Moore & Tidmarsh

J. Tidmarsh & Co. was a soap and candle manufacturer in the early days of Adelaide, in the colony of South Australia.

John Francis Tidmarsh (17 January 1824 – 11 November 1906) was born in Cork, Ireland, where he was educated at Dr. Radcliffe's school. At age 17 he joined the office of Dublin architect Anthony as an assistant draftsman and went on to assist in the Ordnance Surveys of Ireland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cumberland. This was followed by Parliamentary surveys of the West Riding Union Railway (later part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) and some other railway projects.

He emigrated to Australia aboard Madawaska, bound for Sydney which arrived in Adelaide in July 1849, and either decided to continue no further or returned there shortly after arriving at his destination.

He was appointed surveyor and valuator to the General Land and Building Society, Adelaide's first building society, but was persuaded by William Martin Letchford (c. 1824–1880), who had in 1848 established a candle-making factory on Sturt Street, to join him in that business, which promised to be more lucrative. Tidmarsh left Letchford & Son the following year, forming a partnership with William Moore (1822–1898), another Letchford employee, and as Moore & Tidmarsh set up a candle-making factory on South Terrace. The business proved successful, and they were able to purchase the Sturt Street factory from Letchford. In 1852 Tidmarsh joined the rush to the Victorian goldfields, leaving his partner in charge. Moore however was not to be left behind and also left to try his luck, as had most of South Australia's able-bodied men. The following year Tidmarsh returned to Adelaide and brought the factory back into production. The partnership with Moore was formally dissolved in September 1859 and, needing additional capital to expand the business, took on Letchford as a partner in May 1860, and as John Tidmarsh & Company business thrived and underwent a major expansion.

The factory on Sturt Street, between Russell and Norman streets, was by 1875 turning out 30 tons of soap and 6 tons of candles per week. The process of boiling down fat and tallow produces some particularly foul odours, and Tidmarsh was diligent in reducing this nuisance to a minimum by ventilating the vats through charcoal or quicklime. The lees were transported away from the factory in a large airtight container on wheels, to be dumped at some remote location.

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