Developed alongside Partington's windmill, and thus much of the shared history is covered on those pages.
The Steam Mill and Biscuit Factory were ready in early 1856: Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIII, Issue 900, 12 February 1856
NOTICE.
VICTORIA FLOUR MILLS, AND Steam Biscuit Bakery.
CHARLES F. PARTINGTON, in returning thanks to his numerous friends and the public of Auckland, for past favours, begs respectfully to inform them that he has now completed his new Steam Mill, and Biscuit Bakery, and hopes by a strict attention to business to merit a continuance of that support he has hitherto received.
C. F. P. would also intimate that, for the convenience of Captains of Vessels, Merchants, Ship-Agents, and country settlers, his brother Henry Partington will open that new store, next door but one to Messrs Connell & Ridings, which is nearly completed, for the Sale of Flour, Biscuit, &c., on about the 20th instant. All orders will be attended to with the greatest despatch, he having imported his Machinery direct from Reading, (famous for biscuit,) of the latest improvements, capable of making four tons of ship biscuit per day.
C. F. P. flatters himself that he will give entire satisfaction in quality, and at the lowest remunerating prices.
Victoria Flour Mills, Symonds-street, February 12. 1856.
THE undersigned is a purchaser of Wheat, best samples, at the highest price, in any quantity Chas. F. Partington. Victoria Flour Mills, Symonda-street.
Wanted, a MILLER, a steady practical MAN, will have constant employment. Chas. P. Partington. Victoria Flour Mills, Symonds-street.
As well as (perhaps) milling his own flour, clearly the mill sometimes traded in imported flour: New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1548, 16 February 1861
On Sale by the Undersigned,"Partington" (though not explicitly C.F.) is listed as a passenger when the Kate arrived again from Sydney 5 months later, and it appears he'd been on a shopping trip - the accompanying imports included millstones, along with baking supplies (flour, currants), and household items (crockery, piano, furniture, etc) New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1588, 6 July 1861
FIRST and SECOND quality Adelaide Flour, (best Brands,) ex "Kate."
C. F. PARTINGTON. Victoria Flour Mills, Feb. 14th, 1861.
Port of Auckland. IMPORTS - FOREIGN. Per Kate from Sydney, ... 100 bags flour, Partington; ... 3 cases galvanized iron, 1 bundle packing, 4 cases currants, 1 case crockery, 3 cases, 5 chairs, 6 pkges, 2 chests drawers, 1 piano, 40 bags maize, 2 mill stones, 1 cask, 1 keg 7 pieces iron C. F. PartingtonThe biscuit bakery was advertising its wares: New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1621, 30 October 1861
On Sale, At the Steam Biscuit Manufactory,The ad was later changed to include prices: Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVIL, Issue 1454, 22 November 1861
700 BAGS CABIN BISCUIT (30 tons), also cases containing from 100 to 150 lbs., ready for shipment, warranted to keep crisp.
C. F. PARTINGTON, Symonds-street, Auckland.
ON SALE AT THE Steam Biscuit Manufactory, 700 BAGS CABIN BISCUIT, Price — Best Cabin, 20s. per 100lb. Navy 17s. " "
Also, CASES CONTAINING FROM 100 TO 150 lbs., ready for Shipment, WARRANTED TO KEEP CRISP. C. F. PARTINGTON Symonds-street, Auckland.
The Steam Biscuit factory was equiped with upgraded machinery: New Zealander, Volume XX, Issue 2031, 9 January 1864
PRELIMINARY NOTICE.The factory later got a specific write-up: New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 115, 26 March 1864
STEAM BISCUIT MANUFACTORY.
CHAS. F. PARTINGTON BEGS to intimate to his Customers that the necessary alterations for his NEW MACHINERY AND TRAVELLING OVEN, (Just imported from England), Which gained the First Prize at the Great Exibition of 1862, Will be completed about the 1st of February, when he will be in a position to execute orders to any extent, being enabled to supply from 25 TO 30 TONS PER WEEK.
CHAS. P. PARTINGTON’S PRICES CURRENT, AT THE STEAM BISCUIT MANUFACTORY, Warranted to Keep, Being Kiln Dried, and Manufactured from the Best Flour.
Best Cabin Biscuit, 22s. per 100 lbs.
Pilot Ditto, 16s. do. do.
