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the balmainassociat ionIncorporatednews sheet

T H e P e n i x i s x i l a

V o l 2 9 n o 5 I s s u e 2 3 1 F o u n d e d 1 9 6 5 October/november 1994

Colgate Closing Balmain FactoryColgate-Palmolive began withsoaF>-boiling in Balmain in 1923

a n d w i l l c l o s e t h i s O c t o b e r . To c o mmemorate over seventy years ofproduction in Balmain an exhibition ofphotographs and products will be held inthe History Room at the Watch House onSaturday 29 and Sunday 30 October. Abook, Doiun the Olive, will be ready int ime for "Back to Balmain Day" celebrations on 30 October in ElkingtonP a r k .

E l s e L a c k e y, A r c h i v i s t , M o n i c aVardabasso, Corporate Affairs Manager,and Riaz Dean, Balmain Plant Manager,have been researching the plant's socialhistory. This required some rewardingtrips to the Central Coast to interviewe x - P a l m o l i v e r s w h o h a v e r e t i r e d t h e r e .

They wanted to hear the voices of themany men and women who have workedthere. Many of these people lived andworked in Ba lma in and some s t i l l do . I twas a true-blue working class area. Thecoal mine was still being worked, Mort'sDock & Engineering was operating andColgate-Palmolive was producing the'original and best' Palmolive soap in thefamous olive green crepe paper wrapperwith its black band and gold seal. TheAcme Box Co was turning out woodencrates to transport soap and toothpastefor Colgate-Palmolive.

Ray Coilyer, Roy Dale and GeoffHanley will be on hand in the WatchHouse to answer any questions and talkto anyone who wants to know moreabout those days 'down the olive'.

B o o k L a u n c h

Streets, Lanes and Places,1836-1994, an index of streetnames of Balmain, Birchgrove andRozelle will be launched by DrPeter Reynolds at 6pm on Tuesday2 5 O c t o b e r a t t h e Wa t c h H o u s e .Most of the origins of the streets onthe Peninsula are traced in our new

publication.The book contains 64 pages

with 41 photographs and 3 mapsand can also be purchased at theWatch House for $10 or $12posted. Contact PC Box 57Balmain 2041 or te l 810 5185.

Co l tex Deve lopment

Caltex proposes to build 134dwellings on its Ballast Point sitewith the consent authority PlanningMinister, Mr Robert Webster, instead ofLeichhardt Council. On 27 SeptemberThe Counci l backed the Mayor 'sapplication to appeal against thed e c i s i o n o f t h e L a n d & E n v i r o n m e n tCourt upholding the Minister's REP.

The Council supports the BallastP o i n t M a t i o n a i P a r k C a m p a i g nCommittee in advocating that the areabe returned to the public as a naturalreserve reflecting its importance toSydney Harbour as part of the group ofr e l a t e d h e a d l a n d s . T h e s e i n c l u d eYurulbin (Long Mose Point), Ball's Head,Manns Point and Berry Island. Caitex'sown heritage study acknowledges the

importance of the site's relationship tot h e h a r b o u r .

The Caltex plan has 16 Torrens titlelots (10 waterfront dwellings of 3 levels)facing north, 3 apartment blocks of 6levels on the ridge, 7 town-houses on thesouthern side of the ridge, 4 apartmentblocks of 4 or 5 levels overlooking thepoint and 2 apartment blocks facingsouth, one of 7 and the other of 6 levels.One-third of the site, 8000m^, on thepoint, will be formed and grassed anddedicated as public open space.

An extraordinary approach to themaximum height control of the buildingsis the use of the height of existing treesa t t h e s i t e e n t r a n c e t o o v e r c o m eL e i c h h a r d t E n v i r o n m e n t a l P l a n H o 2 0 .This results in a ten storey appearancef r o m t h e h a r b o u r a n d t r e e s h a v e b e e ndrawn on the elevations to attempt to

mask the proposed wall of buildings.This emphasises the exclusion of heightcontrols in the negotiations by theDepartment of Planning with the Councilon the REP. The Department evidentlydecided to help the developer against theinterests of residents. The height controlis the basis of the Council's appealagainst the Court's decision.

