Whisky in the Western Australian Colony

In the early years, Western Australia had earned the dubious honour of being named the drinking capital of all the colonies throughout Australasia. By 1889, the liquor consumed per head in WA was 6 pounds and 10 shillings, leading Queensland (5p and 9s), Victoria (5p and 5s), NSW (4p and 10s), and New Zealand (3p and 5s). At the time, newspapers claimed that this was the reason that Western Australia had crime “terribly in excess of that in any other part of Australia” (1).

However, liquor consumption only increased. It also took some time for Western Australian’s to develop a preference for whisky. In 1882, whisky imports weren’t even half the volume of Rum or Brandy, clearing just 567 gallons through the Fremantle customs house in the month of March (2). By 1904, monthly whisky imports were up to 7988 gallons, surpassing all other spirits (3). This remained the case for many years. Even by 1934, Western Australia was still consuming a large quantity of whisky, with 56,629 gallons of whisky imported for the year (4). It was clear that Western Australia loved its alcohol, and it was loving whisky.

“Two men were found guilty of stealing a bottle of whisky from the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Kalgoorlie were sentenced to one months imprisonment”. (5)

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So why did liquor – and whisky – grow to such popularity? Well, the public had some opinions that they were happy to share through the local newspapers:

One suggestion was that it was because there was a greater proportion of men in Western Australia, “Not only is it that the men drink, but a scarcity of women also encourages men to drink more”. Another suggestion was that the hot northern climate made people thirstier, “which could also explain why Queensland was next on the list”.

However, less prophetic answers were also given, such as the argument that “a large quantity of spirits and beer consumed (is) by the aboriginal natives engaged in pearling and other pursuits in Western Australia”.

Perhaps a more sensible argument however, was that other Australian states experienced a larger amount of illicit distilling “which is known to take place in the other colonies” (6), as well as the fact that servants had the option of receiving a third of their pay in liquor (7).

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It’s important to point out that not everyone considered a high amount of liquor consumption to be a bad thing. A Dr. Mortimer Granville recommended spirits containing from forty to fifty percent such as whisky should be consumed at about two sherry-glasses full in a 24-hour period (8).

This was obviously except in rare cases “where a medical attendant has disease to combat”. This caused some to argue that Western Australia continued to be “the hardest drinking people in Australasia” and that “Gold and whisky is the cry in Western Australia at the end of the nineteenth century” (9).

“There must be stimulation, because there must be momentum. The highway of life is very crowded, and it takes a lot of forcing to get through straight, and this is not to be obtained without alcohol. If there was no alcohol at all in the diet of the abstainers themselves most of them would die of sheer inertia. Alcohol was given to man for his mental and nervous stimulation” (8) Tweet

Temperance

It’s important to make a note of the impact that drinking such strong spirits often had in the community, which led to the rise of groups such as The Temperance Society and the often-mocked Teetotaller’s. They promoted abstinence, arguing that drinking was unhealthy, immoral, and socially degrading.

This was most evident in 1893, when “A public meeting of citizens, one of the largest and liveliest ever held in Perth, filled the Town Hall in every part last evening, many persons having only standing room; the object of the promoters being to protest against the opening of public-houses during any portion of Sunday” (10).

The most vocal claimed that crime increased during drinking hours, arguing that “Sunday drinking in London had resulted in more cases before the police courts on Monday morning than on any other morning”. It was also suggested that “every barmen and potboys in public-houses should have their rest one day in seven”, and that “it was also a fact that Sunday drinking resulted in Monday idleness”. Tweet

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There are other examples of the Teetotaller’s spreading their message throughout the news. For example, there was a series of articles published in The Inquirer and Commercial News titled The Temperance Column, written by Henry Munroe (M.D.). He suggested that “the total abstainers have much better health, are liable to a much less amount of sickness, and have fewer deaths than the moderate drinkers”. Continuing with “Our profession is now beginning to doubt the vaunted efficacy of alcohol as a therapeutic agent”. Evidence was provided of a Perth patient taking two days to recover from whisky intoxication caused by an “impure article, considerably adulterated with the heavier alcohols” (11).

However, these views were often mocked. In an article titled The Modern Crusade Against Pleasures of the Palate, the author argues that the “potency of the spells of the amateur dietist” that favours “cold tea and barley-water over walnuts, wine, and whisky would unlikely be permanent” (12).

Economics

There was a focus in the early days of the colony to improve their financial position. Legalising distilling was considered an opportunity for colonists to make the most out of their property, especially considering that North American British colonies were being encouraged to produce large quantities of whisky for the English markets (13).

For example, in an 1865 council meeting, a colonist named Mr Heady argued that this could see the price of barley achieving “a better market price than 2s. a bushel” (14) if a distillery was established in Perth. He argued that wine companies might follow, because without “scientific cellar treatment”, Western Australia would “never gain a good character as a wine growing country”.

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Early calls for a distillery in WA were mostly to do with improving the vine-growing capabilities of the colony. NSW’s already had a Distillation Act in 1849, so there was little cost involved with implementing a similar Act in WA (15). However, the Perth Council always disallowed early attempts to introduce distilling to WA, arguing that the Queen had forbidden such measures to be introduced (14). The first distillery was actually used to manufacture Sandalwood and perfumes from native flowers, and was established at Ten Mile (ten miles from Albany) in 1890 (16).

