Colonial Millstones in Australia
1820 to 1840s
Researched by Anne and Les Dollin
Singleton Mills homepage > Overview of Stone types used for Millstones > Australian Colonial Millstones
Types of Millstones used in Britain
In Britain and Europe, over many centuries of trial and error, special stone types had been found that had great hardness and durability. They made excellent millstones for grinding wheat into flour. They included:
– Various types of British sandstone with a tough high-silica cement;
– Basalt Cullen Stones – imported into Britain from Germany; and
– French Burr Stones – ultimately the most popular millstones in Britain, that were made from a high-silica chert from France.
Hopes of obtaining millstones from Australia
In Britain, the widely-preferred French Burr Stones were very expensive. Furthermore, during periods when Britain and France were at war, British millers had major problems with importing the favoured French Burr Stones from Paris for their mills.
If British colonists could find millstone deposits in Australia, that were 'equal to the best French Burr', this would be a great boon to millers in Britain.
So, there was a strong incentive in Australia to try to manufacture 'Colonial Millstones'. The following 1820 newspaper advertisement shows one of many attempts that were made:
Above, part of an enthusiastic description of some Colonial Millstones which had been produced in Tasmania, 'equal to the French burrs'. The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter newspaper, 23 September 1820.
Millstones used in Sydney
Unfortunately, the most common stone type that occurs in the Sydney area, a gritty sandstone, was unsuitable for making millstones. Serviceable millstones made from Calcarenite Limestone in Norfolk Island had been imported into Sydney and used for some years. However, Sydney's first mills mostly relied on small numbers of imported millstones.
By the 1820s, though, imported French Burr Stones began to be more available in Sydney, and these were soon used in many Sydney flour mills (including the Singleton Family watermills at Kurrajong).
Millstones in other Australian colonies
As the years passed, more British settlements were established elsewhere in Australia: at Hobart (1803), Melbourne (1835), Adelaide (1836), and Perth (1829).
These settlements were initially very isolated from the original British colony in Sydney, and fewer cargoes of imported goods came into their ports. Imported millstones were particularly scarce. So, the settlers in these areas strove to find suitable local sources of stone for their millstones.
In Hobart, Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land), and then later in the other colonies, some promising stone deposits were found locally, and 'Colonial Millstones' were cut from these quarries.
It is difficult to find out which stone types were selected for making Colonial Millstones in Australia. The specific stone types were rarely mentioned in the newspaper descriptions and, when they were, the identification may not have been reliable. However, possible suitable stone types found near these colonies, that may have been used to produce Colonial Millstones, include the following: – dolerite (a volcanic rock similar to basalt) |
Colonial Millstones in Tasmania
In 1820, a deposit of stone 'greatly resembling the French Bur (sic)' was discovered within 26 km of Hobart. A mill builder proposed to trial millstones that had been cut from this deposit in a new watermill in Liverpool Street.[1]
Later that year, the success of these new local stones in the Liverpool mill was announced:
'They prove to be exceedingly good, and, in every respect, equal to the French burrs ; and are the first yet used in this Settlement the production of Van Diemen's Land.' [2]
In 1822, a 'very superior water-mill' erected by William Rayner was reported to be using two pairs of large millstones that had been produced in the colony. Another watermill, of Mr. Armytage at Bagdad, Tasmania, was also reported to be using 'colonial stones'. [3]
However, just three years later, a pair of 'good Colonial Millstones' was advertised for sale from the Bagdad Mill.[4] So, were the Colonial Millstones not as successful as they hoped?
In 1827, The Hownslow Mill in Liverpool Street was offered for lease, with one pair of colonial stones and one pair of French Burrs. The millstones were 1m in diameter.[5]
Then in 1828, two pairs of millstones, 'the produce of this Colony', were shipped to England.[6]
Above, Hobart-town in the 1820s. Vue de la rade de Hobart-Town, Ile Van-Diemen (View of Hobart-Town harbour, Van Diemen's Land), lithograph by Achille St. Aulaire. National Library of Australia.
Colonial Millstones were in circulation in Tasmania until at least 1840:
– In 1834, the Commissariat Office of Hobart-town announced a tender to supply three pairs of colonial mill stones for the new treadmill at the Prisoners' Barracks in Hobart-town;[7] and
– In 1840, pair of 'colonial mill stones' and timber for mill machinery were for sale.[8]
Colonial Millstones in Victoria
In the 1840s, stone deposits resembling French Burr Stone were also investigated in Victoria. The newspaper reports highlighted the importance that these discoveries could have for Britain:
– 'a very fine specimen of burr-stone has lately been forwarded to the Astronomer Royal from Port Phillip.
