Frank Winwood, the Wizard of the Lamps

by David Thompson

At the meeting of the Port Melbourne Citizens’ Patriotic Committee held on the evening of Monday, 23 Sep 1918, a vote of thanks was accorded “Mr Frank Winwood, ‘the wizard of the lamps’, and his company of electrical craftsmen”.^[i]

On the previous Thursday, the Committee had held “a Night in the East”, a fund-raising event at Port Melbourne Town Hall. For the evening, the hall was transformed into an “Egyptian Chamber of Festivity”. A tableau featuring palm trees, a pyramid and the Sphinx set the scene that extended throughout the hall. National flags were hung from the balcony “while above all, quite a constellation of lamps through tinted shades diffused a golden, mellow light upon the guests below. These illuminations were arranged with the skill of wizardry by the city’s electrician, Mr Frank Winwood, the worker in lamps with magical skill.” ^[ii]

Clearly the Council’s electrician, Frank Winwood, was held in high regard.

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By December 1912, the Council were quite advanced in the process of providing electric light and power to Port Melbourne through the Electric Light Committee consisting of Crs Morris, Walter and Crichton.^[iii]

The following month G Winwood was appointed as foreman having previously held a similar position with the Melbourne Electric Supply Co.^[iv] It is unclear if this is a mistake in the newspaper report, but the only Winwood listed in the Sands and McDougall Directories in Port Melbourne at this time is George Winwood of Nott Street.^[v]

Adding to the confusion, F E Winwood was appointed foreman and electrical inspector on a salary of £3/17/- per week in August 1913.^[vi] The report does not go into detail regarding whether this is a formalisation or extension of the existing role or whether F E Winwood was replacing the previously mentioned G Winwood.

The Sands and McDougall Directories show that George Winwood was still in Nott Street and Francis E Winwood was in Ross Street.^[vii] George and Frank may have been related but they were not immediate family relatives. Frank’s mother, Sarah Ann, had died in November 1889 and his father James had already passed away by this time. George is not mentioned in the death notice.^[viii]

We also know from a report in The Herald that Frank (Francis Edward Winwood), 31 divorced Ilma Victoria Marguerita Winwood, 29 in August 1906. Frank was listed as an Electric Line Repairer living in Bridge Road, Richmond. The couple had been married by the Registrar at Collingwood on 11 May 1895 and had one child.^[ix]

That child, Charles Alfred Winwood, enlisted for WWI on 27 Mar 1918 aged 21 recording that he had been an apprentice Electrical Contractor for 5 years with Hyde & Co. At that time the family were living at 167 Esplanade West, Port Melbourne.^[x]

Meanwhile back in 1913, the deployment of electric light and power in Port was proceeding at great pace. By October there were 110 users under the Council’s electrical scheme. Frank Winwood was nearing the completion of the works for the Town Hall and was about to move on to works at Excelsior Hall.^[xi]

Within six months, Frank was working on equipment to automatically switch on the street lights between 5 [pm] and 7am during winter.^[xii] However, all was not well. Mr F Cane had to cancel a show at Excelsior Hall on 9 May 1914 because the electric current failed and he had to return money to 500 people. The Council discussed the issue, in committee, with Frank also in attendance, and decided that they could not accept responsibility.^[xiii] Fifteen months later though, “a motor generator for bioscopic purposes” was installed at Excelsior Hall.^[xiv]

Frank Winwood had thrifty and entrepreneurial traits. In June 1914 when the Melbourne Harbor Trust (MHT) were considering the electrification of Railway Pier and the new pier (later renamed Princes Pier), Frank sensed a profit for the municipality and got in touch with the MHT’s Electrical Engineer, Mr Brokenshire so he could keep an eye on developments.^[xv] In September, Council acquired a quantity of “carbons for use in electric arc lamps” for less than half the going price through a tip-off from Frank Winwood.^[xvi]

Theft and vandalism were issues. On the evening of Wednesday, 10 June 1914 while testing the meter at the Fountain Inn, Frank’s bicycle was stolen.^[xvii] Then on 15 June 1914, several youths threw wires across the electric main causing the fuse to blow. George Lawson subsequently pleaded guilty for the damage in the local court and was fined 5/- with costs of 33/-.^[xviii] It’s not recorded whether Frank got his bike back or not!

