Old butter factory in Gladstone South Australia.
Gladstone. The first European, Herbert Bristow Hughes took up Booyoolee (pronounced Bowlee) Run in 1846 as a pastoral lease of 200 square miles. His brother John had already taken up a run on the Broughton River which he called Bundaleer. Booyoolee is on the Rocky River. Some buildings on the station exist from the late 1840s. The homestead dates from the 1850s. Herbert married Laura White and she became the namesake for the township of Laura. Herbert later took up residence at Athelney in Adelaide. He also owned the paddocks of Netley near the Adelaide Airport. His estate is still controlled by his trustees. He died in 1892. One of the claims to fame of the station was the Booyoolee Meat Preserving Works. When there was a great excess of sheep in the 1870s Hughes began a boiling down works to make tallow for candles. A few years later he established a tinned meat work to produce “Bully Beef”. Was this just a contraction of Booyoolee beef? The canned beef meat was shipped to England and it was not popular and did not sell. Hopes of establishing a tinned beef industry was dashed a few years later anyway as refrigeration (1882) meant frozen meat could be shipped to England.
The first Gladstone township was laid out by Matthew Moorhouse in 1872, but a Government town was proclaimed as 'Booyoolie' in 1875. In 1940 the name of 'Gladstone' was officially adopted for both towns. The town was named after William Gladstone (1809-1898), Prime Minister of England.
The town developed rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1877 from Port Pirie which separated the two townships. Settlement occurred in the district after the government resumed much of the original Booyoolee lease land in 1869 and put it up for public auction in 1871. Cross the railway lines, you can see the old butter factory, and the original school building. West of the railway yards with its three gauges you can see the newer school (1929) and Grubbs Cordial Factory. The growth of the town was further hastened with the establishment of the Gladstone Goal. Gladstone High School was one of the first rural high schools opening in 1913. Grubbs Cordial Factory has been operating continuously since 1876 but with various owners. The Grubb family have been running the factory since 1914. Note the architectural style of the two banks in Gladstone. Both were built in the same period; one in the traditional Greek classical style with Doric columns with volutes on top and a clearly defined pediment across the roof line; the other was built in stripped classical style with no ornamentation and some remnants of classical features only.
Gladstone Goal was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost of over £21,000. Slate for the roof was transported from Mintaro. It was intended for debtors and never housed more than 70 prisoners at any one time from when it opened until it closed in the 1920s. During World War Two it was used to inter Italians and Germans of suspect loyalties. From 1953 it was used for youth offenders until it closed in 1975. Members of the public can now visit the goal as a tourist attraction.
Railways were also one of the backbones of the town’s prosperity and employment until the 1980s. The first railway reached the town in 1877. Then the line was extended to Peterborough in 1880 providing a connection with Adelaide. The Blyth extension to Gladstone reached the town in 1894. Eventually the government decided to build a narrow gauge line north to Laura, Booleroo Centre, Melrose and Wilmington. This gave Gladstone two gauges. This line was started to Laura in 1884 being extended to Booleroo Centre in 1910, and finally to Melrose and Wilmington in 1915. With standardisation of the railway line from Port Pirie to Broken Hill in 1970 it gave the town three gauges. The original railway station was replaced in 1927. Immediately behind it is the Booyoolee Hotel built in 1873 as the first hotel in Gladstone. The upper storey was added in 1880.
Two other elements of Gladstone’s history show why it was a large town from its early days. The first school opened in 1876 in a fine stone building in the government part of the town, in the street behind the Booyoolie Hotel. In 1913 it became the high school, until a purpose built high school was opened adjacent to this first school in 1927. This building is now the town’s kindergarten. Churches were also important in Gladstone. The Anglican Church, St Alban’s was assisted by large donations from Herbert Bristow Hughes. In 1915 the Anglican Diocese of Willochra was formed and within five years the Bishop for Willochra was living in Gladstone. Bishop’s house in Gladstone was completed in 1923 and is still the residence and office of the Anglican Diocese of Willochra. The current bishop had the Anglican Church in Port Pire reconsecrated as the cathedral in the mid 1990s.
Old butter factory in Gladstone South Australia.
