McAuley Brothers

by David F Radcliffe

Just prior to WWI, Donald and Arthur McAuley founded a small plumbing business which grew and flourished in the north-east corner of Port Melbourne. The aerial photograph below shows their premises in Walter Avenue between Lyons Street and Esplanade Place, nestled amongst the tightly packed Victorian-era cottages in the surrounding streets. Although their business outlived the brothers, it did not survive the 1980s. Always proud of being “natives of Port Melbourne”, the McAuley brothers’ story begins in the Wimmera.

Kenneth McAuley, a grocer, and Rachel Runting, a music teacher, both aged 23, were married in Stawell in December 1882. Following the birth of their first child, George, in late 1884, the young family moved to Port Melbourne. Here they bought a recently built cottage at 315 Esplanade East, christening it Stawell Cottage.^[i] Kenneth gained employment as a stoker at the South Melbourne Gasworks; dirty, back-breaking work. Over the next fifteen years, Rachel gave birth to six more children, three boys followed by three girls.^[ii] In 1895, Kenneth submitted a patent for “an improved polishing powder” based on the residue of kerosene shale, used to boost the luminosity of gas for lighting.^[iii] While there is no evidence his idea led to a commercial outcome, it suggests an entrepreneurial spirit. 

During the early 1900s, an extraordinary sequence of events took the McAuley family on an emotional roller coaster. In 1901, Kenneth McAuley passed away, aged just 41. The older McAuley boys, now in their teens, helped support the family. They had apprenticed in diverse trades, George, engine fitter, Donald, plumber, and Arthur, coppersmith. Then, early in 1904, the widowed Rachel married David Rendall, a talented musician, who had lost his wife the previous year. Their union created a blended family of twelve children ranging from young adults to a four-year-old. Unbelievably, Rachel passed away just a few months later. In a final twist, in 1905, David married Rachel’s older sister, Sarah, the widow of George Sutherland Smith, after whom George McAuley was named.^[iv] The family relocated to Pickles Street.

Around 1909, George, Donald and Arthur moved back to 315 Esplanade East, which they had purchased. The following year, Donald (aged 24) and Arthur (aged 22) went into business together as McAuley Brothers. Frequent advertisements in the local newspaper listed the diverse range of services they offered, in a way that exuded confidence in their abilities.

Looking to the future, in September 1912, Donald and Arthur purchased a block of land on the soon to be gazetted Walter Avenue. In 1913, Donald married Hilda Hampton and they set up home next door at 317 Esplanade East. A few years later, the youngest brother, Kenneth, joined Arthur at 315 Esplanade East while George moved to South Australia. Rounding out the new domestic arrangements, in 1921, Kenneth married Maud Winbanks and they settled in Brunswick. Later that year. Arthur married Sarah Williams.

Meanwhile, in March 1919, the Port Melbourne Council approved plans for the McAuley Brothers to build a factory in Walter Avenue.^[v] Once it opened, they were able to take on more substantial projects. Early in 1921, they were awarded a contract from the Prime Minister’s Department worth £1,079 to install new showers and radiators on three naval vessels at Williamstown and one at Cockatoo Island in Sydney.^[vi] The following year, the brothers changed their partnership to a limited liability company with a capital of £25,000 in £1 shares with the registered office being 315 Esplanade East.^[vii] These two events mark the transition of McAuley Brothers from domestic to commercial scale plumbing. Not all their contracts were four figures and inevitably there were contractual disputes, some of which ended up in court.^[viii]

During the 1930s, the next generation of McAuley’s, the three sons of Donald and Hilda, joined the business: Donald (jnr) as a clerk, Godfrey as a fitter and Fraser as a clerk. Like their father and uncles before them, all were given three names.^[ix] Donald (snr) was active in the South Melbourne cycling club and Donald (jnr) won the junior championship in 1933.^[x] In 1935, the family, including Donald and Hilda’s two daughters, relocated to Oakleigh. 

Arthur and Sarah McAuley, who did not have any children, remained at 315 Esplanade East. They were not at home when thieves broke into the company office at the rear of the property early one morning in July 1938 and blew the safe. It was a professional job, with cushions, chairs, books, a coat, and a typewriter used to deaden the noise. For all that and the damage caused, they only netted £8 in notes and coins.^[xi] A year earlier, safe blowers caused extensive damage at another local business, Otto Schumacher Mill Furnishing, also for a miniscule return.^[xii] These futile robberies seem to reflect the desperation of the times.

By late 1939, the McAuley brothers described their services as “general engineers and coppersmiths, specialists in pipe bending, electricians and oxy-welders”.^[xiii] Although such capabilities were in demand as the country mobilised for war, records of the projects they undertook during the 1940s remain elusive.

Following the war, Donald McAuley (snr) tried his hand at local politics. Now 61, he ran as a “progressive business candidate” for the Boundary Ward in the 1947 Port Melbourne Council election focused on delivering a “sound and efficient municipal administration”.^[xiv] McAuley was magnanimous in defeat and felt he had not been disgraced.^[xv] Undeterred, he stood for council three more times. In 1948, he was part of a ticket of independent candidates who challenged the dominance of the Labor party.^[xvi] He lost but tried again in 1949, also without success.

In his fourth council campaign, in 1950, Donald (snr) appealed to the interests of property owners, claiming that “if the Labor majority in the Council is maintained, then the Port Melbourne Council will be forced to support the Greater Melbourne Scheme” and the area would “lose its identity and the control of its own finances, and ratepayers will have inflicted upon them greatly increased rates”.^[xvii] H.C. Edwards (Labor) won comfortably.

