Volume 11 number 1 News January 2018

Newsletter of the Australian Society for History of Engineering and Technology

ASHET Pies Exhibition at Unley Library Digitising pre-1920 Australian engineering South Australia journals In 2014 ASHET produced a graphic display in nine panels titled The In 1919 The Institution of Engineers Australia (IEAust) was formed, Meat Pie: Australia’s Own Fast Food. Since then the exhibition has amalgamating a group of Australian engineering societies, most of which been on a tour of over forty local libraries in , and is had their origins in colonial times. The journals and transactions of the currently on a tour of libraries in South Australia. amalgamating societies ceased to exist following the formation of IEAust, It has recently been on display for a month at Unley near Adelaide, and although copies of these publications are held in libraries, few of them where the library hosted in conjunction with the exhibition a Master Class have been digitised and in most cases on-line indexes and tables of con- presented by the local TAFE. Here are some images sent by the librarian. tents do not exist, making it difficult to research much interesting material relevant to the history of engineering in Australia. In 2008, ASHET, with the help of a series of grants and a generous contribution in kind from The University of Sydney Library, organised a project to digitise and make readily accessible on-line, the complete cop- ies of two of these journals, the Journal of the Sydney University Engi- neering Society, published from 1894 to 1921 and the Minutes of Proceed- ings of the Engineering Association of New South Wales, published from 1885 to 1921. The work of digitising and indexing round 9,500 pages of text plus a large number of images and drawings was undertaken by the University of Sydney Library. At around the same time Engineering Heritage Victoria and the School of Engineering at the University of Melbourne funded the digitisation of the Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers and the Melbourne University Engineering Society. Now Ken McInnes, Honorary Research Fellow at the eScholarship Research Centre, University of Melbourne, is leading a project with a target to digitise all the transactions of the proceedings of the Founding Societies of IEAust prior to IEAust’s centenary in 2019, and to imple- ment a program to progressively digitise all other significant engineering related journals and serials. ASHET Pies Display at Unley Library Ken has compiled a poster indicating the progress to date towards achieving these goals. A pdf version of the poster, which includes a list of all the journals currently included in the program and electronic links to all of the publications listed is available on-line at ASHET’s website http://ashet.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Digitisation-Of-Engi- neering-Publications-Before-1920.pdf

Completing the digitisation of all Engineering Journals published in Australia before 1920 Nearly a century ago, a publication disruption … The Institution of Engineers Australia was formed in 1919, the founding societies ceased to exist, the publications of these societies ceased, and from 1920 the new series of Journals and Transactions of the IEAust commenced. Digitisation of the transactions and proceedings of the Institution, digitisation of the Founding Societies’ publications, and digitisation of other engineering related colonial era journals, is incomplete. Complete digitisation of all these publications, and indexing down to article level would enable researchers to search across all these sources, and more comprehensively document our engineering history and heritage.

Outline

This poster paper outlines the current progress in identifying, 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Engineering Association of New South Wales scoping, digitising, indexing and publishing online, all engineering 1870-1920 http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/EANSW related journals and serials published in Australia prior to 1920 and Victorian Institute of Civil Engineers 1854 No proceedings located Institution of invites contributions and collaboration from other researchers to Geelong Society of Architects, Civil Engineers and Surveyors 1858 Engineers Australia help complete this project. No proceedings located Ballarat Institute of Architects, Civil 1919 - current Engineers and Surveyors 1870 No proceedings located Victorian Institute of Engineers 1883-1948 Current Progress https://digitised-collections.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/104 Many NEINSW articles indexed in Trove, Northern Engineering Institute of Scoping and digitising The chart opposite shows the current status of digitisation of known Australian but journals not yet digitised New South Wales 1889-1894, 1908-1920 8 Vols engineering society journals, journals of related learned societies, and other general http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/492698 [8 volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] still to be done. 8 Vols Melbourne University Engineering Society 1889-1920 https://digitised-collections.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/91280 engineering journals and periodicals, with hyperlinks to completed digitised journals. Note: The “Author and Subject Index to Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers Publications 1920-1968”, IEAust, 1969, The publications of the Founding Societies “still to be done”, are arrowed in red. and Mining Surveyors of Victoria 1857 provides information about all articles in this Only Vol 1 1857-1859 located as Mining Institute of Victoria] period. This has been digitised. Mining Institute of Victoria 1859-1893 No proceedings located [Newspaper Articles exist]

Process Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers 1897-1919 Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy 1920- [Quarterly: Vol.1-8 1897-1911, Vol.1-33 1911-1919 Digitised in AusIMM Library] [Proceedings digitised in AusIMM Library] The process successfully used to scope, cost, fund, scan, digitise, index and publish Sydney University Engineering Society 1895-1920 the proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers, 1883-1948, and the http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/SUES Melbourne University Engineering Society, 1889-1920, was to first build a scoping Mechanical Engineers’ Association - Queensland 1887-1894,1897 Meat pie master class No proceedings located [Became Queensland Institute of Engineers] document, as shown below, then obtain quotes, seek sponsors, and ensure delivery. See also: “Some references to early professional Scoping and digitising engineering societies in Queensland (1890-1919)”, Queensland Institute of Engineers 1900-1919 1 Vol

[1 volume. Unknown number of articles, pages] 1928 W.I. George and S.A. Prentice” 1989 current -

still to be done. 1 Vol - The key steps: http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/18457739

