George PRESTON [30846]

   Cause of his death was cardiac degeneration.

  General Notes:

George had a wide variety of employment. He is described as a labourer on his first child George's baptism entry in Hayes, a cooper on his son William's baptism entry in Limehouse East London, a grocer, if the 1841 Census is in fact George, a distillery labourer in the 1851 Census, an engineer on his shipping records, a plumber on his daughter Hannah's Melbourne birth certificate and a distiller on his death certificate.

He emigrated with his family to Melbourne aboard the "City of Lincoln", departing 18 Aug 1852 and arriving Melbourne 22 Dec 1852. The "City of Lincoln" was of 893 tons and the master, William Jenkins.

George's death certificate states he resided 28 years in Victoria and 21 years in N.S.W. The grave of George and Hannah is located at Kew Cemetery Vic. Comp C. Plot 1709. The headstone reads " Geo. Preston who died at Mona, Studley Park Rd. 13 April 1902. How well he fell asleep, like some proud river winding towards the sea, calmly grandly silently and deep. Life joined eternity"

George worked as a brick maker and was contracted to build the Echuca Railway Station which still stands in 2003. He took up land at Pericoota Station near Moama where he lived for many years before returning to Melbourne

He was a founder of Preston's Melbourne Distillery, originally located at the intersection of Church Street and the Yarra river and known as Vauxhall Distillery and which in 1934 was in Rouse St, Port Melbourne and is presently used (2002) as a community facility. The letterhead of the company in 1934 described the business as "Distillers and Rectifiers with 150 years British and Colonial Distilling Experience". Products listed included Brandy, Whisky, Rum, Dry Gin, Geneva Gin, Schnapps, Old Tom Sweetened Gin, Spirits for fortifying wines, Rectified Spirits, Methylated Spirits, etc.

WHISKY MAGAZINE
A CASE OF DISAPPEARING SPIRIT
By Chris Middleton print
The Sherlock Holmes of whisky distilling
During the four months of February to May 1899 Detective Inspector John Mitchell Christie, using multiple disguises, staked the Vauxhall Distillery at Abbotsford by the Yarra River in Melbourne. On a chilly May morning, he burst into the three-storey bluestone distillery burnishing his revolver and demanding the startled staff, "Stand, or I'll fire". Christie was a swashbuckling Scot from Clackmannan who immigrated to Victoria in 1863, at the age of 17, to work on his uncle's Gippsland property. Famed for his physical prowess, he was an adroit swimmer and athlete, champion sculler and prize-winning pugilist, known as the Bruiser.
On top of his athletic brawn, his education included Andrews School and Taylor College. After three years in livestock work, he found new adventures joining the Victorian Police Force working as a royal detective and bodyguard on three separate royal tours in Australia. In 1884 he transferred to the Victorian Customs Department as a detective inspector. When not collecting trophies and members of the Royal family he broke forgery and counterfeiting rackets, tracked down smugglers and busted moonshiners and drug traffickers. The newspapers described him as "an idol of the Victorian public", a real-life embodiment of Conan Doyle's fictional detective.
Melbourne's Vauxhall Distillery was established in 1886 by George Preston and his sons Henry and William, who also immigrated to Australia in 1863. The family were members of the Liverpool Prestons, who operated two of the largest malt distilleries in Britain during the 19th century. In the early 1880s, the Victoria Colonial Government induced investment in distilling by offering an attractive tax differential of 2/6 a gallon against imported spirits. The Vauxhall Distillery produced whisky, rum and brandy on two traditional pot stills. After the distillery upgraded in 1896, customs records began noticing discrepancies between grain quantities, wash volumes and spirit output. By 1899 customs estimated more than 1,500 gallons or $750 of excise tax was unaccounted. In collaboration with inspector of distilleries, customs inspector Christie started surveillance, monitoring the distillery "morning, noon and night" using many disguises as well as insinuating himself with local criminals and drunkards to ascertain their method of deception.
Christie's vigils employed false wigs, beards, moustaches, a wardrobe of character clothes and corroborating props. Some days he was a surveyor with a theodolite taking measurements. On other days he acted as a derelect in tattered clothes, a swagman camped by the river, or an angler working the river bank; other times an inspector from the board of health, an Anglican clergyman or a Salvation Army officer seeking alms. Slowly, as he observed the staffs behaviour and picked up neighbourhood intelligence, he assembled the clues and information on how the suspects working their modus operandi. He discovered when the distillery's customs officer went to check the bond store each day, the distiller siphoned a gallon or two of new make into a glass demijohn and hid it in the outhouse, later depositing in a cask secreted in a room across the street. Armed with his arrest warrant Christie and his unholstered 45-calibre Colt revolver, he apprehended the felons and recovered concealed illicit whisky. At the Court hearing Henry Preston, who directed the distillery for his aged father, explained that he had lived in Sydney and England during the past four years and was not aware of the illicit activity. Threatened with the loss of his licence, he was fined £2,250 and required to post surety of £3,000.
In 1901 the federal government reduced tariff protection on spirits, making the struggling Vauxhall Distillery uneconomical. After 1905 it was acquired by an expanding CUB brewery for cellar storage. John Christie was severely knifed during another escapade with desperate opium smugglers in 1910 and was forced to retire. He received many tributes including from Prime Minister Billy Hughes recognising his numerous exploits, his outstanding work and courageous service.

  Research Notes:

Dates may be wrong as George was supposed to be 88 at his death.

Family folklore recalls Preston ancestor played the organ at Westminster Abbey and another was Lord Mayor of London twice. The book "My Lord Mayor" by Valerie Hope refers to a John de Prestone having been Mayor in 1332. Generals in the British Army are also claimed.

  Medical Notes:

certified by W R Boyd, M.D. Richmond. George was 87 years of age.

  Other Records

1. Census: England, 7 Jun 1841, Alexander Rd Ealing Mdx. George is recorded as John aged 25 a grocer born MDX

2. Census: England, 30 Mar 1851, Distillery Yard 287 Vauxhall Rd Liverpool. George is recorded as a servant married aged 36 a labourer in the distillery born Hayes MDX

George married Hannah Rachel CARTER [30847] [MRIN: 10925], daughter of Thomas CARTER [31366] and Hannah EVANS [31367], on 17 Jun 1838 in St James, Piccadilly, Westminster, London. (Hannah Rachel CARTER [30847] was born on 26 Sep 1819 in St Andrew Enfield London, baptised on 20 Oct 1819 in St Andrew Enfield London, died on 26 May 1913 in Studley Park Rd, Kew, Vic. Aust. and was buried on 28 May 1913 in Kew Cemetery, Vic..). The cause of her death was senility and heart failure.