Growth Of A

The Burns Philp Story:

Huge Organisation

7 ROM Dutch New Guinea east ward to the Samoas, from Nor folk northward to the Marshalls nd Carolines, there is not a Pacific i land where a Burns Philip trader as not landed —scarcely a square die of blue water that a BP ship as not sailed across.

The “Big Firm” was established in ueensland as a little firm 80 years 70; spread its operations very porously across the South Pacific 1 the pre-World War I period; en iged everywhere in developmental divities —usually with the co aeration and goodwill of the vari es Administrations; and to-day it strongly established as merchants, dnters, traders and shipowners in )ery Territory south of the Line, i tween New Guinea and Eastern imoa, as well as in Australia.

The Big Firm itself had a pro und effect upon European settle ent in the South Pacific Islands, he founder of the Company, James irns, similarly influenced Aus alian affairs, as a planner and a blic-spirited man—he was awarded e high honour of KCMG in knowledgement of his achieve ents as a philanthropist.

Because the PIM, in its 25 years life, has seen so much of BP tivities in the Islands ■„ we invited e Big Firm to provide us with me facts and figures about the -e Sir James Burns and the early story of the huge organisation he Published; and the following was ndly sent to us by one of the chief ecutives.

IHE business of James Bums in Thursday Island, Normanton, and Cooktown was amalgamated th that of Sir Robert Philp in wnsville in 1877; and later a ser e was started from Cooktown th two schooners, the Myrtle and ? lyanhoe, to British New Guinea, rhis was the first Island service, iich afterwards expanded to the omons, Gilberts, Marshalls, Ellice, nning and Washington, Lord we, Norfolk Island and the New brides, and other small Islands, :h as the Phoenix and Banks oups ro many of these Islands there s no regular service, so it may be d that Burns Philp & Co. in durated the Australian connection h most of the Islands of Western hfic, except Fiji, Samoa and aga, to which the Union Steam ip Company and the old ASN npany originally plied; and this n, with branches or subsidiaries over the Pacific, has, during the t 75 years, been a very large tor in the development of this a.

Wien the Myrtle and Ivanhoe

visited Port Moresby in the first place, there was only one resident, a trader called Goldie, who ran a small store, besides the Government residents further round the Bay.

This store was afterwards purchased by BP & Co. rrv, Q m„in , to Tl ?hf!t nf Samarai stores to Sudest St Aienan and other Islands off the north -SS? coast, and returning with gold dust, and very large quantities of pearls from the Trobriand Islands. „ . J , The trade also included skins and feathers of birds-of-paradise, from

Port Moresby to UK and the Con tinent, and sandalwood from Hall Sound, via Cooktown to China, TOURING the 1914-18 war, Burns J J Philp lost one of their new modern ships, the Matunga, which was taken and sunk by a German raider near Rabaul. . During last war ’ the Company lost six motor ships-and very nearly lost another > the Malaita, which was e por 0 t r laf?lv° f bndg6 ’ bUt ™ o ea oc .

M J.ke r loss A^ as the Motau, with 150 lives. Also more heavy loss of life occurred on the Neptuna at Darwin, the Macdhui at

Port Moresby, and the Tulagi, south of Colombo.

From the latter vessel, only 14 men got away on two rafts, out of a total crew of about 70 These men floated for 53 days on the two rafts lashed together, when they broke adrift separately. One raft, after 61 days (on which was the pre sent Chief Engineer of the Bulolo, Mr. Ward) was washed ashore on an island in the Seychelles; but the other raft was never heard of again.

The whole of the BP Branches in the Solomons were destroyed, and about 1,000 tons of copra stored at Gizo were burnt under instructions from the Government of the Western Pacific. No compensation was ever paid, as in New Guinea, and the total loss of buildings, plantations, stocks and book debts amounted to over £250,000. Also, the cost of re placing some of those ships which were lost ran into well over £2 million; but the war insurance at 30st of construction or purchase was about £500,000.

The mpst outstanding vessel of ;he Company’s fleet in World War [I was the Bulolo : her activities luring the war, when she carried it different times the flags of five Admirals, are well-known.

ROBERT PHILP, after the J amalgamation of the businesses in the early ’Eighties, became nterested in politics, and was Vernier of Queensland for many ears and later knighted. He was nterested mostly in mining and lastoral pursuits in that State.

Mr. James Burns, in the early 890 s, took a great interest in the Australian Light Horse. He became ; olonel of the NSW Lancers and tngadier of the Light Horse Regi lents in Australia. He was a fember of the Upper House, and f ter wards was made KCMG.

Colonel Burns, with the aid of a ;w friends, sent 100 men to Alder lot for six months’ training, dur ig which period the Boer War broke it, and the detachment volunteered > go to Africa, where they dis nguished themselves.

Later in life, Sir James took a 'eat interest in Children’s Homes, id started the Burnside Homes for

rphan Children, adjoining his

sidence on the Pennant Hills Road, irramatta.

At the beginning of World War II lere were over 500 children in e Orphanage— mostly 25 in each ime, with a Mother and Assistant other. There were a fine hospital dimming pool, gymnasium, cricket ounds, tennis courts, farm, dairv, sam laundry and vegetable garden

ntral administrative offices, and'a

fge hall. All the buildings were c me or brick, with indoor playing c ? n l^ 10<^a^ion ’ anc * were built in land 6 SpaCes in about 300 acres When Sir James Burns died, he Brae ’” a lar £ e >idence adjoining the Homes, to

the Presbyterian Church for the use of the Burnside Homes.

During the last war the Aus tralian Government asked the Church for the loan of “Gowan Brae” and the Homes for Head quarters of the Second Australian Army. The Church agreed, on the understanding that some temporary accommodation should be found for the children, and the Homes and “Gowan Brae” be returned in the same order and condition as when taken over by the Army. No charge was niade for about 40 fine stone buildings; so the Church did a good deal to help Australia during this vei T critical period.

When the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were in Australia the Duke unveiled a plaque in the billiard room at “Gowan Brae” to thfwl" the ° CCUpati ° n du ™* Last year . the Bu ™side Horaes

Slde^home 601 to™* able *the

children to spend a certain period of each year by the sea

jrr* BsK,-»”r«ias

"I"

“Bum’fkousf ’ “ ’ S t 0 ** Called T N addition to the Islands business, ® urns > p h d P & P o ', ilas ranclles i O n? rol $ h T oU V Auatralla > Ne w Zea- London so a Company 111 Amerlca called Burns-Philp Co.

of San Francisco); and has had a branch in Pago Pago for many years.

Apart from merchandise, the Company is heavily interested in plantations in Papua and New Guinea and Fanning and Washing ton Islands. All the plantations in the Solomons were so badly dam aged that they had to be abandoned after World War 11.

The Company is also interested in chain-stores in Queensland, under the name of Penneys Limited, and in many old, well-established country stores in New South Wales.