Tom and Bill Elliott came to Western Australia in 1893 and moved immediately to the Goldfields where they began a business as cartage contractors. After two years, in 1895, Tom built a cordial factory near the Kalgoorlie rail line and also the Federal Brewery in Kalgoorlie for F W Whitfield. In 1898 he was to build a brewery for himself at the ‘Boulder Block’ called The Boulder Brewery (1898-1899) The tiny brewery was unique, it had a frontage of only 12 feet, and the depth was only 75 feet. It was wedged neatly within a group of six hotels almost in the very centre of the Boulder Block area, frequently referred to as the ‘Dirty Acre’ and later Fimiston.
Boulder City Brewery 1913. A record Christmas order for the Lake View Hotel, Boulder. 500 doz bottles of Boulder Stout weighing 12 tons – Photo SLWA
Within a few years of the Goldmining town being established, Boulder had thirty-six hotels, six of which were in ‘The Block’. All were open twenty fours a day and most had only small frontages with a bar at the back catering to the ever-optimistic peggers of blocks and those who worked various shifts at the mines. They all liked a drink or two but it rarely stopped at that and drunkenness was a common sight. The total output of the Boulder Brewery was delivered to hotels close by. No transport was needed since the kegs of beer were simply rolled out of the brewery and down the street to the pub.
Mr and Mrs James Elliott at Bulong
James Elliott worked as the managing director for a time at the Lion Brewery in Coolgardie before purchasing the brewery at Broad Arrow in partnership with his brother Tom. They were soon to be producing one of the largest outputs of any Goldfield’s brewery. The Brewery had the splendid name of
‘The Broad Arrow, Bardoc & Black Flag Brewing Aerated Water and Ice Co Ltd’
(1896 to 1911). Jim, from Deniliquin in NSW, came from a large family of brewers. The official opening of the Broad Arrow Brewery took place during the afternoon of the 10th Feb 1897 with a gala ball being held in the evening. The Elliott brothers were to change the name to The Shamrock Brewery in 1901 but with several members of the family in the business, it was more commonly known as Elliotts.
In 1912 Jim Elliott was to buy out the Langfords Brewery at 109 Forrest Street, Kalgoorlie. In 1913 Jim ran into trouble when he was charged with breaching the Excise Act. It was alleged he had removed seven bottles of beer without paying the duty. In spite of his plausible explanation and the fact that he owned the brewery, he was fined £2 10s with 2s costs. This ridiculous penalty and the humiliation affected Jim severely. He was to sell out completely in 1918 to the Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice Company which then closed the brewery down to reduce competition. The Kalgoorlie Brewing and Ice company would later be known as the Hannans Brewery and would run right up till 1983.
Langfords Brewery then changed to Elliotts Brewery – photos SLWA
Moya Sharp
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Moya, this website is a brilliant resource. I’m writing a novel partly set in Kalgoorlie back in the late 1890s and through to the 1970s. Very helpful!
Hi Sue Please feel free to use any photos or text from the web site if it will help in your story.