The Fertiliser Factories of Shag and Porters Bay

The fertiliser factories of Shag and Porter Bay, Hobart

EARLY RECYCLING:

THE FERTILISER FACTORIES

AT SHAG AND PORTER BAY, HOBART

Written and researched by Maria Grist, B. A. (University of Tas.)

and John Grist

The authors would be very happy to know if you find any inaccuracies in this report.

Please use the form on the below website or call us on

(03) 62349404.

JOHN AND MARIA GRIST

Version 2. 18 August 2016.

(The book, The Romance of Mount Wellington, is written by John and Maria Grist

and is available from their website www.mtwellingtonhistory.com)

http://www.mtwellingtonhistory.com/


Introduction

Long before the words “reduce, re-use, recycle” had ever been spoken, a

small company on Hobart’s eastern shore decided to make use of waste

materials, provide a useable resource, and turn a small profit as well.

Of course, in the early days Hobart, like any other city, produced much

in the way of organic waste, which if left to itself would cause a nuisance,

as well as constituting a significant health hazard. These materials

included items such as butcher’s waste, dead animals, offal, fish scraps,

and of course the ubiquitous “night soil”, which was collected from

houses and taken away by hardy workmen in those pre-plumbing days.

A. A. Guano Company

From at least 1885, the Anglo-Australian Guano Company produced

bone dust out of butchers’ waste at their plant in Shag Bay, near Risdon,

and sold it as a fertiliser. Shag Bay was better known as Bonemill Bay at

that time.

The company also produced guano and sulphate of ammonia.1

The Mercury, 12 March 1885, page 4. Note: “recently erected near Risdon.”

1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169159285 1886 advertisement

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article169159285


The proprietor of the company was Mr. Chapman. The company’s offices

were located at Salamanca Place, Hobart.

Complaints about the smell at Salamanca were heard at the Central

Board of Health in 1886:

HOBART. February 18.

The weekly meeting of the Central Board of Health was held this

afternoon. A letter was received from Dr. E. O. Giblin, Officer of

Health, reporting upon a complaint made by Mr C. P. Sprent in

reference to the A. A. Company’s guano stores, Salamanca Place.

Dr. Giblin said that guano had been stored there many years

without giving rise to complaint, and during the past three years

bone dust had also been stored on the premises. About 18 months

ago, Mr Chapman, proprietor of the stores, established a bone

mill at Risdon, and used this store, firstly, as a depot to which

butchers could bring bones, and secondly, for the storage of

manufactured bone dust for distribution in the course of trade.

Both processes were occasionally objectionable, most offensive

and disgusting smells being given off. The bones often had putrid

meat attached, and some delay had occasionally occurred in

sending the bones to the Risdon Mill. The proprietor, however,

had promised to forthwith register the premises under the Public

Health Act, and to receive bones from the butchers twice a week,

forwarding them also the same day to Risdon, and, moreover, use

disinfectants. Dr. Giblin recommended that in addition to these

precautions Mr Chapman be instructed to use tarred bags for

bones and dust. The board decided to call upon the Local Board to

take immediate steps under clauses 96, etc., of the act, to ensure

the removal of the evils complained of.2

2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article149476742



1/2/1909: Land leased to Henry Cane at Shag Bay. AF396_1_364.

Shag Bay, which was previously known as Bonemill Bay. Photo: C. P. Ray. The Tasmanian Mail,

June 12, 1909, page 16.


Tasmanian Fertiliser Company

The Tasmanian Fertiliser Company took over

from the A. A. Guano Company around 1907.

In 1909 the manager of the Bonemill was

George Byworth Russell.3 George was the first

of several members of the Russell family

associated with the site.

The Russell Brothers were manufacturers of

fish manure. Their company joined forces

with H. C. Buchanan and Co. (Hugh

Campbell Buchanan) to form the Tasmanian

Fertiliser Company.

