Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 20 March 2014

“Technical Memories (Part 76) – Goulding’s Heritage”

Picking up from last week’s column, in 1872 a change took place when the Goulding business became a limited company with a capital of £150,000. The first Board of Directors was composed of William Goulding, Chairman, H M Goulding, B Haughton, N D Murphy MP, and J S Smithson. The prospectus of the new company referred to 500 duly appointed agents in the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Russia and America. It was reported that Gouldings were the first firm to ship a cargo of manures into the United States, and in addition to the countries referred to above, an extensive export trade was carried on with Norway and Natal in South Africa. A special manure was supplied to the latter for the sugar cane crop. The year 1872 was also noteworthy in that a further factory was opened at Singland in Limerick, where a 20-year lease was taken on the premises.

In the manufacture of superphostate, the use of mineral phosphates steadily replaced bones. At what date Gouldings first used the mineral phosphate is unknown, but in 1873, the company purchased phosphate beds in France. These deposits, belonging to a group known as Quercy phosphates, were situated near Cahora in the French Department of Lot. The material varied widely in quality and was difficult to mine. The Goulding Phosphate Company Ltd was formed to operate the mines. In 1876 this company leased a mill at Mercuès in the vicinity of the phosphate deposits and a works was in operation at Laberaudie in the same district. Operations were continued until 1880 when Gouldings ceded their rights to a French firm.

In 1874, a cargo of rock phosphate was imported from Pernambuco in Brazil, and in subsequent years this raw material was obtained from a variety of sources. In addition to the French phostate referred to, there was Estramadure phosphate from Spain, Sombrero phosphate from the West Indies, phosphates from Norway, Canada, Belgium and Russia. American phosphate from South Carolina was in use and in later years, particularly when a Florida factory was opened, the American material was used extensively.

Another new works was started in 1878 at Gracedieu, Waterford and in 1884, new works were commenced on Bressay one of the islands in the Shetland group.  In the same year 1884, William Goulding died at the age of 67, having spent half a lifetime in the fertiliser business. From small beginnings, he rapidly built up and expanded the company until at the time of his death it consisted of five factories and was one of the largest concerns within Britain and Ireland. Seven years previous to this, Humphrey Manders had died at the age of 57. Following William Goulding’s death, his son, William Joshua Goulding, was appointed Chairman of the Company.

In 1902, sales of manures by the Goulding group had reached 119,337 tons and the building of a new factory at Newrath, Waterford was commenced. This now gave the company six factories in Ireland, situated at Londonderry and Belfast in the north, two at Dublin in the east, and at Waterford and Cork in the south, this making distribution to any part of the country an easy matter.  Phosphates from North Africa began to replace material from other sources and eventually North Africa became the sole supply. During the next twenty years, output from these factories was gradually increased by improved processes and extensions to the factories. In 1919 a controlling interest was purchased in two further companies, namely the Drogheda Chemical Manure Company Ltd. and the Dublin and Wicklow Manure Company.

From 1920 to the commencement of World War II, production of fertilisers showed a steady increase from the factories in operation and the total deliveries rose to 178,000 tons. The company also went through two chairmanships, Sir William Joshua Goulding and his son Sir Lingard Amphlett Goulding. On Lingard’s death in 1935, Sir Basil Goulding took over as Chairman.

The World War II years coincided with a serious reduction in trade brought about by difficulties of obtaining shipping for imports of raw materials, but after the end of the of the war, production rose to surpass the pre-war level in a most spectacular manner. The post-war years were a time of immense activity, many items of plant were in a state of disrepair and other items were becoming obsolete. As a result all the factories witnessed extensive replacement of old equipment with modern machinery and methods of manufacture.

By 1956, due to the increasing demands on the Glen Factory, the first steps were taken towards the construction of a new factory on a 17-acre compound on the deep water site at the Marina, Cork on which the company had had an option for some years. The Irish Times for 29 March 1958 records that work began on the preparation of the Cork site at the Marina and the piling in October, 1955. There were 303 piles driven and the contractors started work in February, 1956. In all, 16,500 cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction of the factory, 291 tons of reinforced steel and 700 tons of steelwork.

