street.
"Firewood regularly supplied upon moderate terms, if by the year and for ready money at the same price as the contract with Government."
WATER ACT.
In 1835 what was known as the Water Act 5, William IV., No. 14, was passed, this purporting to vest the rivulet and the soil and bed thereof and the water flowing therein, subject to all private rights and interests, in the Crown for the use of the public, and in the following year Peter Degraves succeeded in obtaining the grant for his 2,000 acres, this having been held back for years because of the difficulty in get-ting the survey of the land completed. About the year 1836, moreover, Mr.. De-graves purchased from the Crown an additional and adjoining area of 2,700 acres, the Cascade estate then comprising 4,700 acres. Some small areas were added to this from time to time, and there was also included the land subsequently obtained from R. L. Mur-ray, and on which the original sawmill had been inadvertently erected. The area of the estate thus totalled about 5,000 acres, and extended from the Cascade buildings across the summit of Mount Wellington, on the New Town side beyond the Organ Pipes, and thence to the source of the North-West Bay River.
During the succeeding years some correspondence took place between De-graves and the Government as to the quantities of water flowing down the tunnel after the mills had been served, and in 1844 an arrangement was made with the Government whereby Degraves contracted to construct a reservoir some 500 yards below his boundary on the lower side of the Cascade-road. The object of this work was to conduct into this reservoir the whole of the water after it left Degraves's mills, and from the reservoir it was then conducted by iron pipes to the town. This arrangement continued until the year 1860, when it was proposed by Parliament to pass a new Water Act, which Messrs C and J Degraves, who had then succeeded to the Cascade state, and then legal advisers regarded as a derogation of their rights. In consequence of this, Messrs C and J De-graves were heard by counsel at the Bar of the House of Assembly, and pro visions were subsequently inserted in the bill providing for payment of compensation in the event of any interference with the industries established by their late father, or by them becoming necessary in the public interest.
Shortly after this the Hobart reservoir on the Sandy Bay Creek was constructed, and the water supply for the city of Hobart has since been obtained from other streams to the south and west further round the mountain, and especially from the North-West Bay River and its tributary waters.
Only once in the long intervening period which has since elapsed have the rights of the successors of Peter Degraves to use the waters of the Hobart Rivulet been called in question. This was in 1903, when legal proceedings were instituted, and after being carried to a point of thorough investigation were abandoned, and the successors of Peter Degraves have since remained in undisturbed possession of their ancestral rights.
THE THEATRE ROYAL
In addition to his other activities, Mr. Peter Degraves in 1834 took a prominent port in promoting the erection of the Theatre Royal, in Campbell-street He was, indeed, the architect for the edifice, while his eldest son, Mr. Henry Degraves, was engaged as the builder. The foundation stone was laid on November 4, 1834, and the theatre was officially opened on March 6, 1837. This property originally belonged to a number of shareholders, but before long the whole of the interests passed into the hands of Mr.. Degraves, and he then remained sole proprietor of the theatre until the time of his death. It was formerly known as the "Victoria Theatre," and is referred to by this name in his will, being described as situated at the angle of Campbell-street and Sackville-street. This theatre has survived the flight of time better than any of the old playhouses of the neighbouring States, and is now undoubtedly the oldest theatre in Australia, if not in the southern hemisphere. There is still in existence a small sepia sketch drawn in 1837 which shows it as when first opened for the entertainment of the public.
SHIPBUILDING.
As far back as 1836, moreover, Mr. Degraves turned his attention to shipbuilding, and in that year applied to the Government for land near the Mulgrave Battery for the purpose of a slip. Not succeeding in obtaining this, he afterwards rented land between Secheron and the end of the Castray Esplanade, and there built an extensive shipyard. This was opened about 1841, and many vessels were built there under his auspices and at his expense. Amongst these may be mentioned, the Lady Emma, Miranda, Circassian, Tasman, Fair Tasmanian, Jenny Lind, Yarra, and Melbourne. Many of these vessels did a lucrative trade and carried large freights for their owner in the great days of the Victorian gold fields that were then so near at hand. The last of them was launched in 1851, but the stirring and eventful life of Peter Degraves was then hastening to its close.
NO TIME FOR POLITICS.
