This week’s photo shows the butchering establishment of Mr. John P. Ryan, Senr. He named it the Leadenhall Market, named after the meat and butchering district in London.
The butchery business, on land and building owned by Mr. Kenna, was established by Mr. Ryan on the corner of William and Russell Streets in 1876.
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There are two gentlemen in a wagonette and fine horse as well as a group of chaps, all with hats, outside the barbers and newsagent on the very corner.
Mr. Ryan’s intimate knowledge of livestock soon enabled him to bring together a business connection, which, from a comparatively small beginning, he had worked up to a trade that vied with many of the leading metropolitan shops at the time. John Ryan’s father was also a butcher, however, the estate of J.H, Ryan became insolvent for the late butcher of Bathurst. A meeting was to be held before the District Commissioner, Mr. P. Lee P.M., on Friday, March 4, 1887.
In February Mr. James Ryan put his name forward to stand for Bathurst Municipal Council for East Ward.
Another butcher, James Apps, also submitted his name for North Ward.
About thirty others also put their hands up at that time.
With the determination of the Kenna’s to pull down the ‘rookeries’ at the corner and erect buildings in keeping with the importance of the site, Mr. Ryan was compelled in 1890 to vacate his old shop and removed to the premises across the street.
Mr. Kenna planned to build the Grand Hotel on the site though it would take several years due to opposition from other hotel owners.
Ryan’s slaughtering yards were situated near Rankin’s bridge out near Eglinton, where Mr. Ryan has a small paddock in which to run stock awaiting death, it was described as commodious, clean, and well laid out.
Three slaughtermen were constantly employed to keep up the supply for the butchery and always had plenty to do.
In the shop where the master of the establishment personally superintends everything, ten hands, including an assistant, along with order boys, were kept going from 6am till 6pm, during the winter months and a couple of hours earlier in the summertime.
On average fully 250 regular customers were waited on daily.
The butchery’s workers manufactured small goods on the premises which required special equipment such as a large five-knife chopper, driven by one of Shand and Co.’s vertical 3 h.p. engines. It can deal with 70lbs of meat at a time.
In 1891 Mr. Ryan was the only local butcher who used steam as the motive power in this important branch of the business and judging from the amount of work carried out it was hard to see how he could very well do without the steam engine.
It was not uncommon of a Saturday, usually the busiest day of the week, no fewer than sixteen blocks of sausages, 70lbs each, were put through the machinery.
Corn beef, which sold then at 14 shillings per 100 lbs, had to be kept on hand in large quantities.
Mr. Ryan from almost the time he started in the business did a big trade, particularly with the farmers. Some of the choice cuts of fresh beef were retailed at 2d per lb.
There is probably less allowed to go to waste in a butchering business than any other extant.
From the horns to the tail every portion of the animal, not converted into beef with the aid of a spear and a knife, is turned to use and what couldn’t be was sold to others.
Thus Mr. Ryan’s monthly receipts for his hides to the tanners, sheep skins to Sydney, fat to be made into tallow; tails, horns for glue and bones to be ground up into fertiliser, represented a substantial sum of money.