The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 2/Chapter 44
CHAPTER XLIV.
COMMERCE AND QUARANTINE.
SYNOPSIS:— Commercial Review. —Early Exports and Imports. —Mr. Charles Williams, the "Self-trumpet Blower." —The Commercial Exchange. —The First Chamber of Commerce. —The First Mercantile Muster Roll. —The First Tariff. —The Melbourne Auction Company. —Sir George Gipps Refuses a Private Bill. —Harbour Quarantine Stations.
THE mercantile beginnings of Melbourne were certainly "small beer" of an humble and unpretending brew. The so-called "merchants" were for years mostly "storekeepers," and commercial houses in Sydney, Hobart Town, and Launceston established agencies until, accompanying the tide of British emigration, which commenced its inflow in 1839, representatives arrived from firms in the Mother-country. The introduction of banking has been treated of in a previous chapter, and here it is only necessary to add that for some time the imported freights were usually general cargoes of live stock, flour, groceries and other kinds of provisions, spirituous and fermented liquors, unmanufactured drapery goods, and made-up articles of wearing apparel, passing under the general denomination of "slops." The exports were chiefly wool and tallow, to which bark was, after a time, added, and then wheat and other commodities.
It is impossible to obtain any reliable data of the importing and exporting trade during the earlier years of Port Phillip; indeed anything like even a correct approximation of the quantities and values is not procurable anterior to the creation of the independent colony in 1851. The reason is thus explained in Archer's Statistical Register published in 1854:— "In the Customs books in the years 1838 to 1841, the particulars are not given, only the total amounts, and with reference to these and all the rest of the totals prior to Separation, it is well to remark that the district of Port Phillip, being a portion of New South Wales, articles coming from and going to that colony were not entered in the Customs books; so that there is a deficiency in each year up to 1851."
The following particulars are gleaned from Hayter's Victorian Year Book, Anno 1874:— "In 1837 the total value of imports was £115,379, and exports £12,178. The latter comprised 175,081 lbs. wool, estimated as worth £11,639, 2240 lbs. tallow at £28, and hides and skins £22. In 1838 the imports diminished to £73,230, whilst the exports increased to £27,998. The quantity of wool shipped off was 320,383 lbs., valued at £21,631, tallow 18,114 lbs., £489, and hides and skins, £117." In 1839 there was a stiff jump-up in all the items except tallow, as is thus shown:— "Value of imports, £204,722, exports, £77,684. Wool, 615,603 lbs., £45, 226; tallow, 18,552 lbs., £396: and hides and skins, £249." In 1840, the Bounty Emigration system gave such an impetus to importing speculation, that the end of that year distended the figurative results, thus:— "Value of imports, 435,367 whilst the exports reached £128,860. These were—941,815 lbs. wool, £67,902; tallow, 48,048 lbs., £953; and hides and skins, £251. For 1851, the imports were assessed at £1,056,437, and the exports, £1,422,909. The wool appeared as 16,345,468 lbs., worth £734,618; tallow, 9,459,520 lbs., £123,203; and hides and skins, £7414." From a heap of old Customs papers before me, I select a few miscellaneous items, which may be worth disinterring in 1884:— Grain, consisting of wheat, barley, oats, and malt, was imported in 1842 to the extent of 81,719 bushels, valued at £13,223; while the exports consisted of only six bushels of wheat, valued at £4. In 1842, the quantity of butter and cheese imported was 3293 cwt., £1016; whilst the exported consisted of 5592 lbs., £186. There is no authenticated return of the importation of live stock prior to 1842, but the Rev. Dr. Lang, who wrote an interesting history of Port Phillip under the designation of "Phillipsland" (to which he wished to have the name altered), prints this return:—
| Horned Cattle. | Sheep. | ||||
| Imported in | 1837 | 94 | 55,208 | ||
| " | 1838 | 74 | 9822 | ||
| " | 1839 | 135 | 17,567 | ||
| " | 1840 | 244 | 19,958 |
The '37 entry of sheep is seemingly a misprint, or probable exaggeration.
