William Benjamin Chaffey

Details

BiographyWilliam Benjamin Chaffey, known as Ben, was born in California on 12 November 1914. His family was invited to Australia by Prime Minister Deakin to pioneer irrigation settlements in Victoria. His father William, was born in Melbourne in 1887 and his mother Nayda Laura Rolph was a British Canadian. The family came to Australia at the end of World War I. He grew up at Mildura, then studied at Geelong Grammar School and Roseworthy in 1933. Mildura wineries were all making fortified wines and most of it was sent to London through the Emu Wine Co. At Roseworthy he specialised in flor sherry research; talks about the course at Roseworthy; teachers were Jack Williams and John Fornachon. He then went to Emu Winery for Colin Haselgrove, his job was to blend the wines from all the small wineries. They also bought wine from Angoves and Berri. The blends were sent to London, Newcastle, Belfast, Canada, India and Asia. The Emu Wine Co was the biggest in Australia. Ben worked in London after World War II and returned to Emu in 1945. During the war he was a flying instructor of Tiger Moths in New south Wales. He married in 1942. They began making flor sherry in large quantities. Talks about the people he knew in the industry - Jim Hardy, Pierce and many others. He and an ex-Air Force mate bought Seaview from Geoff Kay. Sold all their wine to Emu. Bought out his partner in 1948. Bought second hand machinery and had 90 acres under vine. Went into partnership with Friend Edwards and they did further plantings and bought grapes from other growers. Made a variery of wines and had several distributors. Garth Rawlings did their labels. Seaview became an expensive wine and they were well known and regularly winning prizes. They were the first in the area to bottle wine in the 1950s. He was on the Board at Mildura Winery for 25 years. He had three daughters and none were interested in taking over so he decided to sell to the Adelaide Brewery in 1970. Travelled annually to England for the next 12 years. Biggest changes have been the acceptance of wine for dining and the move away from fortified wines

Oral histories

Interview with William Benjamin Chaffey [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 1 of 4

Interview with William Benjamin Chaffey [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 2 of 4

Interview with William Benjamin Chaffey [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 3 of 4

Interview with William Benjamin Chaffey [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 4 of 4

Transcript

Interview with William Benjamin Chaffey [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Relates to

SubjectChaffey, William Benjamin, 1914-

Administration

SLSA referenceOH 692/21

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William Benjamin Chaffey