T h e r e i s s o i l c o n t a m i n a t i o n c o m

pr is ing pet ro leum carbon leve ls ande l e v a t e d l e a d v a l u e s . I t h a s b e e n e st i m a t e d t h a t 6 0 0 0 c u b i c m e t r e s o f s o i lw i l l r e q u i r e r e m e d i a t i o n . W h e n t h e

storage tanks are demolished sludge willneed to be removed. Pulpit Pointc o n t a i n e d s i m i l a r t a n k s w h o s e d emolition constituted the major cost ofbringing that site up to residentialstandards and sludge is reported to bestill rising to the surface.

Balmain PersonalityE w e n Wa l l a c e C a m e r o n

wen Wa l l ace Cameron was bo rn i ni l 8 1 6 i n F r a n c e t o L i e u t e n a n t -

c o l o n e l C h a r l e s C a m e r o n a n d h i ssecond wife Luduvina Rosa da Si iva. His

father, accompanied by his family, wasposted to garrison duty in Van Dieman'sLand after 1821 following service in theNapoleonic Wars. Ewen attended W TCape's school in Sydney and later joinedthe Commissariat Department as ac l e r k .

in 1838 Ewen, with his brother-in-law,W H D u t t o n , a n d o t h e r s f o r m e d o n e o f

the first overlanding parties to SouthAustralia. After unsuccessfully takingup land in New England he went off tothe California gold diggings. On hisreturn he entered the office of T S Morta n d s o o n b e c a m e h i s fi n a n c i a l

manager and a partner in 1856 whenthe firm of T S Mort & Co was created.He took charge of the wool assignments, squat t ing accounts andpastoral finance.

Cameron went on to become a veryimportant Balmain person. On 7October 1852 at St Mary's Church, \Balmain, he married Sophia (Jsher(bl830) and they had twelvech i ld ren , ten o f whom survived childhood. They wereLuduvina (51853), Sophia(51855) . Ju l ian (b lB57) ,Charles G (b 1859), Ewen Mort(biaei) , Jessie I (51864,d 1864), Wallace (bl865),Annie c (bl867). Ronald J(51869), William L (bl871),Donald C (b 1874) and Elsie N( 5 1 8 7 6 , d l 8 7 6 ) . A l l b u tLuduvina. Sophie and Anniewere born at Ewenton, BlakeS t r e e t , B a l m a i n . E w e nCameron purchased BlakeVa l e i n 1 8 5 6 a n d r e n a m e d i t

Ewenton. Concluding that itwas too small for his growingfami ly, in 1860 he comm i s s i o n e d t h e B a l m a i n

a r c h i t e c t , J a m e s M c D o n a l d , t o a d d a nupper storey and entrance portico. Theupper storey, in keeping with the original,was given a bay window of singulara p p e a r a n c e .

C a m e r o n w a s e l e c t e d a s o n e o f t h efirst aldermen of the Balmain MunicipalCounci l in 1860. Four st reets in Balmainare named after the Camerons, Charles,

1860 (Drawn by G Giddy)

T

Commemorative chancel windows in St Mary's Church

Ewenton, Wallace and Cameron. He isfea tu red in the H is to ry Commi t tee 'sStreets, Lanes and Places, an index oft h e s t r e e t s o f t h e P e n i n s u l a t o b e

released in late October. In public affairsh e w a s a c t i v e i n c h a r i t a b l e i n s t i t u t i o n ssuch as Sydney Hospital, the SailorsHome, Female Refuge Society and RoyalPrince Alfred Hospital. In local affairs he

was president of the Balmain Working-m e n ' s A s s o c i a t i o n .

