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Reference letter for Thomas Ward from Mort's Dock Engineering Co.

Date17 November 1930

Object numberANMS0196[016]

NameReference

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 190 × 206 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Barrie Ward

Terms

DescriptionReference from Morts Dock and Engineering Co. Ltd stating that Thomas Ward has served his engineering apprenticeship in a satisfactory manner and the termination of his employment was only due to the prevailing depressed economic conditions.The reference is signed by the shop supervisor Alex R Livendale.HistoryThomas Ward, born 28 October 1909, was an apprentice of Mort's Dock and Engineering Company Limited which had been the largest shipyard an engineering workshop in Australia in the latter half of the 19th century and would at one stage in the largest private employer in Sydney. As part of Thomas Mort's business empire, the dockyards and engineering works produced a large range of goods including 39 steamships, 7 Manly ferries, pumping engines for the Waverley and Crown Street reservoirs, and the ironwork for the Sydney GPO. With the large number of workers involved in the business and living in Balmain and Rozelle nearby the works, it is not surprising that the union movement found strong support here and the roots of the Australian Labour Party planted - originally the Labour Electoral League and later the Political Labour League. This league was founded in 1891 by the Balmain Unionists at the dock who later fielded four candidates in the State elections. As this reference suggests, the economic downturn effected the dockyards and engineering works which did not pick up again until WWII when there was a need for coastal protection naval operations in the Pacific. Between 1940 and 1945, Mort's Dock constructed 14 of the 60 Bathurst class Corvettes built in Australia, 4 of the 12 River Class frigates, and a 1000-ton capacity floating dock. The company ended in 1957 and the waterfront site at Balmain, locally referred to as Mort Bay, is now a public park. SignificanceMorts Dock and Engineering Works have long been associated with the Sydney waterfront. As well as established an
impressive engineering works, Mort was responsible for great developments in the frozen meat trade. As a large and
ongoing concern, the Company had many apprentices. This paper relating to the career of Thomas Ward are just a small insight into the life of one of those apprentices.