Producing award-winning cornflour, a little-known mill operated for 90 years at Four Mile Creek between Pine Rivers High School and Paisley Avenue at Lawnton.
Walter Francis (1844–1934), a former town councillor, established the Paisley Cornflour Mill in September 1898. Clean water was critical to cornflour production, and Francis found the purity of the water in Four Mile Creek superior to other sources.
First experimenting with milling cassava, Francis switched to milling maize that was grown locally on the riverside silt flats. As the demand for cornflour grew and transport costs fell, corn was sourced from Yarraman and regions as far away as the Atherton Tablelands.
The mill used a combination of wind, water and animals to power the millstone that ground the grain. French burrstone was considered to be the highest-quality quartzite stone for milling, and Walter purchased a second-hand burrstone for the Lawnton mill. Ninety years later, his great-grandson, Brian Francis, observed the same burrstone had only worn down a quarter inch, despite continuous use in the mill.
Quality was important to Walter Francis and his descendants. In naming the cornflour ‘Paisley’ after a Scottish town that produced high-quality cornflour, the brand’s marketing slogans were ‘Paisley the Best Cornflour’ and ‘Paisley First in All Ways.’ This commitment to excellence paid off in 1901, when a sample of Paisley Cornflour won a gold medal at the Great Exhibition in London’s Crystal Palace.
Expansion, Innovation and Final Years
By the 1920s, the third generation of the Francis family, James and William Francis, operated the mill. Its weekly cornflour output reached between three and four tonnes. At that time, workers still shovelled corn manually, using coal shovels – strenuous work, according to mill worker Henry Ebert.
In an interview years later, Henry told of a near-fatal accident at the mill. William Francis suffered severe burns to his legs when he fell into a vat of near-boiling water and only saved himself from further injury by clutching a plank.
After WWII, William Francis developed ‘Lawntone’ starch and other industrial starch derivatives for the Petrie paper mill. William also introduced electric kilns and re-designed the engineering mechanisms to help the starch dissolve faster. After expanding to a seven-day-a-week operation, the weekly output reached 120 tonnes.
Despite achieving an hourly output of 1/2 tonnes of dry product in its final years, financial problems and a two-year drought in the corn-growing areas led to the mill’s closure in May 1966.
Read more stories from The North Lakes Guide print magazine here:
- In the North Lakes Loop: Updates from the Community
- What’s Hot Around Town
- Podcast Review: Behind the B@stards
- Winter Family Movies
- Reflect And Recharge For A Meaningful Mid-Year Reset
- Organic Gardening in July
- Garden Show Plants Seeds for Family Fun
- Eco Eve: Living a More Environmentally Friendly Life!
- Scaly Visitors, Stalls and Showbag Fun
- Wonderland Awaits at the Library These School Holidays
- Creative Connections: Crafting Opportunities Around North Lakes
- New Pub, New Buzz: Dakabin Hotel Opens Its Doors
- Pickleball Popularity Soars Across North Lakes
- Dive Into the Magic of The Little Mermaid Jr
- Mueller College Fete: Success is Measured in Smiles
- Kallangur Hosts Dog Day Full of Fun
- Quilt Show Stitches Together Charity and Community Spirit
- Celebrating 10 Years of Great Brews and Live Music at Thirsty Chiefs
- Finding homes for your pre-loved books
