Burns Philp & Co. Photographs

The Historic Photograph collection has approximately 1500 plate glass negatives and Silver Gelatin/Albumen pints from Burns Philp and Company. These images are mostly from the period 1905 - 1920.

Background

James Burns had been running his shops in Queensland since 1867but it was not until 1883 that Burns went into partnership with his former employee Robert Philp to form Burns Philp & Co.

In 1880 they had acquired the mail contract to run to Thursday Island and and this was the beginning of an active interest in Melanesia & Polynesia which lasted until the late 20th century. Over the course of these years Burns Philp and other companies which they held controlling interests in were intimately linked to the development of industry in the area.

In the 1880s Burns Philp was involved in the labour trade which was known as "blackbirding" mainly at the behest of Robert Philp who was also an aspiring politician but two official enquiries into conditions on board their ships the 'Heath' & the 'Hopeful' coupled with a downturn in the sugar industry in 1886 led them to look for other ways of making money in Melanesia where most of the labour was recruited.

In 1891 they opened their first stores in New Guinea at Port Moresby and Samarai, most of the profits were derived from retail and the Sandalwood trade although they also had government mail contracts and transported goods and people to Missions and other European enclaves in Melanesia.

By 1901 they had 4 overseas stores, Port Moresby, Samarai, Vila and Nukelofa and the first years of the 20th century saw Burns Philp and Co (and its offshoot the Solomon Island development Company) actively buying land to set up Copra and Rubber plantations in the Solomon's, New Hebrides, and New Guinea.

Berande plantation Solomons c1910	Plantation location unknown
Solomon Islands c1910 ?	Rabaul c1921
Loading Cattle Location Unknown	Burns Philp Store Port Moresby

This activity continued, although never with huge success, until the beginning of the second world war which saw many plantation owners leave their properties and return home.