As the principal supply of burr-stone for the British, Continental, and American markets has hitherto been obtained from France, where a heavy export duty is levied on it, its discovery at Port Phillip may be regarded as a blessing of no ordinary magnitude to the manufacturers and consumers of flour.'[9]
– 'Bhurr Stone. This stone so valuable for the construction of millstones, has been found in great abundance in the neighbourhood of Melbourne. In texture and geological relations it is said to closely resemble the costly bhurr stone of France, for the discovery of which, within the island of great Britain (sic), a magnificent reward was once offered by parliament.' [10]
Colonial Millstones in Western Australia
In Western Australia, too, local millstone types were trialled:
In 1832, Henry Reveley quarried 1.2m diameter, granite millstones from a range of hills called 'Blue Hills', west of Perth, for a horizontal watermill that he was constructing;[11] and
– 'millstone grit, equal to the best French burr, has been found on the Swan, some fourteen miles above Perth.' [12]
Colonial Millstones in South Australia
Finally, Colonial Millstones were produced in South Australia in the 1840s:
'… a sack of flour was exhibited by Mr Thomas Gratwick, of Echunga Mill, Mount Barker, ground by Colonial millstones, (we believe the only pair at work in the Colony), …
Judging from the sample, we should say the flour can be made equally as good as that ground by French burrs, and the colour of the flour is not at all deteriorated as some persons erroneously suppose.
The stones were quarried about two years ago, and although good, were not sufficiently so to satisfy the discoverers that they had arrived at the ne plus ultra.
The impression that millstones may be found in this Colony equal to French burrs is not only prevalent, but there is a stone found and much resembling the French burr, under the cliffs at Holdfast Bay, which may be obtained and wrought at a moderate expense.' [13]
In the end, Australia's Colonial Millstones all fell short
Despite the highly-optimistic descriptions of the Colonial Millstones in Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, when they were first announced in the newspapers, these millstones appear to have rarely lived up to expectations.
Once imported supplies of the more-favoured French Burr Stones became available in these early colonies, the mills there often sold their Colonial Millstones and replaced them with French Burr Stones.
For example:
– In 1842, the Editor of The Examiner (SA) wryly replied to a letter (presumably promoting Colonial Millstones) that had been received by that newspaper, as follows:
'"A Miller", will most likely see a notice for the sale of Colonial Mill Stones in a short time.' [14] and
– In 1845, having purchased 'another pair of the best French burr-stones', a mill in Mount Barker was using its Colonial Millstones to crush pigs' food.[15]
The exceptionally high qualities of the costly imported French Burr Stones made them the millstone of choice throughout Australia, as soon as they became available.
Sadly, the much-promoted Colonial Millstones of Australia were only in use for a short time.A
A: Note. In Britain too, in 1898, efforts to replace French Burr Stones with local millstones failed for similar reasons.
REFERENCES
1. Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 29 April 1820.
2. Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, 23 September 1820.
3. Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser, 26 October 1822.
4. The Hobart Town Gazette, 30 July 1825.
5. The Hobart Town Gazette, 11 August 1827.
6. The Tasmanian, 11 January 1828.
7. Hobart Town Courier, 17 October 1834.
8. Launceston Advertiser, 19 March 1840.
9. Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser, 26 Apr 1841.
10. The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 4 May 1844.
11. Preston, Keith (2002) A 'Horizontal Watermill' in Western Australia. International Molinology, 65: 17-22.
12. The Colonial Observer, 30 Aug 1843.
13. Adelaide Observer, 22 February 1845.
14. The Examiner (SA), 4 August 1842.
15. South Australian, 28 November 1845.
Read More About Millstones
•• Overview •• French Burr Stones •• Basalt-like Cullin Stones •• Millstone Grit •• Old Red Sandstone, Puddingstone, and Lodswoth Stone •• Granite •• Limestone •• Artificial Millstones •• Norfolk Island Millstones •• Colonial Millstones ••
Read More About Sydney's Early Flour Milling History
•• Overview •• Sydney's First Mill Builders •• Sydney's First Millstones ••