Throughout he had taken no prominent part in the great political questions of the day which from time to time agitated the public mind. Peter Degraves had no time for this, for his busy life in Van Dieman's Land had been fully occupied in attending to the large businesses which he had inaugurated and conducted, and in quietly and unostentatiously assisting in benefiting his fel low men. Many of the early works on Tasmania speak of him in the highest terms. Mr. George Thomas Lloyd, a nephew of Lieutenant Charles Jeffreys, referred to above, and who, in 1820, came to Van Dieman's Land at the request of his uncle to manage the estate of Frogmore in his work, "Thirty-three years in Tasmania and Victoria," which it may be mentioned was dedicated to Mr. William Degraves, a son of Mr. Peter Degraves, says;-
"Mount Wellington forms a noble background to the capital of Tasmania. At the base of its wild inhospitable region a scientific and far-seeing colonist, Mr. Peter Degraves, selected his maxi mum grant - 2,000 acres of land, timber, and rock - in direct opposition to the wise saws and suggestions of older colonists. Time, however, has proved what science, coupled with indomitable energy can accomplish.
"Mr. Degraves confidently established himself in that mountain wilderness, and from amidst its hosts of scrub he may be said to have literally carved out one of the prettiest and certainly one of the most valuable establishments to be met with throughout the Australian colonies. From this he not only realised a large fortune, but conferred an incalculabe benefit on the inhabitants of Hobart on and the colonists generally by the erection of extensive saw and flour mills, large breweries, and - most import ant work of all - by arranging for an ample supply of water to the city and shipping pure as it flows from the mountain rivulets.
"Singular to say, in the accomplishment of so inestimable a boon to the public he had to encounter much discreditable opposition from the jealousy of less gifted men in office.
"There are few residents or visitors of the Tasmanian capital who have not shared in the public benefits or partaken of the open-hearted hospitality of that model English gentleman, Peter Degraves, of the Cascades."
With many of the early Governors of Tasmania, particularly Sir Eardley Wilmot and Sir William Denison, Mr. Degraves was on intimate and friendly terms and all took pleasure in inspecting his industrial establishments and the beautiful grounds he had laid out. Sir William Denison very shortly after his arrival in the colony wrote in his journal afterwards published under the title, "Varieties of Vice-Regal Life," that Mr. Degraves had told him that the Cascade was a few years before the resort of some noted bushrangers who used to come down at night, take his horses out of his stables ride down to the town, plunder what they could, carry off their booty to their hiding place, bring the horses back to the stable, and be off again to their place of concealment before daylight.
Mrs. Degraves had passed away in 1842, and ten years later Mr. Degraves, who had then attained the age of 74, was in failing health. Towards the close of the year he became rapidly worse, and died on the 31st December, 1852. He was buried in St David's Cemetery, and followed to the grave by hosts of friends who respected his ability, esteemed his kindly, generous nature, and admired him for his public services no less than for his private worth. Throughout his stirring and eventful life he had met with hardships such as few encounter, and had faced them with a patience and fortitude that all admired. His hardest lot was that death should claim him when the greatest triumph of his enterprise and industry was so close at hand.
THE GOLD RUSH.
Hardly had the grave closed over the mortal remains of Peter Degraves than news of great discoveries of alluvial gold in Victoria was flashed into every quarter of the globe, and but two years later emigrants were streaming into Melbourne at the rate of 3,000 a week, while ships by hundreds, deserted by their crews, who had left for the goldfields, were lying off Williamstown. All the great enterprises of which Peter Degraves was the originator and owner were fully equipped and in working order, yet it was not for him but for his descendants to witness the marvellous transition then about to take place, to reap where he had sown, and to gather in the golden harvest which the foresight and energy of their father had left ready to their hands. Verily Peter Degraves was a captain of industry, such as Tasmania has seldom known, and has written his name in unfading characters upon the industrial enterprises of his adopted land.
