Bathurst has a proud brewing history, and author Toney Fitzgerald wants to hear the stories of local people with some connection to those heady days.
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Mr Fitzgerald has done considerable research on brewing in Orange between 1851 and 1926 and now wants to expand that to include neighbouring Bathurst.
The author said the topic has been his passion for the past three years.
Now living in Burleigh Heads, Mr Fitzgerald is an author and life coach. He is hoping the people of Bathurst will be inspired to assist him in writing his new book.
He turned his attention to Bathurst after he read an article about the Dairy Farmers development in Bentinck Street.
This was the site, he learned, of one of the breweries belonging to the very successful James Walker.
Walker’s Pale Ale was a very popular drop in the Bathurst and Orange regions.
Mr Fitzgerald is currently writing a book about the breweries and old pubs of the region. It will be titled The Breweries and Hotels/Pubs of Orange and Bathurst.
He said despite the prominence brewing had in the two towns, hardly anybody knows anything about it.
Mr Fitzgerald came up with the idea to write a book on the subject after he saw a photo of one of Orange’s large breweries.
A bit of research later he discovered that the country’s largest and most successful brewer, James Walker, started his brewing empire in Bathurst.
Walker came here as a bridge builder, and erected many of the bridges which still span the western roads. He was an alderman, and also served as mayor.
In the early 1890s he went to the Coolgardie gold rush, and on his return purchased Bathurst’s Great Western Brewery. A few years later he bought the Orange Brewery, and in 1908 formed the business into a company under the name of Walker and Co.Ltd.
The company absorbed nearly all the small breweries in western NSW before it was acquired by Tooheys in 1926.
Mr Fitzgerald explained that a boom in brewing beer came with the gold rush and its prospectors.
George Ranken erected Bathurst’s first brewery at Kelloshiel around 1857.
“What I would really like to do is bring James Walker’s beer back to life and produce it,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
Anyone with anecdotal information or memorabilia that might assist Mr Fitzgerald can call him on 0438 450 643 or send him an email to fitzy@d2.net.au
