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History Of Dights Falls
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John Dights
John Dight of Campbell Town bought portion 88, Parish of Jika Jika, County of Bourke, on 7 November 1838. Over a time period of a few years he built a brick mill (like a small brick house) on the site and began making the flour. -
Ownership Change
Ownership of the land passed to John Dight and his brother Charles Hilton Dight. -
Flour Milling
The flour milling use was abandoned and the mill leased to Thomas Kenny. -
Patent Safety Blasting Powder Co
In the mid 1870s, the property was used by the Patent Safety Blasting Powder Co. -
Selling the Mill Site
The Dight family sold the mill site to Edwin Trennery in 1878 and he afterwards subdivided the land. -
Mill Rebuilt
The original mill on the river bank remained empty until 1888, when flour millers Gillespie, Aitken and Scott, operating under the name of 'Yarra Falls Roller Flour Mills' built a new mill and associated buildings on the site. The mill race was rebuilt in much the same spot on the site using bluestone blocks from Dight's old mill building, and a new mill and associated buildings were constructed some distance from the site of the original mill building. -
Founding actor of Melbourne establish
In 1890, the founding Act of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was started. -
Sold
This enterprise was sold in 1891 to the Melbourne Flour Milling Company, run by the Hon. -
License the construction and maintenance
The Board issued a licence to the company in 1895 for the construction and maintenance of the weir (a low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow) at the Falls. -
sold and devastating fires
In 1909, the Melbourne Flour Milling Company sold its Abbotsford mill and plant to Messrs John Darling and Son, well-known millers and wheat merchants in South Australia. The lease with the Board of Works was extended by John Darling and Son, but only for three months. During this time, however, the mill was destroyed by a devastating fire. -
rebuilt as it indicates significance
The Weir is historically significant because it shows the location of the original weir and the role it played in diverting the river to the turbine building, after being partially restored in 1941. Its presence shows the significance of the Yarra River in the function of the mill, as it was built to help manage it.