Wine, Abernethy, and Pic-nic, 8d. per lb.
Symonds-street. Nov. 26th.
OUR MANUFACTORIES.New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 213, 19 July 1864
MR. PARTINGTON'S BISCUIT MANUFACTORY.
For yers past the windmill at the head of Queen-street has been a familiar object to the citizens of Auckland — a well-known land-mark eagerly looked for from the deck of many a coasting craft nearing the North Head, at a time when Shortland Crescent and West Queen-street were Auckland, and the place where the mill now stands was a distant suburb, a waste of ti-tree scrub. Then, however, Auckland grew wheat to grind, —steam machinery was unknown in the province—and the mill was a scene of bustle and activity.
Since the commencement of the war, from which time the supply of Auckland-grown wheat has ceased, we have not seen the old sails in motion, and we had almost thought that it had become a very "Castle of indolence" — that it must have been converted into an emigration barracks or a blockhouse —and it was only the other day, on passing the entrance to the premises, that we saw unmistakable signs of activity which showed there was a large business of some kind being carried on there. On enquiry we found that Mr. C. F. Partington is carrying on the largest biscuit-baking establishment in Auckland, upon the premises, and the machinery then at work, and appliances provided, showed at once the extent of the business.
Passing the building and store where the engine—a 6-horse power vertical movement—is contained, we came upon the bakery, in which the biscuits are made, and along the side of which the spacious oven is built. Above this room is another, to a cistern in which water is forced up by a pump worked by the engine, and where the bags of flour are raised from below by means of machinery, also worked by steam. Just upon the floor of this upper room, and immediately over the mixing machine in the room below, is a large bin into which 3 cwt. of flour at a time is emptied; this feeds the mixing cylinder by means of a wooden spout, about 9 inches square, and the water is conveyed down into the cylinder by a small pipe from the cistern. As the cylinder - which is 2 feet 4 inches in diameter, and 3 feet in length - revolves, the flour and water become intimately mixed, and by opening the mouth of the cylinder the dough drops down on to a table below. Attached to the water-cistern is a guage by which the person attending to the machine is enabled to tell when the requisite quantity of water has been added to the flour, it takes just ten minutes to thoroughly mix 3 cwt. of flour.
It is then taken, an armful at a time, to the rolling machine, which stands alongside. This is one of Vickers' patent, the largest - we believe the only machine of the kind introduced into the colony. The pair of break rollers, through which the dough is passed backwards and forwards, being severally 20 and 18 inches in diameter, and 33 inches in length. These work in the centre of the machine and are easily reversible — at either end is a long iron table 3 feet wide and extending 5 feet from the point of pressure, on one of which tables a hundredweight and a-half of dough is laid and parsed up till caught between the revolving rollers which are at first set at about three inches apart, when it passes through to the table on the other side. The rollers are then by the adjustment of a break set about a quarter of an inch nearer and the dough is passed back again, and soon, the rollers being set nearer and nearer each time till it comes out a flat, well-mixed sheet. 20 feet in length, and 2 feet 9 inches in width, it is then cut across and the sheet of dough about the size of this paper is carried to the cutting and printing machine, where it is laid upon a similar table to that from whence it was taken, is seized hold of by a smaller pair of revolving rollers, closer set, and again by another pair set to the thickness of the biscuit which it is intended to make—thence it still passes along the machine till it reaches the cutting and printing die which rises and falls with a regular stroke, cutting the sheets of dough as they pass by into biscuits, at the rate of 350 in five minutes. After the sheet has passed the cutter, the dough between the several biscuits is lifted out and the biscuits themselves pass on and are received on a revolving belt which lays them on a wooden tray close to the mouth of the oven, where they are taken by the baker.
Where the biscuits are of the smaller sort, fancy, wine, and other articles, thev are delivered into iron trays and are passed through the oven, tray and all. Mr. Partington showed us seven different dies for cutting all kinds of fancy biscuits, which we were told cost no less than £150.