The first exportation of pigs happened in 1846, when four grunters were so got rid of. In 1842, thirty bundles of unmanufactured leather, and 25,583 pairs of boots and shoes, valued at £5900, were imported, and 1847 beheld the first exportation of £450 worth of leather. According to Archer, "As early as 1834, the Messrs. Henty had formed a whaling station at Portland, and sent, in 1835, 700 tons of oil from that place to Van Diemen's Land, in return for which there arrived cargoes of sheep from Launceston."
In 1844, oil in quantity, 178 tons and 207 gallons (various kinds), valued at £3977, was exported from Port Phillip. The first soap sent away was 6 tons 3 cwt. in 1844, and the smallest quantity imported since 1842 was twenty-five boxes (£50) in 1849. In 1842, one ton of bark (£4) was received, as against 397 tons, value £1667, despatched. Candles were necessaries in universal use, and Melbourne soon commenced the making of its own lights in this respect. In 1842, the imports consisted of 27,334 lbs., value £576; but in 1848 there were only two cases, £20. Candle exportation began in 1843, i.e., 5097 lbs., 153, whilst the imported article exceeded this by 2000 lbs. 'The first beer was exported in 1846. i.e.—540 gallons, £24—which declined to 40 in '47, was 50 in '48, and nil in '49 and 50, whilst in '51 it spurted up to 1525 gallons, an equivalent for £158.
In a former chapter I detailed the curiously interesting circumstances under which Mr. Donald Ryrie planted the first vines at Yering, on the Upper Yarra (1838), and a note in Archer's Register states that "the export of wine prior to 1852 did not in any year exceed £50 in value; but in that year it amounted to 22,531 gallons, value £6351, and in 1853 to 106 casks and 51,502 gallons, value £15,844. In 1846 was the first exportation of sugar, viz., 5 cwt. refined, value £16. It was quadrupled the next year, but in 1848 and 1851 dwindled to nil. Potatoes were the primitive luxury, and in 1842, though there were imported 348 tons, £4120, 2 tons 15 cwt., or £27 worth were exported. In 1846, there was the solitary export of 1 ton, valued £1, showing a vast falling off in price, size, or quality; and in 1849 the exportation disappeared, but returned next year to 25 tons, valued at £106. Tallow was first imported in 1847, to the tune of £5 valuation or 5 cwt., but in 1850 it increased to 420 cwt., £450. So early as 1840, the merchants so-called began to appreciate the value of co-operation as an engine for the protection of joint interests, and they commenced to meet as if on 'Change at the mart of Mr. Charles Williams, one of the principal auctioneers, than whom no louder self-trumpet blower could be found. This mart was the ground floor of a large brick building erected for Batman, at the south west corner of Collins and William Streets, a position then the most centrally convenient for the purposes of mercantile consultations. The interesting conversations indulged in here led to the establishment in 1841 of an association known as
The Commercial Exchange,
"For the purpose of watching over the commercial interests of the Province," and the following constituted its managerial staff:— Chairman: Mr. Jonathan Binns Were; Deputy Chairman: Mr. John Porter; Committee Messrs. Alexander Andrews, George Arden (Honorary), James Cain, D. S. Campbell, George Cavenagh (Honorary), G. W. Cole, Benj. Heape, Arthur Kemmis, Wm. Kerr (Honorary), William Locke, John Orr, Andrew Russell, J. A. Smith, John Stephen (Honorary), George Thomas; Treasurer: Mr. James Graham; Secretary: Mr. Thomas Stevenson. The Honorary membership was a clever ruse to secure the good wishes of the Fourth Estate (then consisting of only three branches), for the distinction was confined to the Editors of the Patriot and Herald and the Editor and Assistant Editor of the Gazette.
This Committee met every Wednesday in the long room of the Royal Exchange, Collins Street, westward of Alston and Brown's recent fashionable emporium.
The Commercial Exchange was an organism of not much vitality, and in truth it would be unreasonable to expect it could be otherwise under the circumstances. However, it came to no violent or unnatural end, but half slept through a peaceful listless life until it quietly passed from the world with hardly anyone noticing the event. And so matters went on until 1851, a year eventful as the "separation" and "gold-finding" epoch, when the Melbourne merchants suddenly woke up.
The First Chamber of Commerce.
