Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
Encyclopedia
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort was an Australia
n industrialist responsible for improving refrigeration
of meat
. He was renowned for speculation in the local pastoral industry as well as industrial activities such as his Ice-Works in Sydney's Darling Harbour
and dry dock and engineering works at Balmain.
, Lancashire
, England
in 1816. In 1878, he was associated with the Australian Mutual Provident Society
. In 1849, he was one of a committee, which funded a company to promote sugar growing at Moreton Bay. In 1850 Mort was a member of the Sydney Exchange Co, and in 1851 he was a director of the Sydney Railway Co. and was also involved in mining (gold, later also copper and coal) and other enterprises. In the 1850s, he opened Mort's Dock
in Sydney, a business that was not as successful as he wished.
Mort returned to England for a visit in 1857-59. During that visit he bought many furnishings, pictures and other goods, in particular at a sale of the possessions of the Earl of Shrewsbury
. He commissioned the architect Edmund Blacket
to build a house to add to his house to display the new possessions. His gallery was open to the public.
From 1856 Mort began acquiring land near Moruya
on the south coast of New South Wales. In 1860, Mort acquired the Bodalla estate
near the mouth of the Tuross River
. Mort eventually owned 38,000 acres (150 km²) in the district, a very substantial holding in that fertile area. Bodalla is alleged to have been originally known as ‘Boat Alley’. Mort’s vision for Bodalla was as a country estate to retire on and to demonstrate model land utilisation and rural settlement. Mort wished to have a tenanted dairy estate run as an integrated whole.
Mort replaced the beef cattle that had been farmed there and carried out extensive improvements including clearing land, draining river swamps, erecting fences, laying out farms, sowing imported grasses, and providing milking sheds, cheese and butter-making equipment. Butter and cheese were produced for the Sydney market. By the 1870s, the tenants were disgruntled sharefarmers and the estate was in Mort’s control again run as three farms with hired labour.
In 1866, Mort expanded his dry dock into an engineering works. Mort offered shares to his employees and in 1875, the company was incorporated with limited liability having been managed beforehand by a committee that included four leading hands. This was one of the earliest attempts at cooperation between capital and labour in Australia, and although the effort at sharing ownership was only partially successful, Mort always had good relations with his employees.
Also in the mid 1860s, Mort had been looking at refrigeration as a way of developing manufacturing orders, to ensure better access to the Sydney market for the butter and cheese he was producing at Bodalla and to offset the vulnerability of being exposed to falling wool prices. Mort financed experiments by Eugene Dominic Nicolle, a French born engineer who had arrived in Sydney in 1853 and registered his first ice-making patent in 1861.
In 1861 Mort established at Darling Harbour
the first freezing works in the world, which afterwards became the New South Wales Fresh Food and Ice Company. The first trial shipment of frozen meat to London was in 1868. Although their machinery was never used in the frozen meat trade, Mort and Nicolle developed commercially viable systems for domestic trade, although the financial return on that investment was not a great success for Mort.
As a part of his refrigeration works, Mort developed a large abattoir at Lithgow
where sheep and cattle from western New South Wales were slaughtered and refrigerated for later transport. In 1875, to mark his achievements in the refrigeration techniques, Mort arranged a picnic
for 300 guests. He organised a special train from Sydney and fed his guests food that had been refrigerated at his plant for over 18 months.
Mort was a prominent Anglican
layman. He donated the land for St Mark’s Church, Darling Point
, and commissioned Edmund Blacket
to design the church. Mort contributed to the upkeep of the church and also to the building of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
and St Paul’s College, University of Sydney
. He was also the founder of Christ Church School in Pitt Street Sydney.
At the time of his death he was spoken of as "the greatest benefactor the working classes in this country ever had". Within a week of Mort’s death from pneumonia at Bodalla, a meeting of working men in Sydney had resolved to show the esteem and respect in which they held his memory. A sculpture in Macquarie Place
by Pierce Connolly resulted from their resolution and was unveiled in 1883.