Left: George Byworth Russell

They started off in a similar manner to their predecessor, treating items

such as butchers’ refuse, but later expanded their scope by using other

raw materials. They even commenced testing a treatment process for

night soil. This scheme was not universally applauded at first; the

rumour had got around that a treatment plant was to be established at

Lindisfarne, close to residents’ houses.4

Left: George Thomas Russell

Mr. George Thomas Russell, the son of

George Byworth Russell and the manager of

the Risdon works in 1912, took exception to

the printing of this information, and used the

opportunity to explain the process the

company was using, along with the fact that

the plant was situated at Risdon, and not at

Lindisfarne:

3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50355621 4 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193309837




SUBURBAN SANITATION. THE SCHEME EXPLAINED.

Mr. G. T. Russell, manager of the Tasmanian Fertiliser

Company, called at “The Daily Post” office yesterday and replied

to the sub-leader which appeared in that morning’s issue under

the heading of “Suburban Sanitation.” His company, he said, is

conducting a new method of sewage disposal and he considered

that the system had been misrepresented. “I think ‘The Daily

Post’ is under a wrong impression with regard to this matter,”

he said. “The facts are these: My company had the first machine

of the Stamp and Powell sanitary process that was made in

Australia. That was three years ago. Since then we have been

doing our ordinary work in the treating of butchers’ refuse, etc.,

and at the same time making experimental trials with night soil.

I have also studied the matter from all available sources. The

article says the night soil is to be sent across the river and

deposited in a sanitary depot to be established at Lindisfarne.

That is not correct. It is at Risdon township, two miles from

Lindisfarne, surrounded by hills and blue gum scrub. Then it is

not to be deposited. It is to be mechanically treated, and it will

not be smelt at 100 yards from the building. Rosny people will

not know it is there. As to the abattoirs, we have been taking

blood and stuff from them ever since they opened. Danger to

health in this scheme is completely eliminated. The nightsoil is to

be treated by a vacuum process which absolutely kills all germs

injurious to human life, and there is no other process—except a

chemical one—that can do that is far as we know. The stuff will

be treated in a vacuum drier, and all vapors will be under

control and placed at least six feet under the water. The residue

will be a dry innocuous powder. This system is strongly

supported by Dr. Purdy, and Dr. Armstrong, of Melbourne, said

it would be a boon and a blessing if the scheme was carried out.”

The company seems to have done quite well in its first few years, and

even shipped its product to other states.5




Left: The

Tasmanian

Mail, July

25, 1912,

p.22.

Above: This photo, reproduced here courtesy of Phil Hubbard, was published in the same article as

the previous photo.


Photos this page courtesy Phil Hubbard. George Byworth Russell is visible in open doorway in the

lower photo.

The Clarence councillors visited the site and a good description of the

plant was penned in the papers in August 1912:


The party now forsook the land for the water, the motor launch

Blanche Abel taking them for a run up towards the northern

extremity of the municipality. Running past the string of houses

which stretch round the shore to Limekiln Bay, or Geilston Bay,

and across the mouth of that bay, the Blanche Abel put into the

long, narrow, deep, and step-sided inlet of Shag Bay, beyond

which rise the frowning rocks of Bedlam Walls. On the northern

side of the bay the Hobart Marine Board have already

commenced their assault on Bedlam Walls for the purpose of

obtaining the stone for their reclamation works. Their plan of

working is simplicity itself. Two wooden structures project out

the few feet from the rock, which is necessary to get deep water,

and on each of those is a line of rails and a truck The stone is

quarried straight out of the steep hillside, run a few feet on the

truck, and dumped into the punts, one of which was lying near

by full of stone.

The goal of the trip was however at the head of Shag Bay where

on the water’s edge, shut in by steep, barren, and rocky hills,

stand Mr. Russell’s manure works. The party was shown by Mr.

Russell, sen., and Mr. Russell, jun., over the works, which are an

object lesson in the utilisation of waste products. At one end is

treated the sanitary refuse from New Town, Queenborough, and

Glenorchy. The receptacles when landed from the boat are

conveyed on an endless chain carrier to a platform where the

contents are tipped into a machine shaped like a huge boiler,

and continually revolving, in which they are steam-dried. They

are contained between the outer cover and an inside steam-

jacket, and kept revolving and steaming about 12 hours.

