BYRNES CLOTH MILL 1847

STATE LIBRARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

In 1841, on Macarthur land, a flour mill was built on the riverbank, just to the east of the Queens wharf. In 1844 construction began on an ambitious 5 storey, steam driven cloth factory, alongside the flour mill, opening in 1847.

It was named the ‘Australian Steam Mills and Cloth Factory’ and run by the well known Byrnes brothers until 1881 when the lease expired. Complications arising from the end of this lease eventually left the Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm in serious debt, ultimately leading to the forced sale and subdivision of the estate. In 1889, the old mill was purchased by the government for additional wards and offices of the Benevolent Asylum.

In addition to the main factory structure, there were several smaller buildings to the east, providing rooms for weavers, a warehouse and workers accommodation. The warehousing and distribution of goods worked well with the company’s existing interest in wharf and ferry activities on Sydney harbour and an exemption from wharfing fees at Parramatta.

With the convict system in its final years, and the Female Factory (on the other side of Parramatta) soon to close, the Byrnes saw an opportunity to capture a ready market for woollen goods – mainly tweeds and tartans. One of their fabrics, a blend of black wool and cotton named the ‘Parramatta Cloth’, gained unexpected fame when Queen Victoria adopted it as part of her mourning dress in the 1850s. Remnants of ‘Parramatta Cloth’ have been identified on clothing found under floorboards at the Hyde Park Barracks, linked to its period as an immigrant depot and destitute asylum.

The site was initially leased in 1840, for a term of 40 years at an annual rent of 200 pounds. An agreement was reached whereby the Macarthurs, as lessors, at the end of the lease term, would recompense the Byrne’s business for the value of the Mill. This ended in court in 1881 with the Macarthurs disputing the amount claimed by the Byrnes, which included a dam and loom machinery fixed to the premises. The court’s decision to favour the Byrnes represented a substantial, and for the Macarthurs an almost crippling, amount of money – approximately 7000 pounds.The sale of Elizabeth Farm was considered the only means of recovering losses.