Part 3 - The Descendants of William Alchin and Ann Knock of Meopham

My Grandfather the Fireman. - By Lilian Osborne (nee Alchin)

I did not know my paternal grandfather George James Alchin as he died before I was born but he has now come alive for me from the stories and photographs my cousin Russell Alchin has shared with me.   My grandfather was a member of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade from 28th April 1890 until his retirement on 30th September 1919, a period of just over 29 years.  He started his service as a third class fireman and coachman on the horse drawn wagons at the George Street West fire station where he stayed for over two years.  In those days my grandfather and his growing family lived on the premises of the various fire stations and my uncle Harry Milton Alchin was born at this fire station at George Street West on 4th May 1892.

The next move was to Marrickville Fire Station on 4th June 1892 where my father Frank Roy Alchin was born on 25th July 1894 and his sister Jessie Gwendoline was also born there in 1896.  By this stage my grandmother Hannah Eliza (nee Bedwell) had born 10 children, three of whom had already died.

On 6th October 1897 my grandfather moved to headquarters fire station in the city where he remained until 1st March 1898 when he was moved to Woollahra fire station where his daughter Jessie Gwendoline died on 7th September 1898 and a new daughter Lucy D. was born there later that year.  Lucy D. died on 9th May 1900 after the family had moved to North Sydney fire station.  Their last child George Lancelot Desmond Alchin was born there on 20th November 1900.

It must have been a very busy life for my grandmother looking after her large family and coping with the deaths of her babies and apparently she also looked after all the single firemen that lived on the premises, doing their washing, ironing and cooking.  When her youngest child was born her eldest living child was Violet aged 21.

From North Sydney they moved to Waterloo where grandfather was awarded a Good Service badge on 1st January 1900 and a Long Service medal on 3oth June 1905.  From Waterloo they went to Redfern for a 10-month stay, and then to Randwick for a short stay, then to Paddington for 5 months where he was appointed sub-station officer and then onto Cumberland Street, Millers Point where he was officer in charge.  He was there for 5 years and the family lived in a terrace house next door.   My uncle George was only a small child and was playing on the upstairs balcony with his lead soldiers during a bad electrical storm when the lightening struck the Iron Lace railing and melted his lead soldiers.  George miraculously avoided injury but was very badly shocked.  Cumberland Street Fire Station was demolished when they were building the southern approaches for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

On 11th February 1913 the family moved to Parramatta where grandfather was Station Officer.  His wages on 9th May 1913 were 11/- per day, for a 7 day week £3.17.0 with a deduction of 1/1 for Life Assurance. On 8th August he must have had a pay rise because the pay list shows 11/6 per day, for a 7 day week £4.0.6.  This particular week he only brought home £2.17.4 as a deduction was made of 22/1 for gas and 1/1 for Life Assurance.  By the look of the pay slip the single firemen only paid 1/3 per week rent.

Whilst stationed at Parramatta there was a disastrous fire at Meggitt’s Linseed Oil Mill on 30th November 1914.  This mill was opened in 1908 and gradually expanded over the next few years.  The proprietors realised that particular attention had to be paid to ensure that none but the best quality oil was produced, this being their only chance to compete against the well known imported brands.  They were rewarded for the wisdom of this policy by being able to sell all the oil they could produce.  They installed four extra presses early in 1910 but were handicapped by the inability to dispose of the by-product, called Cake.  They had to restrict the crushing to get the Oil as the Cake was accumulating so fast.

The position was reversed in 1911 as after special advertising and a propaganda campaign, dairymen and others began to realise that Cake was an exceptional food.  By the end of 1911 sales has so rapidly increased that it warranted a large extension to existing plant and more capital.  Negotiations were completed and over the next two years a new plant was installed and Oil Boiling was added to the operations of the company and preparations were made to handle an anticipated greatly increased business.  During the next two years only small progress was made and the outlook was not promising.  Exceptional efforts were made in 1914 to retrieve the position and the Company was just beginning to pay their way when the disastrous fire happened on 30th November and completely destroyed buildings, plant and all raw and manufactured goods.

In 1914 when this Linseed Oil Mill caught alight it burnt for about a week and every man and his dog (I am told) in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was sent to Parramatta to fight the fire.  They were mostly all horse drawn vehicles in those days, there being very few motorized appliances.  The steamers as they were called were taken to the fire ground and were put into operation pumping water from the Parramatta River and the horses were detached and were brought back to the Fire Station and the appliances were left at the scene of the fire.  My Uncle George Alchin as a 14-year-old schoolboy, was kept home from school to look after the horses.  They had dozens of horses contained in the rear yard of Parramatta Fire Station, which had to be curry combed, rugged up, then fed and watered. The Chief Officer from headquarters in the city came up in his sulky to Parramatta and introduced himself to my grandmother, who as no men were available had been left in charge of the station and said “Well Mrs Alchin let us go out and look at the horses” and went out into the back yard and there was my uncle looking after the horses.  The Chief said “ Well young George you are looking after the horses are you?”  “Yes sir” was the reply.  “I suppose as soon as they get to the fire ground you give them a drink of water, don’t you?”  “Oh no sir, you never give a hot horse a drink of water, you have to wait for them to cool down.  You curry comb him, rug him and then give him a small drink of water and put his nose bag on”.  “Very good, that is exactly what you do”.

Grandfather had joined the fire brigade as a coachman so knew exactly what to do with the horses and had tutored his son well.  After the fire my grandmother and my Uncle George received a letter of commendation for their behaviour during the fire.  It has been told to me that after school during the fire, lots of the local schoolboys were down at the Parramatta River scooping up the kerosene that was flowing down the streets towards the river and putting it into tins to be used in the kerosene lights that were still in use in many of the homes.  We don’t know what the kerosene was used for in the mill but that is how the story goes.  After this disastrous fire the boots of the firemen were changed from rubber to leather as very severe burns were sustained by some of the men working amidst the burning oil in their rubber boots, which melted.

My grandparents stayed at Parramatta for three years and then moved to Annandale for the next three years until grandfather retired.  He died at his home at Woy Woy on 25th March 1923 aged 67 and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery and has a fireman’s helmet incorporated into the headstone on his grave.   

My cousin Russell Alchin, son of my Uncle George lent me some wonderful old photos around 100 years old of the fire crews and it is very interesting to see how the horses were harnessed.  Actually there was very little harness at all, the hauling power of the fire appliance being taken by the horse’s shoulders.    The harness for the two horses was rigged up to the roof and when the fire bell rang at the station the horses would get very excited and the stable doors would automatically open and the horses would come in through the back door of the station and come in and go immediately to stand either side of the applianceunderneath the harness.  The coachman would pull a lead and the harness would comedown from the ceiling and be hooked up to the horses, who would then wait for the start signal and then they were off.  Uncle George used to say that sparks would fly from their hoofs as they took off along the blue metal roads.

In the enclosed photograph of Parramatta Fire Station my grandfather George James Alchin is standing at the rear of the appliance.  I was intrigued by the hand crocheted cover shown to the back of the appliance, which from what I can gather was only used for decoration.  It can clearly be seen the way in which the horses are harnessed.