Queensland Electrical Association 1898-1911 1920 1978

► Copy the contents page of each volume of the proceedings; Only Vol.1 1898 located [Newspaper Articles. Joined Queensland Institute of Engineers 1911] 039X McInnes poster - Scoping and digitising ► Annotate this to identify the number of articles in each volume, to be scanned and Western Australia Institution of Engineers 1909-1920 [10 volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] 10 Vols still to be done. 10 Vols

to be OCRd, to have the text recognised, including front and back matter; South Australian Association of Architects, South Australia Institute of Engineers Scoping and digitising Engineers and Surveyors 1858 1913-1920 2 Vol ► Identify any additional figures, photographs, maps, charts, to be scanned, and No proceedings located [2 volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] still to be done. 2 Vols whether these were folded, were black and white or coloured, to enable a contractor t Tasmanian Institute of Civil Engineers, Tasmanian Institution of Engineers 1919-1920 Architects, and Surveyors 1856 No proceedings located o ascertain what additional time and labour might be needed to digitise these, and to No proceedings located Note: An index to the Foundation Society Journal Articles exists as a card index, and Electric Club of New South Wales 1895-1897 include them in the electronic copies of the articles; No proceedings located [Became Electrical Association of New South Wales] as a microfiche of the card index. A project to scan this is in progress. ► Provide a summary page showing the scope of work in each volume; Electrical Association of New South Wales 1896-1914 [? volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] ► Provide a clear understanding of the quality of the indexing required, so that the Electrical Association of Australia 1914-1919 Scoping and digitising meta data could be ported directly to Libraries Australia databases, and be searched [? volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] still to be done. ? Vols by the public through Trove, National Library of Australia; Electrical Association of Victoria 1905-1914 [? volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] ► Provide a clear understanding of which Library would host the digitised articles 1905-1920 Scoping and digitising Institute of Local Government Engineers of Australasia Transactions ofInstitution the of Engineers, Australia http://search.informit.org/browseJournalTitle;res=IELENG;issn=0155 Transactions ofInstitution the of Engineers, Australia http://search.informit.org/browseJournalTitle;res=IELENG and manage them online in the future. Societies Learned Engineering Australian [? volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] still to be done. ? Vols

Royal Society of Victoria Includes VIAS and PSoV Engineering Heritage Victoria funded the digitising of the proceedings of the 1855-2006 http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/R/?func=collections&collection_id=2325

Royal Society of Tasmania http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/collections/PapersProceedingsRoyalSociety.html Victorian Institute of Engineers. The School of Engineering, University of 1849-2010 Also at: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/45488 and http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/9494

Melbourne, funded the digitising of the proceedings of the Melbourne University Royal Society of New South Wales PSoNSW v1 1855: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AAADAAAAIAAJ PSoNSW v2 1857: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=7RwUAAAAQAAJ Engineering Society. Both publications are indexed and hosted in the Digital 1855-2010 PSoNSW 1862-65: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/29666 and RSNSW: 1867- http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/5232 Royal Society of South Australia PSoA 1877-1879: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/50714 Collections of the University of Melbourne Library, and the article meta data is 1877-2007 RSSA 1880-2007: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/16197 Royal Society of Queensland PSoQ 1857-1872: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/114001 included and is searchable through Trove. 1857-1955 RSQ 1884-1955: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/14019 Royal Society of Western Australia Similar processes were used in New South Wales, by the University of Sydney 1915-1965 RSWA 1915-1965: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/77508 Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science 1888-1930 ANZAAS 1930-1978 Library and the Australian Society for History of Engineering and Technology 1888-1921 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/14641#/ AAAS 1888 - 1930 [Many volumes on archive.org and google books.] [Vols1-5,7-9,11-15 Missing v6, v10] (ASHET), to digitise the proceedings of the Sydney University Engineering Society, Victorian Institute of Architects 1851-1900 1896-1917 and the Engineering Association of New South Wales, 1885-1920. [? Volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] Royal Victorian Institute of Architects 1903-1968 1906-1926 1903-1942 https://digitised-collections.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/52706 https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-95618641 Below is a sample page from a scoping document, showing mark-ups, to enable quotes to be obtained for digitisation. New South Wales Institute of Architects 1871- [? volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] RAIA 1917- Victorian Institute of Surveyors UniM Bund P VICT {Bund31 20111209} Victorian Institute of Surveyors 1874- [6 Volumes to 1919. Unknown number of articles, pages] Volume 5 1900-1909 (published 1910) Front Cover, Inside cover: presented by Prof. H. Payne 3pp Other Australian Learned Societies Institution of Surveyors New South Wales 1884- [? Volumes. Unknown number of articles, pages] front page 1blank +1p

Index page 2pp The Engineer Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/The_Engineer_(Bound_Volumes) Weekly 1856-1984 London Intro page 1p Engineering Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Engineering_(Bound_Volumes) p1-16 (16pp) Weekly 1866-1984 London

17-24 (8pp) Building: the magazine for the architect, builder, Building & Engineering 1942-52 https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-79483170 +1 diagram bet.26-27 engineer, property owner and merchant https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-319042287 25-28 (4pp) Monthly 1907-1942 Sydney : Building Ltd [v1 no.1-v72 no.9] +1 diagram bet.32-33 29-36 (18pp) Construction: Weekly Supplement to Building http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=&l-advtitle=1188&l- Weekly 1907-1958 Sydney [Trove Newspapers] advtitle=1228&l-advtitle=449&l-advtitle=630&l-advtitle=1227