The oven is a large and excellent structure being no less than 36 feet in length and traversed by a revolving iron belt 4 feet in width. It is heated from two large furnaces, and the heat is carried by the flues over the top of the oven and especially thrown direct down upon the biscuits at their entrance at the ovens mouth. The floor of the oven on which the biscuit are laid is formed of a revolving belt similar to that of a Californian pump laid horizontally, of plates of iron about 10 inches each in width. As this revolves on two iron calenders the biscuits or trays, as the case may be, are carried in a certain regular time, 20 minutes, from one end of the oven to the other. By the time that they pass two thirds of the distance they are baked, and are dried during the remainder, and on reaching the back of the oven, as the end plate falls over, in passing round the cylender, the biscuits upon it are tumbled off and falls out under a swinging iron sheet which lets them through below the level of the oven floor into the room outside.
What particularly struck us was the power and convenience of the machinery and the ample room upon the premises. There was no crowding or hurry, the machines just stood at the most convenient distance from one another for the removal of the dough from one to the other, indeed a lady with moderate crinoline, (could such an one be found) might have walked among them without danger. The labor of just two men and three boys only is required to keep all this work in motion so great is the assistance rendered by the very excellent motive power of Messrs. Vicker's and Co's, machinery which is used, and in the space of ten hours these five hands can turn out two tons of biscuits or 4 cwt. per hour. The only difficulty now is to procure the flour to work up. The water used is principally supplied from the roof and is conducted to the different places where it is required from a large reservoir — in fact every care has been taken to lighten the labor so as to enable the proprietor in these busy times to be as independent as possible of the chances of the labor market. The cost of the machinery and fittings has been little less, we believe, than a couple of thousand pounds. The whole of it has been supplied by the firm of T. T. Vicars & Co. of Liverpool, who were awarded the first prize at the Great Exhibition of 1862, in London. It has all been erected under the superintendence of Mr. C. F. Partington, the proprietor, and is second to no machinery of the kind in the Australian colonies, and equalled by none in New Zealand.
We had almost forgotten to mention that the same engine also drives a flour mill, so, that if there were wheat in Auckland to grind, it would be easy in the space of one hour to convert a sack of wheat into biscuit packed and ready for shipment.
New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 245, 25 August 1864MR. C. F. PARTINGTON'S STEAM BISCUIT FACTORY.
In a late number we published some account of the steam biscuit factory of Mr. C. F. Partington - where the newest and best machinery has been introduced, and where, by the saving of labour, so caused, as good, and at the same time, a cheaper article can be furnished to the public.
With the machinery erected in his premises at the old wind mill, at the top of Wakefield-street, Mr. Partington can, with the labour of three men, turn out something like thirty tons of biscuit per day. In consequence of the scarcity of wheat to grind and flour to use, the works at the factory were for a time stopped, but now that there are large stocks of flour in Auckland, and that the price has been considerably reduced, we perceive that Mr. Partington has again fully entered into business, and. is prepared to execute orders to any amount. We also notice that prices are considerably reduced, the best navy biscuit being advertised as low as 22s. per 100lb. The decrease of price of breadstuffs has been a great boon to the people of Auckland generally, and this fall in the price of biscuit will enable the Commissariat to effect a saving of more than three hundred pounds per week, on the terms of the present contract - no small item even to the Imperial Treasury. The consumption of biscuit by the army has been, very large, amounting at times, we believe, to no less than from thirty to forty tons per week.
Mr. Partington, we see, is prepared to supply all kinds of fancy biscuits, which are packed at once, upon the premises, into sound new boxes, fit for transmission to any part of the world. They are cut in a variety of shapes and forms, a complete set of dies having been procured at a very great cost by the proprietor. The process of biscuit making by machinery, from the first mixing of the flour to the removal of the biscuit at the back of the oven, is an interesting one, and Mr. Partington, we see by his advertisements, invites the curious to pay a visit to the factory in Symonds-street.
C. F. PARTINGTON'S STEAM BISCUIT MANUFACTORY.A couple of weeks later, the prices dropped, and a note was added about the design of the biscuits - perhaps he was feeling the competition from imports: New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 258, 9 September 1864
WHOLESALE PRICES AS FOLLOWS :—
BEST CABIN 32s. per 100lbs.
NAVY 22s. per 100lbs.
FANCY BISCUITS—(All descriptions) 6d. to 8d. per lb.
SYMONDS-STREET.
C. F. PARTINGTON'S STEAM BISCUIT MANUFACTORY.
WHOLESALE PRICES AS FOLLOWS :
BEST CABIN 30s. per 100lbs
NAVY 20s. per 100lbs.
