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GROTH BROS. & Co.

Ruthven Street, Toowoomba



Groth Bros. & Co. - Toowoomba - 1879

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H. JUNKER

Herbert Street, Bowen



H. Junker - Bowen - 1876



H. Junker - Bowen - 1878

Established in 1864.

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N.P. JOHNSON

35, Wickham Street, later, Brunswick Street, Valley, Brisbane



N.P. Johnson - Brisbane - 1883



N.P. Johnson - Brisbane - 1887

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B.Z. ROBERTSON

Kent Street, Maryborough

JEWELLER'S SHOP ENTERED

Maryborough, Dec. 24 - During last night the premises of B.Z. Robertson, Watchmaker and Jeweller, in Kent Street, were entered by burglars, and large quantities if jewellery stolen. The police are investigating the matter.

Source: Queensland Times - 27th December 1921

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F. RIECHELMANN

Sydney Street, Mackay



F. Riechelmann - Mackay - 1883

Established in 1877.

Riechelmann was noted as holding the rank of Sergeant in the Queensland Volunteers 1883. He had risen to the rank of Lieutenant by 1890.



To the Editor, Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith:

Dear Sirs,–I enclose one of my business cards which I would deem it a great favour if you would post to the agent for ........, as they do not publish his address and they refuse to do business direct. Undoubtedly the English manufacturer, especially in our lines, is the most conservative and hard-to-begot-at business man under the sun, and cannot imagine how much he handicaps his own goods. If, for instance, when I buy watches now I have to do so through Colonial wholesale houses, who know as much about watches as watches know about them, and who, up to the present day, only import, the same lines as they did 15 years ago, and by the time the goods reach the actual seller they have increased in price by at least 50 per cent. Every manufacturer who does not care to do business direct with retailers ought to mention, when advertising some reliable agent.

I cannot close without mentioning that your articles headed " Half-hours with our Manufacturers " are very interesting and instructive.

Yours, etc.,

F. RIECHELMANN
Mackay, Queensland, Australia.
December 30, 1889.

Source: Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith - 1st March 1890

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J.H. BATES

22, Great Collins Street West, Melbourne

MARRIAGES

At Melbourne, on the 16th April, Mr J.H. Bates, Jeweller and Goldsmith, to Jessie, youngest daughter of the late Mr Alex. Webster, Merchant, Kirriemuir.

Source: Dundee Courier - 9th September 1857

Kirriemuir is a small town some 15 miles north of Dundee, Scotland

J.H. Bates was recorded at the above address from 1853 to 1859 at least.

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A.B. THOMAS

Townsville



A.B. Thomas - Townsville - 1876

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W.H. EDE

18, Swanston Street, Melbourne

JEWELLERY, Jewellery, jewellery. - W.H. EDE most respectfully begs to inform Shopkeepers, Storekeepers, Hawkers, and the trade generally, that by a novel application of his unrivalled machinery, for making every description of colonial jewellery, and in accordance with the scientific spirit of the times, he has introduced a new series of his productions, which, for excellence of style, quality of material, and above all, cheapness of price, he believes will ensure universal approbation, and defy competition.
18, Swanston street,
Two doors past the Bank of Victoria.

Source: The Age - 7th August 1855

Other addresses noted for W.H. Ede & Co., 124, Little Collins Street (1854-56), and 59, Collins Street East (1857-58).

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CLARKE & ELLIS

387, George Street, Sydney



Clarke and Ellis - Sydney - 1853



Clarke and Ellis - Sydney - 1853

Clarke and Ellis were noted as the makers of the Ludlow Testimonial gold medal in 1856.

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X. VOGEL

Bazaar Street, Maryborough



X. Vogel - Maryborough - 1875

Vogel's premises were destroyed by fire 1876.

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J.H. BLISS

264, Kent Street, Maryborough



J.H. Bliss - Maryborough - 1875


We notice with much satisfaction the completion of a handsome cedar and glass case for the exhibition of minerals, fifteen feet high by two feet wide and ten inches deep, which was recently ordered by the School of Arts Committee. The sub-committee appointed to establish a local museum having purchased a collection of minerals (chiefly copper and malachite specimens) from Mr. Walter Smith, it became necessary to provide a proper receptacle, in which they have now been placed. Nine specimens of copper from the Mount Perry Mine, a specimen of Kilkivan galena, and one of malachite from the Peak Downs, were presented by Mr. W. S. Roberts, and we understand that Mr. J. H. Bliss has promised to present the whole of his very valuable collection of minerals, stones, and crystals. He has also stated his intention of cataloguing and preparing them in readiness for the committee early next week. Several other gentlemen have promised specimens of gold, quartz, silver, &c, and we trust that this preliminary effort will meet with encouragement not only on the part of those who are interested in mineralogical pursuits, but will become the nucleus of a local museum comprising a wider range and variety of objects illustrative of the natural productions and resources of this district and of the colony in general.