A preliminary meeting of the instigators of the movement was accordingly held on the 12th March, 1851, at the counting-house of Mr. Octavius Browne, where twenty of the principal merchants attended, and a resolution was passed recommending the establishment, by subscription, of a Chamber of Commerce, and a Provisional Committee, of Messrs. Octavius Browne, J. B. Were, David Benjamin, Samuel Bawtree, and James Rae, was appointed to prepare Rules and a Report for submission to a future meeting. The Committee accomplished their work, secured a place of temporary accommodation, and in the following July their action was confirmed, the Chamber regularly initiated, and the following office-bearers elected:— Chairman, Mr. William Westgarth; Vice-Chairman, Mr. J. B. Were; Treasurer, Mr. J. G. Foxton; Committee, Messrs. J. Rae, S. Bawtree, G. P. Ball, John Gill, W. F. Splatt, R. Turnbull, James Graham, and J. A. Burnett.
Things again fell into a languishing condition during the absence, in England, of the first Chairman (Mr. Were), who, on his return to the colony during the stirring times of the gold revolution, infused some new life into the Chamber. At the annual meeting, on the 8th June, 1875, Mr. R. J. Jeffray, the then Vice-President, in the course of his address, thus referred to the somewhat obscured cradledom of the Chamber:—
"By the kindness of Mr. J. B. Were, whose experience reaches back to the earliest period of commercial life in Melbourne, I have ascertained that the first attempt at the formation of a Mercantile Chamber took place in 1841, when the Commercial Exchange was established; and from Kerr's Melbourne Almanac of 1842, it appears that in that year Jonathan Binns Were, Esq., was Chairman of the body, and James Graham, Esq., Treasurer. This institution existed for a few years, and was revived in 1851-2, when Mr. William Montgomerie Bell was Chairman. From that date the records of the body, under the title of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, proceed with little interruption to the present time. The most cursory glance at the successive Reports makes it manifest that during a period of well nigh a quarter of a century, the Chamber has deliberated upon an immense variety of important topics, has from year to year contributed to the discussion of all questions of moment, and has been influential in securing many practical benefits for the community."
The First Mercantile Muster Roll.
In Kerr's Port Phillip Directory for 1841, is printed a schedule of names, which must be undoubtedly taken as representing the pioneers of our now (1888) wealthy and thoroughly established system of Melbourne Commerce. To some, the re-publication of such a document at the present day may seem an act of tedious uselessness; but it appears to me well worth while (even at the risk of gently boring certain readers) to include it in a chapter such as I am now inditing, for, on due
consideration, I believe, if not adding to its interest, it will in no small degree contribute to the completeness of the contrast that makes the present condition of "The Queen City of the South" one of the wonders of the Colonial world. I have, therefore, presumed to transcribe it:— Merchants and Agents.
Flinders Street:— Arthur Kemmis and Co., Reeves and Locke, M'Cabe and Co., Thomas, Enscoe and James.
Little Flinders Street:— Bells and Buchanan, J. F. Palmer, Dunlop, M'Nab and Co., John Roach, Heape and Grice, P. W. Welsh and Co., Langhorne Brothers, Were Brothers and Co., M'Kinlay and Co.
Collins Street:— Alison and Knight, Turnbull, Orr and Co., A. Andrew, Hunter, Somervail and Co., J. Cain, G. W. Cole, Peter Inglis. Craig and Broadfoot, F. Pittman, J. Cropper and Co., W. F. A. Rucker, J. and P. Drummond, J. W. Shaw and Co., Dutton, Simpson and Darlot, John Maude Woolley.
Little Collins Street:— Manton and Co., Pullar Brothers and Porter, Oliver Gourlay.
Bourke Street:— Worsley and Forester.
Lonsdale Street:— A. Abrahams.
William Street:— L. Hind and Co., Strachan and Co.
Queen Street:— Arthur Willis and Co.
Elizabeth Street:— Campbell and Woolley, Porter and White, Hamilton and Goodwin, E. M. Sayers, George James.
Russell Street:— James Graham.
The following mercantile houses in Melbourne have branch establishments:—
At Geelong:— Messrs. P. W. Welsh and Co., and Messrs. Strachan and Co.