FANCY BISCUITS - (All descriptions) 6d. to 8d. per lb
ALL BISCUITS made at this Manufactory are stamped with the Name of the Proprietor, "Partington, Auckland." The Biscuits are round in shape, and differ quite as much in quality as shape from the square ones now so largely imported.
SYMONDS-STREET.
Seemingly as a result of using imported Australian flour to make his biscuits, prices were able to be reduced: New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 502, 22 June 1865
The fall in the price of flour has, we see, occasioned a fall in that of biscuit. Mr. C. F. Partington, the proprietor of the steam biscuit manufactory, Symonds-street, at the old Windmill, has lowered his prices to £27 and £22 respectively for best cabin and navy biscuits. Mr. Partington has a large stock, some 90 or 100 tons of best cabin and a considerable stock of fancy biscuits ready packed in-cases for delivery, and is anxious to clear them out to make room for a consignment of Adelaide flour daily expected to arrive in port. We have on previous occasions noticed the very perfect establishment of its kind where Mr. Partington carries on his business. The cost of the machinery and fittings has been little less, we believe, than a couple of thousand pounds. The whole of it has been supplied by the firm of T. T. Vickers and Co., of Liverpool, who were awarded the first prize at the Great Exhibition of 1862, in London. It has all been erected under the superintendence of Mr. C. F. Partington, the proprietor, and is second to no machinery of the kind in the Australian colonies, and equalled by none in New Zealand. The labour of just two men and three boys only is required to keep all the work of this establishment in motion, so great is the assistance rendered by the very excellent motive power of Messrs. Vickers and Co.'s machinery which is used, and in the space of ten hours these five hands can turn out two tons of biscuits, or four cwt. per hour. The water used is principally supplied from the roof, and is conducted to the different places where it is required from a large reservoir - in fact every care has been taken to lighten the labour so as to enable the proprietor to be as independent as possible of the chances of the labour market. Mr. Partington has always on supply all kinds of fancy biscuits, which are packed at once, upon the premises, into sound new boxes, fit for transmission to any part of the world. They are cut in a variety of shapes and forms, a complete set of dies having been procured at a very great cost by the proprietor.Although the wholesale prices of cabin and navy biscuits had indeed been reduced, that of fancy biscuits had actually gone up: Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2472, 22 June 1865
PARTINGTON'S STEAM BISCUIT MANUFACTORY.
REDUCTION IN THE PRICE OF BISCUIT.
IN consequence of the fall in Flour, and in order to make room for a large shipment of best Adelaide Flour, daily expected, Mr. C. F. Partington has REDUOED his WHOLESALE PRICES to the following : —
Best Cabin Biscuit, per ton £27
Pilot or Navy Biscuit, per ton ... 22
All other kinds of Fancy Bisuits, 8d. per lb.
Another write-up on the Victoria Flour Mills: Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2867, 3 October 1866
VICTORIA FLOUR MILLS AND STEAM. BISCUIT BAKERY.
We visited yesterday the extensive flour mills and steam biscuit bakery establishment of Mr. Charles F. Partington, which have been fitted up with new and improved machinery. The buildings are situated on the west side of Symonds-street, nestled in umbrageous shrubbery and trees, and almost hid from the view of the passer-by. The first noticeable improvement we observed, before entering the mill, was a new coke kiln, constructed on the newest and most approved principle, for producing a superior kind of fuel. A striking feature in its construction is that all the air, before passing into the kiln is heated by means of flues, thereby rendering it a perfect retort. It causes combustion more quickly, and produces a muoh superior close-grained coke than by the ordinary method of making coke, while it can produce a larger quantity out of the same weight of coal. Passing from the kiln we entered the boiler-house, where there is erected a Cornish boiler, suitable for an engine of 15-horse power. It is placed in such a position that as little heat as possible may escape, which is in itself an important consideration. Next to this apartment is the engine-room, where a patent vertical or steeple engine is erected, of somewhat greater power than is required to keep in motion the various machinery. It is constructed with a superheater, which heats the water above boiling point, before it enters the boiler. From the engine-room we enter the steam mill, which is fitted up with a pair of French burr stones, together with dressing and smutting machines complete. Here the wheat is ground, separated, and the flour conveyed into the bakehouse. In the bakehouse there is what is