Missingham's Tannery

James Missingham was born at Jamberoo in 1861. James had a partial education and when he was 14 years old joined Jordan’s Tannery. He married Sarah Badans whose family owned the sawmill at Pheasant Ground, Jamberoo Mountain and began farming before starting up his tannery business at Albion Park.

The Albion Park tannery site was 2.5 acres of swampland with a creek running at the bottom. The tannery consisted of a cluster of buildings, sheds, liquor pits, twelve horsepower tubular boiler drivers. The hides were drawn locally and water was drawn from the Macquarie Rivulet.

A team of ten men and five teams of horses were employed at the tannery and collected the hides from Nowra to Wollongong before shipping to Sydney.

Unfortunately the tannery was destroyed by fire in 1897. The fire started in the early hours of the morning and originated in the machine room near the sleeping compartment of the tannery workers who gave the first alarm. James rebuilt the tannery which continued until the 1920s.

During the drought of 1908 James called for the development of a town water supply. He pumped water and supplied a tank at the nearby bridge for the local people. The water supply was not provided at Albion Park until some 50 years later.

James and Sarah had four children, David, William, Annie and Janie.

 

James and Sarah Missingham and children c.1870.
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