Tag: Timber Mills

The Nallan Wood Strike of 1908

The Nallan Wood Strike of 1908 was a significant three-month industrial dispute in the Murchison goldfields of Western Australia that brought the massive Great Fingall mine to a complete standstill. Triggered by demands for increased wood-cutting rates, the strike highlighted deep-seated grievances among a culturally diverse workforce and underscored the critical dependence of the mining industry on wood fuel for its operations.1

The Tinderbox

The conflict was rooted in deteriorating working conditions and economic frustrations that had been building for years. By 1908, woodcutters—who were predominantly of Italian and South European descent—faced increasingly difficult labor for stagnant or diminishing returns.

Key factors included:

  • “Cleaning Out” Policies: Employers shifted from allowing “picking” (selective cutting) to requiring “cleaning out,” where workers had to clear entire areas. This forced cutters to spend hours on difficult, low-yield “snags” for very little pay.
  • Weighing and Payment Disputes: Cutters were paid by weight, but wood was often left on the line for months to dry. As the wood lost moisture, its weight decreased, directly reducing the workers’ earnings.
  • Failure of Arbitration: A 1904 Arbitration Court award had notoriously sided with employers, suggesting that wages were already too high and even recommending reductions. This left workers with a deep distrust of the legal arbitration system.
  • Resource Monopolies: Mining companies and firewood suppliers jointly controlled access to wood and water on Crown land, leaving cutters with little leverage outside of direct action.

The Standstill

The strike at Nallan began in late 1908, with cutters demanding higher rates for their labor. The impact on the local economy was immediate and severe, particularly for the townsite of Day Dawn, which was almost entirely dependent on the Great Fingall Mine.2 3

When the firewood supply was cut off, the Great Fingall management announced the mine would close down at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, November 17, 1908. This decision rendered approximately 500 men idle, throwing the community into a state of “disquietude”. While the mine staff and a few maintenance workers were retained, the bulk of the workforce was forced to leave town or wait for a resolution.4

Business circles in Day Dawn expressed considerable disappointment as the strike dragged on, with rumors of settlements repeatedly proving false. The mine management refused to restart operations until enough wood was stacked on the lease to guarantee several weeks of continuous work.

The Intervention

As the strike became an “industrial disaster,” various levels of government were forced to intervene.

  • Law Enforcement: Police presence was heavy. Inspector Sellinger was stationed in readiness with 25 police officers, many of them mounted, to handle impending trouble. In a move described as a “harsh suppression,” six Italian strikers were arrested at Nallan. They were initially refused bail by the Warden and were only released by an order from the Supreme Court.5 6
  • Government Arbitration: Warden Troy was appointed as an arbitrator and spent days taking “voluminous evidence” from both sides. Additionally, Premier Newton Moore became personally involved, suggesting a settlement based on a daily wage of 12s and a 25% limit on contract labor.7 8
  • Local Representation: Mr. Lewis, the Mayor of Day Dawn, and Mr. E. E. Heitmann, MLA, petitioned the Premier to enforce agreements with the Firewood Company to prevent a total collapse of the district’s economy. Heitmann notably argued that the company was not acting in good faith, withdrawing offers just as settlements appeared likely.9

The Resolution

The strike was characterized by a tug-of-war between the Firewood Company, which wanted to adhere to the Warden’s original award, and the workers, who sought a slight increase of approximately 1d per ton or a shift to a daily wage.10 11

The dispute eventually reached a settlement prospect in November 1908, with a proposed rate of 12s 1d per day for cutters. This was part of a broader shift where woodcutters began to reject the “red tape” of the Arbitration Court in favor of direct bargaining and strike action.12 13

The Aftermath

The aftermath of the Nallan Wood Strike had lasting implications:

  1. Militancy and Recognition: The success of the “foreign element” in standing up to the powerful Chamber of Mines earned them new respect within the wider Labor movement.14
  2. Judicial Precedent: The harsh sentences handed down to strikers—including hard labor for leaders—were intended by magistrates like John Michael Finnerty to “impress upon the foreigners” the necessity of following British law.15
  3. Unionization: Within a few years, woodcutters were integrated into the formal trade union movement, ending their previous isolation from the mine workforce.16

The Nallan Wood Strike serves as a stark reminder of the fragile balance of the early 20th-century goldfields, where a handful of woodcutters could bring a global mining giant to its knees in their quest for industrial justice.

