Shepparton Plaster Works, circa 2000.
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G’day.
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At the western end of Mason St in Shepparton there is a substantial piece of land for sale – about 1.6 hectares (four acres). It has a busy and quite complex history.
In October 1894, about half of this piece of land was purchased by John McMillan and sold to Kitchen and Apollo, three years later. Kitchen and Apollo were manufacturers of soap and candles, with existing factories in Echuca, Wangaratta and Geelong. They commissioned J.K.A. Clarke to design the building and engage a building company. As we know, Mr Clarke designed many of our finest buildings. However, this particular one was a simple and utilitarian construction, built for soap making. Several brands of soap were produced here, including velvet soap, which is still being made today, somewhere. Kitchen continued to operate, in Shepparton, until the effects of World War I began biting.
In 1902, Riedell and Dennis started the Shepparton Bacon Factory, on the other half of today’s site. Mr Stuart joined the firm in 1905 and in 1924 became a partner. By 1928, he was the sole proprietor of Stuart Bacon Factory.
In 1920, Charles Irvin purchased the vacant soap factory and in 1921, H. Scott rented the property, relocating from Maude St to expand his plaster sheet manufacturing business. The business traded as Scott and Zivin.
That business was sold to Brown and Anderson in 1926; it was still rented from Charles Irvin. Within a few years, W.J. Brown bought out Mr Anderson and in 1932 bought the land from Charles Irvin. It was now known as Shepparton Plaster Works.
Seventy years later, W.J. Brown’s grandson Jamie bought the land housing the bacon factory — and this is what makes up the package of land currently available for sale.
Did I mention that the history was complex?
Ray Brown, George Stone, Ron Grove, Charlie Deagan, Eric Brown and Ian Brown, pictured in the late 1930s.
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Jamie and Lynne Brown
Last week, I had a cuppa with the Browns, in the office of Shepparton Plaster Works. We talked about the Brown family history, drifted into a discussion about the council elections and Lynne mentioned that council had recently planted 150 red gums in the parkland nearby, which delighted her.
Jamie told me that his grandfather William Brown was born in Toolamba in 1873 and by the 1920s had a chaff business at 100 High St, Shepparton. He also bought the brick works in 1921 and ran that for five years, before selling to the Erskine family. The brick works were situated south of the plaster business, near the corner of Knight St and The Boulevard.
Jamie explained that, at the brick works, if the fire became too hot, they lost many bricks — and he thinks this happened once too often.
Undaunted, William looked for options. He had a nephew, Willy Anderson, who worked for a plaster factory in Brunswick and, in 1926, they went into partnership, purchasing the fibrous plaster manufacturing business from Scott and Zivin. Brown and Anderson Fibro Plaster Manufacturer was established.
After some years, Willy Anderson decided to start his own business elsewhere, and the manufacturer became W.J. Brown & Sons. William had three sons, Ian, Ray and Eric, plus the youngest, a daughter, Joyce. In the 1930s things were going well and William (W.J. Brown) purchased the land on which the business sat. They were now installing plaster as well as manufacturing it. They had domestic work, in addition to the large commercial jobs, such as the Butter Factory, Fairleys and the Astor Theatre. In a relatively short time, they had become the largest manufacturer of fibrous sheet in regional Victoria.
William bought a farm near Port Campbell and left the running of the business to his three sons. He passed away there in 1941.
During World War II, the factory was kept going with a skeleton staff led by Ian Brown. He and several of the staff also joined the local defence forces, while Ray served overseas and Eric was a part of the army’s defence force in northern Australia. A number of the employees also served in various capacities.
After the war, materials were scarce for a number of years but gradually, demand for housing grew — and with it, so did Brown’s Plaster Works. By the mid-1960s the business employed around 70 men. At this time, the factory worked in shifts, going into the night, in an attempt to keep up with demand.
My Note: in 1940, the population of Shepparton was 7000 and by 1950 had grown to 10,000. By 1960, it had reached 13,200. The population had almost doubled in 20 years.
Ian Brown Sr had two sons, Ian and Bill, who worked in the business — each taking a turn at running it. Jamie, Ray’s son, came home from Melbourne in 1978 and has been taking care of the business ever since.
Lynne and Jamie Brown holding a piece of his grandfather’s stamped fibrous plaster sheet.
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The winds of change
I am reminded of a saying that I like: ‘When the winds of change blow, some build a wall, others build a windmill.’ Change affects all of us but, perhaps more noticeably, businesses.
The Browns had been manufacturing fibrous, gypsum plaster sheet and installing it, or selling it to builders — as were many other regional factories. They purchased gypsum from Australian Gypsum or CSR. Then their suppliers became their competition, offering a plasterboard that was cheaper and easier to install. They didn’t want competition from a superior, locally made product. It has been said that if the factories wanted gypsum for their product, they were obliged to also purchase the equivalent weight in the new plasterboard.
From time to time, there are very large bellows behind the winds of change.
This affected many regional manufacturers, including the Browns. Here, they stopped manufacturing fibrous plaster sheet around 1984, but continued to buy plasterboard in. They then ceased the installation part of the business and concentrated on supplying the public and trade. They maintained the decorative manufacturing side of the business until just recently — examples of which can be seen at our museum (which has recently seen restoration). Today, Jamie still has some decorative cornice, and rosettes, available for sale. Anyone taking on restoration work should act quickly. Jamie is usually in his office in the mornings; however, when the land is sold, the business will be closed.
Change is often the impelling force behind the close of businesses — but, for family-run affairs, there is often something more. Jamie mentioned that he and Lynne had provided their three sons and one daughter with tertiary education — and each had found their own profession. They are now spread around Australia.
We will shortly see the end of a business that has lasted for 98 years and served our community and regional Victoria very well indeed.
I want to thank Jamie and Lynne for their time and co-operation. I thoroughly enjoyed our chat.
That’s it, for this week. It is Friday and deadline looms. I’m looking at a busy weekend, which includes a family gathering on Sunday. This year, it has been difficult for us all to get together, largely due to our eldest grandson’s ridiculously busy life. He was overseas for a while and his workload has been over the top. But we also have local grandsons who play footy and cricket — and now have eight belated birthdays to celebrate. I still have one present to find and everything to wrap up. And there’s cooking to be done. They will be excited about getting together, and it will be very loud, with several conversations happening at once. And I will love it!
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