Burns Philp Building is a heritage-listed former warehouse at the corner of Landsborough Street and Caroline Street, Normanton, Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. It was built by Andrew Murphie. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 14 October 2011.
History The former Burns Philp building in Normanton is located on the corner of Caroline and Landsborough streets (Burke Developmental Road), on a site close to the former town wharves and opposite the site of the former Customs House. This locality was strategically important for a store, because all goods and services were transported by boat along the Norman River. The large timber-framed and metal-clad warehouse-style building, built in 1884, occupies around one third of its 5,900 square metre allotment and is a dominant feature of the town, being visible from the air when flying into Normanton, and from the river when entering the town from the northern port of Karumba.
Normanton arose as the principal service town and port for the pastoral district of Burke, in lieu of Burketown, which was declared a port in 1864. The Burketown population was beset by a typhoid fever outbreak in 1866, leading to the abandonment of the settlement, and its relocation to Sweers Island, where a port was declared in March 1867.The Brisbane Courier, 25 March 1867, p. 2. The search for an alternative port in the Gulf of Carpentaria led to the January 1867 exploration conducted by William Landsborough and Government Surveyor George Phillips. They chose a site for a township on the western bank of the river which they named the Norman, in honour of Captain William Henry Norman, the Commander of the HMVS Victoria, which had accompanied Landsborough's brig Firefly to the gulf in his earlier 1861 quest to find Burke and Wills. The town site was on an ironstone ridge, which was thought to be above flood and high tide levels. The Town of Norman was gazetted in August 1868, and became the most important centre in the Gulf, known as Normanton.. Cattle stations throughout the area, from as far south as Cloncurry and Georgetown, procured their supplies from Normanton. Its importance was further entrenched with the opening of the overland telegraph line from Cardwell in January 1872, linking Normanton and Kimberley (now Karumba) to the main line between Brisbane and Townsville, which had been completed in 1869.
The Burns Philp Company evolved from the business that James Burns established in Townsville in 1873 from which he supplied goods to the mining towns of Charters Towers, Etheridge, Ravenswood, Hodgkinson and Palmer River. Burns suffered from recurring bouts of malaria, and was advised by doctors to move to Sydney.| By October 1877 he had transferred his Townsville interests to Robert Philp,The Brisbane Courier, 6 October 1877, p. 6. who had been managing the store in his absence., accessed 19 October 2011. Philp expanded the business, building new wharves and warehouses along Ross Creek. Burns began a new business based in Macquarie Place in Sydney, establishing a fleet of sailing vessels plying their trade between Sydney and Townsville, while Philp expanded his operation by establishing bases in Cairns and Charters Towers.
The growth of towns servicing the grazing and mining industries in the Gulf led to the development of the combined business and shipping interests of Burns and Philp in that area. By March 1879, James Burns was running the schooner Dawn between Thursday Island and Normanton. He established a store at Normanton in July 1879,The Brisbane Courier, 2 July 1879, p. 6. serviced every two months by it and the Rover.The Brisbane Courier, 12 April 1879, p. 1. This store was reputedly relocated from Burketown, being the former store of Robert Towns.The Queenslander, 16 August 1884, p. 261. Within two months of opening this store, Burns had received worth of orders for goods to transport to graziers in the district. The manager of the store issued its own and notes for use as change, in an environment where "legal tender" was hard to come by. The notes were used in Normanton and Thursday Island for a period of around ten years between 1880 and 1890.
Burns initiated his monopolisation of trade in the Gulf, with the takeover of his major competitor, Clifton and Aplin, in May 1880.The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 1889, p. 5. It had been a pioneering mercantile firm in Townsville and the Gulf, establishing a store in Normanton around 1871 and one in Burketown in 1879.
By January 1881, James Burns was operating the steamer Corea between Sydney and Normanton, sometimes calling in at Burketown.Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 8 January 1881, p. 5. The steamship Truganini was purchased in June 1881 to run between Thursday Island and Normanton.Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 4 June 1881, p. 65. Along with the Corea, it soon became part of the fleet of the Queensland Steam Shipping Company, a London Corporation in which Burns and Philp jointly held in shares. The deal also included ships of the British India Steam Navigation Company which had the mail contract from Britain, Singapore, and Batavia to Brisbane via Thursday Island and North Queensland ports. The Truganini operated the mail contract between Thursday Island and Normanton, which Burns had procured for a year for three years. He further cemented his local monopoly by including clauses in the mail contracts, prioritising Burns and Philp cargo at cut rates. Burns then bought out the store of Theodore Amsden and Co. in Normanton, keeping Amsden on as manager. Also in mid-1881, Burns bought out a Thursday Island storekeeper, with Philp owning a share in that business as well. The new Burketown store of James Burns was opened by the end of March 1883.The Queenslander, 5 May 1883 p.686.
