Seddon historian Carmel Taig is more than a little sweet on the area’s past.
Ms Taig is author and publisher of The Giant by the River, a new work recording the rich history of the sugar refinery that has been a riverside presence in Yarraville for 140 years.
Ms Taig said the seed for the project was sewn some years ago while she was researching the history of the industrial riverfront.
A brief stint as an artist-in-residence awoke her to the refinery’s visual appeal, while her historian side became hooked on the wealth of carefully preserved information and artefacts.
From modest beginnings as the Joshua Brothers refinery in 1873, the business was bought out by sugar giant Colonial Sugar Refinery (CSR) when its own Port Melbourne refinery burnt to the ground in 1875.
More than just a workplace, the refinery fostered an entire community, replete with sports days, picnics and concerts.
Great pride was taken in the grounds, and the Yarraville Sugar Works won a number of gardening awards over the years.
“They even had their own cricket team; it was definitely a deliberate policy to promote greater connection,” she said.
Ms Taig was awarded a $10,000 history grant from the Public Records Office for the project.
A collection of old photographs and correspondence CSR donated to the Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the Australian National University has proven an invaluable resource.
So too have locals been inspired, coming forward with artefacts and anecdotes passed down through their families.
Ms Taig said she discovered the refinery has strong links with many families still living in the inner-west, including her own.
“I interviewed a number of past and present workers and their attachment is life-long; they still feel an immense connection,” she said.
“One of my brothers did his apprenticeship there, another brother has been there for 30 years as a gardener and has now taken on my son as well.”
In its heyday, the refinery employed more than 700 people, but automation and other modernising methods have slimmed that down to about 300.
Ms Taig said her book doesn’t gloss over any details, delving into some of the darker aspects of the past, including clashes with unions, worker deaths and the heavy toll taken by World War I on the workforce.
The Giant by the River will be launched at the Yarraville Community Centre on Sunday, October 26.
Guests will be able to meet the author, have their books signed and hear poems written by refinery workers.
Books will be available at the launch or via the Sun Bookshop in Yarraville.
For details go to www.facebook.com/thegiantbytheriver