Certainly there is nothing offensive about the resultant product,

which is put through a disintegrator before being bagged. About

530 tons are dealt with in a year in this way, and the manure

finds a ready sale at about £2 10s. per ton. Mr. Russell said it

seemed to him a pity that the refuse of Hobart, to the value of

some £7,000 or £8,000 per year should all be allowed to run

into the Derwent, and that some scheme could not be devised to

make use of it.


At the other end is another steaming machine, similar to the one

mentioned above, in which a big variety of other articles, bones,

the blood and other offal of the abattoirs, fish and fish-bones,

garbage of one kind and another, dead dogs and all manner of

rubbish, is turned into manure. Mr. Russell said these machines

were the first of their kind to be used in the Commonwealth, and

gave excellent results. Not only manure is produced from them,

but tallow of a rich, yellowish tinge. While all the other products

of the works find a ready market in Tasmania the tallow goes

further afield, being exported through Melbourne to Odessa, in

Russia. What the Russians do with it can only be conjectured,

but from their well-known proclivities in the way of tallow, it

may be suspected that they eat it. It is a far cry from Shag Bay

to Odessa, but thither the tallow goes.

Piled upon the little wharf in front of the building is a most

miscellaneous collection of articles waiting to be turned into

manure, piles and piles of bones and bullocks’ heads, heaps of

odoriferous fish and the backbones of barracouta, and other

things into which the non-professional visitor feels no desire to

pry. Old tins and the like seem to come in quantity from

somewhere.

Altogether these works are very compact and complete, and

they are set in a nice retired spot, well away from everybody,

except (just at present) the Marine Board men at Bedlam Walls,

who are said to hold their noses when the wind blows from the

head of the bay. If the man who makes two blades of grass grow

where one grew before is a benefactor, so perhaps are those who

turn in an innocuous and valuable material what would

otherwise be a nuisance and a danger. It is alchemy of a more

successful, if more prosaic, kind than that of the old alchemists.6

The Weekly Courier, September 12, 1912, published a series of pictures

headed “How to Turn Waste Matter to Profit. Tasmanian Fertiliser

Company’s Plant at Shag Bay, near Hobart.” (See below.)




1. Machine in position and in course of erection. (Copy of original photo courtesy Phil Hubbard)

2. Sanitary plant. Washing and tarring apparatus. (Copy of original photo courtesy Phil Hubbard)


3. Engine room of sanitary plant.

4. Machinery end of milling plant for dealing with fish scrap, butchers’ refuse, etc. (Copy of original

photo courtesy Phil Hubbard)


5. Bagging end of plant. Preparing to send out fertiliser. (Copy of original photo courtesy Phil

Hubbard)

6. Day shift at factory. (Copy of original photo courtesy Phil Hubbard)


Along with these pictures was an article lauding the Hobart venture and

questioning why Launceston could not do something similar:

UTILISING WASTE PRODUCTS. A LESSON FOR LAUNCESTON.

By NOTUS.

In the illustrated section will be found a number of interesting

views of the Tasmanian Fertiliser Company’s plant at Shag Bay,

near Hobart. The plant is employed in the utilisation of the waste

animal products of the city and suburbs. The company about five

years ago took over the business of the late A. A. Guano Co., and

conducted it for a year; they then joined hands with Messrs.

Russell Bros., fish manure manufacturers, and decided to install

an up-to-date plant for the treatment of the waste above

mentioned. After twelve months’ careful study and several trips to

the mainland, the authorities of the company decided to erect a

Stamp and Powell patent combined cooker, tallow-extractor, and

vacuum drier, securing the first machine made in the

Commonwealth. The plant was used in the treatment of fish-

scrap, condemned fish, sharks, butchers’ refuse, fallen animals,

blood, offal, etc., with complete success. About 18 months ago the

manager was commissioned to enquire into the use and treatment

of sanitary matter. The outcome was that on New Years’ Day the

company entered into a contract with Messrs. Stamp and Powell

for the supply of a large machine for the purpose named. The

machine, which is Victorian made from end to end, arrived in due

course, and was erected. Contracts were entered into with the

councils of New Town, Glenorchy, and Hobart (including Sandy

Bay), for the removal of and treatment of their sanitary services.

