GRANT William Henry
William Henry GRANT (son of Charles Henry GRANT and Emma Catherine RICHARDSON) was born on 30 April 1846 in Marseilles, Bouches-du Rhone, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, France. He settled in Australia in 1877. He died on 28 August 1929 in Ryde, NSW.
He married Mary Elizabeth CHAMBERS on the 10 September 1868 in Gateshead, Durham, England. She was born on 28 September 1847 in Gateshead, Durham, England. She died in January 1885 during child birth in Balmain, NSW.
He then married Frances Anne HAMMERTON (daughter of Charles HAMMERTON and Ann SELLWOOD) on 06 February 1886 in Balmain, NSW. She was born on 08 February 1855 in Walworth, Surrey, England. She died in 1943 in Dulwich Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
According to a newspaper Obituary published in a mid-north coast newspaper, Coff’s Harbour district owed much to men like W.H Grant. He was actively involved in ensuring the construction of the Coff’s Harbour Jetty which became a significant coastal port enabling Coff’s Harbour’s future development.
W.H Grant was an accomplished man, gaining his engineering qualifications in Newcastle on Tyne in England then emigrating to Australia with his family in 1877.
The Obituary does not make any reference of his relatively long employment at The Colonial Sugar Refining in Pyrmont NSW, a position he held it appears from the time he and his family arrived in Australia. It is unknown how he became associated with the Railway Department in Sydney (employed as an architect) as stated in the Obituary.
It is interesting that WH Grant wrote to the General Manager, Edward Knox in 1918 offering his concerns regarding a significant incident which occurred onsite at the Pyrmont refinery. Research found that a fire burned down a four storey high building facing Bowman Street, and a seven storey building facing the water’s edge: It occupied the space between what is now knows as Refinery Square (the terminus of Jones Street) and the Engineers’ Offices. Source In deep appreciation Edward Knox sent WH Grant a letter of reply.
WH Grant also kept a notebook in which he recorded many details associated with the manufacturing of sugar and its various by-products. The notebook records, (to mention but a few) details of machinery, building dimensions, sugarcane yield requirements, equipment testing, where and which year products and equipment were sourced, conditions required for the manufacture of sugar by-products such as molasses and liquor; also details relating to various contractual agreements. It is interesting that he returned to this notebook 40 years later (in 1927) to include a newspaper article highlighting CSR’s record profits and acknowledging the achievements of Mr Edward Knox.
Alby Gamble when researching WH Grant’s employment records with CSR was told such records would have been lost in the fire. Considering the fire destroyed the Engineers’ offices, this explanation would seem a reasonable assumption.
According to the mid-north coast newspaper Obituary, he moved his family to the Coff’s Harbour district about 1887, after selecting 200 acres of land at North Boambee with the view to grow sugar cane. His farm could not have yet been established. He gained employment on a road gang to support his family during this period. The family shifted to Fernmount, a distance of about 22km east of Bellingen where his last child, Margaret Edith was born (who died in infancy). The family then moved into Bellingen township (in South Street), then again around 1890 moved out of town to Boggy Creek (Thora,) a distance of about 20km toward Dorrigo.
He was appointed Superintendent of Roads in the area. In 1909 he was appointed Shire Engineer in Barraba ( a distance of 300km on today’s standards), then in 1911 moved the family (about 900km south) to work for Carrathool Council. In 1912 he again moved the family north to Stroud (a distance of about 900km on today’s standards). There he served the district as a Local Government Councilor. in 1918 her returned to the Coff’s Harbour district.
During WW1 all but one of WH Grant’s sons enlisted, along with his nephew, Charles Henry Grant and William Francis (Frank). All men survived the war with the exception of Folsch who was killed in action on the Western Front 5 April, 1918.
During his advancing years he and his wife, Frances Anne went back to Sydney to live with their youngest child Nellie Gladys Rogan (nee Grant) and her husband Arthur Rogan and children in Eastwood NSW until his death in 1929.
William Henry GRANT – CSR Engineering Diary