Mort is also commemorated by All Saints Church, Bodalla, built in his honour by his family, to a design by Edmund Blacket
, using granite quarried on Mort's property. The foundation stone was laid by Marianne Mort, Thomas' second wife, on 18 March 1880. It was completed in 1901. The church has one of seven small Henry Willis & Sons
organs, built in 1881 and installed the following year. The church cost 13,000 Pounds Stirling to construct.
Mort's business Mort & Co. became Mort & Co Ltd in 1883. Mort & Co Ltd merged with R Goldsbrough & Co Ltd in 1888 to form Goldsbrough Mort & Co Ltd. This firm traded from 1888-1963 when a merger formed Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort Ltd which traded from 1963 - 1982. The present day business is Elders Limited
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n industrialist responsible for improving refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
of meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
. He was renowned for speculation in the local pastoral industry as well as industrial activities such as his Ice-Works in Sydney's Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour, New South Wales
Darling Harbour is a locality of the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street...
and dry dock and engineering works at Balmain.
Businessman
Mort born at BoltonBolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1816. In 1878, he was associated with the Australian Mutual Provident Society
AMP Limited
AMP Limited is an Australian financial corporation. It operates primarily in Australia and New Zealand. AMP formed in 1849 as the Australian Mutual Provident Society, a non-profit life insurance company. In 1998 it was demutualised and listed on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges...
. In 1849, he was one of a committee, which funded a company to promote sugar growing at Moreton Bay. In 1850 Mort was a member of the Sydney Exchange Co, and in 1851 he was a director of the Sydney Railway Co. and was also involved in mining (gold, later also copper and coal) and other enterprises. In the 1850s, he opened Mort's Dock
Mort's Dock
Mort's Dock is a former dry dock, slipway, and shipyard in Balmain, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first dry dock in Australia, opening for business in 1855 and closing more than a century later in 1959.-Sydney's first dry dock:...
in Sydney, a business that was not as successful as he wished.
Mort returned to England for a visit in 1857-59. During that visit he bought many furnishings, pictures and other goods, in particular at a sale of the possessions of the Earl of Shrewsbury
Henry Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury
Admiral Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, 3rd Earl Talbot, 18th Earl of Waterford, CB, PC , styled Viscount Ingestre between 1826 and 1849 and known as The Earl Talbot between 1849 and 1858, was a British naval commander and Conservative politician.-Background:Shrewsbury was the...
. He commissioned the architect Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St...
to build a house to add to his house to display the new possessions. His gallery was open to the public.
From 1856 Mort began acquiring land near Moruya
Moruya, New South Wales
Moruya is a small regional centre in New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Moruya River, approximately 300 kilometers south of Sydney. At the 2006 census, Moruya had a population of 10,278 people. The town relies predominantly on agriculture, aquaculture, and tourism...
on the south coast of New South Wales. In 1860, Mort acquired the Bodalla estate
Bodalla, New South Wales
Bodalla is a small town on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, and located in the local government area of Eurobodalla Shire. The town sits on the Princes Highway, and is connected by road to Moruya, Narooma, Nerrigundah, Eurobodalla and Potato Point.The Yuin people are consider to be...
near the mouth of the Tuross River
Tuross River
-References:...
. Mort eventually owned 38,000 acres (150 km²) in the district, a very substantial holding in that fertile area. Bodalla is alleged to have been originally known as ‘Boat Alley’. Mort’s vision for Bodalla was as a country estate to retire on and to demonstrate model land utilisation and rural settlement. Mort wished to have a tenanted dairy estate run as an integrated whole.
Mort replaced the beef cattle that had been farmed there and carried out extensive improvements including clearing land, draining river swamps, erecting fences, laying out farms, sowing imported grasses, and providing milking sheds, cheese and butter-making equipment. Butter and cheese were produced for the Sydney market. By the 1870s, the tenants were disgruntled sharefarmers and the estate was in Mort’s control again run as three farms with hired labour.