37-40 (4pp) +pp47-50 are foldout The Australian Engineering and Building News tables Monthly 1879-1881 Sydney : Royce 41-52 (12pp) [1 volume. Unknown number of articles, pages] +1 large foldout 53-67 (15pp) The Building & engineering journal of Australia & New Zealand diagram bet.52-53 Weekly 1888-1897 Melbourne “68” p93-100 (8p) http://nla.gov.au/anbd.bib-an5838225 [Issues 1-539] Building, Engineering & Mining Journal 69-80 (12pp) +1 large foldout Weekly 1897-1905 Melbourne drawing bet.78-79 http://nla.gov.au/anbd.bib-an5838235 [Issues 540-981] 81-92 (12pp) The Australasian Engineer No pages numbered 101-108 Monthly 1915-1973 Sydney : Building Ltd 109-112 (4pp) KEY: [Unknown number of issues] Commonwealth Engineer 113-120 (8pp) Numbered 1-8 Digitised and fully indexed Monthly 1913-1960 Melbourne : Tait Digitised not fully indexed [v1 no.1-v48 no.4.] 121-126 (6pp) Australian Mechanical Engineering Indexed but not digitised Monthly 1960-1963 Melbourne : Tait 127-134 (8pp) [v.48 no.5-v.50 no.11.] Not digitised Australian Civil Engineering and Construction 135-138 (4pp) 4 photo pages pp149-153 Monthly 1959-1971 Melbourne : Tait +2 foldout drawings Engineering Journals & Periodicals [v.1 no.1-v.11 no.3.] 139-154 (16pp)

155-158 (4pp) 159-160 (2pp) Targets Collaboration 161-172 (12pp) ► Fully digitise all the transactions and proceedings of the Any assistance with researching and locating 173-182 (10pp) “Founding Societies” of the Institution of Engineers other engineering journals and serials; with Australia, prior to the centenary of the Institution in 2019. scoping; with funding; or with other help in the [183-252] (70pp) Should be broken into 7 separate articles: Reports of Council ► Identify and digitise all other engineering related digitisation of these publications is welcomed. 1905/06 (6pp), 1906/07 (6pp), 1907/08 (6pp); 1908/09 (4pp); Back Pages, Cover (4pp) Australian journals and serials published before 1920, Articles (20pp); Fees (24pp); Office Bearers and Members (4pp) Footnotes Articles: 32 as soon as practicable. Ideally, before 2020. 28 articles + 4 others (Front matter: cover + inside cover, front page, Index. An electronic copy of this poster, containing active hyperlinks to Back matter: inside cover + cover) ► Establish and implement a rolling program, to the digitised documents described, is available from the author. Pages: 262 progressively digitise all engineering related Australian See also: “Researching Engineers and Engineering Online - a pages 1-252 -8 +6 drawings + 12 other pages (index, covers + inside covers) published journals and serials, commencing with those guide to digitised resources”, Ken McInnes, 5th South Australian published between 1920 and 1945. Engineering Heritage Conference, May 2016.

19th Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference, Mildura Oct. 2017 Ken McInnes – Honorary Research Fellow eScholarship Research Centre, University of Melbourne email: [email protected] 2 ASHET News January 2018

Next ASHET events Tuesday 27 February 2018 Jeanette Komli, Archivist of this significant collection since 2014. Talk by Martin Thomas She was previously Sydney Water’s Librarian and her background Nuclear power for Australia includes corporate, government and educational libraries. Phil Bennett, Sydney Water’s in-house heritage adviser who has helped rehouse the collection in the former Ryde Boiler House. Phil Venue: History House, 133 Macquarie Street, specialises in built and industrial heritage and his background includes Sydney working for the West Australian National Trust on the conservation of Time: 5.30 for 6 pm the Mundaring to Kalgoorlie water supply scheme. Cost; Includes light refreshments on arrival; RAHS and ASHET members $10, others $12 Venue: History House, 133 Macquarie Street, Bookings: phone RAHS on (02) 9247 8001 or Sydney email [email protected] Time: 5.30 for 6 pm Cost; Includes light refreshments on arrival; RAHS and ASHET members $10, others $12 Bookings: phone RAHS on (02) 9247 8001 or Thursday 22 March 2018 email [email protected] Talk by Jeanette Komli and Phil Bennett Photographing Sydney’s Water History

This presentation will illustrate what is held in the Sydney Water / Wa- terNSW Historical Research Archive collection and will highlight how it tells the story of Sydney’s water supply from the Upper Nepean Scheme to Warragamba Dam. The basis of this collection is the Photo: the opening of Ryde Water Pumping Station No2. Negative A1163 courtesy Sydney Water / WaterNSW Historical Research Archive. Many photographs were taken by the Water Board’s Photography Sec- tion from 1893 until 1991. These photographs mainly document the construction of the many Sydney Water and WaterNSW assets but they also capture much of Sydney Water’s social history, the evolution of health and safety management, the emergence of new technologies and the constant water saving messaging. Against most modern trends, this collection has survived intact and it is now one of the last remaining that is still held and managed by a large utility in NSW. The opening of Ryde Water Pumping Station No2