In 1861 he Joined the VolunteerBa lma in R ifles and became l ieu tenan t in1862 and captain in 1868, holding thatposition until 1876. As well he wascaptain and adjutant of the SydneyBattalion 1869-70. In St Mary's Churchhe was churchwarden, a member ofsynod and also lay cannon of StA n d r e w ' s C a t h e d r a l . H e w a s e l e c t e dfellow of St Paul's College, University ofSydney and was an original member ofthe Union Club in 1857 as well as theRoyal Sydney Yacht Squadron in 1862and was elected a member of the RoyalSociety of New South Wales in August

1 8 7 5 .C a m e r o n r e t i r e d f r o m a c t i v e i n

volvement in Mort & Co in early 1866and took his family on the "Grand Tour"■ of Europe. The Workingmen's Institute

gave him a farewell dinner at theOddfe l lows Ha l l on 7 March 1866. The100 seated guests were entertained by

t h e Vo l u n t e e r R i fl e B a n d w i t h t h e h a l l

dressed wi th flags, flowers andevergreens. In response he offered halfthe cost of a new classroom and half ofthe deficit of a recent picnic. Almosttwo years to the day, the Cameronsw e r e b a c k i n B a l m a i n . T h e I n s t i t u t e

c h o s e t o c e l e b r a t e t h eoccasion with a gala picnicf o r 2 5 0 w e l l - w i s h e r s a t

Clontarf, Middle Harbour.In 1872 Cameron again

c a l l e d o n M c D o n a l d t o b u i l d

a three-storey wing on thes o u t h s i d e o f E w e n t o n ,w h i c h t r a n s f o r m e d i t t o t h e

mansion it is today. The newwing was totally dissimilar tothe north wing despite thecommissioning of the samearchitect. The high qualitys tonework was unusua l l ydeta i led wi th heav i ly outl i n e d w i n d o w s .

Cameron died on 25 May1876 aged 59 years. In hishonour his widow, Sophia, in1877 gave St Marys the

w o n d e r f u l m e m o r i a l c h a n c e l o f s t a i n e d

glass windows depicting Christ flankedby Solomon and David. Sadly she diedon 8 January 1878, aged only 48 years,barely eighteen months after herh u s b a n d ' s d e a t h .

S o u r c e : L e i c h h a r d t H i s t o r i c a l J o u r n a l

N o 1 5 . T h a n k s a l s o t o R o T i d s w e l l .

B o n n i e D a v i d s o n

Treasurer's Annual Report for 1993-94I n c o m e

Membership 4 1 1 9 . 0 0

G r a n t s 2 5 0 . 0 0D o n a t i o n s 6 7 6 . 0 0L e a fl e t s 9 4 7 . 9 5

A r o u n d B a l m a i n 11 8 2 . 8 0C a l l e d t o t h e B a r 1 4 2 5 . 7 6Half Thousand Acres 2 2 3 . 0 0G o u r l i e ' s C o r n e r 7 2 9 . 0 0L H i s t J o u r n a l 1 6 4 7 . 0 0C h r i s t i a n B r o t h e r s 1 6 5 . 0 0

History 11 5 5 . 0 0Watch House h i re 1 0 4 0 9 . 0 0M i s c e l l a n e o u s 2 9 . 0 0I n t e r e s t 4 3 1 . 8 8

Computer sale 5 0 0 . 0 0T o t a l 2 3 8 9 0 . 3 9

Brought forward June 1993Cheque Account 1 8 4 1 2 . 7 1Savings Account 5 3 6 1 . 9 5History Cttee 3 8 7 . 8 8

2 4 1 6 2 . 5 4P i u s i n c o m e 2 3 8 9 0 . 3 9Less expenditure 3 0 3 7 4 . 7 6

1 7 6 7 8 . 1 7

S l l v e r t o n G a o l^ I "^he Observer's occasional rovingX correspondent has recently re

t u r n e d f r o m a v i s i t t o t h e o u t b a c k a n dw i s h e s t o s h a r e w i t h r e a d e r s t h epleasures to be found in a side trip toSilverton, especially the former gaolwhich provides an interesting comparison with the Balmain Watch House.

