A factory and a house
Illustrations from Trove help tell the story of Tarlee, a small rural town in South Australia in the early 1900s. In 1908, the year my father Edward John Horgan was born, the local Kapunda Herald newspaper published this story about a new factory built in Tarlee.Throughout the years since its establishment, this prominent building has had several owners and a variety of businesses have made it their home.
Mr L. FISHER'S COACH AND IMPLEMENT FACTORY, TARLEE.
For many years Tarlee, though never a town of pretension, was practically at a standstill. During the last two or three years, with the increased agricultural prosperity of the district, business has improved, and there are signs of expansion in the town. The most conspicuous of these signs is the extension of the agricultural implement industry under the management of Mr. L. Fisher.
Mr. Fisher is well-known in the Mid North as a manufacturer of ploughs, cultivators, and other farm implements, and since his establishment at Tarlee business has grown so much as to necessitate larger premises. The above picture shows Mr. Fisher's newly-erected implement factory at Tarlee. When thoroughly completed it will be one of the most up-to-date workshops in the country. Mr. Fisher has a powerful Blackstone oil engine installed to work the machinery ; also half-circle up-to-date portable forges, with blast 'attached. The factory, is well designed, most comfortable, roomy, convenient, and well-ventilated, and no doubt will be a comfort for the workmen, and will enable Mr. Fisher to cope with the very large number of orders for implements which he has hitherto had to refuse on account of no conveniences to turn them out quickly enough.
As well as his famous ploughs, Mr. Fisher has a new design of a stump jump cultivator; which is taking the attention of farmers. Its construction is very light, and in every way seems to be a perfect implement. Mr. W. Clark, of Tarlee. who has one working on his farm, says it is the finest implement he has ever worked, is very light in draught, and a perfect jumper.
Post, telegraph, and telephone offices are within forty yards of the factory, which will facilitate business in case of urgent orders. (1)
Lewis Fisher was born in November 1867 and had married Ellen O'Leary in the Catholic church in Manoora in February 1893. As early as 1903 many articles in the newspapers of the day were mentioning the implements made by L Fisher. He travelled throughout the mid north of South Australia displaying his cultivators and ploughs at the local shows. By the time his factory opened in Tarlee, Lewis was 41 and had five children.
The business prospered with advertisements .appearing in local newspapers. (2)
IN 1911 the business was featured in The Observer, an Adelaide based paper with a wider reach than the local Kapunda Herald. Once again the article was accompanied by a photo.
Mr. Fisher's well-known Factory at Tarlee, which has had to be considerably enlarged to meet present demands, is now working at high pressure. Among his leading manufactures are S.J. Cultivators, much improved, and his "top action" and "jam beam" ploughs. Over a thousand of the latter are working in South Australia alone. (3)
By 1912 Mr Fisher sold
his new and up-to-date house, together with blacksmith's plant, to Mr. W. Bordman (4)
By November of 1912 the Fishers had left Tarlee for a new life in Adelaide. (5)
Lewis Fisher died in October 1941(6) and his wife Ellen died in 1952 (7). They are both buried in the Catholic section of West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide.
This post first appeared on justattarlee.blogspot.com by CRGalvin
1. 1908 'Mr. L. Fisher's Coach and Implement Factory. Tarlee.', Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), 10 July, p. 3. (Kapunda Herald Illustrated Supplement.), viewed 25 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132365219
2. 1911 'Advertising', Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), 24 March, p. 10. (Kapunda Herald Illustrated Supplement), viewed 26 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108334620
3. 1911 'MR. L. FISHER'S IMPLEMENT FACTORY, TARLEE.', Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), 11 March, p. 32. , viewed 25 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164718812
4. 1912 'COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE', Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), 14 June, p. 4. , viewed 25 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108340412
5. 1912 'THE COUNTRY.', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), 25 November, p. 11. , viewed 26 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5354077
6. 1941 'Family Notices', Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), 23 October, p. 19. , viewed 26 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92409573
7. 1952 'Family Notices', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), 26 July, p. 22. , viewed 26 Mar 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47405556