The Wheelwright's shop contains equipment used by Thomas Phillips from 1882 in his Doncaster Road business.
The chimney, covered with names, came from the Mullens' Templestowe Blacksmith Shop.
When it closed in 1972, the chimney was given to the Historical Society.
In its last years, the only horses to visit the blacksmith's were ponies belonging to teenagers.
After they had their horse shod, the girls would paint the name of their horse on the walls of the blacksmith's shop and the forge.
The Wheelwright Shop of Thomas Phillips
Soon there will be a working Wheelwright Shop at Schramm's Cottage. The late C. T. Barbour of Balwyn bequeathed the equipment of his grand-fatherís Wheelwright Shop to the Historical Society. A building is being erected and the equipment will be set up as a working display. Thomas Phillips, who lived in Doncaster last century, was the son of Colin Phillips, a well-known and respected identity of Doncaster. The family came from Scotland, where they had lived near Glasgow. Colin was born in 1812 at Kilmaronich. His father, also named Thomas, was head gardener to Lady Leith of Loch Lomond. Colin was a grocer with his own business at Dundocher. At the age of twenty-five, he married Jessie Burnett. Colin and Jessie had six children, of whom two died whilst young, and a third died at the age of twenty-one. In 1852, they sailed for Australia and came to Doncaster. Jessie's cousins, the McAuleys, also lived in Doncaster. Colin Phillips purchased a nine acre block of land in Doncaster Road for £102. It was half-way between the corner of High Street and the present golf links. Their house was a weatherboard building with a gable roof and small porch at the front. The home was surrounded by an old world garden with climbing roses, spring bulbs, and an ivy creeper on the walls. When the Church of Christ was built in Doncaster, Colin and Jessie became active members and eventually Colin was elected an Elder of the Church. Twenty years later, he was honoured by being asked to lay the foundation stone of the new brick Church. Colin Phillips farmed his land and when the Doncaster toll gate was set up at the corner of High Street, he supplemented his income by acting as toll keeper. Later he was appointed Rate Collector for the Shire Council. Colin and Jessie's daughter, Ellen, married Joseph Smith of Newmans Road, Templestowe. Her son, Joe, gave the land for the Presbyterian Church in Templestowe, and also helped build the Church. Many years later, her grand-daughter gave money to build a new brick Church.
In 1893, at the age of 81, Colin Phillips died. Two years later his wife Jessie followed him. They were buried at the Templestowe cemetery. When the family moved to Australia, Thomas stayed in Glasgow, where he was apprenticed to a Silversmith. Nine years later, he came to Australia and went to live with his family in Doncaster. Smedley's blacksmith shop was at the corner of High Street. John Smedley's son, William, was a wheelwright. Here Thomas could have learned his trade. In 1882, Thomas started his own business making "navesî or hubs, for waggon and cart wheels. These he sold in bulk to hardware merchants. One entry in his cash book shows a sale of 109 pairs of naves for £18.13.10. This was at a time when a loaf of bread cost 3 Ω d, and a dozen eggs 5d.
Thomas was forty-five when he married Annie Lumsden. They had three children, Jessie, Thomas and Alice. Jessie and Thomas Jnr. did not marry. Jessie lived with her father, looking after him in his old age. Thomas enlisted in the Great War. He went to Egypt and France, where he was wounded. Charles Barbour, who gave us the Wheelwright Shop, was the son of Alice.
Thomas Phillips resigned his membership of the Doncaster Church in 1891, and early in the new century had a coach and waggon workshop in Kilmore. His shop was the second building past Union Street, on the west side of Sydney Road. In 1907, Thomas had left Kilmore. He was sixty-eight years old, an age to retire.
During the first world war, as man went overseas to fight, there were shortages of both materials and labour. Many retired men came back to their trades. Thomas Phillips again manufactured naves in his work- shop at the rear of his home in Balwyn. At the end of the war, Thomes was 79 years old. Peddling his large wood turning lathe was hard work, and forging the red hot iron bands for the wheel hubs was a job for a younger man. The wheelwright shop became idle. The ashes from the last fire lay in the forge and tools remained untouched on the benches.
In 1932, at the age of ninety-three, Thomas Phillips died. He was buried alongside his parents at Templestowe.. For sixty years, the workshop, with its impressive equipment - the bellows, forge, lathe and old bush timber benches, stood at the rear of the family home.
Charles Barbour wanted to see his grandfather's equipment preserved and displayed as historical relics. In their new home, future visitors to Schramm's Cottage will have the opportunity to see the tools and equipment used by one of the essential trades of the horse and cart era.
Irvine Green writing in 1982 12 DTHS Newsletter
The Wheelwright Shop
The wheels of horse drawn vehicles became a matter of increased interest at Schrammís when Thomas Phillips wheelwright shop was given to the Historical Society. A shed was built and the equipment was placed in the shed. A temporary forge was also set up and demonstrated.
The work of fully setting up the wheelwright shop has been delayed while the completion of other necessary projects has been carried out.
The method of making wheels for horse-drawn vehicles remained unchanged in its essentials for 4,000 years. Spoked wheels were made in Asia Minor in 2000 BC. The rims of early spoked wheels were made of one piece of wood, softened with steam and bent in a full circle. The rim was connected to the hub, known as the nave or stock, by wooden spokes. An Egyptian chariot wheel, preserved since 1435 BC, has a rim of one piece of ash with spokes morticed into the rim and nave. A stronger wheel was made when the rim consisted of carved pieces of wood dowelled together. These are called felloes, or fellies. In Australia they were made of red gum.
The nave was turned on a lathe and holes were drilled on the outside for the spokes.
Thomas Phillips made pairs of naves to sell to wholesale merchants who supplied wheelwright shops. Cartwheels had twelve spokes, two to each of the six fellies. 3,000 years ago, Homer described wheels in his "Illiad". He used terms that would have been readily understood by Thomas Phillips:
Her golden-bridled steeds
Then Saturn's daughter brought abroad;
and Hebe she proceeds
T'address her chariot;
instantly she gives it either wheel,
Beamed with eight-spokes of sounding brass;
the axle-tree was steel;
The fellies incorruptible gold,
their upper bands of brass,
Their molten most unvalued,
their work of wondrous grace;
The naves, in which the spokes were driven,
were all of silver bound.
1984 03 DTHS Newsletter