Silverton itself was originally only asmall copper claim pegged out in 1881but grew to a town of 3000 by 1885-6when silver-bearing ore was found. Notsurprisingly a certain amount of crimeoccurred and it became necessary tofind a lock up. According to the BrokenHi l l H i s to r i ca l Assoc ia t i on l eafle t on t he

subject, the original gaol consisted of am a k e s h i f t w o o d a n d i r o n s t r u c t u r e .Prisoners were secured at night with leg-irons (in two sizes, one for men, one forw o m e n ) . W h e n t h e l i m i t e d c e l laccommodation overflowed, they werechained to a nearby peppercorn tree.

The present structure, built in 1889,was than the Watch House, with fourcells, two solitary cells, a padded cell anda s i ck room, as we l l as a two exe rc i se

yards, a warders room and a bath inaddition to the police living quarters.

Following the opening of the BrokenH i l l G a o l i n 1 9 9 2 a n d t h e d e c r e a s e i n

population of Silverton which resultedfrom the exhaustion of the seam of si lver

E x p e n d i t u r eO b s e r v e r 1 8 9 6 . 5 9

Subscriptions 1 7 5 . 0 0R e f u n d s 6 3 0 . 0 0P u b l i c a t i o n s 1 6 2 7 . 0 0Watch House carpet 5 5 0 . 0 0Watch House garden 6 1 9 2 . 0 0Watch House plinth 1 7 0 0 . 0 0Wa t c h H o u s e o t h e r 7 9 4 . 6 0

Montague Design 8 9 4 1 . 0 0Other History display 2 0 6 4 . 1 3W/H operating 3 3 2 0 . 3 0

M i s c e l l a n e o u s 4 1 4 . 7 0Govt charges 9 5 . 4 4

Computer 1 9 7 4 . 0 0T o t a l 3 0 3 7 4 . 7 6

C a r r i e d f o r w a r d

Cheque account 3 2 2 1 . 5 2less outstanding cheques 5 0 7 . 7 2

2 7 1 3 . 8 0

Savings account 1 4 5 7 0 . 7 0

History account 3 9 3 . 6 7O n h a n d 1 7 6 7 8 . 1 7

Back to Balmain Day^ I "'he 6th Annual Back to Balmain DayA will take place on Sunday 30

October in Elkington Park. As inprevious years old Tigers are expectedt o c o m e f r o m a l l o v e r t h e s t a t e t o r ek i n d l e t h e i r m e m o r i e s .

Free rides in a horse-drawn carriagewil l be avai lable from St Andrews Churchfrom 9am to 12pm. There will be reunions of ex-students at Birchgrove andB a l m a i n P u b l i c s c h o o l s f r o m 9 a m t o

12pm with displays of photographs andm e m o r a b i l i a .

A Ecumenical Service begins at10am in St Andrews CongregationalChurch followed by community singingof Pack up your troubles and Roll outt h e b a r r e l .

The picnic at Elkington park starts at11am. Steak sandwiches, soft dr inks

and i ce c ream ava i lab le . The Le ichhard tCouncil Band will entertain from 2pm.

Bring the whole family to celebratethe Year of the Family.

ore, the Silverton Gaol was used only forshort-term prisoners and as an overnightlock up. in the 1930s it became a boys'reformatory but both the Police Stationand Gaol were c losed in 1943.

As was the case in Balmain. manyi t e m s o f h i s t o r i c a l i n t e r e s t w e r e d e

stroyed in the intervening period, but theBroken Hill Historical Society has beenvery active in preserving what remainsand the Gaol is now the home of a verywell organised and well presentedexh ib i t ion o f I tems f rom the ent i re area.These include photographs, documents,househo ld , pas to ra l and m in ingequipment and a beautiful collection ofclothing. Some of the cell furniture is alsoon display. Among the records is thehospital register, a page of which givessome hint of why a padded cell wasnecessary: a number of the admissionsw e r e f o r D T ' s .