More than 70 years have passed away and it is hard indeed for the present generation to picture the busy scenes of life in the palmy days of the golden era. The thousands of emigrants then rushing into Victoria eager to snatch some portion of her wonderful wealth were unable to obtain accommodation, and had to live in tents pitched in suburban areas now thickly covered with shops and dwellings. Foodstuffs rose to fabulous prices, while timber and other commodities reached values that had never before been known, and the sons of Peter Degraves were, so far as flour and timber were concerned, better able to assist in dealing with the situation than any manufacturers in Australia. Every team of bullocks brought in per day from the bush logs to the value of £50, the saw-mills, working full time and with the forest at their door, turned out timber valued at £1,000 a week; upwards of x teams a day transported this from the Cascades to the wharf, and the firm's own vessels freighted it to Melbourne. The flourmills were also worked to their utmost capacity, while the output of the brewery increased at a rapid rate. In 1855, it is said the Degraves family made a profit of £30,000 from the timber mill alone, while in the same year the brewery earned them £12,000. What wonder that one of the partners should at this period have complained that the firm's bank credit moved upwards at such a rate that no adequate means of investment lay open to their hands.
THE BREWERY OF 1832.
The brewery of 1832 had been constructed on the left-hand side of the present entrance gates into the establishment, and almost on the site of the beer brewery of to-day. This building, which was constructed partly of stone and partly of wood, answered, with slight alterations and additions, for many years. About 1868, however, plans for entirely new breweries were prepared, and the present ale brewery was then erected on the right-hand side of the entrance gate. As soon as this was completed the old brewery on the left-hand side was demolished with the exception of the cellars, and the present beet brewery erected on this site. A new malt-house was also added later on. The original flourmill was close to the second sawmill, that is the mill with the forty-foot wheel which was constructed after the original sawmill was destroyed. The second flour mill was built of stone, and stood on the left-hand side of the road, this mill being worked by water direct from the Mountain Lake.
Mr. Peter Degraves had left four sons, Messrs Henry, Charles, John, and William Degraves, also four daughters, Mrs Robinson, the wife of Mr. Edmund Philip Robinson, a merchant of Hobart, who predeceased Mr. Degraves, Mrs Davis the wife of Mr. James Davis, a pastoralist in the neighbouring colony of Victoria; Lady Wilson, the wife of Sir James Milne Wilson, and Mrs Fen wick, the wife of Mr. Robert Wyndham Fenwick, of Hamilton, Tasmania.
By the will of Mr. Peter Degraves separate provision was made for his daughters, while the valuable Cascade estate and the Victoria Theatre, as it was then called, now known as the Theatre Royal, passed to his sons. For a short time the sons carried on in partnership the large and growing businesses left by their father, but towards the close of 1854 Mr. Henry Degraves died suddenly, and about the same time Mr. William Degraves left Tasmania and made his permanent home in Victoria. There he soon realised an enormous fortune, carrying on business as a merchant and miller, and also acquiring some large pastoral properties. The ownership and management of the Cascade industries then devolved upon Messrs Charles and John Degraves, who, under the firm name of C and J Degraves, carried on with signal energy and success for many years the industrial enterprises inaugurated by their father.
Mr. Charles Degraves died at the Cascade on November 21, 1874, and his brother, Mr. John Degraves, then became sole proprietor, and carried on the business up to the time of his death in 1880. Neither Mr. Charles Degraves nor Mr. John Degreves, ever married. Mr. William Degraves, who later on suffered heavy reverses of fortune, and died in 1883 left no children, while the family of Mr. Henry Degraves after his death departed from Tasmania.
NEW MANAGEMENT.
In 1882 the representatives of the late Mr. John Degraves sold the Cascade estate and the numerous hotels which had been the property of their testator to Messrs John Wemyss Syme, Charles William Chapman and James Aikman, and these gentlemen, having in the following year acquired the brewery businesses carried on by Messrs. William Gracie and Henry John James and by the representatives of the late Mr. Robert Walker, floated the combined concerns into the Cascade Brewery Company Limited. Since the representatives of Mr. John Degraves disposed of the Cascade estate to Messrs Syme, Chapman, and Aikman, there have been several managers of the brewery business. Mr. Aikman was first appointed, and carried on the management till 1888, when his place was taken by Mr. John Hamilton until 1892. Mr. H J James then assumed the management for two years, and was followed by Mr. Henry Nickolls, who steered the Cascade Company through many troublous times and carried on the management until his death in 1916. Mr. Beckley the present manager assumed control of the company's affairs in 1919, and has ever since carried on the business with great ability and success. The present directors of the company are Mr. C W Grant (chairman), and Messrs Cecil Allport and H G Gray.