An uncertain future for the Powerhouse Museum: the secrecy surrounding the funding, relocation costs and business case itself. Parliamentary Inquiry releases Interim Report. “In the absence of clear evidence justifying the relocation decision, the committee is unable to accept that the relocation of the Powerhouse In February 2015 the then Premier of NSW Mike Baird and Deputy represents good value for money. While we agree that Western Sydney Premier and Minister for Arts Troy Grant announced that the Power- would benefit from a cultural institution of its own, we cannot see how house Museum would be relocated from its existing site in Ultimo to the social or economic benefits of moving the Powerhouse from its Parramatta as part of the development of an arts and culture precinct in existing site to Parramatta would outweigh the value of retaining a world Western Sydney. renowned cultural institution that contains such important collections in The decision attracted substantial criticism among the arts and the heart of Sydney.” cultural sector, as well as the broader community. In June 2016 a The committee made the following recommendations, among others: Parliamentary Committee was formed to inquire and report on various matters related to museums and art galleries in NSW, including the sale Recommendation 4 of the Powerhouse Museum site at Ultimo and the proposed move to That the NSW Government release the full business case for the Pow- Parramatta. erhouse Museum and all assessed proposals to the committee and the The committee released an interim report on Monday 18 December community for full public consultation before making its final decision. 2017 “in order for its recommendations to be considered by the Govern- Recommendation 6 ment alongside the final business case relating to the relocation of the That the business case prepared by the NSW Government consider Powerhouse Museum.” It devoted the whole of chapter two of its report establishing a Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences satellite site in to the issue of relocation of the Powerhouse Museum. Following are Western Sydney. extracts: “The committee is appalled that the decision to relocate the Power- The Inquiry committee’s interim report and summary (and all submis- house Museum was publicly announced before a preliminary business sions) can be found on its web page at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov. case had even been prepared for cabinet. The credibility of the relocation au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2403#tab-reports decision has been undermined by the lack of genuine community and The committee plans to deliver its final report in March 2018. sector consultation undertaken in relation to the proposed move, and by Ian Arthur ASHET News January 2018 3

Technology and Agriculture in Australia By Ian Arthur Technology has played an important part in the development of Australia’s agricultural industries. This article is about two of those industries, wool and beef cattle. We plan to cover some other important agricultural industries in a future article

Technology and the Australian wool industry

Governor Macarthur took to England some specimen fleeces from his own stock, that were described by clothiers who saw them as ‘of a very su- perior quality, equal to the best which comes from Spain’. He followed this up with a paper composed for the government titled A Statement of the Improvement and Progress of the Breed of Fine Woolled sheep in New South Wales: London 1803, and canvassed support for an optimistic scheme of colonial wool production, to be developed under his personal supervision. Though Banks was cautious and increasingly sceptical, Mac- arthur secured permission through the Colonial Secretary, Lord Camden, John Macarthur for his resignation from the army and return to New South Wales to de- velop the wool industry, with a grant of 5,000 acres of pasture land of his The First Fleet arrived in Sydney in 1788 with a small number of sheep own choosing, along with rare Spanish sheep from the Royal flocks and purchased in Cape Town to provide food for the colony. the promise of a further 5,000 acres if there were tangible results. John Macarthur arrived in Sydney in 1790 as a Lieutenant in the Macarthur returned to Sydney in 1805 and laid claim to 5,000 acres Second Fleet with his wife Elizabeth and his first child Edward. He of the best land in the colony, at Cowpastures, south of Sydney. Gov- hoped for a quick promotion and return to England. He received grants ernor King demurred, but allowed Macarthur to occupy the land while of land at Parramatta and soon became one of the foremost landholders in the colony, selling produce to the government. He began to experiment with crossing Bengal ewes with Irish wool rams and found that the offspring had a mixture of hair and wool. When Governor Hunter in 1796 dispatched two ships to the Dutch Cape Colony to obtain supplies for the colony in Sydney he asked the two captains to bring back any good sheep they could buy. Among the sheep they acquired were some pure merino sheep, including three rams that had been presented by the King of Spain to the Dutch Government which had shipped them to the Cape Colony. In Sydney the merinos were bought by several landowners including Macarthur and Samuel Marsden. Macarthur, described by Governor Hunter as having ‘a restless, ambi- tious and litigious disposition’ fell out with the following governor, Philip Gidley King. After an irregularly conducted duel in which he injured his commanding officer, Paterson, Governor King sent Macarthur to England in 1801 for court martial. Governor King had noted the potential of Australian grown fine wool and despatched fleeces to Sir Joseph Banks. He also established a factory at Parramatta to weave blankets and coarse cloth, at the same time meet- ing a need and creating a market for wool. John Macarthur commemorative stamp, 1934 4 ASHET News January 2018

