Bundaberg Rum - Birth of an Aussie Icon 4

On the 14th November 1888, seven initial investors signed The Articles of Association, which was required for incorporation. These seven were:

W.M.C Hickson: 250 shares

Frederic Buss: 250 shares

James A Grigg: 100 shares

W. Woolley (under the firm name Woolley, Bergin and Co): 200 shares

W.G. Farquhar: 100 shares

W.B. O'Connell: 50 shares

G.F. Young (under the firm name G.F. Young and Co): 50 shares

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Royal Hotel, Bundaberg. Circa 1890

Buss, however, was convinced that the turning of this wasted substance into something profitable was the way forward and would help insulate the region from possible negative effects from poor sugar seasons in the future.

It was not until 1888, that would see enough interest in the formation of a distillery. It had been a particularly poor sugar crop, and with the abolition of “coloured labour” nearing (up until this point, most of the work carried out on the plantations was conducted by labourers bought in from the South Sea Islands, generally referred to as Kanakas.

Changes in law would soon force this practice to stop, forcing the plantations to hire more expensive “white labour”), it had become evident that there was a need to augment the income from sugar production. Persistence from Buss led to the vital meeting, held at the Bundaberg Royal Hotel on 31st July 1888. The meeting was attended by many notable figures from the district. At this meeting sufficient interest was received and set in motion the beginnings of the Bundaberg Distilling Company.