electricalequipment

Advertisement for Barton White & Co, manufacturers of electrical equipment, Brisbane, ca. 1890

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Brisbane in 1888 was only 7 years behind the world’s first commercial public electricity supply system in Godalming in England in 1881. The advent of “cool” electric light to replace the “hot” gas lights was a welcome change for the citizens in a sub-tropical city, and as had been reported previously in the Brisbane Courier on 23 June, "during summer nights, the employees of the Post Office have suffered considerably through the vitiated state of the atmosphere in this room caused by the large consumption of gas and bad ventilation." The Barton & White enterprise started off providing the whole gamut of electrical services, as well as generation and supply wiring, by “manufacturing all fittings for electric light and power, supply brackets for lamps, sockets, cut outs, portable hand lamps, reflectors, arc lamps of 2000 candlepower, electric motors, etc., and undertake electrical work in all parts of the colony”.(S.A.Prentice Edward Barton Pioneer Electrical Engineer, 1988) From this humble beginning, using small carbon filament lamps and steam boilers fuelled by wood (because the cheaper coal was found to be a smoke nuisance), the whole electricity supply industry in Queensland has grown to provide a service right throughout our state, and which is essential to our modern way of life. Brian Becconsall, Engineering Heritage Queensland 10 Aug 2013 Source: www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/resourc...