ELIAS DAVID ALTSON   c1835 - 1920

 

History has Mr Elias David Altson arriving in Australia in 1852 from Yorkshire, however his obituary records that he arrived in Melbourne from Russia in 1857, and after visiting the goldfields at Ballarat, and taking part in the first gold rush to New Zealand, he returned to Melbourne in 1864. There, he commenced business as a saddler in Bourke Street, where he became one of the best-known business men in Melbourne. Perhaps he travelled from Australia to Russia in search of gold in between the trips to Ballarat and New Zealand, and returned in 1857?

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The first advertisement of Altson being in business was in early 1866, when he was employing saddle hands. During his livelihood as a saddler in Melbourne, the press reported his name between Altson (correct) and Alston (incorrect).

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[The Melbourne Age] in 1874 reported on David Altson’s success with a detailed report on his thriving saddlery business. It read:

Probably very few trades have made greater progress in Melbourne within the last few years than that of the saddler and harness maker. It is but a comparatively short time since the saddles and harness in use in the colony were nearly all imported, and the few members of the trade in business here were employed chiefly in repairing, or more properly speaking, re-making the slop-made goods that were cheap but nearly worthless. Now there are numerous establishments where durable, well-made goods are to be obtained, of colonial manufacture, and prominent amongst them is that of Mr. D. Altson of Bourke-street west. In the show-room and shop there are to be found all descriptions of articles dealt in by the trade. Of saddles the varieties are almost endless, while the same may be said of the harness. Saddles for stock-riding, for hunting, for racing, for ordinary travelling, side saddles for ladies, saddles for all ages and for every size of horse, are scattered about in profusion, many of them being intended for exportation. It is the same with harness. Strong heavy harness, the traces of which are of sufficient strength to stand the strain of their share of a seven or eight-ton load, or for horses that draw the heavily loaded lorries that are seen about the streets. Harness for buggy, carriage, or stage coach, for one, two, four, or more horses, plain and inexpensive, or highly finished and with silver-plated mountings. These, with the numerous small articles required, are to be had manufactured under Mr. Altson's active supervision. The main factory, at present, is on the opposite side of the street to the shop, and has about thirty hands constantly employed, nearly the whole of them being first-class workmen. A very large amount of work is turned out, but not sufficient to meet the increasing requirements of Mr. Altson's business. He has therefore entered into arrangements for the erection of a factory on ground at the rear of his shop. The premises will be 25 ft. by 58 ft. in the clear, of two stories, well ventilated and lighted, and in every respect fitted for the purposes for which they will be built, and they are to be completed by the end of October. In the manufacture of the goods there is a large quantity of what is technically known as saddlers' ironmongery required, besides other fittings and materials, which have to be imported. And this Mr. Altson does direct, and keeps a stock equal to the supply of the wants of his business, so that when orders are given there is no time lost in searching for materials or waiting for their arrival. The supply of leather of various kinds used to be a source of annoyance, and in order to obviate the inconvenience and delay caused through inability to obtain what was needed, Mr. Altson determined to establish a tannery of his own. This he commenced about six months since, on an acre of land situated in Pitt-street, near the toll-gate, at Flemington-bank. On this a two-storied wooden building has been erected, with the necessary mill for crushing bark, and appliances for dressing and manufacturing leather of all kinds. There are now ten men and boys employed, and the leather sent in to the factory is of the finest quality. Already the demand for it has out stripped the power of production, and additions are being made to the number of tan-pits and these will be followed by more substantial buildings, of increased dimensions. With the tannery in full work, and the new factory completed, Mr. Altson will have the means of extending his business very considerably, and employment will be furnished to a still greater extent by a colonial industry that was at a very low ebb before the present tariff was brought into operation.

A further nod of approval came from the Melbourne Herald in December 1874 with respect to the conditions of the tannery for Altson’s workers. It reported as following: “A fine addition to the factories of Melbourne has just been erected by Mr. Altson, saddler, at the rear of his premises in Bourke street west. The structure is of brick, three stories, and affords large accommodation for the hands in all branches of Mr. Altson's business. A specialty in the building is its admirable ventilation, and the care which has been evinced throughout for the health and comfort of the employees.”