Sources

  1. Naomi Segal, 2011. The 1908 wood line strikes in Western Australia: causes and consequences. Published in Journal of Management and Organization, 2011. Retrieved 29 Jan 2026 from https://www.anzam.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf-manager/641_ANZAM2011-468.PDF ↩︎
  2. NALLAN WOOD STRIKE. (1908, November 16). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26213772 ↩︎
  3. Heritage Council, 2024. Brega Wells, Cue. Retrieved 25 Jan 2026 from https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/cb05067a-feaf-4877-b1b9-c9d12bfc3f12 ↩︎
  4. NALLAN WOOD STRIKE. (1908, November 18). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26213957 ↩︎
  5. NALLAN WOOD STRIKE. (1908, October 16). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26211514 ↩︎
  6. Segal, 2011, p.12 ↩︎
  7. THE NALLAN WOOD STRIKE. (1908, October 2). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26210373 ↩︎
  8. Nallan Wood Strike. (1908, November 24). The Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette (Cue, WA : 1894 – 1925), p. 2. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233449382 ↩︎
  9. NALLAN WOOD STRIKE. (1908, November 16). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26213772 ↩︎
  10. NALLAN WOOD STRIKE. (1908, November 18). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 7. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26213957 ↩︎
  11. Nallan Wood Strike. (1908, November 24). The Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette (Cue, WA : 1894 – 1925), p. 2. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233449382 ↩︎
  12. THE NALLAN WOOD STRIKE (1908, November 5). Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 – 1954), p. 1. Retrieved January 25, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90476498 ↩︎
  13. Segal, 2011, p.3 ↩︎
  14. ibid, p.12 ↩︎
  15. ibid, pp.11-12 ↩︎
  16. ibid, p.3 ↩︎

The End of the East Kirupp Mill

A Chapter in Western Australia’s Timber Past

In the forests of Western Australia, sawmills once rose and fell with the rhythms of the timber they harvested. Some, such as the long-lived operations at Jarrahdale, seemed almost timeless, continually fed by pockets of forest that yielded just enough to keep the saws turning. Others lived quicker, shorter lives. A lifespan of fifteen to twenty years was considered respectable for a mill. By that measure, the East Kirup mill—opened in the autumn of 1910 and closed eighteen years later—had enjoyed a full existence.

When Millars’ Company felled the first tree to clear the site—thirteen miles east of the Kirup railway station—it marked the beginning of a community as much as an industrial undertaking. Within months, hundreds of workers and their families had settled around the new mill, forming a self-contained township with all the domestic and social complexities of an isolated bush settlement. A generation grew up among the hills and forests, only to scatter across the state when the mill’s closure brought the community’s purpose to an end. A smaller mill later replaced it a few miles away, though it operated on a far more modest scale.

East Kirup had been built with the benefit of earlier experience: well-designed, strongly equipped, and surrounded by rich forest capable of supplying magnificent jarrah logs for many years. The district became a centre for sleeper-cutters—those who hewed the heavy wooden sleepers needed for expanding rail networks—and at one time it reportedly hosted more of these workers than any other part of Western Australia.

Designed to turn out about 42,000 super feet of timber a day, the mill often reached that figure in its early years. Over its eighteen-year life, it produced an astonishing 225 million super feet of timber—sleepers, building scantlings, flooring, joinery, and a variety of other essentials. Yet even such impressive output could not fully overcome the challenges inherent in milling Australian hardwoods. Despite their durability and beauty, these timbers yielded relatively low proportions of merchantable wood. Often less than half of each log could be used; sometimes only a third. The remainder was consigned to the fire heap, an unavoidable but striking reminder of waste built into the industry.

Despite such difficulties, the scale of Western Australia’s sawmilling operations set them apart from those in the eastern states. Mills employing 300 to 350 workers were common in the west but virtually unknown in Victoria or New South Wales. East Kirup was among these large and lively centres, set in forested hills and blessed with a cool, bracing climate. Children raised there were remembered for their sturdy health—another small legacy of a community that eventually vanished.

More than £900,000 in wages was paid during the mill’s lifetime, sustaining families and supporting a complex local economy. Much of the mill’s character, however, came from its leaders, particularly James Kelly, a spirited and sharp-witted manager whose booming voice and commanding presence became inseparable from East Kirup’s history. For a time, the mill was also guided by another respected figure, Samuel Drysdale, whose contribution was similarly well regarded.

With its closure, the East Kirup mill passed into history. The noise of saws and locomotives faded, the workers dispersed, and the once-busy clearing slowly returned to the forest from which it had been carved. Yet its legacy endured as a testament to the rugged industry, community spirit, and human character that shaped Western Australia’s timber frontier.

Author’s Note:

This article has been written based on a newspaper article – The End of the Mill – written in 1929 and published in The West Australian. 1

Sources

  1. THE END OF THE MILL. (1929, November 23). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 5. Retrieved November 23, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32332383 ↩︎