Queensland's working heritage

Prior to the 1880s, goods were imported into Queensland rather than being manufactured. The 1880s saw an increase in capital investment in the colony, increasing the pace of industrial development and an environment where money and income were available to produce and sell goods and services.

While manufacturing and production in the colony of Queensland began with food items such as bread, ham and bacon, cakes, confectionary and cordials and soda waters, the largest sub-group in the industrial landscape of Brisbane was clothing and boot manufacture.  In 1890, 40% of the workforce in industry were working in these trade areas (Lawson, Brisbane in the 1890s, p51.) Due to this rapid growth, factories and workshops grew up without planning and attention to services such as closets (toilets), sanitary issues and water supply. Factories appeared in sheds, behind garages and retail shops. And in basements where ventilation, lighting, sanitary provisions and appropriate work spacing was not considered. 

Also at this time, many industries (including clothing and boot factories, printing works, binderies, biscuit factories and sawmills) employed a majority of very young persons. They were expected to work the same long hours as adult workers with significantly less pay.

Women employed as tailors and machinists were exposed to cramped conditions in poorly lit, small, hot unventilated spaces, and an inconsistent application of mechanization. They were also subject to exploitative sweating practices where clothing establishments sent out garment finishing tasks to women to complete in their homes. The amount paid per garment was so low that in order to make a living, seamstresses worked extraordinary hours and involved their children in the process, hemming, buttoning, and seam finishing.  Some of the largest manufacturers in the city were responsible to the most exploitative sweating practices.

There were many other occupations that experienced harsh conditions and low wages:

• Timber workers or sawmillers had perhaps the most dangerous job of all, working on early mechanized equipment without safety guards.
• Bakers and biscuit factory workers regularly worked 14 hour days in hot unventilated kitchens
• Newspaper boys began work at the age of 6 and attended school at night to learn to read and write. Many were paid less than 10 shillings a week and were helping support families.  The adult male wage in 1890 was somewhere between £2 and £3 per week but young people and female employees were paid considerably less.

Concerns over the length of time spent by shop assistants on their feet and sweating practices, and by the Tailoresses Union and the Australian Labour Federation (ALF). Women in the community concerned about the lives of working women led investigations into factory and shop conditions, including shirt-maker Emma Miller, teacher and writer Leontine Cooper, and May Jordan McConnel.  May McConnel was secretary of the Tailoress’s Union, inaugural General Secretary of the women’s section of the Australian Labour Federation and worked as an organizer for the ALF from 1890.

A strike by boot factory workers in 1890 and subsequent newspaper articles exposed some of the issues of the factory worker’s life. 

Factors affecting the boot trade included:

• Mechanization - machines were mostly introduced for tasks performed by women, such as sewing
• Urban Centralization - Most boot workers were based in Brisbane. Out of 1,565 employees in Queensland in 1900, 1,403 worked in the city.
• Unions - Unions were formed to fight for better conditions, but their success varied and working conditions remained poor.
• Tariffs - Tariffs protected local boot manufacturers. By 1895, a 25 percent tariff was applied to imported boots and shoes. This led to growth in the industry, with the number of boot factories increasing from 21 in 1890 to 46 in 1900.
• Low-cost labour – Factories relied on women and young boys to reduce wage costs. Many factories were filled with young boys, who were paid the lowest age-related wages while forced to work long hours. These workplaces also often lacked proper safety equipment.  

Repeated newspaper articles led to a Royal Commission into Factories and Workshops in 1891, under the charge of R.B. Moreton and commissioners such as Thomas Glassey and representatives of the key firms in the city – Hunter from Hunters Boot Palace and R Thurlow from the Thurlow’s Company (later Venetian Blind manufacturers). Women on the commission included those interested in reform, such as Mesdames Cooper and McConnel.

The Royal Commission visited workplaces and interviewed workers about the concerns of their particular work environment.   All interviews were recorded in the report of the Royal Commission which was tabled in Parliament. 

