Langlands foundry was
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
's first foundry and iron shipbuilder (1842–97). It was established in 1842 (only 8 years after the founding of the colony) by two Scottish immigrants, Robert Langlands (son of John Langlands, baker, of Dundee) and
Thomas Fulton (ironmaster) (1813–1859) who had formed a partnership before emigrating. the business was known as the 'Langlands Foundry Co'.
Henry Langlands (1794-1863), left Scotland in 1846 with his wife Christian, née Thoms. and five surviving children to join his brother Robert. By the time he arrived in early January 1847 the partnership of Langlands and Fulton had dissolved as Fulton had gone off to establish his own works, and the two brothers took over ownership of Langlands foundry. Several years later Robert retired and Henry became sole proprietor.
The foundry was originally located on
Flinders Lane
Flinders Lane is a minor street and thoroughfare in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The laneway runs east–west from Spring Street to Spencer Street in-between Flinders and Collins Streets. Originally laid ou ...
between
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and
Spencer Streets. Their sole machine tool, when they commenced business, was a small slide rest lathe turned by foot In about 1865 they moved to the south side of the river, to the
Yarra bank near the
Spencer Street Bridge
The Spencer Street Bridge is a road and tram bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. It connects Spencer Street on the north bank with Clarendon Street on the south. The idea of a bridge at this point was first put forward in the m ...
, (now occupied by the Robur Tea building), and then in about 1886 they moved to Grant Street,
South Melbourne
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...
, (later occupied by a subsidiary of the British steel firm
Dorman Long
Dorman Long & Co was a UK steel producer, later diversifying into bridge building. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange.
History
The company was founded by Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long when they acquired ''West Marsh ...
.
The works employed as many as 350 workers manufacturing a wide range of marine, mining, civil engineering, railway and general manufacturing components including engines and boilers. The foundry prospered despite high wages and the lack of raw materials. It became known for high quality products that competed successfully with any imported articles. By the time of his retirement (shortly before his death), the foundry was one of the largest employers in the Victoria and was responsible for casting the first bell and lamp-posts in the colony. It also cast the boiler of the first train to run in Australia on the
Hobson's Bay Railway and successfully launched the first iron vessel, a river tug 109 feet (33 m) in length. This event was cheered by over 3000 spectators. The business was carried on by his sons after Henry's death.
The company was responsible for fabricating the boiler for the first railway locomotive to operate in Australia, a
2-2-2WT configuration built in 1854 by
Robertson, Martin & Smith
Robertson, Martin and Smith was an engineering firm in Melbourne in the second half of the nineteenth century. The company manufactured the first steam locomotive to be built in Australia.
Robertson, Martin and Smith comprised a partnership of W ...
for the
Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company
The Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company was a railway company in Victoria, Australia. The company was incorporated on 20 January 1853 to build the line from Melbourne to the port of Sandridge, now Port Melbourne.
The proposal met ...
. In the 1860s, they commenced manufacture of cast iron pipes for the
Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works
The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW) was a public utility board in Melbourne, Australia, set up in 1891 to provide water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment functions for the city. In 1992, the MMBW was merged with a number of sm ...
, which was then laying the first reticulated water supply system in Melbourne.
Langlands was well known for its gold mining equipment, being the first company in Victoria to take up the manufacture of mining machinery, and it played an important role in equipping Victoria's and Australia's first mineral boom in the 1850s and '60s. The company's products including stamper batteries and ore crushing mills, were distributed over Australasia from
Charters Towers
Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...
to the
Thames goldfields of New Zealand. The first stamp mills made in Australia were manufactured by Langlands, who devised the first stamper system based on the principle of the stamp and shank being rotated by the lifting cam, thus equalizing the wear on the stamp. Up to that time the shanks were square and did not rotate. While this was an invention of Fulton, he did not patent the idea, and so it was quickly copied all over the world.
Major facilities included a
Bessemer converter
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation w ...
(1887) to produce steel and a cast-iron pipe-making shop which produced water, sewerage and hydraulic pipes, and structural columns, including those for
Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge, originally Prince's Bridge,, ''...he wished that it might be distinguished by the name of "Prince's Bridge," in honour of the Prince of Wales, whom he hoped would yet be the Sovereign of their colonies...'' is a bridge in centra ...
.
The firm also exported equipment and technology, such as its fitting out of the Nelson City Gas Works New Zealand.
Langlands Foundry was an incubator for a number of engineers including
Herbert Austin
Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin (8 November 186623 May 1941) was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company. For the majority of his career he was known as Sir Herbert Austin, and the Northfield bypass ...
(1866–1941) who worked as a fitter at Langlands, and went on to both work on the
Wolesely Shearing machine and to found the
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company Limited was an English manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors Limited in the new holding company British Motor Corporation (BMC) Limi ...
.
In the early "nineties" the firm declined and was bought up by the
Austral Otis
Austral Otis was a Melbourne engineering works established in 1887 on site of former Langlands foundry in Grant Street, South Melbourne. It was one of the largest manufacturers of elevators in Australia and continued as the Otis Elevator Company.
...
Co. in about 1893. Fulton retired from the firm before this date and practised as a consulting engineer. The company motif comprised a stamp with belt and buckle motif.
Australia Post History
/ref>
References
{{Reflist
Manufacturing companies established in 1842
Manufacturing companies of Australia
Engineering companies of Australia
Foundries in Australia
Shipbuilding in Australia
1842 establishments in Australia
History of Melbourne
1890s disestablishments in Australia