some 300 pure merinos. The result was that Bigge officially promoted Macarthur’s vision of New South Wales as an extensive wool-exporting country. Soon after official approval of the Bigge report came the sale of Camden fine wool for an unprecedented 124d. a pound. In 1822 the Soci- ety of Arts in London presented Macarthur with two gold medals, one for importing 15,000 lbs of fine wool from New South Wales, and the other for importing fine wool equal to the finest Saxon. In 1824 he received a larger medal for importing the largest quantity of fine wool. In 1824 Macarthur successfully pressed his claim for the supplemen- tary 5,000 acres that he had been promised in 1804. By the end of the decade he was the wealthiest person in New South Wales and owner of the ‘first agricultural establishment in the colony’, with over 60,000 acres acquired by grant and purchase. The breeding of sheep that could thrive in the Australian environment and produce wool of a quality that could attract high prices in a growing export market was a critical factor. The market was driven by the development in Europe, and particularly in Brit- Merino rams ain, of machinery for making of wool and worsted fabrics that found a he argued his case with the British government. The outcome was that ready market. Macarthur was allowed to keep the land, which he named Camden Park. The next few years were difficult ones for Macarthur, who played Growth of the Australian wool industry a leading part in the rebellion against Governor Bligh, the successor to It is recorded that in May 1788 the colony had 17 sheep. The sheep did Governor King. In 1808 Bligh had Macarthur arrested and refused bail. not thrive on the poor pastures immediately surrounding Sydney, but the George Johnston, commander of the , ordered flocks were supplemented by sheep imported from south Asia and Cape Macarthur’s release, deposed Bligh, and assumed government of the Town. By 1791 there were 51 sheep in the colony and by 1797 when the colony, appointing Macarthur to a specially created post of colonial sec- first merinos arrived, there were around 2,500, and the number was rising retary. In July of that year, Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Foveaux arrived in rapidly, to around 6,000 in 1800. A drought in 1813-15 resulted in a tem- Sydney as acting governor, and relieved Johnston and Macarthur of their porary fall in sheep numbers. Once the Blue Mountains were crossed the duties. numbers increased rapidly to almost 5 million in 1844. During this period Johnston, accompanied by Macarthur and other supporters, left for flocks were progressively improved by selective breeding; around 5,000 London in 1809 to press for an investigation that he hoped would vin- merinos were imported during this period. Flocks were also growing in dicate his actions. In the event he was court-martialed, found guilty and and Van Diemen’s Land. received the mild penalty of being cashiered. Johnston appealed and with By 1861 there were around 20 million sheep in Australia in 1861, and strong support from former Governor Hunter, he was provided with a pas- the numbers doubled over the following ten years, by which time they sage to Sydney and Governor Macquarie was ordered to treat him as he were mainly merinos. Sheep breeders, of whom the best known were the would ‘any other ordinary settler’. Peppin family with their Wanganella stud in the Riverina, had imported The British government received advice that none of the civilians specimens from most of the best European studs and experimented with could be tried for treason in England. But Governor Macquarie received crossing pure merinos with other breeds to produce sheep with larger instructions from Lord Castlereagh that ‘as Gov’r Bligh has represented frames and better yield, and ability to thrive in a hot dry climate. Farmers that Mr McArthur has been the leading Promoter and Instigator of the began to appreciate that purchasing stud rams to breed with their flocks mutinous Measures … you will, if Examinations be sworn against him was a worthwhile investment. … have him arrested thereupon and brought to Trial before the Criminal After 1870 the growth continued but at a slower rate, reaching 100 Court of the Settlement’. Macarthur decided to remain in England for the million head by 1890. Production and sheep numbers declined during the time being. 1890s with an economic depression, the worst drought since first settle- In 1817 Macarthur received permission to return to new South Wales ment, and a six months shearers’ strike in Queensland. Sheep numbers on condition he should in no way associate in public affairs. He returned reached 120 million in 1940. By this time the land was close to its carry- in September that year with his sons William and James and retired dis- ing capacity. During the droughts in the 1890s and 1910s sheep numbers creetly to Parramatta. declined by more than 20 per cent, but recovered afterwards. When Commissioner John Thomas Bigge arrived in 1819 to inves- tigate the administration of New South Wales Macarthur manoeuvred to influence his outlook. At this time his flocks were around 6,000 including

Shearing the rams: painting by Tom Roberts Peppin Memorial at Wanganella, New South Wales ASHET News January 2018 5

