Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium recently celebrated its centenary. Henry Mashman was the first person buried at the cemetery in April 1922.
Henry Mashman was born in London, England on 2 April 1855. His father, James, was apprenticed to Sir Henry Doulton at the Doulton Pottery, Lambeth. James’ sons also trained at Doulton, Henry becoming a fancy ware thrower. At age 19, Henry was known as the second-best thrower in England.
In 1883, at the age of 28, Henry immigrated to Australia with his brother, William. Initially they worked at Fieldsend Pottery in Maitland, and then looked for a suitable area in which to set up their own pottery.
The brothers found the North Shore of Sydney had good clay deposits and joined James Sandison in his pottery in Victoria Avenue, Chatswood in 1885. This partnership dissolved, and by 1890, together with their brother John, the three brothers started Mashman Brothers Victoria Pottery, Chatswood and Auburn. In 1893, Henry Mashman married a widow, Elizabeth Simpson, who had daughters. The couple then had two sons, Theo and Harry.
On the same site in Chatswood as Sanderson, the brothers produced salt glazed stoneware, bricks, drainage pipes and chimney pots, and business boomed with the development of the North Shore. The brothers expanded their business to cover 10 house blocks bound by four streets. The pottery became a major employer of local residents.
In 1912, Henry became chairman and managing director of Mashman Brothers on the death of his brother, William. Henry died on 19 April 1922 and became the first person buried at what was then the Northern Suburbs General Cemetery the following day.
The pottery at Chatswood, which was eventually owned by Doulton and then Caroma, closed in 2000. On part of the site, Mashman Park now commemorates the activities of these pottery pioneers.
Judy Peters is a committee member of the Willoughby District Historical Society and Museum and a distant relation of Henry Mashman. Visit the society’s website at willoughbydhs.org.au.