PEOPLE - 19th CENTURY
Thomas Ackers
(see William Wittick)
Anderson Family
The Anderson family were prominent business people in Bacchus Marsh for over 100 years. William Anderson commenced operating a general store in Main Street in 1869 which was continued by his descendants until 1971. The family also operated a milk factory and grain store for a period.
(Moore & Oomes, p.16, p.54)
WH Athorn
W. H. Athorn was an early publican in Hopetoun operating a hotel from 1877 onwards for a period of years. In 1885 he was refused permission to transfer his business to Maddingley.
(Moore & Oomes, p.35, Express, 19 Dec., 1885, p.3).
Henry Ball
Henry Ball was the first teacher at what was then known as the Bacchus Marsh National School, today known as the Bacchus Marsh Primary School. The school opened on the 13th May 1850 and is considered to be the first state government school to open in Victoria.
(Stewart, p.4).
William Bennett
William Bennett was a businessman and publican based at Coimadai in the 1870s and 1880s.
(Williams p.88)
Christopher Crisp
(1844–1915)
Editor of the Bacchus Marsh Express. He came to Bacchus Marsh in 1866 and become editor of The Express in October of that year. He was a strong supporter of development in Bacchus Marsh and of federation.(Aust Dict of Biog, viewed 2/2/13).
He lived in a house next to the Express Office, which is now currently run as a coffee shop.
Crisp has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Dickie family
George Dickie arrived in Bacchus Marsh around 1860 and became a dairy farmer. A son, George, and a grandson, Vance Patrick Dickie, both became members of the Victorian Parliament. The family was closely associated with the dairying industry and milk factories in Bacchus Marsh for many years.
(Camm, pp.310-315)
Charles James Griffith
William Symington - Brewery
The Symingtons lived at Hopetoun, just east of Bacchus Marsh, on the road to Melbourne. Hopetoun no longer exists but there is a cemetery there.
William Symington of Hoptoun was a civil engineer. He and his family came to Hopetoun in 1858. He built a house and established a large brewery which was licensed from 1862 to 1886. Symington built the equipment for his brewery including the bats and casks. Symington also won a gold medal at the Intercolonial Exhibition, 1866.
The buildings of the Symington brewery and their house were located just north of the cemetery. Until recently there was a Golden Fleece service station there, of which it was said parts of the original Symington Brewery complex had been incorporated into, they being the north and west walls and the chimney. Behind this was the old house Symington home. (This is described in the Bacchus Marsh Heritage Guide, p. 82, and G. Camm’s book, Bacchus Marsh by Bacchus Marsh on pp. 43, p. 66). The service station is no longer there.
(Click for more information)
William Wittick & Thomas Ackers - Darley Firebrick Co.
William Wittick, in partnership with Thomas Ackers, established the Darley Firebrick Company in the late 1880s to produce bricks made from a deposit of fire clay discovered at Darley. The Darley brickworks continued operations for over 100 years.
(Bacchus Marsh Heritage Guide, p.108).
The company donated its time to the planting of the trees of the Avenue of Honour. The Bacchus Marsh Express records how 30 workers contributed to digging the holes for the trees.
(Bacchus Marsh Express, Aug 17, 1918, viewed on Bacchus Marsh Avenue of Honour website).