At Williamstown:— Messrs. Langhorne Brothers.
At Portland Bay:— Messrs. P. W. Welsh and Co.
Additional Merchants:— H. G. Ashurst and Co., W. and H. Barnes, O. Williams, and W. Westgarth.
This phalanx, however, had troublous times before it, for instead of having only one storm to breast, it was on the eve of three or four years of a commercial crisis, never since equalled in intensity and disruption. 1842-4 constituted an ordeal of the most testing nature for the mercantile fraternity of the time, through which few, indeed, passed unscathed. The tempest came on—the hurricane not only swept the country, but settled upon the town, and the crash was all but universal. peculation, over-trading, and insufficiency of capital, a recklessness in business, and an excessive inter se system of bill-discounting, known as "kite-flying," only produced the consequences inevitable from such rashness. Every imaginable device for "raising the wind" was unscrupulously resorted to; but the particular monetary wind that was wanted would not blow. The Resident Judge (Willis), who revelled in the role of mischief maker, judicially, or extrajudicially, seemed like a spirit of evil, with a blazing torch, spreading about the flame of discontent whenever he had a chance; and Supreme Court attachments, sequestrations, and assignments, were the order of the day during his tenure of office. Creditors grew clamourous for payment; property of every description, not only depreciated in value, but for a time was absolutely unsaleable. Overdue paper could not be retired, overdrafts remained unreduced, and the Australasian and Union Banks were, in self-protection, forced to put on the "screw." Sales were compelled under ruinous sacrifices, and the break-up was general. Some of the merchants and agents terminated their earthly anxieties by dying, whilst others took wings and "bolted." The majority were thoroughly "burst up," whilst a few emerged from the tribulation unscorched, and in the march of time succeeded in acquiring considerable affluence. One of the departed (Mr. F. Manton), I had always good reason to hold in kind remembrance, for it was in his employment I earned the first money that ever, as my own, entered my pocket. A cheque for fifteen guineas received from him was the first "oil" I struck on entering upon what has proved a neither short nor altogether uneventful "battle of life;" and though the "valuable consideration" did not remain long with me, whenever it recurs to my memory, it is accompanied by a vision of the pleasurable sensation which I experienced. The First Tariff
In operation in Port Phillip provided:— 1. Upon all spirits, the produce and manufacture of the United Kingdom, or Her Majesty's plantations and possessions in the West Indies and in North America, imported directly from the United Kingdom—nine shillings per gallon. 2. Upon all other spirits imported—twelve shillings per gallon. 3. Wine—five per cent, ad valorem. 4. Tea and sugar—five per cent, ad valorem. 5. Flour, meal, wheat, rice, and other grain and pulse—free until the 31st December, 1840, after which five per cent, will be charged. 6. Tobacco and snuff, manufactured—two shillings per lb.; unmanufactured—one shilling and sixpence per lb. 7. Goods, &c., not being the produce and manufacture of the United Kingdom—ten per cent, ad valorem.
In addition, there was a long list of wharfage rates leviable upon everything, and sliding from three shillings on a threshing machine to three farthings for a foot of spar.
The two earliest Bonded Stores of which there is any record were:— Messrs. Arthur Kemmis and Co., Market Square, and Captain Roach, Little Flinders Street.
The Melbourne Auction Company
Was established in April, 1840, with a capital of £60,000, but though ushered into the world with every kind of flourish which the typographical clarion was capable of sounding, it soon shared the fate of several other old joint-stock undertakings which, starting with a Directory of ostentatious names, and less capital than expectations, very soon came to grief. The Directory of this large "knocking down" firm were William Langhorne, Frederick Manton, Farquhar McCrae, Jonathan Binns Were, Alexander Thomson, Thomas Wills, Charles Howard, Daniel Stodhart Campbell, Alexander M'Killop, William Ryrie, James Graham, Arthur Kemmis, Horatio Nelson Carrington, George Brunswick Smythe, William Highett, William Hampdenn Dutton, Godfrey Howitt, and William Morris Harper, Esquires.
The chief executive staff was thus formed:— Managing Director: John Carey, Esq.; Auctioneer: George Sinclair Brodie, Esq.; Accountant: Archibald M'Lachlan, Esq.; Bankers: The Bank of Australasia; Solicitors: Messrs. Montgomery and M'Crae.