The Australian wool industry in the twentieth century For the whole of the twentieth century, wool’s share of the world fibres market was in gradual decline, initially giving ground to cotton, and later to man-made fibres. However the total size of the fibre market continued to increase. Australian sheep numbers, wool production and exports increased until 1970. In the 1930s exports of wool comprised around 30 per cent of all Australian merchandise exports. In 1939 the British and Austral- ian governments agreed that the UK should acquire all of the Australian wool crop for the duration of the War and one year afterward. Over the war years Australia exports of wool declined by around 32 per cent over seven years, but recovered to prewar levels when the Australian govern- ment decreased its use of wool for military uniforms. The average price of Australian wool at auction reached a peak of 144.2d per pound in 1950-51 during the Korean War but declined immediately afterwards. By 1950-51 the value of wool production had increased to 56 per cent of all agricul- tural industries, compared with 17 per cent in 1945-6. Shearing by machine Sheep numbers increased steadily to 180 million in 1970; wool pro- Technology for the wool industry duction doubled between 1947 and 1970; the average cut of wool per sheep nearly doubled. But by 1970-71 world-wide demand for wool was In the early years, almost all of the sheep land in Australia was unfenced in decline mainly because of its displacement by man-made fibres and and British practices of shepherding were practised. From around 1850, wool was contributing only 15 per cent of the total gross value of Austral- wire for fencing, using steel from the recently developed Bessemer pro- ian agricultural production. Average price per pound had been in decline cess, became available, and was first introduced in South Australia and since 1950 and by 1970 had fallen to below prewar levels. the Riverina. But by 1990 around 20 per cent of Australian sheep were still shepherded. Frederic Wolseley, owner of a large sheep station, invented a sheep Technology developments in the wool industry shearing machine in 1885 and engaged Herbert Austin to work in Mel- There were several technology factors that contributed to the increase in bourne on its development and production. A well publicised trial in 1887 sheep numbers and wool production in the years following World War showed that the new machine was not clearly faster than blades, but was II. The principal ones were reduction on the rabbit population; pasture less tiring and required less skill. Wolseley and Austin moved their busi- improvement; animal health and breeding. ness to England in 1899 and Austin set up a factory to make the machines. In 1919 Brazilian virologist Aragao suggested that myxomatosis, a Eventually both Wolseley and Austin became far more well known for virus disease of rabbits, might be used in Australia to control the rabbit their achievements in the car industry than for the sheep shearing ma- population. The suggestion was not adopted but the New South Wales chine. These days almost all sheep shearing is done by machines of the Department of Agriculture did conduct laboratory trials, with results that kind invented by Wolseley. were not encouraging. Further experiments and field trials were conduct- ed in 1934, with disappointing results. By 1949 conventional methods were clearly proving unsuccessful in controlling the rabbit plague and CSIRO undertook further trials of myxomatosis, this time with greater success. As a consequence, myxomatosis was employed on a large scale in 1952-3, resulting in a marked increase in sheep numbers and in wool production. However rabbits developed immunity, as expected, and after around twenty years of decline, rabbit numbers were increasing steadily. CSIRO was asked to assist, and by 1990 had imported for testing sam- ples of Rabbit Calcivirus Disease, which affects only European rabbits. In 1995 CSIRO set up a test on Wardang Island off South Australia. After about six months the virus escaped, most likely carried by insects. It has since spread through most of Australia and has proved to be effective. However it can be expected that over time, rabbits will achieve immunity, and another new means, possibly another new disease, will be needed to control the population. The benefit of pasture improvement were mostly in the higher rainfall areas, and legumes were the key to the improvement; subter- ranean clover on acid soils and medics on alkaline soils. Applications of superphosphate and fertilisers to correct trace element deficiencies also contributed. The chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDT, Aldrin and Dieldrin) appear- ing during and after the War, and followed by organophosphates, now the most common insecticides in Australia, were effective in controlling external parasites on sheep. A range of new drugs were effective against internal parasites such as liver flukes and worms. Treatments for foot rot have been very effective. A tendency towards sheep breeds with coarser, stronger wool in the period from the end of the War to 1970 resulted in an increase in cuts per head, but this trend has been reversed in more recent years with demand shifts towards finer wools. The competition between wool and synthetics during the 1950s and Frederic Wolseley 1960s, reflected in wool’s declining market price and share of the fibre 6 ASHET News January 2018 market,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WanganellaPeppinMonument.JPG was a major concern to the industry. CSIRO responded by under- taking research designed to enhance wool’s appeal in the market place. It resulted in many improvements in wool processing, shrink-proofing and convenience in use, such as permanent pressing, but failed to reverse the trend.

The Australian wool industry in decline In 1970 the Australian government introduced a Wool Deficiency Pay- ments Scheme, with the intention of protecting growers from short term price reductions resulting from fluctuations in demand. In 1974 it was re- placed by a reserve price administered through the Australian Wool Cor- poration (AWC). which guaranteed growers a minimum price for their wool. In 1987 the government handed control of the AWC to growers. In 1991 the scheme was terminated, with AWC holding 4.7 million bales of wool and a debt of nearly $3 billion. The stock-pile was not cleared for nearly ten years during which wool sales and prices declined. The latest statistics, for 2015-6, show that Australian sheep numbers and wool production have declined by around 50 per cent since 1991. China is now the largest export market for Australian wool. However Zebu bull wool reached an all time record price on world markets of 1,681cents per kilogram during November 2017. Wool’s share of Australian agricultural History of beef canning in Australia exports in 2015 was around 6 per cent, well below the leaders, beef at 20 In the 1780s Nicolas Appert, a French confectioner, began experiments per cent and wheat 12 per cent. leading to heat processing of food. He used glass bottles and a boiling water bath, based on the mistaken idea that if all the air could be removed Technology and the beef cattle industry by heat the contents would keep, whereas the real requirement for suc- From the earliest days of settlement in New South Wales, cattle for feed- cessful preservation was to provide heat penetration sufficient to kill the ing the colony were imported from the closest sources, India and the bacteria that were leading to spoilage. By 1810 the British were working Cape. Losses during shipment were high and after landing the greatest on preserving food in cans, that would be preferable to jars for large scale challenge was to prevent the cattle escaping. The government subsidised preservation of meat products. most of these early imports. By 1809 1,800 cattle had been imported form In 1836 Sizar Elliott, a ships’ chandler, moved from Britain to Sydney. India and 440 from the Cape. The colony’s cattle herds had increased to He had experience in the food industry and before emigrating to Australia 3,000 by 1805, 4,000-5,000 by 1811 and around 50,000 by 1820. Colo- had inspected a number of food factories in Britain. He was well aware nists switched to British bulls at the earliest opportunity. A Devon bull of the developments in food canning. In 1845, after seeing the large scale and Shorthorn cows had arrived by 1800, and by 1810 there were pure wastage of meat in Australia he began his own experiments with can- bred representatives of most British breeds except Aberdeen Angus in the ning. He quickly saw that boiling water to heat the contents of cans was colony. Shorthorns were preferred and were the dominant influence on inadequate and tried using calcium chloride brine to reach a higher tem- colonial herds by 1840. The three main breeds for dairy herds, Ayreshires, perature. He then turned to whale oil heated by a gas burner. Cans at the Friesians and Jerseys, had been introduced by the 1850s. time were of tin plated steel with a capacity around 6 lb, large by modern The Australian colonies were in recession during the early 1840s and standards, and this led to difficulty with achieving heat penetration suf- large numbers of both sheep and cattle were being boiled down for tallow. ficient to ensure preservation of the contents. This caused some serious Salting was the only form of preservation being practised in Australia and overcooking, the major criticism in Britain of Australian canned meats this was on a small scale. when they were introduced to the British markets.