In early 1883, the businesses of James Burns of Normanton and Sydney were amalgamated with that of Robert Philp of Townsville.The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 April 1883, p.10The Queenslander, 31 March 1883, p. 514. Burns Philp & Company Limited was incorporated under New South Wales law with its registered office in Sydney. The nominal capital of the firm was , with 90% of the capital coming from Australian sources. The amalgamated company had assets in Sydney, Townsville, Normanton, Thursday Island, Cairns and Charters Towers, which included 22 vessels of all kinds, from ships to lighters, which were used to ferry goods and passengers from larger ships to the wharves. The company adopted a flag of red, white and blue, with a Scotch Thistle in the centre.
By September 1884, Burns Philp had taken over a number of small businesses in Burketown,The Brisbane Courier, 26 September 1884, p.6. and in October, builder Andrew Murphie was engaged in building a large warehouse for Burns Philp in Normanton which was claimed to be the company's largest in Queensland outside of Brisbane.The Queenslander, 25 October 1884, p. 662.
Normanton was thriving at that time. The foundation stone for the hospital, also built by Andrew Murphie, was laid on 1 December 1884; several new shops were under construction in the main street, including a large general store for JA Marshall and Company near the post and telegraph offices.The Queenslander, 3 January 1885, p. 19. Murphie successfully tendered for additions to the Post and Telegraph offices in December 1885.The Queenslander, 19 December 1885, p. 996. Profits generated in Burns Philp's Normanton store in the 1884–5 and 1885–6 financial years were greater than that of Townsville. The Gulf stores of Normanton, Burketown and Thursday Island, were together far more profitable than the stores in the major towns of Townsville, Cairns and Charters Towers which at that time were managed by Philp. He was elected to Parliament in 1886 as the member for Musgrave, and from 1888 represented Townsville.
The discovery of gold at Croydon in 1885, soon led to further growth in Normanton, as it became the supply base for miners. At that time the government was proposing to build a railway linking the Cloncurry copper mines and Normanton. By the end of 1886, the population at Croydon had reached 2,000, so the decision was made to divert the railway construction to Croydon utilising the materials that had been already delivered to Normanton. Tenders were called in July 1887, and the Normanton to Croydon railway line to Croydon completed in July 1891 (now known as the Gulflander). Croydon railway station entry, Croydon Station, Normanton to Croydon Railway. The rail line featured innovative steel sleepers, designed by George Phillips. Burns Philp was the shipping agent for the steel sleepers, manufactured in Glasgow and transported to Normanton.The Brisbane Courier, 14 April 1891, p. 3. The growth of the Croydon goldfield provided wealth for Burns Philp during the somewhat brief time it operated.
Competition in local shipping activities led Burns Philp to form the Australian United Steam Navigation Company in 1887, which evolved from the Australasian Steam Navigation Company. It was in financial difficulties, because of fierce competition from the largely Burns Philp-owned Queensland Steam Shipping Company. To further shore-up the company's business interests in the Gulf, Burns engineered the pooling of three companies' resources which supplied lighter services to Burketown and Normanton in 1888. These included boats operated by Burns Philp, the Australian United Steam Navigation Company and lighters owned by Captain P Robinson. Lighters were needed because the bar of the Norman River had continually silted up, making it inaccessible to larger vessels.Lewis, Glen, A history of the Ports of Queensland. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1973, p. 105. The new company, the Carpentaria Lighterage Company was registered in Brisbane in December 1900.McKellar, N. L., From Derby Round to Burketown: the AUSN Story. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1977, p. 185. Burns Philp also had a shipping agreement with Howard Smith and Sons Ltd for the operation of a Queensland service, terminating in Normanton, commencing on 1 January 1891, with Burns Philp holding dual agencies at the far northern ports. The lease for the municipal wharf at Normanton which had been held by Theodore Amsden was transferred to Burns Philp in April 1891.Taylor, Charles, 'Historical Society of Cairns, North Queensland, Bulletin III, Burns Philp & Co and the Gulf', July 1968, typescript held by Carpentaria Shire Council library collection, Burns Philp Building, Normanton p. 1. Burns Philp became known as the "octopus of the North" because of its extensive business interests.The Brisbane Courier, 1 November 1895, p.1.