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{{short description |Manufacturer of soap, candles etc.}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}
'''W. H. Burford and Sons''' was a soap and candle-making business founded in [[Adelaide, South Australia|Adelaide]] in 1840 by
In 1878 he took his two sons Benjamin and William into partnership as W. H. Burford & Sons.<ref name=archive>{{cite web|url=http
Its expansion, (in the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, at the hands of son '''[[#William Burford|William Burford]]''') accompanied by a number of takeovers, made it the dominant soap manufacturer in [[South Australia]] and [[Western Australia]]. Its founders were noted public figures in the young city of Adelaide.
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==W. H. Burford and Sons==
===Factories===
W. H. Burford's first factory was on the corner of [[Grenfell Street]] and [[East Terrace]], later the site of an Adelaide Electric Supply Company's building, (AESC became the [[Electricity Trust of South Australia|Electricity Trust of S.A.]] – ETSA – in 1946) and in 1989, the [[Tandanya
Initially it was little more than a tin shed staffed by half-a-dozen workers. During one of the recessions that faced the colony, Burford was forced to sell the land then lease it back to keep the business running.<!--prob. 1841; found the name of the guy he was renting from while reading up on protests against his smells but failed to take note of it.-->▼
▲Initially it was little more than a tin shed
The second factory, opened in 1900 at [[Sturt Street, Adelaide|Sturt Street]], previously owned by competitor [[Tidmarsh & Co]],<ref name=jubilee/> occupied 4 acres of floor space ( 19,000 sq yards / 16,000m<sup>2</sup> / 1.6 hectares ) and employing over 200 men. Its most salient feature was the brick chimney – 152 ft 4in (46.5m) in height and a flue diameter of 4 ft (1.2m), and still standing (though no longer used). The boiler room housed four boilers, one of which was 27 ft long and 7 ft 6in in diameter (8.2m x 2.3m) and the largest to have been built in South Australia. The still-room had six large stills: four for distillation of stearine and two for glycerine. The building was organised so that manufacture started on the top floor and progressed by chutes or conveyors to the second floor for wrapping and packaging, thence to the ground floor, all with a minimum of handling.<ref name=industrial>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54444359 An Immense Industrial Concern] ''South Australian Register'' 9 June 1900 p.4 accessed 5 July 2011</ref> The smell emanating from the Sturt Street factory, despite installation of deep drainage, was the source of much complaint from neighbours.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197784285 |title=The Burford Soap-Factory Case |newspaper=[[Evening Journal (Adelaide)]] |volume=XV, |issue=4338 |location=South Australia |date=6 April 1883 |accessdate=5 May 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>▼
▲The second factory, opened in 1900 at [[Sturt Street, Adelaide|Sturt Street]], previously owned by competitor [[Tidmarsh & Co]],<ref name=jubilee>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26764881 Messrs W. H. Burford & Co's (sic) Jubilee] ''The Advertiser'' 4 November 1890 p.6 accessed 8 July 2011</ref> occupied 4 acres of floor space ( 19,000 sq yards / 16,000m<sup>2</sup> / 1.6 hectares ) and
In 1887 Burfords took over Apollo Soap Ltd of Adam Street, [[Hindmarsh, South Australia|Hindmarsh]]. The factory, which continued to be called the "Apollo Works", was the site of work mostly peripheral to the core business of soap and candle making, such as rendering down of animal fats and grinding of corn, bone, starch and blacking. These premises were destroyed by fire on 25 December 1907.▼
▲In 1887 Burfords took over
In Western Australia, the [[Victoria Park, Western Australia|Victoria Park]] factory opened in 1897. After taking over the Swan Soap and Candle Company Ltd., the [[North Fremantle, Western Australia|Rocky Bay]] factory opened in 1899,<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32459248 Popular Laundry Soaps] ''The West Australian'' 8 June 1933 p.7 accessed 8 July 2011</ref> and [[Kalgoorlie, Western Australia|Kalgoorlie]] factories opened later.
