Walkerden Brickworks
Oakover Street, Preston
Walkerden Brickworks stared in Oakover Road in around 1890 under the general managership of John Walkerden. They were certainly there by 1891 because the Walkerden's, John and Henry wrote to the Council complaining about the state of Oakover Road to the Preston Council. They also argued for the tram line to go down Oakover Road.
The following year there was a terrible accident at the brickworks when 13yr old William Sharp was caught in machinery whilst trying to fix a loose fan belt. He lost his left foot and right leg and died in hospital later that day. John Walkerden told an inquest that he had frequently told the boy not to touch the machinery.
The brickworks produced good quality bricks and it was not uncommon to see houses being sold which boasted of being constructed from Walkerden bricks. However the company failed to survive the 1896 Depression which hit the construction industry hard. The business disappeared by March 1896.
At its height it exmployed sixteen men and turning out 20,000 bricks per week. Their brickworks had three kilns and eleven drying sheds.
The site is now the Harry Swain Reserve.
Sources
Carroll, Brian & Rule, Ian (1985). Preston: an Illustrated History. Preston: City of Preston.
Edwardian Index Victoria 1902-1913 : index to births, deaths and marriages in Victoria [CD-ROM]. (1998). Melbourne, Australia: Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Forster, Harley W. (1968). Preston Lands and People. Melbourne: Cheshire.
Victoria and its metropolis. (1888). Melbourne. McCarron, Bird & Co.
'Prestonshire', (1891, April 9). Mercury and Weekly Courier (Vic. 1878 -1903) p. 3
'Fatal accident at Brickwork (1892, January 21). The Age (Melbourne, Vic.: 1854 - ), p.6
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