Wilhelm Kirchner was a German immigrant to Australia who arrived in the country in 1839 from his native Frankfurt. He became the Consul in Sydney to the German city of Hamburg and the State of Prussia.
Wilhelm set up a business as an Immigration Agent using his position as Consul to assist in the process of securing immigrants from Germany particularly from the Rhine Region including the Hamburg area.
By 1855 the Government-sponsored Bounty Scheme had finished due to lack of funds and a new arrangement was introduced whereby each immigrant paid there own passage or contracted with an agent, often the ships captain, for the passage to NSW. They were bonded to an employer such as Kirchner for two years on their arrival to repay the debt from their wages. Ernest & Augusta were therefore not Government sponsored immigrants but were self-funded.
Kirchner set up a partnership with Joseph Sharp and set about establishing new businesses in Grafton including a Hotel, Store, and a factory for boiling down tallow. Initially, the tallow was exported to Germany where they created the end products of soap and candles. To utilise the raw ingredients more profitably in the mid-1850’s they converted the Grafton factory to produce the end product of candles and soap for export. Soap and Candles were in increasing demand in Europe. This new expansion needed a large labour force and that’s where Kirschner used his contacts to encourage Germans to immigrate and staff his factory at Grafton.
In 1861 the partnership folded when financial difficulties occurred.
Ultimately, by the 1880s, 200 families of German origin comprising 1200 persons inhabited the region around Grafton, most being sponsored immigrants for the Kirschener factory and as rural farmhands.
References:
The Frauenstein Letters: Aspects of Nineteenth Century Emigration from the Duchy of Nassau to Australia, By Kathrine M. Reynolds, 2009