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===Public nuisance===
When Burford's soapworks and Peacock's tannery were founded on Grenfell Street, there were no residences nearby; nothing but virgin bushland. But as the population grew nearby (and to some extent attracted by the businesses), the number of complaints about smells grew until, in 1866, a case was brought against Burford in the Supreme Court. The jury appeared to be convinced by the argument that the complainants had chosen to build knowing what trades were carried on there so had no right to complain, and
The Council had other plans. In 1919 it offered Burfords £12,000 as an incentive to move out of the city altogether. The offer was turned down, so the Council amended the Health Act to prohibit such industries,<ref name=acc>
===Fires===
In 1885 a fire which started in a timber yard in Grenfell Street and East Terrace spread to Burford's factory, which was destroyed. This led to the establishment of a factory in Sturt Street.<ref name=obit>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63716968 Mr. W. Burford – a Large-Hearted Citizen] ''The Register'' 7 March 1925 p.13 accessed 4 July 2011</ref><!-- a better ref than [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46189016 Death of Mr. W. Burford] -->
On 25 December 1907, the factory on Adam Street, Hindmarsh, "The Apollo Works" was destroyed in one of the greatest fires in Adelaide's history, along with neighbouring skin dealers Wilcox and Co. in
In 1919 the works bounded by [[Sturt Street, Adelaide|Sturt]], [[Gilbert Street, Adelaide|Gilbert]], Norman and Russell Streets in the [[Adelaide city centre|city]] were destroyed by fire<ref name=tremendous/> and a new factory was then set up in Dry Creek; the office area was rebuilt and the rest sold.
===Competitors===
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===Merger and Acquisition===
In 1924, [[Lever and Kitchen]] and W. H. Burford & Sons formed Australian Producers Partnership Pty Ltd. Burford ordinary shares were held by Lever and Kitchen; around 1962 after a few more takeovers the parent company was renamed Unilever.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/2191/lever-kitchen-pty-ltd-personal-care-product-manufacturers-sydney-new-south-wales|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102060128/http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/2191/lever-kitchen-pty-ltd-personal-care-product-manufacturers-sydney-new-south-wales|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 November 2012|title=Lever & Kitchen Pty Ltd, Personal Care Product Manufacturers, Sydney, New South Wales
<!-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -->
==William Burford==
[[File:William Burford-1893-B50608.jpg|thumb|William Henry Burford 1893]]
<!-- http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/50750/B50608.htm – William Henry Burford 1893 -->
[[File:William Burford-1892-B56297.jpg|thumb|1892 portrait in oil of William Burford by his son, artist Frederick Rumsey Burford (1870–1928)]]
<!-- http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/56500/B56297.htm – Portrait of William Burford – A portrait in oil by F.R. Burford. By comparison with a known work by the same artist in 1893, the portrait appears to be of the artist's father, William Burford (1845-1925). DATE 1892 -->
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:He was a generous supporter of the [[British and Foreign Bible Society]].<ref name=obit/>
Mrs Burford was a prominent member of the Wattle Blossom League (later [[Wattle Day#Wattle Day League, 1909|Wattle Day League]]) and held an annual function at "Monomeith", the Burfords' summer residence at [[Ashton, South Australia|Ashton]].<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63410783 Concerning People] ''The Register'' Friday 13 May 1921 p.8 accessed 8 July 2011</ref><!-- Aaaah. How the rich lived ... -->
===Recreation===
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William married Mary Richardson (c. 1845 – 12 May 1921) on 11 November 1867. She died at their home "[[Birralee, Glenelg|Birralee]]", in [[Glenelg, South Australia|Glenelg]]. Their 53 year marriage produced eleven children,<ref>[http://www.mypioneerancestors.com.au/getperson.php?personID=I8671&tree=TheTree William Burford family tree], www.mypioneerancestors.com.au</ref> of whom five sons and four daughters survived childhood. All five sons went into the family business:
*William Henville Burford II (1 November 1868 – 27 May 1947) married Alice Louise Carr on 17 September 1891
*Two daughters Nell Burford and Violet Lillian Burford
*Frederick Rumsey Burford (10 or 30 April 1870 – 14 August 1928 at Glenelg) married Elizabeth Genevieve Kellery
*Hubert Henry Richardson Burford (22 Mar 1872 – 8 Nov 1907 in Sydney, two weeks after wedding) married Annie Morish on 23 October 1907<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5105790 Marriages Burford-Morish], ''The Advertiser'', 12 November 1907, p.4</ref>
*Lillian May Burford – b: 2 March 1874. m: Thomas Eyres 13 October 1899<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54845838 Marriages], ''South Australian Register'', 21 October 1899, p.6</ref>
*Evaline Sarah Burford (10 February 1876 – 6 Apr 1961, Fullarton) married Horace Cansfield Park<ref>Horace Cansfield Park AAMC AIEF of "Bryndale", West
*Emily Finlayson "Emmie" Burford (10 Jun 1878 – 23 Oct 1953) never married – lived at Birralee, Belair in the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35184463 Party at Birralee, Belair], "Social Notes" conducted by Idra, ''The Advertiser'', Friday 9 December 1932, pg 16</ref>
<!--*Twins (Percy and Daisy) b: 21 May 1880 failed to survive-->
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{{DEFAULTSORT:W. H. Burford and Sons}}
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of Australia|Burford]]▼
[[Category:W. H. Burford & Sons| ]]
▲[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of Australia|Burford]]
[[Category:Manufacturing plants in Australia]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Unilever companies]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1840]]
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