|
|
|
BOOK REVIEW
| Bob McKillop (ed.), Furnace, Fire and Forge: Lithgow's Iron and Steel Industry 1874–1932, Light Rail Research Society of Australia, Melbourne, 2006. pp. 316. $59.95 cloth.
|
| If the early history of the iron and steel industry in Australia seems an unlikely topic for a large, handsome A4 size book in the glossy 'coffee-table' style, this substantial volume can lay claim to being more of a compendium with its well-researched and indexed chapters, its useful glossary and appendices detailing steel making techniques and employee lists, as well as over 250 photos, maps and sketches dating back to the early 1870s. |
1
|
As Bob McKillop's preface and Bob Carr's foreword both acknowledge, Furnace, Fire and Forge is a cooperative effort, with a large team of specialist contributors, research advisors and assistants. The stated objective of this project is to produce
a definitive work on all aspects of the industry at Lithgow ... [to] adopt a labour history approach focussing on the working lives of managers and employees at the Lithgow works and its associated mines and quarries [and to] look beyond the workplace to private lives – the homes, school, church and social activities of the people involved (p. 7).
|
2
|
|
Does the finished product meet these stated aims? Furnace, Fire and Forge has certainly set a benchmark with its highly detailed and revealing account of the struggle to establish and maintain the iron and steel industry at Lithgow, set against the political backdrop of Federation, protectionism, the growth of the ALP, and Australia's involvement in World War I. However, its much greater focus on the deeds, views and variable fortunes of the entrepreneurs, proprietors and senior managers associated with the industry is at the expense of detail about Lithgow ironworkers, miners and their kin. This emphasis is more noticeable in the early chapters of historical narrative than in sections of the book providing essentially logistical or technical information. The first mention of ironworkers and their working and living conditions, for example, appears on page 61 in the third chapter. In another instance, it is flatly stated that the ironworkers 'had formed a craft union in 1882', but this first mention of the union is only to note the names of the three elected officials, and excludes any content expressed in the union's formal address to Eskbank Ironworks proprietor William Sandford in 1889 on his return from studying modern iron and steel making methods overseas (p. 85). By contrast, a tribute to Sandford, published in the Lithgow Mercury at the time Charles and George Hoskins took over in 1908, is included, in large letters, in full (p. 127). |
3
|
|
Compared to the extravagant detail afforded the 'great men' of the industrial elite, the relatively limited attention given to the working people of Lithgow – both men and women – is a weakness that detracts from the many good features of this book. In a project setting out to provide a 'definitive' account of Lithgow's iron and steel industry, it seems unwise to assume that readers will already know much of the associated local labour movement history. |
4
|
|
The notable exception is Greg Patmore's chapter, 'Industry, Labour and Community', and it is only here that we get a sense of Lithgow as an industrial town marked by both class conflict and cooperation, and as a distinctly 'localised' community with women as well as men earning a living and participating where possible in social, cultural and political activities. As Ray Christison explains in 'Picking up the Pieces', the devastating effects of the Hoskins family's decision to close its ironworks and move the industry to Port Kembla between 1928 and 1932 are only now being atoned through celebrations of Lithgow's contribution to nation-building and plans for an open-air industrial heritage museum. |
5
|
|
One of the most remarkable aspects of Lithgow's industrial history described in the book is the story about how James Rutherford (of Cobb & Co fame) helped save the Eskbank Ironworks from closure with a cost-saving rescue package that involved removing all the managers and establishing a workers' cooperative. The Eskbank Workers' Cooperative, led by William Miller, rolled iron rails and made other products under contract to the company from August 1882 to November 1886. It would have been good to learn more about how this cooperative worked in practice, other than the simple indication that it was run 'along the lines of workers' cooperatives in the British iron industry' (p. 71). |
6
|
|
McKillop identifies Daniel Williams, a building and rail contractor who shrewdly negotiated NSW government contracts for the production of rails and rolling steel, as the previously unrecognised key figure in 'establishing the Lithgow iron-making venture on a sound footing' (p. 79). Yet his argument in favour of Williams over Rutherford is not wholly convincing. While Williams' legacy was undoubtedly important, so too was Rutherford's intervention and the success of the workers' cooperative in helping the iron and steel making venture through difficult times. As McKillop points out, Williams' inheritors were eager to sell off the Eskbank Ironworks and advertised to that effect in early 1885 (p. 77). Rutherford's actions to stop the sale and to negotiate the transfer of Sandford's government contract in 1886 thereby ensured the operations of the Lithgow ironworks continued. |
7
|
|
Aside from the above points, there is a wealth of information and a great deal to enjoy in Furnace, Fire and Forge, including fascinating descriptions by Jeff Moonie and Jim Longworth of the process of mining and freighting raw materials in steam trains with names like Wonga, Possum and Bandicoot. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in Lithgow, the iron and steel industry, steam engines, railways, and the history of industrial technology. |
8
|
| | | | |
| University of Sydney |
DIANA COVELL | |
|
Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
|