The Lever Brothers Factory was a soap factory in the suburb of Balmain in Sydney, Australia, which operated from 1895 until 1988. It employed many people from the local area and its large industrial buildings were a prominent feature of the landscape. Most of the site was demolished in 1996 to make way for an apartment complex, and only three of the original buildings remain.
Localization
The factory was on a 10 ha site near Booth Street and Punch Park at the western end of Balmain, adjacent to White Bay.
History
The British company, Lever Brothers, was founded in 1885 by William Hesketh Lever, and Lever Brothers Ltd was incorporated in Australia on 21 June 1894.[1] John Proctor Gray was appointed as the firm's Australian manager.[2] Soon after this, in 1897, Lever Brothers established a plant at Balmain to extract oil from copra which was shipped back to Liverpool, England.[3] In 1900, the Balmain plant began to manufacture Sunlight soap and glycerine, and other products followed.
Early in 1914, William Lever visited Melbourne as part of a worldwide tour of his company's interests. During the visit, he met with the owners of J.Kitchen & Sons, who were established local soap manufacturers, and offered to amalgamate the two firms. After consideration, it was agreed that Lever Bros would purchase three-quarters of the shares in J.Kitchen & Sons, in return for cumulative preferred ordinary shares in Levers.
Other information
- Balmain master soapmaker, William Wainwright, was mayor of Balmain in 1922 and one of a number of Freemasons at Lever Brothers.[3]
- As well as soap and glycerine, the factory also produced Lifebuoy antiseptic soap, Monkey Brand soap, Lux flakes and toilet soap, Pears soap, Rinso, Persil, Solvol, Omo, Handy Andy, and Continental packet soups.
- William Lever is credited as being the first soap manufacturer to imprint a brand name on a bar of soap ("Sunlight") and wrap it before sale.
- In 1930, Australian politician William Wentworth worked briefly at the site as a factory-hand.[6]
External links
References
- Papers relating to Levers Pacific Plantations Limited and related companies, 1894–1928, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau (PAMBU), Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), Australian National University (ANU), Canberra.^
- Mr. J. P. Gray Australian Town and Country Journal, 23 February 1901^
- Solling, M; Reynolds, P; Leichhardt: On the margins of the city, Allen & Unwin, 1997, pp 125–6, ISBN 978-1-86448-408-3.^