POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Plaque for Richard Dawson's Sydney foundry

Object No. H9568

Ironworking was an important skill in the early colony, because iron was a major structural component of vehicles, tools and machines. Blacksmith's equipment sent to Sydney with the First Fleet in 1788 was used to repair essential tools and make simple iron goods. Making larger iron articles required the skills of an iron founder and equipment such as cupola furnaces and cranes. In 1833 Richard Dawson established Sydney's second major foundry in partnership with Henry Castle, whose interest in the business ended in 1836. This plaque marked the foundry site and is one of the few remaining objects known to have been made there. From 1816 to 1821 Edward Whitehouse ran a small foundry in Sydney. He advertised that he cast 'all sorts of Work, in any metal, and to any pattern'. In foundry practice, a (positive) wooden pattern slightly larger than the finished article is used to make a (negative) mould in sand, into which molten metal is poured to make the (positive) product. The oversize pattern allows for shrinkage when liquid metal solidifies. In 1822 James Blanch established a foundry in the colony, as did a Mr Galloway, but little is known about the latter. At first Blanch made only small items, but by 1832 he was advertising his 'patent Australian cast iron oven' and in 1834 he claimed: 'At Blanch's Sydney Foundry everything in Iron, Brass, Composition or Bell Metal, is made and completed, in a manner not equalled by any attempt hitherto made by any other individual.' To remain competitive with Dawson, he improved his foundry and broadened its output. After he died in 1842, the foundry was sold to Peter Nicol Russell. In the 1850s and 1860s it was Sydney's largest foundry and engineering works (see object 2001/1/1 stamper battery). Like Russell, Dawson branched out into general engineering work, installing several machine tools and expanding his product range. In the 1860s he was a founding partner, with inventor Eugene Nicolle, of the Sydney Ice Works. Experiments to develop Nicolle's ammonia process for freezing meat might have been conducted at Dawson's foundry. The entrepreneurial Dawson also became a merchant, shipping agent, shipbuilder and ship-owner. His ships carried coal from Newcastle to feed his furnaces as well as various goods from the mainland to Lord Howe Island. In 1843 he became insolvent, but quickly recovered and continued in business until he died in 1865. The plaque marks that period of recovery rather than the date of the foundry's establishment. Debbie Rudder, 2016 This object is part of the Royal Australian Historical Society (RAHS) collection which was donated to the Powerhouse Museum in 1981. The Society was formed in 1901 and is the oldest historical society in Australia. As a result many of the objects they collected are of great significance to Australia and to New South Wales. Some are associated with people and families like the Marsdens, Henry Parkes, Mawson, and John Verge. Others like the convict handcuffs and the Ben Hall 'Wanted' poster aresignificant relics from Australia's past. The importance of the entire collection and the way in which it was acquired adds to the significance of this object.