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Potter and Doull Sawmill at Rankleburn
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Robert Doull built his homestead and flourmill at Kaihiku and had the misfortune of seeing it flooded in February 1868 when heavy rains inundated the flat areas along the Puerua and Kaihiku Streams. In November 1871 Doull commenced erecting a flourmill on the banks of the Clutha River at Balclutha. With a �water lifting apparatus� invented by Mr Thomson, Doull intended the wheel to be turned by water from the river. It met with objections from the Balclutha Municipal Council who believed there should be enough room along the riverbank for a road. Doull wrote to the Waste Lands Board re the lease they granted him asking for their intervention with the Local Town Council preventing his construction. The Board replied stating they respected the Corporation of Balclutha had a right to interfere even though the Municipality had not been created at the time Doull received his grant for a mill.
Potter and Doull of Balclutha started a sawmill business in connection with Doull�s flourmill in 1876. The site of 320 acres was thirty miles upstream from the town at Rankleburn. The logs were cut, rolled into the river and rafted down to the mill with each raft holding 5000 feet of black, red and white birch timber, or white pine and totara. The partners applied for a two month extension for survey work to be done starting August 5th, and this was approved by the Waste Lands Board on the condition the area was reduced to 60 acres.
Potter and Doull applied to the Waste Lands Board for two months extension from October 5th 1876 to complete the survey of their sawmill area at Rankleburn and were approved.
Potter and Doull also started a sawmill at Kaihiku Bush in 1877 producing timber for settler�s buildings and fence posts. Robert Doull offered his farm and several sections for sale in July 1878. However in February 1880 there was a fire in Kaihiku Bush destroying the sawmill and 200 acres of bush as well as �500 of sawn timber that had already been sold for mining purposes. Mr Moffatt had paid �6000 for the house and land where the old mill was situated, and was lucky in saving the dwelling as it was near the creek.
Robert Doull invented many machines for his flourmills. One he used in the Mandeville mill was an agitator for rotating the grain on the drying kiln floor doing away with human labour for the same job. He died on board s.s. Ortona between Perth and Columba aged 62 and was buried at sea. His widow Elizabeth continued with his Mandeville mill until offering it for sale in November 1909.
The above notes are part of my book Tapanui - 150 Years, City in the Bush. If you would like to read more about Potter and Doull the book will be available towards the end of 2009. You can contribute and have your family included in the book if they lived or worked in the Tapanui, West Otago business area.
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