In 1868, Walter Sheldrick, a Warrnambool butcher, established a company to operate the Warrnambool New Brewery (at the corner of Timor and Fairy Streets). The company was wound up but the brewery continued to operate as Sheldrick and Co., with Walter Sheldrick and Thomas Price as principal partners. Sheldrick died in 1893 but the brewery continued with various partners in the business. In 1894 the brewery was sold to James W. McGee and Co. and this firm operated the brewery until its demise in 1922 when it was bought out by the Ballarat, Melbourne Co-Operative and Carlton and United Breweries and closed. This demijohn is of interest as it came from the Warrnambool New Brewery (closed 1922). This brewery, known as Sheldrick’s was a prominent business in Warrnambool for over 50 years. This is a circular-shaped stone jar enclosed in a wicker case with handles. The jar has a circular yellow top with no stopper. ‘James W. McGee & Co Wmbool’warrnambool new brewery (sheldrick & co.), james w. mcgee & co, warrnambool

This corkscrew has obviously been used as a promotional handout for clients of James McGee and Co. Information on this firm has been difficult to find but there was a well-known commercial traveller, James McGee, resident in the Warrnambool district at the end of the 19th century and it is known that his sons headed a company, James McGee and Co. that bought Sheldrick’s New Brewery in Timor Street, Warrnambool, in 1894. This brewery had been founded in 1868. In 1922 the McGee company sold the goodwill of the Warrnambool brewery to the Ballarat, Melbourne Co-Operative and Carlton and United Breweries and the local brewery closed. No information has been found on Ballangarrock Whisky.This corkscrew is an important souvenir of the last few years of operations at the Warrnambool New Brewery in Timor Street. This business had operated in Warrnambool for over 50 years.This is a metal corkscrew with a wooden handle. There is black printing on the handle. This printing is faded in parts. The metal screw is rusty.‘Jas. W. McGee & Co. Importers Warrnambool’ ‘Drink Ballangarrock Whisky’ james mcgee & co., history of warrnambool