From the Goulburn Evening Penny Post Tuesday, January 1891.
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“The question of lighting municipalities by electricity has lately come prominently before the public, and the few experiments made in this direction seem, so far, to have been attended to with remarkable success.
In support of this view ,Mr G.A Cranfield of Young, writes to us (S.M.Herald) giving us an account of the electric light and its workings at Young, where it started in April, 1889.”
This was the first municipality in Australasia lighted thought out with this new illuminate, and speaking of the objections made to the light, Mr Cranfield says: “no better answer can be adduced than the fact that those most bitterly opposed to the introduction of the light have been universally adopting it for their own homes and now speak of it in the highest level of praise.
The Young Gaol (I assert, subject to correction) is the first gaol in the British Dominions that has been lighted by means of electricity.
The economy of the production of the electric light enables the council to supply light at remarkable cheap rates, and in hotels where numbers of lamps are used the comparison between the old and the new is very obvious.
The capacity of our plant is 1500 lamps.
Two-thirds of this number are now installed, and orders are coming in daily, so much so that we anticipate increasing the plant within the next six months.”
The above only goes to show what a visionary George Cranfield was.
More should be made of the fact that Young was the first town in Australia, the Southern Hemisphere and the British Empire to be totally lit by electricity.
Tamworth may have turned on their electric plant a few weeks earlier but as in George Cranfield’s words: “Tamworth is only a toy affair for street lighting”.
In August, 1887, Young Council had received 13 tenders for the installation of a gas works, but the 23-year-old mayor, George Cranfield, who had studied electricity in London suggested that electricity be installed.
Tenders were called for the installation of electricity and the tender of H.H. Kingsbury was accepted.
George Cranfield was determined that no one’s house would be lit up before his home, which was on the corner of Clarke and Burrowa Street next to his Crystal Springs Brewery.
Electricians installed a transformer on a pole in Lighting Lane to convert the 1000 volt current from the powerhouse to 52 volts, 16 lamps were hung in the factory and a lamp was hung from the ceiling in the centre of each room in the house.
Alderman Forsythe had 25 lamps installed in his store, which was just east of the Town Hall.
On April 15, 1889 the power plant was turned on for a trial run and George Cranfield’s house became the first house in Young to have electric lighting.
Should not there be at least a plaque installed?
- Historian Brian James submits his column to the Young Witness every Tuesday on behalf of the Young Historical Society Inc.