Source: The Brisbane Courier - 16th April 1870

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E. & A. KOSVITZ

Adelaide Street, Maryborough



E. & A. Kosvitz - Maryborough - 1875

Established at Sydney in 1852.

Perhaps to be identified with the jeweller and silversmith Kosvitz (see above post) who was noted as working in Queen Street, Brisbane in 1863.

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HENRY MITCHELL

Corner of Kent and Bazaar Streets, Maryborough



Henry Mitchell - Maryborough - 1875

Late of Denny Brothers, Melbourne.

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W. HOWARD

Steam Packet Hotel, Queensland



W. Howard - Queensland - 1875

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HOLLANDER BROTHERS

Queen Street, Brisbane



Hollander Bros. - Brisbane - 1875



Hollander Bros. - Brisbane - 1875



Hollander Bros. - Brisbane - 1876

Late S. Hollander.

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HARRY YOUNG

Sydney

PROBATE OF WILL

The estate of the late Mr Harry Young, retired jeweller, has been sworn for probate at £21,913. Mr Young left his estate to his wife, son, and daughter-in-law.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald - 26th February 1935

SPENCER & Co. - JOHN KIRTON

Chapel Street, South Yarra

JEWELLERY IDENTIFIED

THE LAGOON DISCOVERY EXPLAINED

PROCEEDS OF ALLEGED ROBBERY

The jewellery found on Thursday in the Albert Park lagoon by boys who were yabbie fishing has been identified as his property by Mr. John Kirton, jeweller, carrying on business in Chapel Street, South Yarra, under the style of Spencer & Co. Mr. Kirton had in his employment a traveller named Norman M'Farlane, who was entrusted with parcels of jewellery which he carried round in a handbag for sale. M'Farlane lodged in a room at a house in Garden Street, South Yarra, and was accustomed to take the bag of jewellery there with him at night. On the morning of the 20th August, 1905, M'Farlane reported to Mr. Kirton that his bedroom had been broken into the previous night by someone, who had forced the sash, and who had stolen the bag of jewellery. The matter was reported to the police, but no sworn information was lodged. M'Farlane subsequently left the employment of Mr. Kirton, and nothing more was heard of the jewellery. When the descriptions of the articles recovered from the lagoon were furnished to the Detective office the jewellery was soon connected with the alleged robbery from M'Farlane's room at Garden Street, and Mr. Kirton had no difficulty in identifying it. All but a few articles of lesser value have been recovered.

Yesterday the lagoon where the find was made was carefully searched by Detectives, Coeman, Sainsbury and Lonsdale, who had a corps of willing, but unattached, workers assisting them. All that was found, however, was a gold bar brooch with a thistle design, and any number of pocket knives. The edge of the lagoon seems fairly to bristle with pocket knives, for nearly every searcher yesterday brought up several of them. These, which had no connection with the jewellery, appear to have been dropped by boys and others fishing around the shores of the lagoon. A coincidence is that a quantity of jewellery stolen from the shop of Mr. John Baker, jeweller, of Clarendon Street, last September, was found at the corner of Union Street and Queen's Road, only 200 yards away.

Source: The Age - 19th January 1907

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FORTUNATO 'LUCKY' ROCCA

Elgin Street, Carlton

CUP FULL OF PRIDE

By Peter Wilmoth

About 2.55pm tomorrow when the Melbourne Cup is raised for Flemington's crowd to see, and jockey, trainer, owner and horse are lauded, one man in the crowd will be quietly proud.

His name is Lucky Rocca, a silver and gold smith who this year makes from nine-carat gold his 14th Melbourne Cup, an 80-hour annual labor of love.

Lucky, whose real name is Fortunata but who has worn his nick-name for as long as he remembers, was apprenticed 11 years ago to a man whose family had made the Cup since 1917.