Droving cattle Sizar Elliott ASHET News January 2018 7

The frozen beef trade James Harrison was a Scot- tish born journalist who founded the Geelong Adver- tiser in 1840. He had an inter- est in refrigeration. In 1854 he built Australia’s first plant for making ice commercially. He went to England where he patented his process and his plant design, which was built by Siebe Brothers in London and shipped to Australia in 1859. He soon realised that his invention could be adapt- ed to freezing meat for export Cattle on the hoof and won a gold medal in Mel- bourne in 1871 for proving Elliott set his sights on selling his canned meat to ships’ captains, and that meat could be kept fro- to help convince them of the safety of his product he used what he called zen and edible for months at a James Harrison a ‘testing room’ in which he kept the cans of meat before sale in a room reasonable cost of 7 shillings at the estimated average temperature of a ship’s hold at the equator, and a ton. However a trial shipment to England on the Norfolk was a fail- then discarding the cans that showed signs of swelling. He had seen this ure. Meanwhile Eugene Nicolle, an engineer who arrived in Sydney, was technique used in Britain. working on several possible processes for refrigerating meat for export. In Elliott made some sales but lacked the capital to establish the business 1865 he met Augustus Morris, a grazier, who offered a bonus of £100,000 on a commercial scale. for the first shipment of fresh meat to Britain. Sydney businessman T. S. In 1846 Moses Joseph went into production of canned meat at Camp- Mort assisted and encouraged Nicolle to develop refrigeration machin- erdown, New South Wales, with a plant capable of producing half a ton per ery for shipping meat. In the meantime he had employed refrigeration day, based on technology imported from London through Stefan Goldner for milk transport to Sydney. He established a plant for freezing meat at who had patented a canning process using calcium chloride brine, which Bowenfells in the Blue Mountains and a refrigerated warehouse at Dar- was being used by him in Romania and by Ritchie and McCall, of 137 ling Harbour in Sydney. He had installed refrigerating machinery in the Houndsditch, London. Northam with the objective of making a trial shipment to England. The In 1847 members of the Dangar family, some of whom had been in machinery worked well but it was subjected to some delays in Sydney Australia as graziers since the 1820s, set up a boiling down and meat pro- for fixing leaks, resulting in its sailing to England without its shipment cessing business in Newcastle. Using technology imported from Ritchie of frozen meat. and McColl, it opened in 1848, using beef from the Hunter Valley. Most Meanwhile successful shipments of chilled, as distinct from frozen, of the production was shipped to Britain where it was well received. The meat were being made from North and South America to Europe. But the long sea voyage of the canned product provided he equivalent of Elliott’s longer voyage from Australia required that the meat be frozen. A group of testing room and on arrival in Britain some 3-5 per cent was discarded. Queenslanders became interested and commissioned Glasgow engineers The Dangar business lasted only seven years, unable to compete com- Bell and Coleman to fit refrigeration machinery to the Strathleven which mercially in the British market. Dangar had initially been able to secure they had chartered to make a trial shipment of frozen meat from Australia. supplies of meat cheaply, but prices rose dramatically with the gold rush. It loaded meat and dairy products in Sydney and Melbourne in December Another factor was the cost of cans, for which the tin plate had to be 1879 and arrived in London in February 1880. Its cargo was in good con- imported since there was no Australian production of tin plate until 1958. dition and sold well. The refrigerating machinery was removed from the A second, and enduring, phase of Australian meat canning began with Strathleven and it returned to its regular service on the Atlantic. Charles Tindal who came to Australia in 1843 aged twenty, and who in Even before the Strathleven arrived in London, plans were underway 1852 had beef properties and a small boiling down works at Ramornie to establish a trade in frozen meat from Australia, with the formation in near Grafton, New South Wales. He took an interest in meat preservation Melbourne of the Australian Meat Export Company, which chartered the and while visiting Britain with his family in 1862 observed a growing de- Protos and had it fitted with refrigerating machinery. Its cargo of frozen mand for meat. In 1865 he formed the Australian Meat Company with the meat from Melbourne was sold at a profit in London in January 1881. address 137 Houndsditch. He established a canning factory at Ramornie The Orient Line fitted refrigeration machinery to three of its vessels in which by 1971 had 150 employees. the Australian trade. However there were difficulties in establishing the Inspired by Tindal’s success, a group of Melbourne entrepreneurs launched the Melbourne Meat Preserving Company. Its manager was Samuel Ritchie, who had been in partnership with John McCall at 137 Houndsditch and as an agent for Stefan Goldner. Ritchie had emigrated to Australia in 1857 and was a wine and spirit merchant until 1868 when he established the modern meat works by the Maribyrnong river in Mel- bourne. In 1870 it was the largest meat preserver in Australia with 250 employees and shipped 50,000 cans of meat and 264 tons of tallow to Britain. Ritchie was an innovator who experimented with ways of pre- venting over-cooking, and who imported an American packing machine that he modified to increase its capacity twenty four fold. Ritchie died of a heart attack, aged 53, in 1879. He and Charles Tindal were the pioneers of an enduring meat preserving industry focussing on the British market. In the decade 1869-79 Australia exported some 65,000 tons of preserved meats to Britain and 19,300 tons in the single year 1871-2. Strathleven 8 ASHET News January 20188 trade on a regular profitable basis in the face of competition in the London Sciences published a paper titled Future Demand to 2050: Opportunities market from British growers along with imports of chilled and frozen for Australian Agriculture. It forecast that by 2050 global demand for meat from North and South America. The Australian Meat Export Com- meat would more than double on the base year of 2007, and that Austral- pany failed in 1886, but others were more successful. In 1890 exports of ia’s production of beef would almost double. CSIRO has commented that frozen meat from Australia were around 10,000 tons, about equally from doubling of Australian beef production would only be possible with major New South Wales and Queensland. This represented around 2 per cent of changes in the industry, such as taking much land out of wool production Australian beef production. By 1900 Australian frozen meat exports had to run cattle, by devoting much more land to growing crops to feed cattle reached over 50,000 tons. and by increasing the productivity of land with more irrigation. Australian frozen meat suffered from two major defects, ‘drip’ and ‘freezer burn’. ‘Drip’ is caused by rupture of meat cells by ice crystals resulting in release of a blood-stained watery discharge when the meat is Sources and further reading thawed. It is unsightly but not dangerous. Chilled meat does not experi- ence the problem. ‘Freezer burn’ is intense drying out of exposed meat Technology in Australia 1788-1988, compiled by Fellows of the Aus- surfaces exposed to air in the refrigeration chamber. Adequate protection tralian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Melbourne; of the meat surfaces is the solution. Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 1988. In 1932 it was shown that the storage life of chilled beef could be A comprehensive overview that covers the agricultural industries doubled if the amount of carbon dioxide was increased in the atmosphere along with others, providing sources and references. of the refrigeration chamber. The idea was taken up by CSIR in Australia and led to around 30,000 tons of chilled beef being exported by 1937-38. Ted Henzell, Australian agriculture; its history and challenges, Colling- However the keeping quality of chilled beef did not approach that of fro- wood, Victoria, CSIRO Publishing, 2007. zen beef, and the cost of fitting gas tight refrigeration chambers was high. A concise coverage of the history of agricultural industries in Aus- After World War II little of Australia’s export beef was chilled. tralia with an emphasis on the science and technology research that help to develop these industries. Growth of the Australian beef industry K. T. H. Farrer, A settlement amply supplied: food technology in 19th In 1950 Britain was still the main overseas buyer of Australian beef, but century Australia, Carlton, Victoria; Melbourne University Press, 1980. from that time exports to USA and Asia increased rapidly. In 2016-7 A concise account with references of food technology in Australia. Australia had around 3 per cent of the world’s beef cattle and produced around 3 per cent of the world’s beef. It was the third largest exporter, M. H. Ellis, John Macarthur, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1978. with 663,000 tonnes, not far behind the leaders, India and Brazil. Japan The definitive history of Macarthur and the early wool industry in and USA were the major importers of Australian beef, taking between Australia. them around 50 per cent of its exports of 963,000 tonnes. Australia also exported 908,000 head of live cattle, valued at A$1,200 million with J. C. Garran and L. White, Merinos, myths and Macarthurs: Australian around 50 per cent going to Indonesia, its principal market. Cattle and graziers and their sheep, Canberra, Australian National University Press, calves are now Australia’s most valuable agricultural product, at $12.7 1985. billion in 2016-7. An alternative take on the early wool industry in Australia.