It was, of course, impossible profitably to continue for very long the enormous output of the Cascade sawmills and flour mills which had taken place in 1855. Competition for the Victorian trade - Victoria being the principal consumer - arose on every hand, and principally in the colony of Victoria itself. It was the policy of Victorian statesmen to retain within their boundaries the large population which had been attracted by the goldfields, and in order to effect this local industries were fostered and protective duties were imposed on imported goods. Apart from this, the Cascade forest gradually became depleted of timber suitable for cutting, and the out- put thus ultimately ceased. The flour mill kept on working till a later date, but this had also closed before the sale of the estate to the late Mr.. J. W. Syme and his partners, as mentioned above. The brewery, on the other hand, has continued working without interruption from its commencement, while other breweries which were working in New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land in 1832 have long since ceased to exist, and it will thus be seen that the Cascade Brewery holds pride of place as the oldest brewing establishment in Australia, if not in the Southern hemisphere. It was established before the Dominion of New Zealand was taken over by the British Crown, before the large and important States of Queens-land, South Australia and Victoria had any independent existence; before a single white man resided on the banks of the Yarra; before the foundation of the great city of Melbourne was laid. When there was but one town in Australia worthy to be called a city - the city of Sydney- which then boasted a population of some 18,000 souls, the Cascade Brewery first began to pour out the perennial streams of ale and beer which have been continued without interruption and, indeed, with increasing volume up to the present time. The Cascade sawmills and the Cascade flour mills have failed to survive the flight of time, and are now, indeed, well nigh forgotten, but the breweries having worked for 92 years without cessation, one may perhaps be allowed to add that, though men may come and men may go, the Cascade Brewery brews for ever.
Only two of Mr. Peter Degrave's sons took part in public life, Mr. Charles De-graves having entered the House of Assembly of Tasmania in 1864, and Mr. William William Degraves having been a member of the Legislative Council of Victoria in 1862. Degraves-street, Melbourne which runs into Flinders-street near Swanston-street, was called after Mr. William Degraves.
WRECK OF THE ROYAL CHARTER.
By the wreck of the Royal Charter heavy toll was taken of the descendants of the late Mr. Peter Degraves. This vessel left Melbourne on 26th August, 1860, carrying 388 passengers, with a crew, including officers, of 112 persons, and early on the morning of the 26th October following during a terrific storm she was lost on a rugged portion of the Anglesea coast. Many Tasmanians were on board, amongst them Mrs. Fenwick, a daughter of Mr.. Peter Degraves, with her four children; also Mrs. Davis, another daughter, with her husband and four children. The whole of these were lost while in all upwards of 450 persons perished. The wreck of the Royal Charter has ever since been regarded as almost the greatest maritime disaster Australia has ever known.
Portions of the Cascade estate have since been surveyed and subdivided, and a number of allotments have been disposed of, not only adjacent to the Strickland-avenue, which runs for some 2½ miles through the property, but also in other parts of the estate. Another portion, comprising about 1,000 acres, situate beyond the summit of Mount Wellington, and extending to the sources of the North-West Bay River, was some time since sold to the Corporation of Hobart. With these exceptions, the property is now held by the Cascade Brewery Company Limited; it has practically changed hands but once since originally parted with by the British Crown, and it is not too much to say that nowhere through- out Australia could a similar instance be found of nearly 4,000 acres of land almost bordering on the capital city of a State which has been so little impinged upon by sale or alienation, and has retained so nearly its old, original boundaries for well nigh a century. A PAGE FROM THE PAST. The Cascade Estate for 100 Years. (1924, April 12).The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23729081
TASMANIA. WITH A CAMERA.
1. THE FALLS HUT, AT THE CASCADES.
2. HOBART UNIVERSITY FROM THE DOMAIN.
8. SPRINGS HOTEL AND SUMMIT OF MOUNT WELLINGTON. (this burnt down in the 1967 bushfire)
4. BROWN'S RIVER BEACH.
6. CATARACT GORGE, LAUNCESTON. IN TASMANIA WITH A CAMERA. (1911, January 28). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 35. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142938431
THE CASCADE BREWERIES' WORKS
Instalment of Modern Plant UP-TO-DATE METHODS ADOPTED
Early next week a unique event in the history of brewing in Tasmania will take place The .Cascade Brewery Company will have completed the first brew of its new beverage — a light lager, bottled, and a new brew for the bulk trade. Every portion of the old plant, which has been in the brewery for so many years, has been removed, and in its p ace the most modern type of brewing plant in the world has been installed.
