History

Work and Community

By Jeannie Gehue

This is the story of a little corrugated iron factory. In a lane. In Rozelle.

Oh, come here, I'll show you something really interesting. What we used to be like before they started demolishing everything and building those ugly townhouses. See that? Its an old broom factory. Beautiful, isn't it? Sandra Villanova, Rozelle resident discussing Commonwealth Broom Factory, March 1994.

But Miss Gehue, that is only a corrugated iron shed! Now, what can you tell us about the cottage also on the site? Comment by National Trust Assessment Board, August 1996.

Sometimes a building is worth more then the sum of its building parts. The family home is an example of this. What makes it significant is what it means as a building, not what it cost or what fixtures are in it, or what it can be replaced by. It is also a building which we can all relate to. As we wander through the rooms of Elizabeth House or the working class terraces at Susannah Place, we imagine ourselves in that time, in that life. Sadly, this can rarely be said of our working buildings. The very few which do enjoy this sentiment tend to have once housed industries which we still understand; shops and banks, tram sheds, pub and gaols. They are built of materials which we consider worthy; stone and brick.

The mighty slabs of timber, lashed, braced and bolted to a forest of piers, support the peeling, vacant super-structures of the finger wharves. These last remnants of Woolloomoolloo's and the Rock's industrial heritage stretch out into Sydney Harbour. A harbour, which is increasingly removed from its industrial base and reduced to a view for the wealthy. By fighting to preserve these industrial sites where the working classes once struggled with employment and life, we are recalling a working harbour and recognising our maritime history and its related industries.

A little corrugated iron factory. In a lane. In Rozelle.

A corrugated iron factory offers neither the romantic nostalgia of a colonial home or the vast expanse of Sydney Harbour. It once housed industries that we no longer understand or need. It sits there quietly, unemployed, empty. Its story fading and peeling away from us like the paint on its corrugated surfaces. And yet, this Foucart Street factory, like its many inner-city counter-parts who once cluttered the shorelines and laneways of Balmain, Rozelle, Glebe and Pyrmont, is similar in every way to that one building which is iconographic to the Australian identity - the woolshed. Built of the same materials, during a similar era, powered in the same fashion, they were both buildings which consumed physical labour like their steam engines consumed wood and coal. They are both working class buildings that have seen their fair share of scandal and hardship, fun and high times. Both have been hotbeds of unionism and equity issues. Only one, however is enshrined in the Australian psyche - the woolshed. The other languishes, almost forgotten on the edge of people's memories.

Well, the other exciting thing that is happening here in Hay is that we are getting a new museum. We've found this woolshed, which is quite old, corrugated iron and all, and we are re-locating it here in town and fixing it up to be a museum. Beat Around The Bush, 2BL Radio, Phillip Clarke Morning Show talking with the Hay correspondent, August 1997.

It is the woolshed which is saved and recycled when the opportunity presents itself. The corrugated city factory is disadvantaged, first by its location which is neither remote nor romantic and second by its building fabric which councils and government offices still shun. And yet these too are culturally significant buildings. What we have forgotten, as a society, is how to interpret them. Their stories are just as robust, romantic, funny and cruel as the buildings we still understand. They too represent Australian ingenuity, our maverick sense of enterprise, adventures; successful and those gone astray. If we are to preserve any of our early urban industrial life, it is essential that we re-learn the language of these buildings or they will be lost to us forever. This is the threat and the promise of the corrugated iron broom factory at 84 Foucart Street, Rozelle.

Built originally as a foundry in late 1881 by Mr. R. O'Connor, this colonial industrial building is a fine example of haste and limited revenues [Land Titles Records, Book 557, No. 586; see also The Black Wattle Sheets (BWS), 1881 - 1889, Water Board Archives with documents built history of Foucart Street area]. It borrows a sandstone and rubble boundary wall as one of its own. Remains of this wall, which once marked out Dr. Louis Foucart's land holdings, can still be seen throughout the Rozelle neighbourhood. The interior beams of the building were originally hand hewn. One such beam remains. The floor was dirt. The cottage, also located on the site was built in 1885 and shared its out buildings with the foundry. The foundry itself is clad only in a variety of corrugated iron sheets with windows, delivery and dispatch doors cut into them.

