HYDROMETER - E SAWTELL
1924 - 1981Clear glass tube with two bulbs on one end , the lower bulb holds mercury. In the tube is a white background with manufacturers text and measured segments that goes from 1 to 40 at the top of the tube in 1° segments.
In 1894 business partners, and later brothers-in-law, Martin Jull and Mitchell Stewart started a vineyard in the hills overlooking Armadale where they planted several varieties of wine grapes. In 1896 visiting British lord, Sir Arthur Stepney, bought Stewarts share of the vineyard. Three years later he purchased Julls share of the vineyard and named it Derry Na Sura, which reportedly translates from Gaelic to Valley of the wine. Clement Edward Pike was the manager of Derry Na Sura vineyard between 1938 and the late 1940s. Clement Pike was born in Magill, a suburb in the foothills in eastern Adelaide, in 1899. He had come to Western Australia from South Australia where he had been a wine maker in Magill. This collection of instruments was used by Mr Pike at Derry Na Sura to test the quality and the alcohol content from the wines that they produce. In 1949 Clement took Derry Na Sura Pty Ltd too court for breach of contract which he won and was awarded 72 pounds. He then moved to East Bullsbrook were he ran another vineyard until 1954 when it is thought he returned to South Australia. He died in Margill in 1981, aged 93 years.
Alfred E Sawtell was a British born businessman who operated in South Australia in the mid to late 1800s to the early 1900s. His businesses based in Adelaide and Port Adelaide were opticians and they also sold nautical and measuring instruments including thermometers, barometers and hydrometers. It is unknown how Clement Pike obtained this instrument that seems to date back to before he was born or when he was a young child.
Details
Details
Manufacturer text [E. Sawtell, Rundle St Adelaide / Beaume's Temp 60° Fah ]
South Australia
Australia
This object is a part of a collection that represents the skills and scientific knowledge required to produce wine and fortified wines in a commercial vineyard and how the products of the wineries were sold and marketed across Western Australia. The collection also represents the important role wine making played in the agricultural development of the City of Armadale from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. During this period several large and small commercial vineyards operated along Albany Highway and the South West Highway.
