THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
the Field Artillery Brigade on the Western Front before returning to complete his honours degree in science and adding another degree in education. After that, he became a teacher at Geelong Grammar, followed by Bendigo School of Mines, Scots College in Sydney, and Haileybury College in Melbourne, eventually becoming the science master at Longerenong Agricultural College in Victoria in 1926. Arguably, it was his work at Roseworthy Agricultural College that would be his greatest legacy and prove highly valuable to the Australian wine industry, as he prepared many young winemakers for the massive changes in winemaking technologies and science that appeared after World War II. Hickinbotham would also be instrumental in supporting the college’s ‘first cadet’, Ray Beckwith, in his eventual research into the causes of wine instability and the use of yeast cultures. This groundbreaking work would occur as a direct result of Hickinbotham’s interest in the problems that hampered the wine industry. The Australian government’s commitment to wine export was shown at the end of this decade with the establishment of the Wine Overseas Marketing Board in 1929, albeit financed by a levy on grape production. From 1925 to 1939, Australian exports to the UK reached an average of 2.8 million gallons annually, amounting to around 20% of the country’s wine imports. Of the significant exporters, Stephen Smith & Co, with its Keystone burgundy, was a compelling model of success and had become the largest shipper of burgundy to England. But fortunes waned elsewhere. The Fallon Vineyard near Albury, ‘the scenes of many historic social gatherings of distinguished interstate and international visitors’, was sold in late December 1929 by agents Dalgety and Co, ending a 60-year era.
The view from Château Tanunda, with Bethany in the distance, Barossa Valley, South Australia. [Collections SA GN07782 GN3069]
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