When the Pioneer Kerosene Works was launched at American Creek near Mt Kembla in 1865, it bore all the hallmarks of success for its proprietor, John Graham.
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No sooner had the business been launched on his property than a substantial stone building, steam engine and 600-gallon still and retort were built to produce the oil.
But 12 years later, John's brother Edward, who for many years had been manager of the works, said financial concerns had forced him to leave the Illawarra for "the interior" in the hope of re-establishing himself financially.
At a banquet held in his honour in May 1877, Edward, who also served as a magistrate and mayor of Central Illawarra Council, told the gathering that success was not all it appeared.
While a report in the Illawarra Mercury did not spell out the details that led to Edward's departure, enough can be gleaned from his address.
To the staff of the Kerosene Works, he said that if he ever evinced a shortness of temper, would they bear in mind "their wages had ever been paid regularly, however adverse might have been the circumstances of their employers".
"And he would now tell them that their wages were often paid only with great difficulty on the part of his brother and himself, who frequently had nothing left after such wages had been paid," the Mercury reported.
"The wages had amounted to an average £300 a month, an item of no inconsiderable advantage to the district, however unremunerative to the proprietors."
The brothers' fortunes turned in 1872 when the works passed into the hands of a company.
At the time the Mercury said John had carried on the works successfully, undertaking the enterprise "with an intrepid commercial courage that fully deserved the unquestionable success that has crowned his efforts".
In October of that year, the Sun Kerosene Company was successfully floated with £25,000 capital.
Edward said that soon after the company was formed, "a certain gentleman wormed himself into favour with the company, to such an extent that he succeeded in having a relative of his own appointed to the office of manager", a position so long held by Edward.
A resident of the Illawarra for the past 33 years, Edward said it was not his desire to leave the works or the district.
Picture: Success was not all it appeared at the Pioneer Kerosene Works at American Creek. From the collections of the Wollongong City Library and the Illawarra Historical Society.
Genealogy search tip
For an index to the abstract of all licences for marriage granted to free persons, 1813-26, go to www.records.nsw.gov.au