Frank was responsible for the installation of 6,600 candle power of lighting, inside and outside, the new auditorium at Port Melbourne Town Hall which was opened in March 1916.^[xix] The following month he was working on illuminating the clock on the Town Hall tower.^[xx] By August, footlights had been installed in the new hall.^[xxi]

Vandalism was still an issue. In November 1916, “several street lamps had been wantonly broken by larrikins”. A recommendation by Frank to purchase wire screens to protect the lamps was adopted by Council.^[xxii]

January 1917 saw the installation of improved lighting along the foreshore under his direction.^[xxiii]

In April 1918, the local Patriotic Committee held a carnival at Port Melbourne Cricket Ground with proceeds going to the State War Council. During the evening the ground was illuminated through the efforts of the municipal staff under Frank Winwood.^[xxiv] Another carnival was held in July with the streets and carnival ground again illuminated by the municipal staff.^[xxv]

In August, with the end of the war on the horizon, Frank reported to Council, through the Town Clerk, that if they waited for peace to be declared before it purchased “festoons of lamps for illuminations” it would not be able to get any. He knew where he could buy £10 worth of lamps now and suggested he be instructed to purchased them. Council agreed.^[xxvi]

It is around this time that Frank was proclaimed “the wizard of the lamps” for his work on the Patriotic Committee’s “A Night in the East”^[xxvii] and within a couple of months Frank’s forethought and wizardry was on show when peace was declared and the “façade of the Town Hall was set out with horizontal festoons of blue, white and red electric lights, and lines of lamps tracing the outlines and inner lines of the front of the building from the base to the top of the tower, where a large blue globular light crowned the illuminations”.^[xxviii]

When the soldiers returned at the end of November, the Town Hall was decorated with flags and “’Welcome to Anzacs’ in colours of bright hue” on the façade.^[xxix] However this message proved to be controversial with some returned soldiers, who had not served at Gallipoli, feeling that the message excluded them. In February 1919, Council agreed to remove the reference to the Anzacs leaving just the message ‘Welcome’.^[xxx]

PMH&PS hold a photograph of the Duke and Duchess of York outside Port Melbourne Town Hall on 11 May 1927. On the façade of the building, above a Union Jack flag, is a large sign spelling out ‘Welcome’ in electric lights. Given Frank Winwood’s leanings towards thriftiness, I like to think that this is the same sign that was used in 1918 to welcome the returning soldiers even though Frank was no longer working for Council in 1927.

The Standard reported on 24 May 1919 that Frank’s son, Alfred, was returning from the war onboard the Medic. ^[xxxi] He arrived in Port a week later ^[xxxii] and by July had established himself as an Electrical Contractor.^[xxxiii]

One of Alfred’s first jobs was to provide lighting at Excelsior Hall when it was given over to the local branch of the Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner of the RSL.^[xxxv]

Frank Winwood resigned from Council on 29 October 1919 and was replaced by Norman MacPhee.^[xxxvi]

Meanwhile Alfred’s business continued to attract high profile jobs that were reported in the local newspaper. In December 1919, he installed “a row of electric lights under the verandah, and lines of electric lamps” in Earl’s Hardware shop^[xxxvii] and in February 1920 he did electrical work at the historic brick cottage at the corner of Nott and Farrell Streets where Port’s first Mayor had lived but at that time was the home of D C Armstrong.^[xxxviii]

On 12 July 1921 Frank and his second wife, Marie, welcomed a son, Donald Francis.^[xxxix]

Perhaps we can assume that Frank assisted his first son, Alfred, in his electrical business during this time, however, by 1924 we have a much clearer picture. In July an advertisement for their combined business appeared in The Record^[xl]. Then in August he was elected Vice President of the Port Melbourne Bowling Club indicating at least one of his leisure activities.^[xli]

Frank Winwood died on 6 November 1927 at his home in Esplanade West, aged 52.^[xlii]

His passing was acknowledged by Council where they recognised that he oversaw the Council’s “electric enterprise from its inception in 1913, until his resignation in 1919 to go into business on his own account”.^[xliii]

Vale Frank Winwood, the wizard of the lamps.