Tasmania has a great many advantages for the production of lager, light ales, and the old style English beer. Its climate is ideal, because one of the hindrances to brewing is a hot climate, the heat affecting the ale and beer, and rendering it almost impossible for a brewer to produce a perfect article. Many a brewer on the mainland looks longingly towards Tasmania, because if his brewery were situated in this State, all his worries as to climate would be ended.
IDEAL WATER FOR BREWING.
Scientific experts have given it as their opinion, that the water from Mount Wellington is ideal for brewing, being perfectly pure and cold through any warm summer day. On many occasions during the winter, the ? brewery is covered with snow and this makes it far easier to- produce a perfect beer. Many tons of hops which the brewery buys, are grown only 28 miles away. and come direct from the hop gardens into the cool store, where they are kept until placed in the beer. The barley used is of the best quality, and is grown on the North West Coast, being transported from there to Hobart directly it has been bagged by the farmers.
PROBLEMS OVERCOME.
With Increasing competition from the mainland, the problem before the company was now best to meet this competition, and after long investigation and research it was decided that the only thing to do was to make the Cascade ales and beers so perfect that they would surpass those of any mainland brewery, and not only that, but open up a large export trade to the East. The ale and beer that has been made with the new plant will keep clear, brilliant, and sound during the hottest weather, and can be safely sent to tropical countries without any deterioration in its quality.
A LONG RECORD.
The Cascade Brewery has now been in existence for 103 years. It was brewing beer before Melbourne had been discovered, and was sending beer and ale to Melbourne when the first gold diggings were opened in the Bendigo district. It shipped beer to New South Wales before any brewery had started operations in that State, and right through the whole of the 103 years it has consistently produced a product which no other brewery in Australia can make.
CATERING FOR PUBLIC TASTE.
The public taste gradually changes. At one time no one would drink anything but what is known as Green Label Ale, that is a strong English ale something after the type of that made by Bass' Brewery in England. But gradually the public taste has turned towards something lighter The strength had, therefore, to he reduced, and in addition, what known as the Red Ale came on the market. This being a light dinner ale, at once met the public taste, 'uui at the present time, however, the demand is turning towards what is known as a bottom fermentation ale This is really a lager, and in order to meet this market, the Cascade Brewery has installed the most perfect plant that can possibly be obtained.
INFECTION FROM ATMOSPHERE.
To understand a little about the difficulties of brewing, it may be stated that ale or beer is very apt to be Infected by wild yeast from the atmosphere. Everyone knows that the beer Is put Into a shallow dish and allowed to be exposed to the atmosphere. In a few days a growth will be noticed on its surface. This Is causer: by the millions of yeast germs whirl are everywhere in the air. Some are blown on to the shallow dish, and at once begin to Increase in number, reeding on the malt In the beer. Every brewer dreads what is known as 'outside infection,' and his one endeavor is to prevent it. Until the Nathan Process of brewing was invented, there was no known method by which the Infection could be prevented. It is this process under which the Cascade new brew has been made, and the Tasmanian Breweries has purchased the sole rights To the plant and process for the whole of Tasmania.
LOUNGE ROOM AT CASCADE BREWERY.— This delightfully situated brewery is the only one in the Commonwealth to possess an up-to-date visitors' room, where persons, after making an inspection of the factory, can sit at ease and enjoy a glass of a freshly drawn beverage.
CASK FILLING CELLAR. — Casks are here filled with the various Cascade products before they are put on the market.
PURE YEAST APPARATUS. — This is the portion of the plant used for making yeast 100 per cent pure.
TASMANIAN PRODUCTS USED.
Throughout the whole operations of the brewery, the endeavor is made to use Tasmanian products so that all money which the, brewery spends is actually spent In Tasmania, and not sent outside to the other States The casks used are made of blackwood, obtained from the North-East Coast. The hops used are grown in the Derwent Valley, and the barter on the North-West Coast. As the Tasmanian climate is against the growing of sugar-canes, the brewery has to obtain its sugar from Queensland.
EXTREME CLEANLINESS.