The Royal Commission found that factories and shops were treating workers poorly and employing women and very young children at very low wages to maximise profits, However, as Brisbane was in recession and managing the after-effects of floods, nothing was done to effect legislation or change in the Parliament until the Factories and Shops Act was passed in November 1896.  Inspectors were appointed and major changes were made to effect safer, more sanitary and better-ventilated workshops. Tighter controls were put in place around the practice of employing young people under 16 without proper conditions and appropriate hours.  Wages and uniform working conditions such as the eight hour day were not improved until the T.J. Ryan government of 1915 brought in more worker-friendly aspects to Queensland’s working heritage.

While working conditions in Brisbane factories and shops at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century were symptomatic of an industrial landscape that grew quickly and without structure or legislation, finding the records of those working experiences requires some strategies as the daily toil of the worker was rarely a topic of written or photographic evidence.

Information on working conditions and the employment status of factory and shop workers can be found in numerous ways at State Library, including:

• newspapers in Trove which will often have published articles which exposed the details of the working lives of Queenslanders, particularly when strikes or union activity was in play. Some newspaper reports also included photographs of workshops and factory interiors;
• industry or company records, which sometimes include photographs of the working environment;
• Parliamentary Papers, and trade union records; and
• photographic, ephemera and manuscript collections. These collections can contain valuable information, however, most images included those of happy proud workers standing in front of stores or factories (sometimes in large groups) on special occasions

One of the best sources of information is the Royal Commission Report itself. Researchers are now able to access this report directly through the Persons called before Queensland government committees index 1860-1920, accessible through One Search. This index contains details of more than 8000 individuals interviewed in Royal Commissions, Select Commissions, and Boards of Enquiry in Queensland. You can search for individuals within this index directly in One Search. For example, Mrs. Neighbour, from Neighbours Boot Factory in Brunswick Street in Fortitude Valley, reportedly the second largest boot factory of the day employing approximately 150 hands. 

Another useful index is the Queensland railways employees index. As one of the largest employers in Queensland at the time, information in this index comes from Queensland Government Gazettes and Railway Department Annual Reports, includes everyone from the engineer to the 'lad porter' and often reflects promotions and movement to other stations and workshops. This index is searchable through One Search.

For those who sweated and laboured in the heat and sunshine of 19th century and early 20th century Queensland, working conditions were varied and sometimes appalling.  These experiences were documented through Royal Commissions, union activity, and newspaper articles, and points to State Library collections and indexes that help researchers trace the working lives of Queenslanders during this era.
 

Books and journals

A breed apart : the history of the Bacon Factories' Union of Employees 1946-1996 / by Bradley Bowden.

Driving force : the history of the Transport Workers' Union of Australia 1883-1992 / Bradley Bowden

Work and strife in paradise : the history of labour relations in Queensland 1859-2009 / editors Bradley Bowden ... [et al.].

Brisbane in the 1890s : a study of an Australian urban society / Ronald Lawson.

Brisbane spreads west : a local history 1840 - 1901 / Brisbane History West.

Proud to be a rebel : the life and times of Emma Miller / Pam Young.

Daring to take a stand : the story of the Union of Australian Women in Queensland / by Pam Young

Finneys : 90 years of progress, 1864-1954 / L.E. Slaughter

Report of the Director of Labour and Chief Inspector of Factories and Shops for the year ended 30th June 

Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Shops for the year ended 30th June 

Selected Manuscripts

Australasian meat industry employee's union records c. 1932 -c.1974

Frank McDonnell papers c. 1889 -c. 1986

McDonnell and East Records 1901-1994

T C Beirne Records

Evans Deakin Industries Limited records 1936-1990

Moreton Sugar Mill Records 1895-2003

Gibson and Sons Tannery Records 1902-1983

Photographs

Photographs of sawmills and sawmilling

Photographs of shops

Photographs of shop interiors

Photographs of Brisbane firms

Ephemera
[Trade unions : ephemera material collected by the State Library of Queensland].