That man was Maurice Steeth, who died in 1970. With him died a 53-year-old family tradition which had begun in 1917 by Maurice's father, James.

But the tradition of having the Cup made by hand each year will not die, or so hopes Lucky. "the day when the Melbourne Cup trophy is taken from a shelf and engraved will be very sad," he said.

"We haven't got all that much tradition in Australia, but what we have we should protect, not destroy. The Melbourne Cup is a world-famous event and its trophy should be especially made."

Lucky works behind his jewellery and silverware shop in Elgin Street, Carlton. His workshop, tidy in a messy sort of way, is in a stark juxtaposition to the wood-grained elegance of the shop at the front.

On his table sits the Melbourne Cup, next to it a 1947 blueprint for its design. The Cup's shape has not changed in 66 years. Like the race itself, the Melbourne Cup has stood the test of time.

"It's a good feeling for me to see the Cup after the race has been won," Lucky says. "It's like a painter enjoying people admiring his painting, a satisfying feeling."

Satisfying when it's finished, but probably nerve-wracking to make. One mistake with the sheets of gold, one bad solder, a couple of mis-timed thumps of the hammer and it's $5000 down the drain.

Lucky Rocca is a confident man who wastes no words. He left Collingwood Tech. at 15 after his class visited a couple of silversmiths. He was good with his hands, and was offered a job with one of those smiths, Maurice Steeth.

Lucky moved Mr Steeth's business into Carlton after his boss's death because Thornbury was too far to collect customer's orders from the city. But even closer in, few people today want things hand-made.

"The attraction of having something hand-made is declining. It's like more people buy suits off the rack than have them tailored," Lucky says.

But he will always have work as there are few silversmiths left in Victoria. And he hopes he will always be commissioned to make the Cup.

"Every Cup is different, which I suppose makes each special. You're not making a hundred of them, it's just one thing you have to put your best effort into, so each year you get out your box of tools and blueprint," Lucky says.

The Melbourne Cup is made with virtually two sheets of metal soldered together after being beaten with a hammer. A piece of wire is soldered around the Cup's rim, a screw is made for the base and hollow handles are pinned on. The pin's are put through the handles to prevent distorting.

The base is made last using more gold sheets. The Cup and base are screwed togrther and then polished to a brilliant sheen. The hammer marks inside the Cup are left to give it character.

At the moment, Lucky and his staff of two have five weeks of advanced orders to complete, but it's a fair bet he will take Cup day off for 10 minutes of glory.


Source: The Age - 2nd November 1981


Some notes:

Fortunato Rocca was apprenticed to J.W. Steeth & Son in 1962. The business was founded in c.1915 by James Steeth and located at Darebin Road, Thornbury.

The business passed to James's son, Maurice, and following Maurice's death in 1970, the business was taken over by Fortunato Rocca. The business relocated to Elgin Road, Carlton around 1973.

Fortunato Rocca continued to manufacture The Melbourne Cup up until 2001. He was also noted as the maker of the Maces for New Guinea, Nauru, Kiribati. He was also the maker of the Mace presented to the National Assembly of Wales, a gift of the NSW Government.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4754894.stm

Fortunato Rocca's work was usually marked 'ROCCA STER. SIl. MELBOURNE' or 'ROCCA MELBOURNE'

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THOMAS H. GRIFFITH

Albury, New South Wales


ALBURY, Tuesday

The premises of Mr. Thomas H. Griffith were entered by thieves, and a quantity of valuable jewellery stolen.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald - 28th August 1906

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CRUSADER PLATE COMPANY Pty.Ltd.

651, Victoria Street, Abbotsford



Crusader Plate Co.Pty.Ltd. - Abbotsford - 1954


NEW REGISTRATIONS
CRUSADER PLATE COMPANY PTY LTD registered December 13 1939 capital £15 000. in £1 shares Iron founder, mechanical engineers,machinery manufacturers and aluminium workers. Head office Abbotsford Victoria.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald - 27th December 1939


COMPANIES INCREASE CAPITAL
Crusader Plate Co. Pty. Ltd., of Victoria St., Abbotsford, has increased nominal capital from £15,000 to £30,000 by the issue of 15,000 £1 shares.

Source: The Argus - 7th June 1940


Established by at least 1927. The ownership appears to be with Edgar Handley in the 1940's, and with Jack Benjamin in c.1970.

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