The new brewery presents a spectacle of dazzling whiteness, everything being enamelled or lined with white tiles. It is the only brewery, not only in Tasmania, but also in the Commonwealth that possesses an up to date visitors' room, which is nice' furnished, and where visitors to the brewery may sit ln comfort and enjoy a freshly drawn glass of one of the many noted Cascade products. From the facts above statec1 readers will realise that it Is .safe tr say that Tasmania possesses the most up-to-date brewery in the whole of the Commonwealth, and further that its famous products are fully entitled to the popular term— 'IT'S WONDERFUL.'
THE CASCADE BREWERIES' WORKS (1927, December 10). Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928), p. 23. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153432927
HOP PICKING AT NEW NORFOLK.
DEVELOPMENT OF FAMOUS BREWERY. (1935, February 28). Huon and Derwent Times (Tas. : 1933 - 1942), p. 5. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137248469
THE CASCADE COMPANY'S CORDIAL FACTORY.
STRAHAN, Sunday. — The Cascade Brewery Company's Strahan cordial factory has been completed. It is a two storeyed building, the floor measurement being 40ft by 25ft. The first floor is devoted to a neat office and a machinery room. The second floor is devoted to the manufacture of certain cordials and storage. The engine house, which contains a good boiler, is attached to the main building. The machinery is all up to date, and a supply of excellent water is obtained from the Strahan Falls, about a mile away. The company has succeeded in placing a quantity of their locally made waters and cordials on the market for the holidays. The venture, which is accepted as evidence of the growth of the place, is expected to prove a distinct success. STRAHAN. (1900, January 1). Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153628477
CASCADE BREWERY.
The Cascade Brewery Co.’s exhibit is, as usual, a striking one, and serves to advertise the State’s products In more ways than one. Their casks are made from Tasmanian woods, and are got up a very taking manner. Cascade beer and ale is a household word in Tasmania, and its quality is superior to any other in Australia by reason of our natural resources. The stock ale, stout, etc., is spoken of as being of excellent flavor, while their cordials are well in the van of all competitors. The company leave nothing undone to manufacture but the best article, personal supervision by Mr Todd, the expert manager, haring best result. Those who desire a refreshing beverage have only to ask for the Cascade brand of beer, ale, stout, cordials, etc., and they will have a drink second to none in the Southern hemisphere. CASCADE BREWERY. (1901, February 23). Tasmanian News (Hobart, Tas. : 1883 - 1911), p. 2 (THIRD EDITION). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article185256470
Commercial Hobart
.....
Surely the Cascade Brewery is more beautifully situated than any brewery, in the world. I have seen many of these, and the only one I can call to mind which has similar picturesque surroundings is at Wallialla,-.in Gippsland. There I drank both ale and mead, and live to tell the story. Mr. Ikin, who drives me to the Cascade, is very interested in my account of a brewery I once visited, that of Bass and Co., at Burton on Trent. But not on account of the quality of its ale.
When I tell Mr. Ikin that one of the partners in this firm owned Sterling, having given £10,000 for it as a 2-year-old, and that I was privileged to mount the Derby favorite, I believe that I am envied. But the Burton breweries are unromantic structures compared to the Cascade Brewery, where not only are the surroundings picturesque, but the brewery buildings set off the landscape. Massively built of granite, four and five stories high, the brewery only wants towers instead of chimneys to play the part of a castle.
On a slope to the left is Mr. Syme's pleasant house and garden, with an adjoining orchard full of English fruit trees.
I am sorry that lack of time prevents my acceptance of the hospitality tendered me by Mr. Syme. In a paddock adjoining the house a tame emu wanders peacefully. The pillars of the gates leading into the brewery are surmounted by imitation casks hewn out of stone. These bear the date 1824, the year the new wing was erected. This date takes one back to the ancient history of Victoria. It is almost bewildering to think that when the site of our Marvellous Melbourne had been untrodden by white man this massive building was erected, and good ale was turned out from it to slake the thirst of the good and bad people of Hobart. But the Cascade Brewery was built, not for a day, hut in the old solid European style, for many generations. I dare say it will be standing a hundred years hence, its pale ale as popular a drink as in these these days.
.....
Commercial HOBART (1894, October 6).Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918), p. 14 (THE LEADER SUPPLEMENT). Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196507845
