Permewan Wright Limited

Great building

There is quite a rich history behind this neglected historical building....John Permewan (1837 to 1904) was born in England. He arrived in Ballarat in the 1850s and saw the potential of a transport service by river and road. In 1854 Browne, Osborne & Co, started in Geelong as a carriers and commission agent, between Geelong and Ballarat.Permewan was an employee until 1861 when he then became a partner. In that year Browne and Osborne formed separate companies, Browne, Sons & Co, which lapsed, but Osborne & Co, with Permewan in association, carried on business until 1869.E Hunt joined them in 1864 and in 1869 Permewan Hunt & Co was formed. Hunt retired in 1876, J. E. Wright replaced him and the company became Permewan Wright & Co. It became a limited company in 1879.By then business had expanded dramatically. In July 1875 Permewan Hunt & Co bought Coghill's and the Wagga Wagga Steam Navigation Co, Within six months it had the largest share of the Echuca trade, having run smaller competition out of business. From Echuca the company expanded up towards the Darling and Murrumbidgee Rivers, consolidating constantly and smashing competition. By 1888 Permewan Wright had forty-eight branches in Victoria and New South Wales plus agencies at almost every railway station. The network extended from Bourke on the Darling through all the principal towns on the Murray and Murrumbidgee, to Geelong then Melbourne. Their London agent, Pickford & Son, linked them to an extensive international trade. Their commission business meant that they sometimes had $50k advanced on goods, and the Collins Street three storey warehouse was full of produce, especially colonial grown tobacco and hops stored for local manufacturers.The company pioneered 'express wagons' which could carry six tons and they used teams of relief horses stationed along the roads. It also had two cargo and three passenger steamers constantly running between Geelong and Melbourne. In the 1890s when competing agents, particularly river traders, were forced out of business, Permewan Wright & Co continued and being stronger than competitors after the depression.John Permewan remained head of the firm until failing health forced him to retire in 1902. He travelled constantly on train and coach through Victoria and New South Wales, eventually slowing down in his later years.John was interested in charities and his unfinished will, by which he had intended to give to charities, was carried out by his family. His only public post was a seat on the Ballarat Hospital Committee. At age 67 he passed at his home in Ballarat on 23 December 1904. John was survived by his wife Isabelle, née Towers, and by a son and a daughter.