The plant is one that treats the waste material in a manner that is

at once hygienic and safe, turning it into a commercial product

that which under other conditions would be a constant danger to

present and future generations. The method of treatment does

away with noxious fumes, and leaves the residue in a state that

can be sown through an ordinary manure drill, and without any

smell–so much so that a bagful weighing one hundredweight was

left in the waiting shed of one of our steamers for nearly a week

without anyone suspecting its presence. This manure is meeting


with a keen demand from local and interstate gardeners and

farmers. The fertiliser is completely free from all danger of

infectious germs, all such being killed, even though the material

might come from the Infectious Diseases Hospital. The result is

obtained without the aid of chemical disinfectants. The empty

pans are thoroughly cleansed and tarred every time they enter

the factory, so that all danger of infection from that source is

eliminated. This method of treating the waste products is meeting

with the entire approval of the various board of health officials in

Tasmania and sister states. Some of the advantages of this system

of disposing of sanitary matter are as follows:–

1. The treatment of such matter close to the source of supply,

thus often saving long cartage.

2. The saving of all difficulty of finding disposal sites and the

consequent deterioration of properties in the

neighbourhood.

3. The elimination of all danger from disease germs.

4. Turning to commercial use and profit that which at present

is a constant danger to human life. Dr. Poore, an eminent

London authority, says: “England uses her manure to

destroy her fisheries, poison her molluscs, block her ports,

foul her foreshores, and imports fertilisers from foreign

lands to make good the loss.” The same words apply to

Tasmania and other parts of Australia with equal force.

5. The freedom of contamination of the water supplies.

There are many other advantages that recur to one’s mind, but

space forbids my enumerating them. All information with

reference to these machines and the process may be obtained

from the manager, on the works; or the Tasmanian Fertiliser Co.,

Hobart.7

7 Weekly Courier, 12 September 1912, page 35.


1914: Pipe failure

In January 1914, 5480 ft. of one-inch galvanised piping was laid across

the Derwent, with a view to bringing water from Glenorchy to the Shag

Bay factory to assist in the process. For the previous 30 years, water had

been drawn from a well 150ft. above the high water mark.

When the scheme was completed, the caretaker at the Glenorchy

waterworks stated that the meter registered 150 gallons of water in a few

minutes on his side of the river; however, no water was coming out at the

eastern side. The valves were inspected, and a suction pump was tried,

but the problem persisted. The failure of the supply was later found to be

due to leakage, and not to water pressure or to the entry of salt water

into the pipes. A legal dispute arose between John Paterson, the engineer

contracted to install the pipes (who owned the Risdon Road bonemill on

the opposite side of the Derwent8), and the Tasmanian Fertiliser

Company. Paterson held that the contract was simply for laying the

pipes, whereas the Company held that the contract was for the reliable

supply of water. The judge decided in favour of Paterson.9

1915: Explosion

On the 28th of January 1915 at around 4.30 p.m., tragedy struck the

fertiliser factory in the form of a devastating explosion. George Byworth

Russell, and his son William, who was a bargeman for the company,

were both killed.

FATAL EXPLOSION AT RISDON. TWO MEN KILLED.

BONEMILL BURNED DOWN.

A boiler explosion with fatal results to two men, occurred

yesterday afternoon at the Tasmanian Fertiliser Company’s

bonemill at Risdon, the victims being George B. Russell, aged 70

years, and his son, William F. Russell, aged 35 years. Frederick

W, Jordan, engineer, was slightly injured. A very large amount of

damage was done by the explosion, and it was followed by an





outbreak of fire, which destroyed the building, which was of

wood.

Above: Workers at the Bedlam Walls Quarry, Shag Bay, cutting stone for upgrade of Hobart wharf.

Tasmanian Mail, September 11, 1913, page 23.