On the business front, the post-war boom through to the 1960s saw McAuley Brothers expand and transition to new leadership. Around 1946, they bought 33-35 Raglan, which backed onto their Walter Avenue factory, to be their new company office. Their pipe making, bending, and fabrication services were in demand especially with the construction of oil refineries and other process engineering plants. In 1950/51, they supplied both high-and low-pressure piping to the Aeronautical Research Laboratory at Fishermans Bend.^[xviii] In 1955, they erected a second fabrication facility at Braybook.^[xix]

In 1956, they announced plans to float the company with a nominal capital of £1m.^[xx] The five prospective directors were the original brothers, Donald (snr) and Arthur, plus Donald’s three sons, Donald (jnr), Godfrey and Fraser. However, it is unclear if this float eventuated. A possible confounding factor were the eight civil suits against the McAuley Brothers between 1956 and 1957.^[xxi] The dynamics of the firm changed fundamentally after Donald (snr) passed away in 1960, aged 74, followed by Arthur, in 1966, aged 78.^[xxii] The firm was now in the hands of the second generation of McAuley brothers.

A delightful memoir by Ray Jones offers a glimpse into the workings of McAuley Brothers in the mid-1960s. Welsh born, Ray apprenticed as a plumber at the Wilton works of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in North Yorkshire. As a twenty-two-year-old, he emigrated to WA in 1963 and later moved to Victoria where he was hired by McAuley Brothers.^[xxiii] Ray recalls “… they were involved with a great variety of work, fitting boiler rooms in hotel basements and other businesses”. We have Ray Jones to thank for this evocative sketch of the Walter Avenue facilities. 

McAuley Brothers continued operating through the 1970s but by the early 1980s they had ceased trading. Walter Avenue became Davies Street. Modern townhouses replaced the old factory buildings. All that remains today of McAuley Brothers are their former offices on Raglan Street (below) and Stawell Cottage (315 Esplanade East) where it all began.

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^[i] The cottage at 315 Esplanade East was built on land recently reclaimed when the northern reaches of the Sandridge Lagoon was filled in.

^[ii] All the McAuley children were given three Christian names: George Sutherland Smith McAuley (1884), Donald Edward Fraser McAuley (b. 1886), Arthur James McCallum McAuley (b. 1888), Kenneth John Hamilton McAuley (b. 1891), Sarah Marion Rachel (1893-1893), Marion Sarah Jessie McAuley (1894) and Eithel Muriel Agnes McAuley (1898).

^[iii] NAA A13149, 12452, Application for registration of patent by Kenneth Fraser McAuley titled – An improved polishing powder, National Archives Australia.

^[iv] George McAuley was christened George Sutherland Smith McAuley after Rachel’s brother-in-law, George Sutherland Smith (1930-1906). Smith trained as an engineer, became enterprising building contractor, later paddle steamer builder and operator before becoming a very successful vigneron in the Rutherglen region, founding the All Saints Estate. Smith was a witness at the wedding of Kenneth McAuley and Rachael Runting. https://www.allsaintswine.com.au/history Accessed 26/03/2026.

^[v] In addition to the block they purchased in 1912, the brothers acquired several more parcels of land in Walter Avenue.

^[vi] 1921 ‘EXPENDITURE UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF No. 67 OF TREASURY REGULATIONS UNDER SECTION 71 OF THE AUDIT ACT 1901-1917.’, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 – 1973), 13 January, p. 65. , viewed 27 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232181628

^[vii] 1922 ‘COMPANIES REGISTERED’, Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Sydney, NSW : 1891 – 1954), 16 August, p. 5. (Weekly Summary.), viewed 27 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159693518

^[viii] 1927 ‘PLUMBERS’ BILL IN COURT.’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 6 September, p. 11. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205791800

^[ix] Donald Percival Hampton McAuley (b. 1916), Godfrey Arthur William McAuley (b. 1918) and Fraser Laurence Harry McAuley (b.1923).

^[x] 1933 ‘CYCLING NOTES’, The Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1957), 26 August, p. 8. , viewed 29 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164458387

^[xi] 1938 ‘Office Safe Blown.’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 23 July, p. 12. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205129498

^[xii] 1937 ‘THREE SAFES BROKEN.’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 9 October, p. 22. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206718297

^[xiii] Port Melbourne Centenary Souvenir, The Port Melbourne Liardet Centenary Committee, 11 November 1939, p12.

^[xiv] 1947 ‘Advertising’, The Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1957), 23 August, p. 2. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165037768

^[xv] 1947 ‘DEFEATED BUT NOT DISGRACED’, The Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1957), 6 September, p. 2. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165041380

^[xvi] 1948 ‘Advertising’, The Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1957), 14 August, p. 4. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162548777

^[xvii] 1950 ‘Advertising’, The Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1957), 26 August, p. 7. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162545868

^[xviii] 1950 ‘COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATION.’, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 – 1973), 7 September, p. 2241. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232783309 and 1951 ‘TENDERS.’, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 – 1973), 5 April, p. 845. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232887317

^[xix] McAuley Brothers Proprietary Limited Somerville Road Braybrook; New Factory. VPRS 10150/P0000, Plan 2146 File Red 5797.

^[xx] 1956 ‘McAuley engineers to float’, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 19 April, p. 11. , viewed 28 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71798336

^[xxi] Public Records Office Victoria. 

^[xxii] Arthur was born and died at 315 Esplanade East.

^[xxiii] Ray Jones Memoir, https://rayjonesmemoir.com/ Accessed 20/03/2026.