termed the mixing machine, capable of mixing 3cwt. of flour every ten minutes. After the dough is properly mixed, it is passed through two powerful bake rollers, then rolled out into sheets thirty feet long. These are cut up into smaller lengths, and afterwards passed through the cutting machine, during which process they are joined and form one continuous sheet. The sheet of prepared dough then passes underneath the cutters, which separate and stamp the cakes, the scraps being removed at the same time by a very simple and ingenious arrangement. The cakes of dough, which are all exactly of the same size and weight, are passed along and laid on the travelling oven, which is 36 feet long. The biscuits, in passing through, are thoroughly and evenly baked, which process occupies from eighteen to twenty minutes. They are dropped on to the kiln, there allowed to remain for a certain time in order to dry thoroughly, after which they are packed in bags or cases. There are different cutters used for producing all kinds of fancy biscuits, picnics, &c. The biscuits are of first-class quality. All the machinery in operation is so admirably arranged, that a bag of wheat can be ground, passed into the bakehouse, and baked into biscuit in less than two hours. The machinery is capable of baking thirty tons of flour in the week. All the machinery is T. and T. Vicars and Co.'s (Liverpool) patent, which obtained the prize at the London Exhibition of 1862. It seems to combine the principal desiderata in all machinery, viz., durability of material, simplicity of arrangement, nice adaptation of the several parts to each other, together with easy and correct motion. The water used is principally supplied from the roofs, there being such a large surface, and is conveyed to the different parts of the bakery establishment by piping. Mr. Partington first introduced steam machinery for baking into Auckland about twelve years ago. The new machinery was obtained with the twofold object of economising labour aud producing a superior quality of biscuit, and was erected at a cost of between £2,000 and £3,000. The whole of the machinery, including the engine, has been erected in a most creditable manner by Mr Partington's two sons, under his own supervision. Adjoining the steam biscuit manufactory is the windmill, which was erected in 1850, and contains a number of lofts for storing biscuits. It is the intention of the proprietor to export larger quantities of biscuit than he has formerly done.
Further comments were passed on the continued downward trend in the price of Partingtons products: New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 924, 30 October 1866
Cheap Food.—Bread and biscuits, we are happy to see, have a still downward tendency. The best bread is marked up at 3 1/2d. the 2lb. loaf, and Mr. C. F. Partington, it will be seen by advertisement, announces the fall of his best cabin biscuit from £18 to £16 per ton, and navy biscuit from £16 to £14 per ton, while fancy biscuit he reduces from 8d. to 7d. per lb.
Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXX, Issue 5237, 4 June 1874
The plant of the biscuit manufactory which belonged to Mr. Partington has changed hands, Mr. John Lamb, of the Riverhead Mills, has become the purchaser, and a considerable portion of it has been removed from Upper Symonds street to Riverhead. It is said to be the largest and most complete biscuit-making plant south of the equator, and so soon as it is fitted up upon the premises of its new owner, Mr. Lamb will be enabled to turn out, should the demands of trade require it, over 30 tons of various kinds of biscuits every week.
I'm not sure of the chronology of this ad, that once again used the name Partington Bros.: Auckland Star, Volume X, Issue 3096, 23 March 1880, Page 3
WANTED, one pair French Burr Mill Stones. 3ft. 6in. to 4ft. diameter. - Partington Bros., Victoria Flour Mills, Symonds Street.
Later Partington is describing his location as just being the Steam Biscuit Factory. Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 154, 29 June 1906
FOR SALE: FLAX Machinery, Steam Engine, and Boiler.— J. Partington, Victoria Steam Biscuit Factory, Symonds-stAuckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 248, 24 October 1906
FOR SALE - PARTINGTON'S pure whole Wheat Meal Biscuits at Victoria Flour Mills and Steam Biscuit Factory, Symonds-St., opposite Cemetery Bridge.New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13327, 6 November 1906
WANTED known - PARTINGTON'S Pure Whole Wheat Meal Biscuits can be obtained at Victoria Flour Mills and Steam Biscuit Factory, Symonds-st., opposite Cemetery Bridge.
Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 234, 30 September 1908
FOR INDIGESTION and Kindred Complaints, try Partington's Whole Wheatmeal Biscuits; retail and wholesale, at Victoria Flour Mills and Steam Biscuit Factory, Symonds-st, opp. Cemetery Bridge-rd. Telephone 2552.
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