At about 4.30 p.m. a number of men were employed at the Marine

Board’s quarry on the northern side, of Shag Bay, Risdon, when

suddenly, a tremendous explosion was heard from the opposite

side of the bay, and on looking towards the bonemill they saw

dense clouds of steam and pieces of debris flying through the air,

followed by flames from the end of the building. Led by Foreman

John Colledge, they hurried off to the scene of the accident in their

launch, and on arrival were met by a man named Jordan, who

informed them that the boiler had burst, and that two men were

lying underneath the timber that had been blown down. Colledge,

assisted by the quarry-men, got the two men from under the

debris and found that they were George Russell, the works

manager, and his son William, who was dead when found. The

old man was badly cut about and had his head crushed. When

discovered there were two casks of tallow lying upon his body.


Colledge lost no time in getting Mr. Russell and his son’s body on

board the launch and conveyed them to Hobart. He informed

Sergeant Ward of the water police who took them of the General

Hospital. Here the older man was attended by Dr. Goddard, but

died shortly after admission.

On receiving the information at 5.30 p.m. Sergeant Ward hired a

motor-launch and went to the scene of the accident. Arriving

there at 7 o’clock, he found the whole of the mill and wharves on

fire, and burning fiercely. None of the mill hands were about, but

he questioned the crew of the ketch Good Intent, which was

discharging manure about 30 yards from where the boiler burst.

A deck hand named George Walker said that when he and his

mates heard the explosion they ran down into the cabin to escape

the falling debris, of which there was a considerable quantity.

They afterwards went to the mill, and met Alfred Jordan, the

enginedriver, running out, with his head all cut and scalded. The

quarrymen then came over and they brought out the injured

driver. They found Mr. George Russell lying about 6ft. away from

the burst boiler, underneath two kegs of tallow and on returning

after placing him in the launch they found the dead body of the

son.

Sergeant Ward could not get near the boiler owing to the fire,

which by now had got a big hold and was blazing fiercely, blue

and green flames arising from the bags of bone-dust, of which

there was something like 900 tons in the building. The boiler was

split in half, and one end had been blown out and the dome had

been blown off.

The mill, which belongs to the Tasmanian Fertiliser Company,

was a large two-storey wood and iron structure, built on a steep

hillside near the water’s edge. It was on the southern shore of

Shag Bay, near the head of the inlet, and contained a large

quantity of machinery, the boiler which burst being situated at

one end. At the time of the accident there, were about 15 hands

working at the mill, but when the explosion actually occurred all


except the two Russells and Jordan were busy unloading a barge

at the wharf, and so escaped injury.

The fire subsequently raged for several hours, subsiding only

when the whole building was razed to the ground, and

everything, including the bone-dust, burned.

Left: William Frederick Russell

The deceased were both married men with

families. Mr. George Russell, the father,

leaves a wife and six children–four sons

and two daughters–most of whom are

grown up. His son, Mr. William Russell,

leaves a wife, and one child about three

months old.

The building is known to be insured with

the South British Insurance Company, but

the amount has not been ascertained. The

boiler which exploded was a second-hand

one, and was put in about twelve months ago. The damage is very

extensive, and must run into thousands of pounds.10

The noise caused consternation in Lindisfarne and the opposite side of

the Derwent. The weatherboard building which was lost had been nearly

200 ft. in length. One side of the building had been blown 20 ft. away

onto a nearby hill. The fire, as well as consuming what was left of the

building and contents, also claimed the nearby wharves. Frederick

Jordan was lucky to escape with his life, as he was within six feet of the

boiler at the time it exploded.11

A coronial inquiry commenced on 30 January 1915.





George Byworth Russell died in Hospital “from scalds of the body and fracture of the skull caused by

the explosion of a Boiler.”

William Frederick Russell died “from Fracture of the Skull and laceration of the Brain caused by the

explosion of a Boiler.”


Mr. Russell, senior, was the founder of the fertiliser works about

35 years back. Only 18 months ago he floated the business into a

company. The boiler, the explosion of which is believed to have

caused the disaster, was installed a year ago.12

The inquiry started on Tuesday 9 Feb13. Frederick Jordan reported to the

inquiry on 10 Feb:

William Russell was employed unloading the barge, but a few

minutes before the explosion witness saw him talking to his father

in the boiler house. Witness had been on the side of the boiler

shortly before to see if things were alright, and when he came

down he saw George Russell closing the furnace door. As he

stepped away a flash of flame came from the furnace door, and he

thought the hind leg, which was underneath the boiler, had gone.