Technology and the cattle industry Editors: Tor Hundloe, Sarah Blagrove and Hannah Ditton, Australia’s role in feeding the world, Clayton South, Victoria, CSIRO Publishing, The same pasture improvements that have benefited the sheep industry 2016. in Australia have also benefited the cattle industry. With the decline in This book is a fascinating glimpse of the future for Australia’s agri- Australian sheep numbers since 1991 many farms have turned to car- cultural industries. rying increased cattle numbers. Also grain feeding of cattle has greatly increased, with now 39 per cent of adult cattle slaughtered being lot fed. Queensland has Australia’s largest share of cattle production with around 50 per cent of the Australian total. Australian cattle were free of major disease until 1848, when pleuro arrived and spread rapidly, causing heavy cattle losses until it was controlled by inoculation. It was finally eliminated in 1968. Cattle tick, causing fever, was first recorded in the Northern Territory before 1880 and spread through Queensland, where along with a drought, it reduced the Queensland cattle herd from around 7 million in 1894 to 2.5 million nine years later. It was brought under control by dipping and inoculation. Brucellosis and tuberculosis were serious diseases of cattle and dairy herds, and a threat to human health. A national campaign to eliminate them began in 1970 and was successful by 1992 when brucellosis was entirely eliminated and only traces of tuberculosis remained. Foot and mouth disease would have a serious effect on the cattle industry if it broke out in Australia. It has spread widely elsewhere and an outbreak in 2001 Shorthorn bull in Britain is estimated to have cost A$19 billion. Bovine spongiform en- cephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease is another disease of cattle that has had serious effects in Britain and continental ASHET News is the newsletter of the Australian Society for History of Europe, but has been successfully kept out of Australia. Engineering and Technology Incorporated ABN 47 874 656 639 ISSN 1835-5943

The future of the Australian beef cattle industry 12 Wentworth Ave Waitara NSW 2077 Australia’s beef and cattle industries appear to have a bright future. In Email: [email protected] 2012 the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Website: www.ashet.org.au