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^[i] 1918 ‘CITIZENS’ PATRIOTIC COMMITTEE.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 28 September, p. 4. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88367138

^[ii] 1918 ‘”A NIGHT IN THE EAST.”‘, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 21 September, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88366633

^[iii] 1912 ‘TENDERS ACCEPTED’, Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 – 1914), 14 December, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165161173

^[iv] 1913 ‘ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER.’, Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 – 1914), 18 January, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165159551

^[v] 1910-1915, Sands and McDougall Directories

^[vi] 1913 ‘ELECTRIC LIGHT & POWER.’, Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 – 1914), 23 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165164301

^[vii] 1910-1915, Sands and McDougall Directories

^[viii] 1889 ‘Family Notices’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 28 November, p. 1. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197499540

^[ix] 1906 ‘THE DIVORCE COURTS.’, The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 – 1954), 22 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242607280

^[x] “WINWOOD, ALFRED CHARLES”, PMHPS website, viewed 13 Oct 2024, https://www.pmhps.org.au/2014/08/winwood-alfred-charles-51494/

^[xi] 1913 ‘ELECTRICITY.’, Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 – 1914), 11 October, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165163715

^[xii] 1914 ‘ELECTRIC SPARKS.’, Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 – 1914), 11 April, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91147381

^[xiii] 1914 ‘ELECTRIC SPARKS.’, Standard (Port Melbourne, Vic. : 1884 – 1914), 16 May, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91147157

^[xiv] 1915 ‘COUNCIL COMMITTEES.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 28 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91165009

^[xv] 1914 ‘Electrical.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 6 June, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91168065

^[xvi] 1914 ‘TOWN COUNCIL.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 19 September, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91164544

^[xvii] 1914 ‘Impudent Theft of Bicycle.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 13 June, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91166529

^[xviii] 1914 ‘ELECTRIC SPARKS.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 4 July, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91168788

^[xix] 1916 ‘Lighting of New Hall.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 18 March, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91168984

^[xx] 1916 ‘Lighting the Clock.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 22 April, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91167994

^[xxi] 1916 ‘ELECTRIC SPARKS’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 12 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91167396

^[xxii] 1916 ‘TOWN COUNCIL.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 11 November, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91164407

^[xxiii] 1917 ‘Parade Beach Improvements.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 27 January, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88366128

^[xxiv] 1918 ‘CARNIVAL AT PORT MELBOURNE.’, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 22 April, p. 8. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1654184

^[xxv] 1918 ‘CARNIVAL.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 3 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88367175

^[xxvi] 1918 ‘PORT TOWN COUNCIL.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 17 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88369355

^[xxvii] 1918 ‘CITIZENS’ PATRIOTIC COMMITTEE.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 28 September, p. 4. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88367138

^[xxviii] 1918 ‘General Holiday Proclaimed.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 16 November, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88368396

^[xxix] 1918 ‘ANZACS ARRIVE’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 30 November, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88368477

^[xxx] 1919 ‘PORT COUNCIL NOTES.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 15 February, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165261490

^[xxxi] 1919 ‘ELECTRIC SPARKS’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 24 May, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165260794

^[xxxii] 1919 ‘ELECTRIC SPARKS’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 7 June, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165262685

^[xxxiii] 1919 ‘Electrical Enterprise.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 12 July, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165261274

^[xxxiv] 1919 ‘Advertising’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 12 July, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165261289

^[xxxv] 1919 ‘Memorandum of Gift.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 2 August, p. 3. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165261625

^[xxxvi] 1919 ‘PORT ELECTRIC SUPPLY.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 1 November, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165263065

^[xxxvii] 1919 ‘EARL’S ENTERPRISE.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 20 December, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165260687

^[xxxviii] 1920 ‘ITEMS OF NEWS.’, Port Melbourne Standard (Vic. : 1914 – 1920), 14 February, p. 2. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165262936

^[xxxix] 1921 ‘Family Notices’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 23 July, p. 5. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206708158

^[xl] 1924 ‘Advertising’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 12 July, p. 4. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164447659

^[xli] 1924 ‘BOWLS.’, The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), 6 August, p. 15. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4206663

^[xlii] 1927 ‘Family Notices’, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954), 7 November, p. 1. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202286030

^[xliii] 1927 ‘PORT MELBOURNE COUNCIL’, Record (Emerald Hill, Vic. : 1881 – 1954), 12 November, p. 8. , viewed 13 Oct 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164454086