Albany Woollen Mills, also known as the Western Australian Worsted and Woollen Mills Ltd.,
was a
woollen mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
located in
Albany, Western Australia.
The idea of having a mill in Albany was first proposed in 1920, an article in the ''
Albany Advertiser'' suggested the town was a strong contender due to the good supply of fresh water and local climatic conditions. A local
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
, S. G. Haynes, gifted of land for the project.
In 1921 the Minister of Industry,
John Scaddan
John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.
Early life
John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...
, announced that Albany had been chosen over sites in Perth, Bunbury and Collie.
The mill was the first woollen mill to be built in the state of Western Australia. Construction commenced in 1923 with a foundation stone laid by the
premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
,
James Mitchell on 7 March. Later the same year a contract was awarded to L. Hinks and Company of
Melbourne to build the Mill for £85,000. The cost did not include site levelling or the erection of the
power house
Powerhouse or power house may refer to:
* Power station, a facility (or former facility) for the generation of electric power
Businesses
* Powerhouse (shop), a former electrical goods chain in the United Kingdom
* Powerhouse Animation Studios, a ...
.
[ Hinks decided to purchase land for the mill adjacent to the railway line at the foot of Mount Melville rejecting the gifted land that was too far from town.][ The main building had a frontage of and a width of with the interior divided into 11 bays. The high walls are made of reinforced concrete and roof was made of corrugated ]asbestos
Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
held aloft by 60 steel stanchions
A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture.
Types
In architecture stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horizo ...
. Two 400 horsepower Babcock boilers were installed and connected to a smokestack.
It opened in 1925 as a way to increase employment and bring economic benefits to the Great Southern. The company opened in 1925 with £116,331 owed to shareholders. In 1926 rumours were rife that the mill was on the brink of closing prompting the Chairman of Directors, Ernest Augustus Lee Steere
Sir Ernest Augustus Lee Steere (19 March 186622 December 1957) was a prominent Australian businessman and pastoralist.
Biography
Lee Steere was born on 19 March 1866 in Beverley and was the second son of Augustus Lee Steere. He worked in the Murc ...
, to express his surprise in local newspapers at the idea.[
The mill continued to struggle on making a loss for most of the early years. The site was poorly chosen as the noise and ]smog
Smog, or smoke fog, is a type of intense air pollution. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words ''smoke'' and '' fog'' to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. The word was then inte ...
were constant problems for the town and the wool produced was too distant from markets. The factory itself was found to be of a poor design and inefficient.[
Directors of the mill gave 100 workers a week's notice of dismissal in early 1931 as a result of an overburden of stock. Operations at the mills then stopped for a period of approximately six weeks; the Premier Mitchell reopened the mill after meeting with directors.
The mill employed over 120 workers in 1934 and had an annual turnover of £150,000 compared to £54,000 the year before.
An annual profit of £17,306 was recorded in 1953 followed by a £24,500 profit in 1954. The chairman, F. T. Heron, announced his intention of continuing to build up the efficiency of plant and equipment.
In 1963 the mill was one of four to be awarded a contract to produce a total of 160,000 army blankets worth a total of £400,000.
]Robert Holmes à Court
Michael Robert Hamilton Holmes à Court (27 July 1937 – 2 September 1990) was a South African-born Australian businessman who became Australia's first billionaire, before dying suddenly of a heart attack in 1990 at the age of 53.
A great- ...
acquired the mill in 1970[ when it was in danger of closing. Holmes à Court persuaded the state government to waive a 500,000 loan guarantee in exchange for keeping the mill open; he then turned the business around so that it was financially viable again. Shortly afterward he acquired Bell Brothers Holdings, which, with the mill and his other business interests, were incorporated into Bell Group Limited.] The investment arm of Bell Group, J. N. Taylor, sold the Mill in 1988 after Bell had been taken over by Bond Corporation. At the time the mill had annual turnover of 30 million and was the biggest independent carpet yarn spinning mill in Australia.
The mill was under administration in 1996 with the state government offering assistance to other companies interested in purchasing the operations. The Regional Development Minister, Hendy Cowan
Hendy John Cowan (born 25 April 1943) is a former deputy premier of Western Australia.
He had served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the Member for Merredin-Yilgarn from 30 March 1974 and the Member for Merredin from 19 Feb ...
, was keen to see the mills become a more vertically integrated wool processing company that manufactured more than yarn.
File:Albanywoollenmill.JPG, Facade of Albany Woollen Mills 2015
File:Albanywoolenmillfoundationstone.JPG, Foundation stone
File:Albanywoollenmillsfacade.JPG, Albany Woollen Mills facade
File:Albanywoollenmillsinterior.JPG, Interior of mill 2015
See also
References
{{coord, 35, 01, 37.8, S, 117, 52, 38, E, display=title
1925 establishments in Australia
Heritage places in Albany, Western Australia
Woollen mills
Australian companies established in 1925