The problem with the good economic times that O'Connor would have found when he first opened up his business, is that they never last. 1890 saw Australia slip into a the grip of a cruel recession. Small businesses, then as now, are always hit hard and O'Connor was no exception to this. The economy continued to decline and by 1894, O'Connor was having difficulties maintaining his mortgage to Tooths. 1896 saw Tooths take bankruptcy proceedings out against O'Connor and by 1900, O'Connor had vacated the. A long term tenant rented out the cottage, but the foundry remained empty property [Land Titles Records, Book 996, No. 305; Sands Directory, 1896 - 1913].

Henry Grubmeier? Oh, you mean Heinz! Yes, he was my grandfather. He had a broom factory in Rozelle, somewhere. He made millet brooms. Not many people knew how to in them days. My father was a millet broom maker, too. He could get work anywhere because of it. Fred Grubmeier, aged 86, retired sheet metal worker, January 1997.

The beginnings of Rozelle's unique broom making community lay with the arrival of a German immigrant, Heinz Grubmeier and his young family, in the mid 1800s. Heinz arrived in the new world with an old craft: millet broom making, a skill that was still in its very rudimentary stages in the colony, and an industry that would have offered Grubmeier instant employment and a good rate of pay.

You really were somebody if you made millet brooms. It even gets a special mention on the marriage certificate! Fred Grubmeier, Henry Grubmeier's grandson, January 1997.

In the same year that O'Connor was building the foundry on Foucart Street, around the corner Grubmeier was buying the foundry at 12 Fred Street [Land Titles Records, Book 212, No. 807]. The building was converted to millet broom making. He called this first corrugated iron factory, "Federal Brooms". By 1898, when O'Connor was feeling the true squeeze of hard economic times, Grubmeier and his family were financially secure. What did Grubmeier know about millet brooms that his competitors did not? Besides his experience and family ties to the craft, what gave him the apparent edge over companies that had been struggling since the inception of the colony?

When my grandfather, Daniel French, took over the Federal, he bought the patent. This was a long time ago, you know, but I always understood it as Grubmeier had figured out a new way to attach the millet to the handle and that made a better broom. Fred French, Daniel French's grandson, ex-owner of Federal Brooms, January 1997.

For this new industry to survive in Australia, it had to have an efficient design that would be able to support the high cost of technology or risk being pushed out of the market altogether. To combat this, Grubmeier devised a new method of tying millet to the broom handle which he also made longer and changed the manner in which brooms were stitched. These changes in production refined the shape of the broom to that of the flat triangular shape which is standard today.

With this new compact design Grubmeier not only had a broom which was cost effective to make, but better suited to do what a broom was meant for - sweeping. A broom which was also easier to use as it no longer required the user to stoop. These significant changes to the design of the broom and its production entitled Grubmeier to a fourteen year design patent [An original copy of this patent is held by the William Dixon Library, Sydney, in their manuscript box, Federal Brooms/Commonwealth Brooms. A search was requested in September 1997 to try and locate the Patent Office's copy. However it appears to have been lost]. An impressive achievement considering how entrenched this industry was and continues to be in the United States, Germany and Eastern Europe.

In 1899. In a corrugated iron factory. In a laneway. In Rozelle.

While recognising that they have no patents or any other tangible proof to support it, the United States still claims the modern broom as an American invention. However, sitting safely in the State Library of NSW is Grubmeier's patent along with other related documents allowing us to counter these claims. Just as we have countered American claims to the first national park, so too can we claim the right as the inventors of the first modern broom.

Today the production mode, style and design of the broom is so well known it is once again public knowledge and as such falls outside of the bounds of patents and royalties. As a household appliance it has been almost completely overshadowed by the most advanced broom of all; the vacuum cleaner. It is hard to imagine that something as ordinary as a broom ever caused any fuss at all. In Australia, Grubmeier's patent was still considered valuable in 1900 when he sold it and the Federal Broom Factory to one of his employees, Daniel French.

It was also this knowledge and expertise that allowed Henry's widow, Rebecca Grubmeier, in 1913, to repeat the process again. Another foundry was bought - 84 Foucart Street and converted to millet broom making. They called this second corrugated iron factory, 'Commonwealth Brooms'.