To be continued…

Caption:

733a. Gouldings, Centre Park Road, Marina, 1958 (source: The Irish Times, 29 March 1958)

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 13 March 2014

“Technical Memories (Part 75) – Outputs and Targets”

The day before Verolme Dockyard was officially opened on 15 October 1960, the two and half million pounds factory of Messrs. Goulding Fertilisers Ltd at the Marina, Cork, was opened. Again Seán Lemass did the honours in the presence of a large and distinguished audience. In his speech, recorded in the Cork Examiner, he highlighted Ireland’s work in seeking out new export markets; “In the struggle for export markets everything, which makes for great output at lower costs, is vital and all the available evidence supports the view that greater use of fertilisers and lime is essential for the realisation of high production targets”.

The new factory was another milestone in Cork’s ever-widening industrial progress. It completed the final stages of an ambitious project conceived by the company some years previously for the creation in the Southern region of a modern fertiliser plant. The first stage for the compounding of fertilisers in powder and granular form was completed in 1958. The opening of the factory in 1960 marked the second and final stage, and its purpose was to produce single superphosphate in largely increased quantities and also for the first time in the country, triple superphosphates together with the large amounts of sulphuric acid required for both projects. The Marina plant was planned with an eye to the future, for it had been so designed that large-scale additions could be made conveniently in spaces reserved for them whenever the need arose.

When the Taoiseach arrived at the new factory, he was met by Sir Basil Goulding, who presented him with a symbolic key and invited him to unlock the gates and declare the factory opened. The Goulding family had deep commercial roots in Cork and this is outlined in the special supplement in the Cork Examiner. William Goulding was born in 1817, the first son of Joshua Goulding, of Birr in King’s County, and Sarah, née Manders, of Blackpool, in Cork. Three years later, a second son, Humphrey Manders Goulding, was born. When Joshua Goulding died in 1829, it is thought that the family moved to Cork. Certainly by 1842 William Goulding was living in the city and carrying on the business of an oil and colour merchant at 22 Maylor Street. In the following year, this business was transferred to 108 Patrick’s Street, premises which were occupied by the firm for many years and now the site of the site of the Savoy Cinema. The title W and H M Goulding came into being in 1846 when Humphreys Manders Goulding joined his elder brother in the business at the age of 26.

An early interest in agricultural materials was shown by the sale of Goulding’s Anti-smut Composition for seed wheat, which appeared on the market in 1844. The firm became agents for patent sheep and cattle dressings in 1854, and in the same year sold fertilisers produced by the British Economical Manure Company. The year also marked the beginning of Goulding’s interest in superphosphate manufacture. A small tonnage of superphostate was thus produced in their premises available at St Patrick Street and Nelson Place (now Emmett Place) and would have been inadequate and unsuitable for large scale manufacture. The results of these pilot-plant experiments must, however have been sufficiently encouraging to warrant bigger operations, for the Goulding Brothers procured additional premises for superphostate production in the following year, 1856. During 1855 and 1856, the premises of the Glen Distillery at Blackpool, in Cork, came on the market. This property comprised mills, kilns, stores, chimneys, spacious yards and various items of machinery and plant, and it was this property which, the Goulding brothers obtained for their manure works.

Superphostate manufacture at this time involved treating ground bones with sulphuric acid, the reaction being carried out in wooden tubs, cast-iron horse troughs, or even on the bare ground. The resulting material was removed to stores and allowed to dry out. All operations were by hand, and output was necessarily small. For example the total sales for the season 1860/ 61 season were no more than the 1960 production of superphosphate from one works for one week.

While bones were available locally, sulphuric acid had to be imported during the early years. The purchase of acid from outside sources was a serious drawback to the early development of the business. To remedy the situation, an acid plant, was built in 1860 and had been extended to five chambers by 1868. The sulphuric acid was produced from sulphur initially, but pyrites were also used at an early stage, and certainly not later than 1864. The pyrites could be purchased for £1/5 per ton and was readily available from the Avoca mines in Co Wicklow, while sulphur cost £7 per ton. In 1861, following the introduction of the acid plant, five special manures were offered in addition to superphostate. During the period 1861 to 1888 delivery of manures from Cork rose from 857 tons to 7,139 tons, and the demand was so great that it was considered to open a new factory. Dublin was selected as the location for this new works as it had good port facilities and was well placed for the delivery of manures.

To be continued…

Caption:

732a. Cork Docklands, 1949 (source: Cork City Library)