A n o t h e r B a l m a i n c o n n e c t i o n i s D a m e

Mary Gilmore who, then Mary JaneCameron, served as an assistantteacherat Silverton Public School from October1 8 8 7 - D e c e m b e r 1 8 8 9 . B a l m a i n v i s i t o r swill also find a certain familiarity in thea b u n d a n c e o f a r t s t u d i o s a n d t h e f a c tthat the town - now a "ghost town" - hasprovided the setting for many Australianfilm and television productions. A visit tothe area, allowing at least an hour for themuseum, is highly recommended.

Debbg Nictiolls

Fourth Runway

Do you live under the fourth runway?It starts at Pyrmont and extendsalong the Parramatta River and SydneyHarbour. If you live close to thiswaterway then you will be affected by thehelicopters that use the runway.

The State Government has approvedt h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a c o m m e r c i a l

heliport at Wharf 8, F*yrmont. Helicopterflights over the Harbour, Lane Cove andParramatta Rivers will at least triple withat least 7-8 flights per hour. Helicopterswill be licensed to operate between 7amand 7pm with up to 96 flights per day.Public holidays and Sundays will not beh e l i c o p t e r f r e e . T h e E n v i r o n m e n tProtection Authority's guidelines allow27 flights per day. There is no monitoringau tho r i t y and t he re i s no l ega lrequirement for operators to have publicliability insurance.

A group of concerned Sydney' residents from The Rocks. Pyrmont,Balmain, North Sydney, Lane Cove andDrummoyne have formed ICAFCAG

I (Inc) to fight this proposal. They have thesupport of all the local councils and state(except Lane Cove) and federa lpar l iamentar ians (L ibera l , Labor andIndependent) in these areas. If you wishto join or give financial help they can becontacted at 33 Darling St Balmain.Tel/Fax 810 3279

ffxLate Spring Gardening

Flowers for cutting. Dahlias are quiteeasy to grow and are among themost popular plants fors u m m e r a n d a u t u m n

flowers. They are available ^in many colours and may bes m a l l , m e d i u m o r t a l l " x >growers. The plants areheavy feeders and must begrown in very good soil, richin organic matter. Some ofthe dwarf dahlias will growin pots if you are short ofspace. Your nursery willhave packets of tuberswhich will give you size and colour. Myfavour i te is the cactus Dahl ia .

Don't plant the tubers too deeply. Theneck where the new shoot ar ises should

be abou t 5 cm be low the su r face wh i l ethe opposite end can be a little deeper.Plant out after September or Octoberand choose an open sunny site. Don'tforget to provide a stout stake to supportmedium and ta l l growers. Waterthoroughly on planting then deeply

every week until the plants are growingstrongly. Water more often when budsbegin to form during summer and neverlet the plants dry out. Covering the soilwith a thick layer of compost will help.

Movember gardening will have somefertilising for you to do. Feed all roses,

trees and shrubs (camellias andazaleas excepted) with rose foodand a complete fertiliser. Use a slow

r e l e a s e f e r t i l i s e r s u c h a srSutricote. As an organica l t e rna t i ve use b lood and

■ ^^bone or a well-rottedmanure. For natives use anative plant food or blooda n d b o n e .

Follow feeding withample mulching, Usecompost, spoiled hay,

lucerne hay, mushroom compost or anyof the mulches that you like, Mulchapplied now will help plants, especiallyroses, to grow through summer withoutstress and therefore disease problemswi l l be lessened. Water use wi l l d imin ish

if you mulch well (6 cm or more) as itappears that water restrictions will beimposed this summer. Mulching will beabsolutely necessary for your garden.

B o n n i e D a v i d s o n

Le i chha rd t Counc i l Wa rds'' I ^he referendum held last March

M . r e s u l t e d i n a d e c i s i v e v o t e f o r t h ereturn of wards. A number of optionshave been prepared by Council for theestablishment a ward system.

