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Port Flour Mill
1862, 15 Essex Street, restored 1993
Port Flour Mill in the 1960s, before renovation.
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Port Flour Mill (in the distance) in the context of the whole of Essex Street, from South Terrace to the sea.
Library:
First naval procession in Fremantle. Looking down Essex Street from the balcony of the Freemasons Hotel [I think it's likely to be the balcony of the Kings Theatre/Dalkeith Opera House] on 6 December 1918. On the right is Barrett's woodyard. On the left are Mills & Co., merchants, and F. Instone & Co. Ltd., in a building constructed in 1906 by C. Moore to a design by J.F. [[../people/allen.html|Allen]]. In the background are the Port Flour Mill and the [[../hotels/star.html|Star Hotel]]. Fremantle Library Local History Collection image #770B.
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Mr Alf Chate in Essex Street driving a horse and lorry from Port Mill, (then occupied by Henry Jones, IXL Jam Manufacturers and Foden and Bokenham, Motor Trimmers and Vulcanizers.) The horse was called "Old Bill" (Source: son of Mr Chate 7.08.1991). Note horse's feed bag and motor cars. The Port Flour Mill was built before 1870 and is classified by the National Trust. The land and property was originally owned by Anthony Cornish. He sold by auction on 16.07.1884. Note also the Star Hotel (Lot 1821/2); delicensed in 1924 and used as a boarding house. Fremantle Library Local History Collection photo #493C.
The renovated building in 2019. Photo courtesy of John Dowson. Part of the complex is the Port Mill B&B.
Brief History - from the Port Mill B&B website:
Limestone 2-storey building c. 1862 built as a flour mill. William Cornish was the original owner. In 1865 the mill was leased to T.&H. Carter Co.
In 1880 the lot was occupied by a house and mill, run by Oakley until his death in 1883. After his death the mill was offered for sale. It was purchased by [[../people/highamedward.html|Edward Higham]] who owned it until 1893.
The warehouse and mill was in the partnership of Charles Slee and W. Milling Co. Rate books show James Gillespie as the mill owner and Alice Pearse owning the warehouses, stables and office till 1907 when Gillespie sold to the Westralian Union Flour Co. under control of Thomas Ockerby.
In 1939 it became an engineering workshop and was sold to Percy Smith. It continued to operate under Smith family ownership until it was sold to Clarence Minicullo.
In 1974 the property was classified by the National Trust and entered into the Register by the Heritage Commission.
In 1993 planning approved the restoration of the old mill to seven residential units. The construction of six residential units and one commercial bed and breakfast was granted.
References and Links
Heritage Council of WA entry, with complete history.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 22 October, 2019 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/portflourmill.html (it was last updated on 3 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.