Rebecca's neighbourhood pulled together, ensuring the Commonwealth's success. In the 1900s this was the only form of social welfare which existed. The patent had expired, releasing Rebecca from any legal restrictions. This is a moot point as one of the very first companies to assist her in establishing the Commonwealth, was the Federal Broom Company and the French family. Now there were two such broom factories in the area, ostensibly started by the same family. By 1932 there would be six such factories in the area, creating an industry and a community that would survive two world wars, a Depression and automation.

Corrugated iron factories. In laneways. In Rozelle.

Women could sort the millet, and lots of them did, but I never heard of a women making or sewing a millet broom. It was hard, dirty, dangerous work making a broom back then, before machines. 'Splinter' Giles, millet broom maker, Federal Broom's Foreman, November 1996.

Rebecca ran the Commonwealth with her two daughters. They would have hired runners, sewers (sic), makers and a foreman to run the factory floor, employees easily found within the local area. One such person was a young man named Jim Ferrier. His family was well known to the Grubmeier and French families as they also lived on Foucart Street.

Even when the Commonwealth was briefly owned by outside interests, no changes were made. Why didn't Ferrier buy the business himself? He had worked there all of his life, he was a skilled broom maker, he had been the factory foreman for years and he was married to Rebecca's daughter, Dora.

Old man Ferrier was called "Nutsey" because all he lived for was soccer. Eddy was called "Young Nutsey" because he was just as bad and Jim, well. He always wanted to be a football star, but he wasn't good enough, really. His brother Eddy could really play. He was the captain of the team and all. When Jim finally realised he'd never be a player, that's when he bought the Commonwealth. Gloria Brown , born 1921 in Rozelle where she has lived all of her life, November 1996.

He also built the cottage which stands across the lane from the iron factory. It was during these days, over beers and millet buying trips that the Commonwealth, the Federal were at their closest. They continued to share resources, they bought equipment together, workers flowed easily between the factories. The corrugated shed which they shared as a millet store remains in Foucart lane. These were not just major employers in the area, they were also local families who had grown up in Rozelle, often following family footsteps into the industry. They supported local sporting clubs, charities and institutions. They were a dynamic neighbourhood, linked through industry and held together by the pride in their craft.

Ferrier did not make any real changes to the Commonwealth, he saw no real need.

All of the warehouses and factories around here were made of iron then. People even lived in the stuff. It was what you used. It was what everybody used. The Commonwealth is an original building. The Federal was built out of iron too, they just put the brick building right over the top of it. Albert 'Splinter' Giles, broom maker, Federal Foreman, January 1997.

The business was running smoothly providing Ferrier and his family with a pleasant lifestyle and employing as many people as it ever had (about 12). It gave him time to devote to other things - the soccer club, the billiards hall on Darling Street, millet buying trips with Harold French and the pub.

One of the young boys that Jim Ferrier hired as a runner was Norman Martin. Like Ferrier before him, Martin was never to work anywhere else. In 1956, Dora Grubmeier Ferrier, as the only surviving member of her family, sold the family business and the Foucart Street site. Harold French had died, quite un-expectantly and this had pushed Jim Ferrier into retirement. The Federal was taken over by Harold's sons, Fred and John, neither of whom were broom makers. Ferrier sold most of the Commonwealth's equipment to the Federal. The new owner, Norman Martin would not require them. He had secured a wholesale contract to supply the Navy with their broom brush and mop needs. Most of the Commonwealth's employees also shifted to the Federal.

Competition existed outside of the neighbourhood; from the broom factories in Pyrmont and Surry Hills. But, within this specific neighbourhood there was an egalitarian ethic rather then 'one-upmanship'. Here there was a long tradition of sharing resources and skills. This is seen clearly in the relationship the factories had with the Brushmaker's Union, which was basically conflict free. It is also seen in the relationship which existed between the factories which extended to workers, suppliers, storage arrangements as well as respect for each other's contracts. Federal Brooms, for example, did well out of supplying Commonwealth Brooms, which in turn supplied the Navy. Whereas today a company might be tempted to spirit such a lucrative contract away from a competitor, during this era, such a manoeuvre would have been seen as unethical.