It is important to note that under theprovisions of the Local Government Act(1933), the population of electors in anyward created by division of a council areacannot vary by more than 10% fromo t h e r w a r d s . T h e b o u n d a r i e s m u s t

correspond as near as practicable to theb o u n d a r i e s o f t h e c e n s u s c o l l e c t i o ndistricts. The options were 2 wards eachelecting 6 councillors, 3 wards of 4councillors, 4 wards of 3 councillors and6 w a r d s o f 2 c o u n c i l l o r s .

The preferred option is for 3 wards;(a) the suburbs of Balmain East,Balmain, Birchgrove and Rozelle with theboundary of Foucart Street, (b) thesuburbs of Lilyfield and Leichhardt withthe boundary of White's Creek, (c) thes u b u r b s o f G l e b e . G l e b e P o i n t ,A n n a n d a l e a n d F o r e s t L o d g e . T h eadvantages of this option are that thereis no division of community interest andthat clearly defined boundaries should

result in less potential for residentcon fus i on and t he res i den t s cou ld mo re

readily identify with ward issues. There isno division of precinct boundaries orc e n s u s c o l l e c t i o n d i s t r i c t s w h i c h a l l o w s

precise census data for future reviews ofw a r d b o u n d a r i e s .

W h a t ' s O nW a t c h H o u s e E x h i b i t i o n s

• Helen Engle - Oct 22-23Pottery

• Colgate-Palmolive - 29-30 Oct• N a d o M i l a t - N o v 5 - 6

Ink on paper• Jean Buettel - Nov 12-20

A pair of Jeans - multi media• Elviora Bakker - Nov 26-27

Art, pottery & woodturning• Elaine Norling - Feb 3-19

Pr in ted on recyc led paper byS n a p P r i n t . B a l m a i n

© No t t o be rep roduced w i t hou ta u t h o r i s a t i o n

A r t E x h i b i t i o n'■ I "'he Senior Citizens Art Group will

1 show their work on Sunday 30October between 1 and 4 pm at theHarrie S Hanaford Centre, 608 DarlingStreet, Rozelle.

Colgate-Palmolivewill show a collection of photographsand products in the History Room of theWatch House on Saturday 29 andSunday 30 October, 11 am to 3 pm. RayCollyer, Roy Dale and Geoff Hanley willbe there to talk to anyone interested inColgate in Balmain.

A Pa i r o f Jeans

''̂ he collaboration of country artistX Jean Spokes and north shore artistJean Buettel proves to be an excitingcombinat ion of ar tworks focusing onAustralian flora and fauna at the WatchHouse on November 12-13 & 17-20.

Jean Spokes, an art teacher fromGloucester, works in oil, water colour,pastel and porcelain. Jean Buettel alsoworks in all mediums. This is an opportunity to view a range of their works.

The Balmain Association Increpresenting Balmain, Birchgrove,

R o z e l l e .

Our A ims Are To :• improve the living, working and

recreat ional ameni t ies of oura r e a

• mainta in a l l features hav ingnatura l a rch i tec tura l and/orh i s t o r i c a l v a l u e

• compile and record history ofthe area & keep a permanentcol lect ion of i tems of h istor icali n t e r e s t

• seek the cooperation ofeveryone concerned in ther e a l i s a t i o n o f t h e a b o v e

The Watch House is open everySaturday from 12 to 3pm

The Balmain Association meets on thefirst Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm

in the Watch House179 Darling Street. Balmain.

Maiic/o PO Box 57. BALMAIN. 2041.Our editorial phone/fax is 818 4954

Interested artists, potters, sculptors,etc. who would like to organise ane x h i b i t i o n i n t h e Wa t c h H o u s e a r e

urged to contact Steve South on8 1 0 1 4 1 1 .

Annual Subscriptions:H o u s e h o l d $ 1 6 , P e n s i o n e r s &

Students $7, Organisation $21.