Anderson's Mill
Location
Anderson's Mill Historic Reserve is situated on the banks of Birch Creek at Smeaton, a small rural village, located 27 km north east of Ballarat and 130 km from Melbourne. The Mill complex is situated within the 9 ha public land historic reserve. The complex consists of a five-storey bluestone flour and oat mill, an 8.5 m diameter iron water wheel, a 23 m tall brick chimney, and a variety of buildings including a bluestone office, stables, granary, and blacksmith’s shop.
History
Arrival
John, James and William Anderson left New Cumnock in Aryshire Scotland in June 1851. They took advantage of assisted passages for agricultural labourers and country tradesmen, who were then much in demand in South Australia and the Port Philip District. They landed at Adelaide but by early 1852 they had joined the rush for gold to the Mt Alexander diggings in Victoria. The Andersons dug at Castlemaine, Mt Korong and Bendigo and, it seems, made a good deal of money. With this capital they retired to Collingwood and set up as building contractors.
Becoming established
In April 1854 their mother Sarah sailed from Scotland for Melbourne with her younger sons Thomas, Robert and David. These three appear to have carried on the building business for a time while their older brothers moved to Dean near Creswick abandoning gold digging for timber milling, a new enterprise to supply the mining and building industries of Ballarat. Within 10 years the Andersons became the biggest saw millers in the Bullarook Forest with mills at Dean, Barkstead and Adekate Creek. By 1866 they had constructed eight miles of timber tramway with numerous bridges, cuttings and culverts at a cost of £9 000 and employed 60 men building tramways and felling timber in the forest and at the mill.
Diversifying
While the business was developing the brothers had earlier (in 1856) purchased agricultural land at the first land sales in the Smeaton District north of Creswick and became well established in the north community there. In the 1850s a flour mill had been built south of Smeaton by Captain John Hepburn. Following his death his executors leased this mill to a Ballarat firm, who angered local farmers by offering a very low price for their grain. John Anderson was among those who took a leading role at a public meeting of farmers in February 1861 when Smeaton’s farmers agreed to float their own “Farmers Joint Stock Flour Mill”. When plans for this mill fell through in June 1861, the Andersons announced that they would build their own flour and oat mill; Anderson’s Mill.
Constructing a mill
Between them the brothers were well skilled to construct and operate a mill. John had been apprenticed as a millwright in Scotland; a trade requiring the combined abilities of an engineer, wheelwright and miller. He is believed to have designed the mill and probably prepared the original set of drawings for the flour mill which are now in the Latrobe Library.
The structure was built substantially of local materials. Bluestone or basalt came from a nearby quarry and the great timbers for the beams, columns and hardwood floors, most probably came from the Andersons own saw mill at Barkstead. By April 1862 the Creswick Advertiser was able to report that “the ... building is full of flour and wheat and the whole although only recently completed presents already a very business like and busy appearance. The large water wheel constructed at a cost of £1 500 works well”.
In September 1862 the Advertiser announced that the brothers intended “to shortly erect machinery for the manufacture of oatmeal making an addition to their extensive mill by erecting a building 40 foot by 35 foot”. In addition the Andersons erected a bluestone oat drying kiln.
Settlement and decline
Around the date that the mill was erected John Anderson constructed a nine room family house and a carpenters shop and dwelling. During the mid 1860s a detached timber grain store was built behind the mill. The bluestone manager’s office was constructed in front of the mill in 1869. There were also two timber stables on the site by the mid 1870s. But despite its impressive beginnings the prosperity of Anderson’s mill was short lived. The railways by-passed Smeaton and the centre of wheat production gradually shifted north and west. The Anderson brothers did not keep up with new roller milling technology but sought to revive their failing fortunes by investing in the local Berry Deep Lead gold mines with disastrous results. When John died in 1895 his estate was heavily mortgaged and the firm of Anderson Bros was wound up. The mill was transferred to David Anderson’s children, David and Lillias, whose inheritance had been lost when the company declined.
Upgrading the mill
Young David Anderson refitted the mill with the latest roller equipment in 1896 and it ran fairly successfully until his death in 1929. Despite fierce competition from the more heavily capitalised Melbourne mills, David’s widow kept the mill going mainly on the strength of its oat products, pearl barley and split peas, with flour milling being only a small part of the operation after World War Two. There was a minor burst of activity producing ricena, a rice substitute (which was really only polished wheat), but it was a loosing battle and David Anderson and Co went out of business in 1959. Anderson’s mill finally closed and much of the machinery was removed and sold for scrap, or for grain cleaning to local farmers.
Government purchase
In 1979 a report by the National Parks Service recommended purchase of the mill by the Government so that the site could be conserved and managed by the service. The objectives of the purchase were to conserve the important historic structures, and to provide opportunities for education and interpretation of the site, grain milling and the agricultural history of the region. It was also envisaged that it would provide opportunities for recreation as an enjoyable place to visit and as a picnic destination.
Negotiations and planning continued for many years but it was the Bicentennial which eventually enabled the project to proceed with financial support from the Bicentennial Authority and the State Government. The mill was purchased from Lyn Anderson and Shirley Meulan in 1987 by the then Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands. The site has been managed by Parks Victoria since 1996.
The People
Michael Branagan worked in Anderson's Mill. [1]
Richard Darlison was head miller with the Anderson Brothers. He worked at Anderson's Mill until he became crippled with arthritis. Darlison was secretary of the Smeaton Mechanics' Institute for many years. [2]
M.C. Donnelly was a clerk at Anderson's Mill. It was said he could add up three columns of figures at once. He was legal manager for many mines including the Lady Hepburn, Hepburn No. 2, Hepburn No. 3, and Kabunga. He was a noted pedestrian and would walk into Ballarat for the weekend and walk back on Sunday night.[3]
Richard Wicking replaced M.C. Donnelly as clerk at Anderson's Mill in 1876 serving till 1890.[1]
J.C. McLachlan, known as Mac the Miller, worked as a stone dresser at Anderson's Mill. Stones were used to grind the flour before the invention of rollers.[4]
References
- ↑ Centenary of Smeaton, 1838-1938 : a souvenir booklet with historical sketches …, Smeaton Centenary Committee, 1938, p17.
- ↑ Centenary of Smeaton, 1838-1938 : a souvenir booklet with historical sketches …, Smeaton Centenary Committee, 1938, p17.
- ↑ Centenary of Smeaton, 1838-1938 : a souvenir booklet with historical sketches …, Smeaton Centenary Committee, 1938, p17.
- ↑ Centenary of Smeaton, 1838-1938 : a souvenir booklet with historical sketches …, Smeaton Centenary Committee, 1938, p21.