The professed object of this co-partnery was to afford sufficient security and increased facilities to parties having property to dispose of. It was declared to have a fair prospect of success, but required an Act of Council to enable its Managing Director to sue and be sued. On attempting to promote a Private Bill in the Legislature of New South Wales, the Governor (Sir G. Gipps) refused his sanction (the granting of which was an indispensable preliminary) in consequence of the failure of an auction company in Sydney. There was no alternative, therefore, but a dissolution. Of all the names above given, the only survivor in 1888 is Mr. James Graham.
Defunct Quarantine Stations.--Point Ormond.
The first yellow-flagged ship arriving in Port Phillip was the "Glen Huntley," from Greenock, with immigrants, on the 17th April, 1840. Typhus fever had shown itself on the voyage, and out of 157 passengers there were no less than fifty on the sick list. Great was the consternation amongst the townspeople on the appearance of so unexpected and unwelcome an importation as a probable pestilence, and no time was lost in arranging for the establishment of a Quarantine Station. The then umbrageous, picturesque territory, now thoroughly civilized and known as St. Kilda, was designated by the Aborigines "Euro-Yroke" from a species of sandstone abounding there, by which they shaped and sharpened their stone tomahawks. Its first European appellation was the "Green Knoll" (the eminence, then much higher, now recognized as the Esplanade), until Superintendent Latrobe named the country St. Kilda in compliment to a dashing little schooner, once a visitor in the Bay. St. Kilda was considered a smart walk from town, and adventurous pedestrians made Sunday trips there in the fine weather. About a mile further, looking out in perpetual watch over Hobson's Bay, was a point known as the Little Red Bluff, afterwards improved into Point Ormond, and here some four miles from Melbourne, a pleasant enough spot, was organized ourfirstsanitary station, where tents were pitched, and crew and passengers sent ashore. Ample precautions were taken to intercept communication with the interdicted world by land or sea, and Dr. Barry Cotter, Melbourne's first practising medico, not being too full handed with patients in a small, healthy, youthful community, with a magnanimity that did him credit, volunteered his services to take charge of the newly-formed station. There was a military detachment located there, from which a guard was assigned to protect the encampment on the land side, whilst the revenue-cutter, "Prince George," from Sydney, was stationed seaward to shut off communication by boat or otherwise. The Surgeon-Superintendent entered upon his duties with a becoming sense of their importance. By an amusing perversion of terms he styled the place "Healthy Camp," and whilst lording it there, issued regular bulletins upon the condition of the invalids and convalescents consigned to his care. Three of the immigrants died there, and were interred near the Bluff. Their lonely graveyard was afterwards enclosed with a rough wooden railing, but has been destroyed by time, and from oversight or culpable neglect has not been replaced, and so their mortal remains have rested in peace, unprotected and undisturbed.
On the publication of the foregoing in the Press, the following correspondence took place. A writer signing himself "Architect" says:—
"In Garryowen's Reminiscences of Early Melbourne he mentions the dilapidated state of the forgotten graves on Point Ormond. Now as the St. Kilda Council seem to have gone to sleep over the matter, I think it would be well for the public to endeavour to place an iron railing and small monument over the spot. I send you cheque for one pound to start the subscription, and I shall be most happy to prepare plans, &c., and superintend erection of same without charging for my labour."
To this Mr. J. N. Browne, Town Clerk of St. Kilda, thus replies:— "This Council (St. Kilda) applied to the Hon. the Minister of Lands for control of the reserve at Point Ormond, which request was refused by the Minister. The reserve in question is now vested in and under the control of certain gentlemen as a committee of management."
A note by the Editor further explains thus:— "We are informed that the late Councillor Tullett, of St. Kilda, moved in the matter, but died before any definite action could be taken. Councillor Tullett moved that a suitable monument should be erected at the expense of the Council, and inscribed as follows:— 'This monument was erected by the Mayor and Councillors of the Borough of St. Kilda, in memory of Armstrong, locksmith; Craig, weaver; James Matter, cook; George Denham, all of Scotch nationality. They arrived in this colony in the barque 'Glen Huntley,' which sailed from Obin, Scotland, 28th October, 1839, and thence to Greenwich, where the above deceased embarked, and having been detained there in quarantine for some weeks, sailed thence 13th December, 1839, and after an extraordinary succession of illnesses on board and accidents (once running on a rock, one collision, and once fouling with another ship) arrived, and anchored at the point then known as Point Ormond, now called Red Bluff, 17th April, 1840.'"
