Tall poppies of Tamworth Series @2
This series is to bring together our two interests of Australian History and geocaching. We will focus on pioneers and settlers who have made significant contributions to the vibrant city we now have.
George Fielder
When George Fielder was born on 4 October 1827, in Sussex, England, United Kingdom, his father, Jesse James Fielder, was 15 and his mother, Hannah Bowlin, was 21. He married Mary Ann Bourne on 14 February 1853, in Wollombi, New South Wales, Australia. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 5 daughters. He died on 25 March 1913, in Wollombi, New South Wales, Australia, at the age of 85, and was buried in Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia.
George Fielder and Co. produced commercially in Tamworth, New South Wales, the first vital, i.e. undenatured, dry gluten (1933). This was the beginning of the starch and gluten industry. Later they extended from starch to glucose and dextrose and into other cereal products; baked goods, pasta, packaged do-it-yourself products, and stock foods.
Flour mills were very important to the early growth of Tamworth, with the first one getting underway in 1859, the small Armstrong Mill in Marius Street, which operated for only a short period.
Following this Munro's Mill got underway in 1863, one of our oldest surviving buildings, now occupied by Tamworth Community College opposite Maguires Hotel in Peel Street.
Next came the 1867 Cohen & Levy Mill in Fitzroy Street, where our Tamworth Town Hall is now located.
Then in 1869 Patrick Coghlan, attempting to break the Cohen & Levy monopoly, initiated a small mill in White Street that grew into the substantial Phoenix Flour Mill, later renamed the Fielder & Son Flour Mill.
It was situated between Peel Street and Lower Street (Kable Avenue), eventually growing to a 101m White Street frontage, aligned with the present Northern Inland Credit Union.
The Mill had then not operated for a number of years when purchased by George Fielder to be back in operation in 1900.
The pictured Mill was then capable of processing 10 bags of wheat per hour, 24 hours a day, six days a week.
The disastrous 1910 flood saw water rise above 6 layers of wheat bags at the Mill, destroying about 13 000 bags of high grade milling wheat.
Some employees had to be rescued after trying to escape from the Mill in a boat.
The Mill was eventually demolished in 1924, having produced flour over a 55 year period, since its early establishment by Patrick Coghlan.
