Matthew Price
PRICE, Matthew (1854-1940)
Matthew Price was born in Brighton, Melbourne, on August 16, 1854, the son of Melbourne Magistrate, Captain Matthew Gaunt Price and his wife Elizabeth Donaldson Price, née Traveller. The family had moved to Victoria from Gravesend, England, in 1853. In 1861, the family moved to New Zealand where Matthew senior had been appointed Police Magistrate at Invercargill.
W B Kimberly, in the History of Western Australia, reports that Matthew Price, junior, was six years old when he went with his parents to New Zealand. At Invercargill he attended school until he was sixteen years of age. He was then employed as a cadet in the Railway Branch of the Public Works Department in the South Island. He remained with the PWD for two years, and on leaving became employed by contractors, John Brogden and Sons, who were then carrying out the construction of the 50 mile railway from Dunedin to Clutha (contract awarded 1872 and project completed 1875).
In January 1875, Price left New Zealand and came to Western Australia to join his brother Charles Danvers Price. He spent most of 1876 at the Burges properties “Bowes” near Northampton and “Yuin” north east of Morawa, as well as exploring the Murchison and Gascoyne. He was a member of a party of three who searched for new grazing land and a stock route from the Gascoyne to the Murchison.
In late 1876 Price worked with his brother Charles as a supervisor on the construction of the Albany to Eucla telegraph line. Matthew Price was shipwrecked on a return journey to Esperance and became unwell from the ordeal, necessitating his resignation from the project.
In July 1878, Price travelled by the schooner “Ariel”, first to Cossack and then to Roebourne, to investigate investing in pearling. After offering his services at no cost he gained experience in the industry. W B Kimberley wrote that, in 1879, Matthew Price launched into pearling, purchasing a cutter named the “Water Lily”. After recruiting a crew of 31 people, Price proceeded to the pearling grounds where he recovered twenty one tons of excellent pearl shell by the end of that season. At that time pearl shell was worth £150 per ton in the London market. In following seasons he added four boats, each manned by seven men, to the “Water Lily”, and thenceforward, until 1886, he obtained the average of twenty six tons of shell per season.
The early pearl fisheries were in comparatively shallow water, ranging from six to eight fathoms, but, as these were worked out, it was necessary to go to much greater expense than previously in fitting out pearling expeditions. In shallow water, no diving apparatus was required, but when the pearl beds retreated further from the coast it was necessary to get complete diving gear.
Price invested in four sets of diving gear for use in the 1887 season, and also purchased the schooner “John S. Lane” and four luggers. The group were struck by a strong cyclone, during which the masts of his vessels were snapped and his boats drifted out of control. He was in the schooner at the time, which, mastless, was driven out nearly 200 miles from the Eighty Mile Beach. Happily, he escaped destruction for, as the weather cleared, he met two pearl luggers which had missed the worst of the hurricane, and they towed the schooner back to Roebuck Bay. On arrival there, Matthew Price found two of his luggers broken on the rocks, while the other two were very much damaged.
In 1888, Matthew Price scaled back his involvement in the pearling industry, after having lost heavily during the last two years. He then embarked in other businesses, and in the latter part of 1888 chartered the brigantine “Bessie”, with which he took a cargo of horses to Mauritius and on returning he took another cargo of horses to Singapore.
In 1887, he married Mary Julia Brown at Fremantle and they had three children. The eldest (born 1888) was Matthew Gaunt Price who became a long term station manager of Coodardy Station near Cue. The only daughter, Marjorie Price (born 1895) married Alwyn Harris in 1922. The younger son, Leslie Cecil Price (born 1893), died in World War 1 at the landing at Gallipoli.
In 1889, Matthew Price became the lessee and manager of the Club Hotel in Fremantle. At the time it was the only hotel in Fremantle with a telephone and he used this attribute to market the hotel to businessmen.
In the 1890’s, Price embarked on a series of major contracts throughout the State:
- Construct Irwin River Bridge, Dongara (1891)
- Extend Fremantle Ship’s Jetty by 918 feet (1891 to 1892)
- Major repairs to Derby Jetty (1893)
- Construct Broadwater Bridge, Busselton (1894)
- Construct Mandurah Traffic Bridge (1894)
- Extend Robb’s Jetty by 545 feet (1894)
- Upgrade Perth Fremantle Road Crawley to Cottesloe Section (1895)
- Construct Onslow Stock Jetty (1896)
- Extend Fremantle Ship’s Jetty 459 feet (1896)
- Construct Fremantle Swimming Enclosure (1896)
- Construct 4,340 foot long Carnarvon Jetty on Babbage Island and Tramway to connect Jetty to Town (1897)
From 1901 to 1902, Price worked on the Goldfields Water Supply, supervising the construction of the 12 million gallon Bulla Bulling Reservoir, as well as the Toorak Hill Reservoir at Coolgardie, and the Merredin Reservoir. He also supervised pipelaying of the main conduit from Coolgardie to Kalgoorlie.
Throughout most of the time Matthew Price was in Western Australia he was involved in mining syndicates, and in 1908 he had another foray into pearling. He also had interests in horse racing and sailing. He died on July 2, 1940, aged 85, at his daughter’s home in South Perth. He was survived by his son Matthew and daughter Marjorie with his wife having predeceased him in 1926.
Matthew Price is remarkable for the diversity of activity in which he was involved across the length and breadth of the State as a contractor, supervisor and businessman.
References:
Warren Bert Kimberly, History of Western Australia, 1897
Hugh Edwards, Meekatharra – The Gold Beyond the Rivers, Swanbourne, WA, 1994
West Australian, 10.5.1887, p3
Kalgoorlie Western Argus, 25.3.1902, p9
Coolgardie Miner, 10.5.1902, p3
Sunday Times, 25.8.1935, p24
West Australian, 4.7.1940, p11
