'B.M.D. No. 1' photograph album mainly of the CSR cane-ite factory at Pyrmont, Sydney, 1925, 1938-1946

PXE 1743

fonds

1925, 1938-1946

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9606782

216 photographic prints (1 album) - gelatin silver - 27.9 x 37.2 cm.

The Colonial Sugar Refining Co Ltd (CSR) was founded in 1855 by Sir Edward Knox with plants at Canterbury and in the city, at the corner of Liverpool and Pitt streets. In 1875 CSR acquired five acres (two hectares) at the end of the Pyrmont peninsula. Eventually, the company would build three distinct plants there. Firstly a sugar refinery in 1877, then a distillery in 1901 and finally in the late 1930s the cane-ite factory whose function was to press cane sugar fibre into new building materials called cane-ite and particle board. In the early 1990s CSR began relocating from Pyrmont and by 1995 the Pyrmont facility had closed. The site was sold to the development company Lend Lease in 1996.

Reference: Library correspondence file.

Probably from the Building Material Division of CSR.

1 photographic album, embossed on front cover with ‘B.M.D. No. 1’ (Building Materials Division) containing 208 black & white photo prints stuck in, all dated with detailed captions and 8 loose photo prints, undated and uncaptioned.

The images record the engineering, construction and operation of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company’s cane-ite factory at Bowman Street, Pyrmont. Showing the building methods of the 1930s and 1940s and the industrial development of the Pyrmont peninsula. Excavations, concrete, steel reinforcements and bales of megass, construction workers and Glebe Island Bridge are shown.

The Building Materials Division of CSR was located in the head office at Pyrmont.

Out of copyright: Created before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Most images have detailed inscriptions with dates.