Obituaries Australia

The pioneer of Australian meat works, Mr. Charles Grant Tindal, died in England last month at the age of ninety years. The son of Captain Charles Tindal, R.N., he was the first man to establish meat works in Australia—at Ramornie, Clarence River, N.S.W.

When quite a boy he came to New South Wales to the late Captain Ogilvie, of Merton, and thence to the latter's son, the late Mr. E. D. H. Ogilvie, of Yulgilbar Station, Upper Clarence. Mr. Ogilvie was the first man to stock country on the Clarence, fetching the cattle up from the Hunter with blacks. Later on the late Mr. Tindal explored into Queensland, and subsequently bought Koreela, at the head of the Clarence, then known as the Big river. Early in the fifties he sold Koreela and purchased Ramornie, portion of which runs to within eleven miles of Grafton, and which is now in the possession of the late Mr. Tindal's son, Mr. C. P. Tindal.

He started boiling-down works, which later on developed into the Ramornie tinning and meat extract works. To do this he went to England in 1862 and formed a small limited company. The meat works were opened in 1865 or 1866, and have worked for a portion of every year since, being by far the oldest meat works in Australia. To it came from England many men who became well known in the meat export trade, amongst them the late Mr. T. Cordingley, as chemist, and later founder, with Mr. Tindal, of the North Queensland Meat Export Company, and Mr. Alban Gee, of the Sydney Meat Preserving Company.

In 1879 the other shareholders became disheartened by several unprofitable years, so Mr. Tindal bought them out, and carried on the works himself.

In 1885 he added the combined Gunyan and Bonshaw Stations, Q., to his properties, and a few years later Trigamon, adjoining. Later he joined Mr. Cordingley in buying the boiling-down works at Alligator Creek, Townsville. After several visits to England, he finally settled there in 1890, managing the London end of the business, his son (Mr. C. F. Tindal) being general manager out here.