George Russell was standing close to the tallow shed, and William

Russell was standing near. Witness turned to run away, and

afterwards he remembered no more. When he came to he found

himself among the debris. The boiler was housed in a wooden

shed. … The boiler was about 6ft. in diameter, and 10ft. long. …

He knew that the salt water was getting in, but every precaution

was taken to keep it out.14

The inquest concluded on 13 Feb 1915, with the verdict: “No one guilty of

negligence.”15 The coroner, Mr. W. O. Wise, was satisfied that the

company’s regimen of regular cleaning had been adequate.

… in the present instance two theories had been adduced. One was

Mr. Jordan’s that some explosive had got into the firebox, but he

(the Coroner) could not agree with that, because the firebox had

not been blown out. Mr. Reynolds’s theory was that the explosion

was caused through accumulation of sediment upon the floor of

the boiler, thus causing it to become overheated, and that was the

theory that he (the Coroner) inclined to.

12 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189578739 13 See the 9 Feb report in The Tasmanian Mail, 11 Jeb 1915, page 22. 14 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189580047 15 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10403376





Before the explosion. The Weekly Courier, 4 February, 1915, page 24.

After the explosion. The Weekly Courier, 4 February, 1915, page 24.


After the explosion. The Tasmanian Mail, Feb 11, 1915, page 22.

Ruins of the mill. The Tasmanian Mail, 11 Feb 1915, page 22.


Co-operative Fertilisers Ltd., Porter Bay

Early map of Porter Bay (1862) shows old jetties, decades before Russell’s time. AF396_1_313.

In 1918, Mr. George T. Russell, son of George B. and brother of William

F. Russell, who both lost their lives in the explosion, formed a new

company named Co-operative Fertilisers Ltd. He applied to set up his

glue and manure manufacturing works at Porter Bay, just north of Shag

Bay.

The company was set up to assist fruit growers at Wattle Grove. Shares

were offered in June 1918. The city council was on-side as the scheme

would again assist in disposal of waste products.16




Left and below: two papers

showing George Thomas Russell’s

application to lease part of Porter

Bay for the Co-operative

Fertilisers Limited in 1918. TAHO

LSD180/1/1236.

Unfortunately, the

plant at Porter Bay

fared only a little

better than its

predecessor in Shag

Bay. On 20 April 1919

a fire totally destroyed

the works.

FERTILISER WORKS DESTROYED HOBART. Sunday. The

fertiliser works, situated at Risdon, belonging to the Co-operative

Fertilisers Company, Limited, were totally destroyed by fire at an


early hour this morning. The foreman, who resides near the

works, was awakened shortly after 1 o’clock and immediately

discovered the works in flames. He was powerless to do anything,

and only managed, after a struggle, to save his own house. The

works contained a quantity of tallow ready for shipment, also fish

and other manures. The damage is estimated at from £2000 to

£2800. The building, machinery, and stock were insured. The

company was composed principally of fruit and hop growers.17

Mr. Russell was the manager and lived very close to the works at Porter

Bay. The fire started in the middle of the night and he was woken by the

noise and flames. He was unable to save the factory, and only with

difficulty was he able to save his own house.18

The company unsurprisingly went into liquidation shortly afterwards in

1922.19 This, however, was not the end for Mr. Russell. He became

managing director of Shark Fisheries Ltd., which planned in 1928 to set

up factories throughout Australia, commencing in N.S.W.20 The N.S.W.

plant was in fact built, and he supplied Tasmanian fruit growers with

200 tons per annum in 1929.21

However, there is no further evidence of any fertiliser works being set up

in the Risdon area.

Left: Shag Bay remains.

Photo by John Grist, 2012.

17 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51031486 18 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187886808 19 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23640238 20 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29774176 21 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51550440







Shag Bay. Photo by John Grist, 2012.

Porter Bay, 2016. Photo: Maria Grist.

The Fertiliser Factories of Shag and Porters Bay

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