Immigration, Liaisons & Effervescence
A History of Aerated Water & Cordial Manufacturers of the Richmond
Written and Researched by Geoffrey Kinkead
Reproduced with permission from Geoff’s family.
This incredible research took Geoff many years as he painstakingly sought out every detail and source for over 60 local manufacturers. This comprehensive study of a single Richmond industry gives an insight into the growth and decline of the earliest enterprising families arriving on the Richmond to seek their fortunes.
Sadly, Geoff passed away just a few years after the book was published but we are grateful that his family have allowed his research to live on in this historical digital format.
Charles Henry ASHWOOD
Charles was born on 3 August 1856 the son of English immigrants George and Sarah Ashwood (nee Copping) in the Tenterfield district. Charles parents arrived in Australia on the Agricola in February 1853 with a daughter named Mary. George was listed on the manifest as a painter from Middlesex. Charles appeared on electoral rolls from 1882 as residing in Wardell before moving to Coraki in 1885 where he established himself as a building contractor performing carpentry work. He carried out repairs to the South Casino Public School, erected residences, made furniture and in partnership with Thomas Eustace provided an undertaking service. On 6 August 1884 Charles married Agnes Webster at Coraki. Agnes was the youngest daughter of William and Anne Webster (nee Toner). They were influential figures in Ballina at that time with their eldest daughter married to the William Yeager and their son William destined to become the Mayor of Ballina Council. William senior was transported to Australia in 1833 on board the Heroine and granted his certificate of freedom in 1841.
In 1888 Charles applied for a cattle brand indicating he was probably running cattle in the area at that time. The carpentry business seems to have faltered as Charles was declared bankrupt as a builder at Coraki on 2 May 1890. With entrepreneurial enthusiasm which was prevalent at the time, Charles started manufacturing aerated waters and cordials at Wardell from 1894 until at least 1898 under the Excelsior Aerated Water Works trade name.
Charles and Agnes had six children born between 1884 and 1899 and the NSW census of 1901 shows Charles residing in Moon Street Ballina with a household of four males and five females. The land in Moon St was transferred to Agnes Ashwood in 1899 so it is probable to assume that Charles began manufacturing cordials in Ballina on this allotment from this date. Agnes owned the house while Charles owned the cordial factory and a garage on the site. Charles continued to manufacture aerated water and cordials from the Moon Street site for 30 years or more with a telephone numbered 23. His cordial manufactory ceased operation about 1934. He used the Midson patent on one line of his marble bottles and was the only North Coast manufacturer to do so.
In 1911 George William Midson of Nundah, Brisbane, Queensland applied for the patent that reinforced the gullet of the bottle providing greater strength and was therefore less liable to break. Ashwood was also the only North Coast manufacturer to at least investigate the use of a lightning stoppered stone ginger beer bottle. Charles Henry Ashwood died in Prince Henry Hospital Sydney on 5 March 1940. His wife Agnes predeceased him passing away in Ballina on 20 November 1939.
John ASKEW
John Askew was born in the Queanbeyan district in 1863. His parents were Isaiah and Bridget Askew (nee Flynn) who were married at Geelong in Victoria in 1854. Isaiah had arrived in Australia on board the London that docked at Melbourne in 1852. By 1868 the family of Isaiah and Bridget was living on the Richmond River where Isaiah found work as a carpenter and where John would spend the rest of his life.
John is found on electoral rolls in 1885 residing in Casino but moved to Coraki in 1886 where he was operating the Coraki Aerated Waters and Cordial Factory previously run by Martin Nolan and Thomas Tickle. The venture failed and John was declared insolvent on 6 September 1886 as a cordial maker. John ran the cordial factory for less than a year prior to his bankruptcy. The brothers Martin and Kyran Nolan acquired the business weeks later.
John remained in Coraki working as a painter before returning to Casino. In 1897 he married Marie Turner McDonald and they raised a family of six children. John remained in Casino working as a painter before entering employment around 1908 as a bailiff. He then moved to Bonalbo where he was a hotel keeper at the Bonalbo Hotel from 1917 until 1926. He remained in Bonalbo farming on “Boorara” until his death on 10 April 1943 at the Bonalbo District Hospital of a cerebral haemorrhage. He was buried in the Bonalbo cemetery. There are no known embossed bottles from his time as a cordial manufacturer in Coraki.
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Farming & Industry