Oh sure, the Federal could have supplied Martin's customers direct, but that wasn't how you did business in those days. You didn't steal your neighbour's customers. Besides Martin got that Navy contract on his own. It had nothing to do with Federal. They never came and saw us or anything. One day Martin shows up and says he's got this great contract and how much for this many of these brooms? Albert 'Splinter' Giles .

This was the factory's final phase of its working life.

Oh, the last 20 or 30 years of the factory was a bit of a social club, you know. Martin had this the big military contract. He was their sole supplier in Sydney so, no pressure. There would have been 3 or 4 people working on the factory floor, packing and putting metal locks on the brooms. It was pretty easy work, everybody seemed fairly relaxed. Tony, from up the corner shop, used to deliver their lunch everyday. The neighbourhood just sort of hung around the place chatting to Norm. He loved a bit of a chat. G. Foulds, resident, neighbour to Commonwealth.

Norm Martin? Well of course I knew him, everybody did. Big, strapping man, good looking, lots of red hair, gave away plenty of money too. Of course, I didn't know him personally, you know. He was a 'Prot', a Methodist, I think, or something, and I'm a Catholic. But he was still a fine fellow, did a lot of good work. Dolcie, long term local Rozelle resident, November 1996.

Of all of the people to live and work in this quarter of Balmain, Norman Martin probably made the most tangible contribution to his community - the only world he ever knew. He never married, devoting his life to the care of his mother, Elizabeth, the sponsorship of the local soccer clubs and the Wesley Church. Commonwealth Brooms, now called "N. Martin Broom Brush and Mop Manufacturers" underwrote this life of charity and civil service.

Martin also supported many building projects in Leichhardt including the building of the Wesley Church on Wetherill Street. He donated the Church's Queensland maple pews, pipe organ and grand piano. Next door is Martin Hall which he had built for the senior citizens of the area. He was one of the major contributors to Hawkins Hall, the senior citizen's home found on Norton street [Interviews with Roy Ellerston, Elder of Wesley Church, Leichhardt, January 1998]. His neighbours around the Foucart Street area enjoyed a free supply of brooms, brushes and mops. He gave freely to local charities and supported both the public and Catholic schools in the area.

Oh, I've got a great collection of brooms and brushes from Norm's place. He used to give them to me. "Try them out", he'd say "Let me know if they are any good!" Suzie Cheel, neighbour to broom factory, 84 Foucart Lane, January 1997.

In 1971, Norman Martin was awarded a British Empire Medal for his services and commitment to the community. 1980 signalled the decade of corporate greed and for the group of broom manufactures in Foucart Street, it meant the end of a 100 year history. The first to feel the heat was the Federal. The French family was bought out by a large American company. The business's assets, were broken up and sold. The factory site at Fred Street was closed, it's equipment sold, the site auctioned. The other factories were soon absorbed. For Norman Martin, now an old man, the fire went out. While he sold the business, he did not sell the one hundred and eleven year old buildings until 1992. Hudsons, a local timber merchant rented out the cottage and used the factory as a timber store.

A culture begins with the simple things - with the way the potter moulds the clay on his wheel, the way the weaver threads his yarns, the way the builder builds his house. Greek culture did not begin with the Parthenon: it began with a white washed hut on a hillside. Herbert Read, The Politics Of The Unpolitical, London, 1943.

As Australia re-defines itself for the twenty-first century it needs to remind itself of its past. Of glorious deeds and cruel misdeeds. It needs to recall it's determination, it's humility, its sense of humour. We need to remember that the Australia which we are today did not start with the Opera House or even with our mighty and majestic woolsheds but with humble, unencumbered, simple buildings. Commonwealth Brooms, Federal Brooms, ABC Brooms, Austral Brooms...

Corrugated iron factories. In laneways. In Rozelle.

A fuller version of this article appeared in a special issue of Locality, the publication of the Centre for Community History at the University of NSW, focused on Industrial Heritage. The Centre can be contacted on 9385 2379.

Jeanne Gehue is a Canadian Australian. Since arriving in this country she has completed degrees in history and education. The broom factory in Rozelle formed the subject of her honours thesis. She is currently a special education teacher at St. Scholastica's College in Glebe.

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»	Public Speaks: We Are Not Monsters!
»	Qantas to Dump Aussie Accents
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»	But Thumbs Down to Small Business Labor...
»	Blow for Reith's Anti-Unionism
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