HORSEMILLS /
HUMAN POWERED MILLS /
TIDEMILLS /
WATERMILLS - BATTERIES
WATERMILLS - FLOUR /
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WATERMILLS - OTHER
WINDMILLS - FLOUR /
WINDMILLS - OTHER
New South Wales / Tasmania / Victoria
In 1812 Hannibal Hawkins MACARTHUR (1788-1861), a nephew of the noted early colonist John MACARTHUR, bought a farm on the Parramatta river in the present-day suburb of Rydalmere, Parramatta from Captain WATERHOUSE. This land had originally been granted to Philip SCHAEFFER in 1792 and was on the other side of the river to his uncle's holdings. The decision was made to erect a small tide mill on this property and a large number of stones were placed across the mouth of a creek to form the foundation of a small dam wall for a mill, which was completed by 1819.
There is some question as to the position of the mill depending on the maps and references used but the most probable site was on the western bank of Subiaco Creek, where it flows from the north into the upper reaches of the Parramatta River estuary about 2 kilometres above the Shell petroleum products wharf [2004], at the River's junction with Duck Creek. At this early date this was known as the 'Red Bank' wharf and as a result of the mill's proximity, it also evidently came to be commonly referred to as the 'Red Bank Mill'.
It was claimed that the mill was the first tidal mill constructed in the colony. A convict named Thomas EASTERBROOK, who was an experienced miller, had arrived in Sydney on the 'Prince of Orange' in February 1821 and was assigned to MACARTHUR. He appears to have operated the tide mill until mid 1825.
In 1836, Hannibal built a mansion on his Vineyard Estate overlooking the Parramatta River, where he and his wife Maria, a daughter of former Governor KING, entertained lavishly. It soon became a focal point for the cream of Sydney's society, where invited guests arrived by either chartered steam vessel or private yacht.
The Vineyard mill was still operating in 1840, but after encountering financial difficulties following the failure of the Bank of Australia in 1844, Hannibal was forced to sell "The Vineyard Estate." The title seems to have briefly passed to a Mr ICELY before being purchased by Bishop POLDING on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. The mansion was subsequently renamed 'Subiaco', after the place where St Benedict had lived in Italy in the 6th century, and it served as the home of the Benedictine Order of nuns for over a century. The sale of the estate to the church may have effectively marked the demise of the Vineyard Mill. Hannibal MACARTHUR unfortunately, had an appointment with the Insolvency Court in 1848.
Captain Henry SMYTH, the Officer in Charge of Port Macquarie, was advised by the Colonial Secretary in a letter dated the 3rd of September 1830, that John SMITH was to be allowed a piece of land at for the purpose of erecting a mill, with roughly 20 to 40 hectares adjoining the farm. SMITH was at the settlement in the first half of 1831, with the Governor's approval and sanction to construct a tide-mill. The precise location for the tide-mill was being considered in July 1831, but it appears that the project did not proceed. See also Wind-powered flourmills
This operated between c1855 and 1890. It was built by Stephen KELSEY, who arrived from Britain in 1852 and purchased land north west of Dean's Point, Swan Bay and the Figure of Eight Creek. He applied to erect a mill there in December 1853. Near his home and between the two promontories, he built a saw mill at the south end of the Mersey estuary and later a flour mill. Dams were built across the two inlets and used gates to hold the receding tide, so that the outflowing water would operate the large wheels of both mills.
There was a commercial tidal flour mill using the tides at the junction of the Bass River and Ross Creek, and was built here in 1842 by Samuel ANDERSON [ - 1863] and Robert MASSIE. The creek was dammed with a sluice gate, which held the high tide, to be released when needed, to the mill. Water from the dam flowed along a race to the undershot water wheel. The mill ceased operations sometime in the 1850's.