In 1866, Mort expanded his dry dock into an engineering works. Mort offered shares to his employees and in 1875, the company was incorporated with limited liability having been managed beforehand by a committee that included four leading hands. This was one of the earliest attempts at cooperation between capital and labour in Australia, and although the effort at sharing ownership was only partially successful, Mort always had good relations with his employees.
Also in the mid 1860s, Mort had been looking at refrigeration as a way of developing manufacturing orders, to ensure better access to the Sydney market for the butter and cheese he was producing at Bodalla and to offset the vulnerability of being exposed to falling wool prices. Mort financed experiments by Eugene Dominic Nicolle, a French born engineer who had arrived in Sydney in 1853 and registered his first ice-making patent in 1861.
In 1861 Mort established at Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour, New South Wales
Darling Harbour is a locality of the city centre of Sydney, Australia. It is a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. The locality extends northwards from Chinatown, along both sides of Cockle Bay to King Street...
the first freezing works in the world, which afterwards became the New South Wales Fresh Food and Ice Company. The first trial shipment of frozen meat to London was in 1868. Although their machinery was never used in the frozen meat trade, Mort and Nicolle developed commercially viable systems for domestic trade, although the financial return on that investment was not a great success for Mort.
As a part of his refrigeration works, Mort developed a large abattoir at Lithgow
Lithgow, New South Wales
Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of the local political division City of Lithgow. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales.Lithgow is...
where sheep and cattle from western New South Wales were slaughtered and refrigerated for later transport. In 1875, to mark his achievements in the refrigeration techniques, Mort arranged a picnic
Picnic
In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...
for 300 guests. He organised a special train from Sydney and fed his guests food that had been refrigerated at his plant for over 18 months.
Mort was a prominent Anglican
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
layman. He donated the land for St Mark’s Church, Darling Point
Darling Point, New South Wales
Darling Point is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darling Point is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council....
, and commissioned Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St...
to design the church. Mort contributed to the upkeep of the church and also to the building of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Peter Jensen...
and St Paul’s College, University of Sydney
St. Paul's College, Sydney
St Paul's College in Sydney, Australia, is an Anglican residential college for men which is affiliated with the University of Sydney. Founded in 1856 by an 1854 act of the New South Wales Legislative Council, it is Australia's oldest university college...
. He was also the founder of Christ Church School in Pitt Street Sydney.
Death and legacy
Macquarie Place
Macquarie Place is a small triangular park in downtown Sydney, Australia. It is located at the corner of Bridge Street and Loftus Street, and is named after Governor Lachlan Macquarie.- History :...
by Pierce Connolly resulted from their resolution and was unveiled in 1883.
Mort is also commemorated by All Saints Church, Bodalla, built in his honour by his family, to a design by Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St...
, using granite quarried on Mort's property. The foundation stone was laid by Marianne Mort, Thomas' second wife, on 18 March 1880. It was completed in 1901. The church has one of seven small Henry Willis & Sons
Henry Willis & Sons
thumb|250px|St Bees Priory organ, the last major instrument to be personally supervised by "Father" Henry Willis, 1899Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845 in Liverpool. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other...
organs, built in 1881 and installed the following year. The church cost 13,000 Pounds Stirling to construct.
Mort's business Mort & Co. became Mort & Co Ltd in 1883. Mort & Co Ltd merged with R Goldsbrough & Co Ltd in 1888 to form Goldsbrough Mort & Co Ltd. This firm traded from 1888-1963 when a merger formed Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort Ltd which traded from 1963 - 1982. The present day business is Elders Limited
Elders Limited
Elders Limited is an Australian based agribusiness company.It was founded in 1839 in South Australia by Alexander Lang Elder as a new arm of his family's Scottish based merchant and shipping business. Its core business was a trading company and commission agent for wool and other agricultural...
.
See also
- James HarrisonJames Harrison (engineer)James Harrison was an Australian newspaper printer, journalist, politician, and pioneer in the field of mechanical refrigeration.-Early life:...
- another Australia refrigeration inventor. - Richard GoldsbroughRichard GoldsbroughRichard Goldsbrough was an English-born Australian business man, involved in the wool industry in the 19th century....