Glenthompson

Glenthompson brickworks, located in Forbes St Glenthompson, was established by brothers George and Joseph Thompson of Ballarat in 1900. The Bricks are generally stamped "GLEN".

(With permission)

The works operated until recently, using clay from a pit adjacent to the brickworks,

 presses 

dating to 1940 and oil fired down-draught kilns. 

The business was purchased by local grazier Donald Forbes and master builder Reg Williams in 1947 who made improvements and then sold out to the new company Glenthompson Brickworks Pty Ltd, Forbes staying as Managing Director. Frank Borbiro, a Hungarian refugee, took over after Forbes death and added innovations including converting the kilns to oil firing in 1956, the first in Victoria to do so. 

In 1988 the works was purchased by Angora Banner Pty Ltd. The works' bricks have been used in many prominent buildings in the local area. It is included on the Southern Grampians Shire heritage overlay (HO220)

 

Excelsior Brickworks.

A number of brick companies used the name Excelsior. A Sydney firm with this name was operated by the Keen brothers from 1890 to 1920 from Lang St Ashfield.

Glew and Hills were the proprietors of the Excelsior Brick Company in Frankston advertising "white and common bricks always on hand moulded bricks of every description made to order" in 1891.

Wright and Wade were owners of an Excelsior Brickworks in Dandenong Road Oakleigh in 1889 according to the Ramekin who also records John McKell as having previously been the Manager of the South Yarra Brickworks, formerly the Excelsior brickworks in Chapel Street and another Excelsior brickworks in Braybrook.

The Chapel Street works appears  to the most prolific and long lived. The Argus in 1924 noted that:

For 40 years the Excelsior Brick Company has been quarrying a piece of land in Chapel street, near the Church street bridge, and proposes to continue quarrying material for the manufacture of bricks to a depth consistent with economical working. The new Melbourne High School adjoins this property, and in the event of deep quarry being made the school would be cut off from Chapel street. The hoarding on the left of the photograph of the 'late marks the Chapel street boundary of the brickworks, and on the right may be seen the new High School in course of erection.

Frankston Brick Company

The Frankston Brick Company, was established in 1887 with works at the corner of Lee Street & Cranbourne Road. Thomas Ritchie, who established a chain of produce stores that still operates as Ritchie's Supermarkets 

The company used the Frankston pier for shipping bricks to Melbourne and receiving firewood for their brick kilns on the foreshore. They excavated sand from a nearby quarry for the manufacture of lime silica bricks in the 1950s.

The company was run by Colortone Holdings from 1932 to 1961.  Calsil, a Perth based company specialising in calcium silica bricks, acquired Colortone in 1966 and expanded the works, then in 1988 Boral bought out Calsil.

The opening of the plant was described in some detail:

The works of the Frankston Brick Com-

pany are now in full operation, the formal

starting of the machinery having been recently

celebrated, in the presence of a large

number of the shareholders. The company

have about 15 acres of land within

about a mile from the Frankston

railway station, and still nearer to the

pier. On this site has been erected

complete plant, including a 45 horse power

engine, will 20-in. cylinder, working a 9ft.

grinding pan, a 7ft mixing pan and a single

semi-dry machine. The elevators used are

Gill's patent, while all the other machinery is

of Fawcett's patent. The machinery was

supplied by Messrs James McEwan andCo.

The plant is capable of furnishing an output of

about 50,000 bricks per week, which can if

necessary be increased to 100,000. The com-

pany has secured a lease of the ground for

42 years at a nominal rental and free from

royalty, and the day has been tried to a

depth of 30ft. The company intend supplying

not only ordinary building bricks, but also

black, cream, and red facing bricks

Selkirk Ballarat

Selkirk Bricks Ballarat

Scottish immigrant Robert Selkirk arrived in Australia in 1854. His son, also Robert, began making bricks by hand in 1883, using a square kiln (possibly a 'Scotch clamp') at the De Murza paddock in Allendale. Ballarat was in the throws of a building boom as a result of the wealth created by the gold rush. He installed his first brick-making machinery in 1892 and by 1900 had moved the works to to Heinz's paddock on  Howitt St Ballarat where the manufacturing works and head office remains. By 1905 the first continuous kiln was introduced, enabling Selkirk to produce six million bricks per year.

The Selkirk brickworks ceased production during World War Two (1943-5) and the existing Hoffman kilns were refurbished in 1947, additional equipment installed, and the clay pit gradually enlarged. They installed the first tunnel kilns in Australia in 1962.

Two Hoffman continuous kilns stood on the edge of the clay pit. an extensive narrow gauge tramway connected the clay pit to the processing building.

The works still operates although the Hoffman kilns have been replaced with automated tunnel kilns.

Leongatha Brickworks

Established in January 1922 at Koonwarra, the Leongatha Brickworks was short lived, lasting for only 5 years. This appears to have been the second brickworks in Leongatha, as Mewburn' brickworks was operating from about 1890.

Yallourn Brickworks

The Yallourn Brickworks was established by the State Electricity Commission in 1921 to produce bricks for the construction of the Yallourn power station and associated Yallorne town. W H (Dad) Brewer managed the Yallourn brickworks for the SEC. When demand decreased he leased the brickworks up to the late 1940's  changing the "YALLOURN" stamp to "BREWER".

Colac brickworks

Colac brickworks was commenced by Messrs. Henry Thompson and Sons who had been operating in Tocumwal and other Riverina towns. They moved their extensive brickmaking plant to Colac in 1931. The works had an output of 90,000 bricks a week. 

In the 1950s a new company was established as the Colac Brick Co Ltd with its registered office at 108 Murray" street Colac. It installed a modern tunnel kiln. This works was located near Barongarook Creek but it is not known if it is the same as Thompson's earlier works. The company was deregistered in 1976.