A friend, to whom I am under much obligation for acts of courtesy, has forwarded a communication containing this extract:— "When I landed here in February, 1842, there was a ship, I think, called the 'Manlius,' in the Bay near Williamstown, with her passengers landed, and in quarantine at Williamstown. Many of the passengers died, and were interred near the old lighthouse. That would be some years before the ship 'General Palmer' arrived." I obtained similar information from another private source; but not finding any corroboration in the newspapers of the period, I did not include it in my narrative.
South Williamstown.
Settlement was gradually, though sparsely, extended over the hilly, grassy, swampy country, now (1888) one of our wealthiest suburbs, and the danger and inconvenience of a lazaretto so close to Melbourne grew so self-evident that another and more suitable site had to be looked up, and it was determined to cross the Bay and appropriate some locality on the other side. A spot on the coast about a mile southward of Point Gellibrand (the Williamstown lighthouse) was chosen—a cheerless, rocky, dreary place enough—and here it was decided to provide temporary accommodation when required. But time flew by, and no infected vessel was reported, and so people almost forgot even the existence of a possible disagreeable contingency, when, nine years since the quarantining of the first sick ship, another put in appearance. This was the "General Palmer," with immigrants from London, arriving on the 10th April, 1849, with unwelcome intelligence that fever and whooping-cough had prevailed on board. Tents were hurriedly pitched on the ground, though there arose no subsequent necessity for occupying them. A Medical Board, composed of Dr. Patterson (Immigration Agent) Dr. Beith, R.N., and Dr. Wilmott (Coroner) was appointed to investigate the case, and they reported to the Provincial Superintendent (Latrobe) that during the voyage six cases of fever had occurred amongst adult passengers, but without any fatal consequences. There were eighty-six children on board, several of whom had suffered from scarlet fever and whooping-cough, and eight had died—four from each disease. There was then no contagious sickness prevailing, and it was recommended that after a four days' isolation, should no fresh case occur, both ship and passengers should be released from detention. This course was adopted, and nothing after occurred to question its propriety.
Spottiswood's Ferry.
Unsuitability from its unsheltered position, and other objections were urged against the second Sanatorium, which necessitated another removal, and the third establishment was placed at the other extreme of Williamstown, towards the confluence of the Yarra and Saltwater Rivers, close by what got to be known as "Spottiswood's Ferry," from boats plying there to supply pedestrians with a short cut from Williamstown to the capital. A small roughish encampment was raised, and here on the 7th November, 1849, were impounded the crew and passengers of the "John Thomas Foord," 790 tons, from Plymouth, with immigrants. Cholera had been raging on board during the passage out, and the deaths numbered twenty-four. The ship sailed on the 17th July, and as no fatal event happened since the 1st August, the detention of the quarantined was of short duration.
On the 21st December, 1851, the "Eagle," 1065 tons, from Liverpool, with a large number of passengers, was placed in quarantine, in consequence of fourteen children having died from measles, and one adult from smallpox, during the voyage. Though no disease had appeared for several weeks, the doctor, as was thought, through some grudge towards the captain (Boyce) refused to report the vessel as healthy. A medical inquiry was forthwith instituted and resulted in a removal of the detainer, with only a few hours' inconvenience.
No need to identify the present, only too familiar Quarantine Station at Portsea, beyond mentioning that the Point Nepean region was originally a place chosen for lime-burning operations, and in the lapse of time grew into a depasturing depot for police troopers' horses. It is instructive to note as an instance of the appropriateness with which the Aborigines wedded localities to names, that the Sorrento Peninsula was known in the native dialect as "Boona-tall-ung" signifying a kangaroo hide, which when spread out bears a marked resemblance to the neck of land of which Point Nepean forms the apex or "snout."