Gladstone. The first European, Herbert Bristow Hughes took up Booyoolee (pronounced Bowlee) Run in 1846 as a pastoral lease of 200 square miles. His brother John had already taken up a run on the Broughton River which he called Bundaleer. Booyoolee is on the Rocky River. Some buildings on the station exist from the late 1840s. The homestead dates from the 1850s. Herbert married Laura White and she became the namesake for the township of Laura. Herbert later took up residence at Athelney in Adelaide. He also owned the paddocks of Netley near the Adelaide Airport. His estate is still controlled by his trustees. He died in 1892. One of the claims to fame of the station was the Booyoolee Meat Preserving Works. When there was a great excess of sheep in the 1870s Hughes began a boiling down works to make tallow for candles. A few years later he established a tinned meat work to produce “Bully Beef”. Was this just a contraction of Booyoolee beef? The canned beef meat was shipped to England and it was not popular and did not sell. Hopes of establishing a tinned beef industry was dashed a few years later anyway as refrigeration (1882) meant frozen meat could be shipped to England.
The first Gladstone township was laid out by Matthew Moorhouse in 1872, but a Government town was proclaimed as 'Booyoolie' in 1875. In 1940 the name of 'Gladstone' was officially adopted for both towns. The town was named after William Gladstone (1809-1898), Prime Minister of England.
The town developed rapidly with the arrival of the railway in 1877 from Port Pirie which separated the two townships. Settlement occurred in the district after the government resumed much of the original Booyoolee lease land in 1869 and put it up for public auction in 1871. Cross the railway lines, you can see the old butter factory, and the original school building. West of the railway yards with its three gauges you can see the newer school (1929) and Grubbs Cordial Factory. The growth of the town was further hastened with the establishment of the Gladstone Goal. Gladstone High School was one of the first rural high schools opening in 1913. Grubbs Cordial Factory has been operating continuously since 1876 but with various owners. The Grubb family have been running the factory since 1914. Note the architectural style of the two banks in Gladstone. Both were built in the same period; one in the traditional Greek classical style with Doric columns with volutes on top and a clearly defined pediment across the roof line; the other was built in stripped classical style with no ornamentation and some remnants of classical features only.
Gladstone Goal was built between 1879 and 1881 at a cost of over £21,000. Slate for the roof was transported from Mintaro. It was intended for debtors and never housed more than 70 prisoners at any one time from when it opened until it closed in the 1920s. During World War Two it was used to inter Italians and Germans of suspect loyalties. From 1953 it was used for youth offenders until it closed in 1975. Members of the public can now visit the goal as a tourist attraction.
Railways were also one of the backbones of the town’s prosperity and employment until the 1980s. The first railway reached the town in 1877. Then the line was extended to Peterborough in 1880 providing a connection with Adelaide. The Blyth extension to Gladstone reached the town in 1894. Eventually the government decided to build a narrow gauge line north to Laura, Booleroo Centre, Melrose and Wilmington. This gave Gladstone two gauges. This line was started to Laura in 1884 being extended to Booleroo Centre in 1910, and finally to Melrose and Wilmington in 1915. With standardisation of the railway line from Port Pirie to Broken Hill in 1970 it gave the town three gauges. The original railway station was replaced in 1927. Immediately behind it is the Booyoolee Hotel built in 1873 as the first hotel in Gladstone. The upper storey was added in 1880.
Two other elements of Gladstone’s history show why it was a large town from its early days. The first school opened in 1876 in a fine stone building in the government part of the town, in the street behind the Booyoolie Hotel. In 1913 it became the high school, until a purpose built high school was opened adjacent to this first school in 1927. This building is now the town’s kindergarten. Churches were also important in Gladstone. The Anglican Church, St Alban’s was assisted by large donations from Herbert Bristow Hughes. In 1915 the Anglican Diocese of Willochra was formed and within five years the Bishop for Willochra was living in Gladstone. Bishop’s house in Gladstone was completed in 1923 and is still the residence and office of the Anglican Diocese of Willochra. The current bishop had the Anglican Church in Port Pire reconsecrated as the cathedral in the mid 1990s.