Fritsch Holzer

Fritsch Holzer comes from Augustus Fritsch and the Holzer brothers (Martin and Aloysius Anton Holzer), who formed the Upper Hawthorn Brick Company in 1883.

The brickworks closed about  and the site was bought by the Hawthorn Council in 1972 and used it as a tip until 1986, turning it into a park in 1996.

Reds and creams are common, and possibly the mottled browns for which Hawthorn Brick is known for the characteristic polychrome finish. Many bricks have one two or three raised dots, probably indicating tally marks for the separate presses, or operators. the style doesn't change, but there are subtle differences in the moulds, indicating they were occasionally changed or renewed. there are two separate pairs of attachement screws in the frog, larger ones holding the main part with the company name and smaller ones holding the tally marks.

Butler's South Brunswick Brick Company Limited

The South Brunswick Brick Company Limited had its works near the corner of Albion Street and Henderson Street, in what is now Jones Park Brunswick. Founded and operated by Charles Butler, the bricks bare the frog impression of either "SOUTH BRUNSWICK", "S.B.B.C." or "C.BUTLER".

Early (1880s?) South Brunswick Bullnose Brick

1890s version

1930s-40s C Butler - from the kiln flues during demolition 1980s.

Cream version (from the permitter wall of the works taken 1980s.

Part of the works was destroyed by fire in 1949, and the works may not have recovered. Most bricks bearing the C Butler stamp are probably 1920s-1950s.
Butler died on 11th December 1901, aged 73.

Old Melbourne Town’ by Michael Cannon,

From OnMyDoorstep (possibly via Trove)


 Giuseppe Giudice at Charlie Butler's brickworks

Gibbons & Masters Patent

This unusual shaped brick appears to be designed to key in brickwork. It is a firebrick composition.

Gibbons Brothers Limited, were Engineers, Millwrights and Contractors, Palace Chambers, Westminster, they are recorded as having worked on the Lowenstoft gas works (see UK National Archives).

Modern Gasworks Practice 1921, records: "In the latest Gibbons and Masters' system slotted fireclay boxes, moulded out by machinery, are erected side by side in vertical tiers so that no straight joints occur. This system has the advantage of being particularly simple, only necessitating the use of the two-standard blocks (the online text version doesn't have the Figs. 42 and 44, one of which I guess is a corner or closer), whilst the wall-thickness separating waste gases and secondary air is reduced to 3 inches with complete immunity from short-circuiting."

These were dug up in my coburg backyard, no idea how they got there, but the vege beds had a layer of rubble under good composted soil, so I suppose they were placed for drainage.

They appear to be quite rare, but recently (2023) some intact ones have come to light.

Images David Kickbusch, Ju Wei & Phil Dent Qld



Northcote Brickworks

The Northcote Patent Brick works was on Separation Street Northcote, where Northcote Plaza Square Shopping Centre is now located Commencing 1873 it was established in Separation St behind Carters Arms hotel by 1882 At its peak around 1.5 million bricks were produced every ten days from the huge pit located where the car park is now. It employed steam engines for mechanised dry press production,  copying the techniques introduced by the Hoffman Brickworks in Brunswick. Markings are regular with the word 'NORTHCOTE' in the frog twice. Reds are most common, but creams can also be found. Letter sizes change slightly. These two are from the same 1930s house in Brunswick. And a later brick with the N. B. C. version of the frog. Northcote Brickworks ceased operation in 1977 and in 1979 the chimneys and kilns were leveled and the Council took over the pit and filled it as a rubbish tip. Northcote Bricks occur occasionally in site in Auckland New Zealand, suggesting they may have been transported as ballast. Some interesting history from the postal perspective and Darebin Encyclopedia and the U3A

Hoffman (Brunswick Brick Tile & Pottery Company)

The Hoffman Brunswick Brick Tile & Pottery Company was established in 1870, primarily to make bricks using the Bradley & Craven automatic brick press and Hoffman patent kilns. Initially their works was on Albert Street, but erected the new No 2 works in Dawson Street in 1884 (one of two surviving early Melbourne Brickworks) Air Photo. The Dawson Street works was still making bricks with the same pattern in 1988, but closed in 1993. the site has been partly redeveloped with housing in surrounding apartments and two converted Hoffman Kilns. A third kiln chimney survives and the brick press building, although it is ruinous.

The first bricks may have been made as sandstocks. This from an 1875 Brunswick cottage, might be an example.

19th century frogless

The earliest data for the new brick presses has been suggested as 1887 (VHR), although Stuart indicates Platt Presses in 1878 and suggests commencement of machine dry pressed brick production when the company first started ie.1870.

It looks like the typical small frog Hoffman brick, with the all capitals and Large 'H' was in use  from about 1880. based on the brick below from Robertson's killing house at the City Abattoirs, collected when it was demolished in the 1980s.

c1910 standard frog

The impressions of the screw heads used to hold the name plate in the mould, appear to get deeper in some bricks, while later bricks also sometimes show a more rounded lettering, possibly from a worn mould, such as this 1920s one from a wall in Carlton.



Late 20th century, deep screw impressions

1940s Bar frog with tally mark 



c1970s barred frog version

New Northcote Brick Company

The New Northcote Brick Company Limited was established in competition to the older and nearby Northcote Brick Company in about 1882, on a site in Dennis Street Northcote.

In the 1930s, the number of workers in the two Northcote brickworks, hovered around 100, having previously been above 500 in the first decades of the 20th century. In 1962 the Northcote and the New Northcote Brick Companies merged, ending 60 years of rivalry. Northcote Brick Co. and the New Northcote Brick Co.; Later the firm was merged with Nubrik and Clifton Bricks to form the Austral Brick Company.

As well as the 'NEW NORTHCOTE' stamp, later bricks have a 'N N B' in the frog.

New Northcote changed its name to Brick Industries Limited 03/07/59, but it seems bricks continued to be produced with the old 'New Northcote' or just a plain frog marking. The name was changed again Brick and Pipe Industries Limited 17/07/64 with a fairly quick change in the frog impression to "B P Ind."

New Northcote does not appear to have been a very large producer in comparison to Northcote, Hoffman and other local brickworks.
I never found one of these, but I understand the frog impression did not change dramatically from the one below.

Victorian Bricks

Sample from my old backyard collection

Brick Manufacture in Victoria has been dominated by a small number of companies who adopted Bradley & Craven mechanical brick presses, and the Hoffman continuous kiln technologies in the last decades of the 19th centuries.

Northcote, Brunswick, Hawthorn and Camberwell provided the early clay grounds, and hence brickworks, but small brick pits were opened up across Melbourne and most larger country towns, wherever suitable clay could be found and there was a demand for the product.

Following will be a sample of bricks I have collected mostly from demolition sites, sometimes to the surprise of the contractors: 

Can I have some of the bricks?

"How Many do you want?" (obviously calculating the $50 a ton value)

One or Two

"Huh?"