This was followed by a Captain Fawcett establishing the first alcoholic distillery in Pinjarrah Park in 1893. Here he manufactured a small amount of Brandy from a local vineyard and sold to local consumers. It was suggested that the construction of the railway would drive the demand needed to increase production and quality (17). Official Whisky distilling would not arrive in WA for many more years, but this is not to say the whisky distilling wasn’t occurring.

“As we believe that there is only one distiltery in the colony, viz., that of Mr. Fawcett, at Pinjarrah, the amount of supervision seems rather excessive.” (18)

Illegal Distilling

The first reports of illegal whisky distilling occurred in 1895. “Never had there occurred such clear proof of an illicit still”, which was found under a trap door on the ground floor of a burnt out building off of Old Guildford Rd (19), “near a place known as the Pine Apple” (20). A Mr John McDermott quickly turned informant, and lead police to a storage facility on Roe-street owned by a Mr Dunton and where further whisky was buried. After tasting it in court, he confirmed that it was the goods he’d help to manufacture (21).

The clever crooks then tried to convince the prosecutors that they were experimenting with distilling whisky to see if it “would pay in the colony, with the view to floating a limited liability company” (22). Not convinced, the courts fined Mr McDermott 100 pounds plus court costs and Mr Dunton was fined 250 pounds plus court costs. It was suggested that the illegal goods were destined for Kalgoorlie.

This was soon followed by another two illegal stills. One was uncovered in the back room of Perth building owned by a wine and spirit merchant named R. A. Frederich on Murray Street. It was described as being so large that it “will take two men two days to take it down” (23). A large water reservoir had been constructed between the ceiling and the roof, and had a pipe running through the floor into a well so that the escape of vapour would not be seen (24). Experts brought in for the hearings explained that a still of that size would be “capable of making 60 gallons of spirits every twenty-four hours” (25).

Soon after, a similar sized still was uncovered in Cowle Street in Perth following the discovery of a large consignment of whisky destined for Bunbury (26), with suggestions that a further 100 gallons had been sent to Kalgoorlie (27). Various samples of liquor from the premises were found to be “an inferior and impure sample of whisky, containing a considerable amount of fusel oil”, with bottles being labelled “essence of pine apple” and “essence of Scotch whisky” (28). In later proceedings, “sensational evidence” was provided by the accused that the police were involved, and were offering “protection” for many of the illicit distilleries operating in Perth and its surrounds. This began an inquiry into several detectives.

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These events brought a growing concern amongst some residents into the public eye. One letter to the editor highlighted that although the wine industry was gaining traction, the public searching for “the stronger stimulant” were being left out. They argued that recent discoveries suggested that illegal distillers were moving in to Western Australia, and perhaps it was time that “the state do away with the temptation by taking over the liquor trade and running it straight out” (29).

This argument found support from the Bunbury Herald; “Government control would, in addition, give to the customer a surety that he gets the article he pays for, and not the poisonous stuff that is now retailed out of bottles labelled with the names of respectable distillers in licensed houses on the goldfields, and not unfrequently in our principle towns, which is more destructive in its effects than typhoid” (30).

Hotels

Most often, it was the hotel keepers that bore the brunt of the public’s anger. For example, a request was made to publish an extract from the Edingburgh paper in the Perth Gazette in 1856. The extract discussed changes to legislation that brought about the reduction of licenced premises. Stating that in “degraded districts…where the act had been carried out, exhibited great improvements in physical if not in a moral point of view” (31).

The article continued to describe how whisky shops were the distributor of the seven plagues, such as decaying fortune, diseased body, disordered intellect, blasted reputation, untimely grave, and undone eternity, which was received with applause.

There was also discussion on the ways of remedying this, such as a reduction of licences, early closing, half-holiday movements, Sunday closures, and lectures to the working classes. However, this appeared to serve more of a wake-up call for the hotel keepers, leading to discussions on the gradual improvement of hotels in the City of Fremantle.

There were also debates about the urgent need for closer inspections of the alcohol being served in some establishments, with the Bench of Magistrates describing “certain public houses being no better than dens, and in a worse condition than pigstyes” (32). This brought about the awareness of a new concoction that was labelled Whiskey and was being served in some establishments. It was described as “a slow poison, deleterious and intoxicating, and producing fearful results”, and would sometimes contain sulphuric acid or extract of tobacco.

Some would also pour inferior whiskey into bottles, or engage in the scandalous activity of opening their doors on a Sunday. Scandalous indeed. Deliciously scandalous, and costly. A Mrs Chipper received “a very heavy penalty” of 50 pounds for selling whisky out of her premises on a Sunday at The Horse and Groom in 1892 (33).

WHERE TO NEXT: With whisky so popular, it was only a matter of time until people started taking advantage of the situation. Our next article discusses the impact that the arrival of the ‘silent spirit’ had on the community. For many years, the Quality of Whisky in Western Australia was a dominant headline. This was part of a similar story being played out across the globe, as people wanted to know, “just what is whisky”.

P.S. If all this talk of whisky has got you thirsty, then take a look at our Western Australian distillery locator. Let them know you found them here.