For context, I’m trying to read the last chapter of Carl Webb’s (the Somerton Man) life, i.e. between 31st May 1947 (the last glimpse of him in the Melbourne small ads) and 1st December 1948 (when he was found dead on Somerton Beach, near Adelaide).
The high levels of lead in his system (found by spectroscopically analysing his hair) now makes me wonder whether he might have been working in or near Port Pirie (140 miles north of Adelaide), which back then had the biggest smelting company in the world: Broken Hill Associated Smelters, Pty. Ltd. There are lots of photos in the archives from 1918:
Much of the BHAS company archives has ended up in the University of Melbourne’s archives as shelfmark [1969.0006], comprising 247 linear shelf metres and 1710 individual units. Filltering the date range to 1/1/1948 to 31/12/1948 yields 242 units: so I decided to grind through those and see what I found.
What I found
The first thing to note is that this archival set appears to have been reorganised and culled a number of times over the years: and the final indexing appears incomplete (where are units 1080, 1093, 1095, 1100, 1102, etc?) or sometimes duplicated (there are closer to 200 unique units than 242). So it’s far from clear to me how much employee identification has managed to survive those purges.
Still, the units that seem most promising for a snapshot into BHAS employees in 1948 are:
- Unit 1089 (staff / general)
- Unit 1098 (engineering applications)
- Unit 1114 (accident fund)
- Unit 1112 (dental clinic)
- Unit 1076 (overtime)
- Unit 1087 (complaints)
The full list of 1948 employee-related Units
- Unit 0848 Group 5 – company papers – welfare – employees: general; housing
- Unit 0886 Port Pirie Plant – applications: clerks numbers 1-3. Previous control number 32
- Unit 1075 Port Pirie Plant – employees general: 30.1.15 suggestion 6 March 1947-25 November 1952; 30.1.21 Citizens’ Military Force 8 December 1948-17 April 1953; 30.1.23 hostels general 20 September 1949-30 January 1953. Previous control number 217
- Unit 1076 Port Pirie Plant – employees general: 30.1.4 applications tradesmen 17 January 1951-4 February 1953; 30.1.10 overtime 4 October 1946-10 February 1953; 30.1.14 refrigerator purchase scheme 6 February 1947-2 September 1953. Previous control number 216
- Unit 1078 Port Pirie Plant – employees education: 30.2.1 general 23 July 1947-22 January 1953; 30.2.3 apprentices general 6 November 1946-26 June 1950; cadets applications 1948-30 January 1953. Previous control number 218
- Unit 1079 Port Pirie Plant – employees education: 30.2.11 supervision/management training 1 June 1947-24 November 1950; 30.2.12 apprentices applications 1948-23 November 1950. Previous control number 221
- Unit 1081 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff trips: 30.5.29 Hopkins, John 1 January 1947-1 March 1950; 20.5.30 Ball, A.C. 1 January 1947-12 October 1948. Previous control number 242
- Unit 1082 Port Pirie Plant: 30.2.16 staff training general 11 February 1947-11 November 1948; 30.2.18 employees – metallurgical cadets 1 January 1952-28 February 1953; 30.2.19 employees – metallurgical cadets scheme 1 June 1951-28 February 1953; report – J.G. McMaster, Diploma course at Port Pirie Technical School 11 October 1950. Previous control number 223.
- Unit 1083 Port Pirie Plant – employees – safety first: 30.3.11 clothing 1 January 1947-16 February 1952; 30.3.12 equipment 1 January 1947-29 August 1952; 30.3.13 general 1 January 1947-1 December 1952. Previous control number 225
- Unit 1084 Port Pirie Plant – employees – hygiene: 30.3.1 safety general 1 January 1947-28 November 1952; 30.3.2 diseases 1 January 1947-6 May 1952; 30.3.8 general 1 January 1947-18 August 1952. Previous control number 224
- Unit 1085 Port Pirie Plant: 30.3.14 employees – safety first minutes of meeting. Previous control number 226
- Unit 1086 Port Pirie Plant – employees – labour matters: 30.4.1 general 1 January 1947-4 October 1950; 30.4.15 complaints, reprimands 1 January 1947-14 October 1952; wharf labour 1 January 1947-8 November 1951. Previous control number 227
- Unit 1087 Port Pirie Plant – employees: 30.4.18 labour matters labour force 27 August 1951-28 February 1953; 30.4.19 labour matters Wardang Island 1 January 1947-31 March 1950; 30.4.30 industrial metal trades award 1 January 1947-30 June 1953. Previous control number 229
- Unit 1089 Port Pirie Plant: 30.5.1 employees – staff general. Previous control number 231
- Unit 1090 Port Pirie Plant: 30.4.23 employees – labour matters basic wage rate. Previous control number 230
- Unit 1091 Port Pirie Plant – employees: 30.5.3 staff housing Risdon Park 10 July 1951-18 June 1952; 30.5.6 Staff Club 1 January 1947-28 February 1952. Previous control number 233
- Unit 1092 Port Pirie Plant: 30.5.3 employees – welfare housing Balmoral Estate. Previous control number 232
- Unit 1094 Port Pirie Plant: 30.5.7 employees – staff – staff trips general. Previous control number 234
- Unit 1096 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff trips: 30.5.9 F. Whitworth 1 January 1947-31 December 1947; 30.5.10 Frank Greene 19 July 1937-4 October 1952. Previous control number 236
- Unit 1097 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff applications: 30.5.12 accounting and secretarial 4 August 1948-4 July 1951; 30.5.13 stenographic 1 January 1947-28 February 1952. Previous control number 237
- Unit 1098 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff applications: 30.5.14 technical 14 January 1949-4 January 1951; 30.5.15 engineering 1 January 1947-18 April 1952. Previous control number 238
- Unit 1099 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff applications: 30.5.16 draughtsmen 5 January 1949-31 May 1950; 30.5.17 filing officer 1 January 1947-7 July 1947. Previous control number 239
- Unit 1101 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff: 30.5.27 appointments – construction shift superintendents 1 January 1947-30 December 1947; 30.5.28 executive trainee 5 January 1945-22 October 1952. Previous control number 241
- Unit 1103 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff: 30.5.33 Young R.G.; 30.5.35 Messrs. Murie and Haney. Previous control number 244
- Unit 1104 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff: 30.5.31 appointments personnel assistant; 30.5.32 trips R.J. Hopkins and D.R. Blaskett. Previous control number 243
- Unit 1105 Port Pirie Plant – employees: 30.5.39 staff Ms. Norris (correspondence); 30.5.42 staff trips – Messrs. McDonald and Butcher. Previous control number 246
- Unit 1106 Port Pirie Plant – employees: 30.5.36 staff appointments assistant works metallurgist; 30.5.37 staff housing. Previous control number 245
- Unit 1109 Port Pirie Plant – employees – welfare: 30.6.1 general; 30.6.6 cooperative council general; 30.6.7 cooperative store general. Previous control number 250
- Unit 1110 Port Pirie Plant – employees – staff trips: 30.5.48 Mr. Haney and March; 30.5.49 Mr. White and Whitworth. Previous control number 249
- Unit 1112 Port Pirie Plant – employees – welfare: 30.6.8 dental clinic general 1 January 1947-28 February 1953; 30.6.9 Port Pirie Cooperative Community Society 13 March 1945-7 June 1950. Previous control number 251
- Unit 1113 Port Pirie Plant – employees – welfare: 30.5.11 eyesight conservation; 30.6.12 housing – assistance general; 30.6.14 cooperative council accounts. Previous control number 254
- Unit 1114 Port Pirie Plant: 30.6.10 – employees – welfare – accident fund general. Previous control number 253