CSR
Limited is one of Australia’s best known and largest companies. Founded in 1855
by Edward Knox as the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, it
adopted its present name in 1973.
It was formed from a reconstruction of the Australasian
Sugar Company which, in 1842 had succeeded the Australian
Sugar Company, the first company established in Australia
for refining sugar. Today
CSR Limited continues its significant role in the Australian
sugar industry, operating mills and refineries and as agents
for the Queensland government, handling the export marketing
of all refined sugar from Australia.
Over the last 20 years the company has diversified,
incorporating rapid structural changes. In 1986 it included six divisions – Corporate
Functions, Sugar Division, Building Materials, Aluminium
Minerals and Chemicals, the Coal Division, and the Oil
and Gas Division. Since 1975 the Archives has held a collection
for CSR
Limited of
the major correspondence and general record series which
document its interests in sugar since 1847.
Additions to the collection, with a few exceptions,
which will be noted later, have been records relating
to the Sugar Division. Records of other divisions and concerns
are not documented in these archival holdings.
Researchers should note that not all the early series are complete and many nineteenth century records (notably press copy letter books) are extremely fragile. No photocopying of press copies is possible. While most of these letter books are indexed, their use requires a considerable degree of painstaking endeavour to gain the very real rewards which they can provide.
All material is listed in a final descriptive list or a summary box list. Because of the large volume of information we prefer potential users to write in advance with details of their particular area of interest. A search can then be made to identify likely record series and we can then obtain the necessary approval for access.
Some reference queries can be answered by mail but extensive and interpretive research is not possible with current staff resources. Names of professional researchers in Canberra can be supplied on request.
The main intent of this paper is to illuminate some of the many series of records that make the CSR Limited collection of value for a wide range of research pursuits.
Both administrative and operational records are held in the collection which demonstrates involvement with:
and the development of:
To date over one hundred researchers have consulted the records in pursuits of such topics as:
Projects on early housing design for architectural research, the spread of Basque and Italian settlement in Australia, Indian women workers in Fiji and early agents for Chinese sugar sales have attracted students and academics from overseas. In addition, requests from the company and
CSR Limited employees doing research for themselves have formed part of the usage.
The most substantial and detailed series held are the earliest correspondence records of Head Office.
Bound inward letters and outward press copies comprise over 3,000 volumes arranged by title of the corresponding agency. Sets exist for each of the sugar mills, refineries, branches and agents, banks, shipping companies and industry associations.
For the Australian mills this correspondence is continued in hard copy, bound volumes from 1947-1978. The continuation of the other correspondence is on 737 spools of microfilm c1947-1972.
It is worth emphasising again that the use of the correspondence records (and indeed many of the other CSR Limited records) is not an easy task. Although many volumes are indexed, patient, persistent and detailed study is necessary. Such an approach will pay handsome dividends.
Records relating to employees take several forms. The staff out letter books in the correspondence series 1890-1911, 1920-1947 contain letters relating to staff placements and changes within the many offices, mills and refineries.
Other records show salaries paid, and the number and type of positions in various offices 1879-1909. Others in a ledger-like format trace individual careers c1882-1909, 1917-1958.
A
series of hours, work and wages returns exist for all refineries,
Queensland mills and some other installations, such as Pyrmont
workshops and distillery. These papers have yet to be used for extensive
research and provide a wealth of information for social
and economic historians.
They are half yearly returns with a large amount of data: names, classifications, occupations, covering award, date of birth, years of service, marital status, membership of a provident fund, allowances received, company housing details, leave etc, for all wage-earning employees. They cover varying periods between 1882 and 1984.
A labour register for New South Wales, Queensland and Fiji mills, 1884-1950 identifies the extent of short term employment, largely for tradesmen’s positions but also other workers, whose occupations are given.
Of significance in the collection is the large quantity of single photographs and albums c1870-1974. Albums were kept in sets for each mill and refinery, CSR Limited ships, engineering workshops, rolling stock, bulk sugar handling facilities plus several showing equipment and machinery for sugar factories overseas.
Pictures show the stages of development of buildings, fires, floods, installations of plant, construction of bridges and railways, often the scenic details of a region, staff and workers, housing, and recreational events such as shows, tennis and cricket matches.
For Fiji, many photographs include employees and good pictorial evidence exists of the pineapple plantation and cannery operated there between 1938 and 1955.
Among
the extensive operational record series for mills and
refineries are:
Records of predecessor and related companies include the Australasian Sugar Company’s letter books 1847-1857, which give details of their raw sugar imports. Three large ledgers were found several years ago in the Pyrmont Refinery covering 1879-1892 with very detailed accounts of the company’s affairs at the time. Several bank pass-books have been retained in the collection for the 1870s. Meteorological records have been meticulously recorded from 1882-1969. Board Minutes of the New Zealand Sugar Company cover 1883-1888.
An often overlooked resource in the collection is the variety of reports, publications and similar material it contains. Here are case transcripts and reports of industry-related industrial cases in Australia and Fiji, evidence and reports of Royal Commissions and inquiries into the industry 1912-1961.
There are a number of unpublished histories and articles about the company, reports on sugar prospects in India in the 1930s, overseas market reports, papers on beet sugar production, power alcohol, occupational health and safety, capital investment, etc. There are actuarial reports on the provident fund 1905-1956 and a large range of newsletters, manuals and various publications of the company, plus centenary publications of many mills and refineries. The CSR Limited Newsletter covers 1945-87 and describes many of the projects of concern in those years.
The ‘box files’ from the CSR Limited Library contain letters, photographs and papers arranged in ten subject areas. They offer historical information on the company, the Knox family, and the Australian sugar industry in the five states, Fiji and New Zealand from the earliest periods until about 1970.
Recent acquisitions include file series of the Export Marketing Division and files relating to the Commonwealth and International Sugar Agreements.
Some records relating to The Australian Estates Company Ltd. for the period when CSR Limited owned their operations are held. Directors and shareholders minutes and company registers of some Estates’ companies are the major series. Other records concerning the subsidiaries cover 1886-1960s. Some of the very early records were passed on to CSR Limited and are valuable additions to the large collection of Australian Estates records held in the Archives since 1957.
Information on the wartime industry involvement of CSR Limited and the beginnings of the Chemicals and Building Materials Divisions is to be found in the correspondence series.
Property Department records of the Pyrmont area contain details of very early property purchases there – maps, legal documents and plans c1830-1950. Included is a series of land deeds and related documents. Similar deeds and documents are available for Fiji lands 1898-1970.
While a steady pattern of usage has been a feature of this collection since it first became available, it is a continuing one and much of its content remains unexplored. Your enquiries are welcome.
