05/10/2026
Beaconsfield Sugar Mill
Beaconsfield plantation was established by Andrew Henderson on 800 acres of forest land, of which only 360 acres were planted with cane. The mill began crushing late in 1883. It had one set of 42 inch by 22 inch triple rollers, sulphur box, steam clarifiers with copper coils, 500 gallon cleaning pans, an 800 gallon steam concentrator four 1000 gallon subsiders, one 3 ton vacuum pan and three suspended centrifugals. Two 12 foot by 6 foot boilers powered an 18 inch cylinder steam engine and the mill could produce 500 tons of sugar per year. The mill was housed in a building 158 by 32 feet. Henderson had his residence 1/2 mile from the mill in large grounds.
By 1888 there was 284 acres ready for cane but the 1888 crop had only made 45 tons of sugar from 114 acres.
Ten years earlier it would have been considered a big mill but in the 1880's it was relatively small.
In 1892 the mill had made 400 tons of sugar and then it seems Henderson ceased both cultivation and crushing. When the mill closed in 1893, there were 55 Melanesians and 30 white men employed. Henderson had intended installing a second set of rollers and had extra land lying fallow trying to encourage farmers to become involved in a small central mill complex, however due to economics the plantation never re-opened.
The site is now home to the Carlisle Christian College in Beaconsfield.
(Sugar Mills of Mackay by Glen Hall 2009)
(Photo: Williams Collection.) Colourised.
