James Henry Fradd 1870

James Henry Fradd was born in 1870 in Coghills Creek, Victoria, Australia.  He was one of 12 children to Richard and Margaret Fradd [nee O’Brien] who eventually settled in Glenloth, Victoria after spending approximately 15 years in the Ballarat district.

 James married Sidonia Elisabeth Schlitz in about 1906 in Coghills Creek, Victoria and they raised 6 children, all of which were born in Quambatook, Victoria.

Quambatook was settled following the end of the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. The country in North West Victoria was originally held by station owners (sheep squatters) up until 1870 when it was thrown open for land selection.

The district (Wimmera) was largely made up of infertile desert full of mallee and spinifex but Quambatook was situated on the lower reaches of the Avoca River 300 miles north of Melbourne in Victoria and became one of Victoria's leading wheat and sheep producing areas.

 The first Quambatook Post Office was set up in 1879 when mail was collected from Glenloth for distribution to the district. In later years, the mail was brought by coach, which came through from Glenloth (the rail head) to Quambatook and on to Kerang, three days each week. In the very early days of settlement, St. Arnaud was the nearest rail head, from which goods were brought by bullock dray or wagon, and to which wheat was carted. 

James was listed on the 1909 Wimmera District Electoral Roll as a Blacksmith serving the surrounding farming community of which his family were a large part; including:
Father Richard- farmer of Glenloth
Brothers, Richard Michael, Daniel, Josiah Joseph, - all farmers of Glenloth and Francis –farmer of Jeruk.

Blacksmiths had a place among the working classes, and these men worked with their hands and arms in a hot forge. Blacksmiths, who have a history that goes back thousands of years, however, had a far higher economic and social position than farm or factory workers. As highly skilled artisans, they also managed to remain independent and in demand until well into the twentieth century when the "automobile" destroyed many of their opportunities for work. Even then, these skilled iron workers often morphed into auto mechanics just as a century earlier some had become pioneering engineers.

The Blacksmith played a vital role in the town. There was often rivalry as to whether the Smithy was more important than the pub.

In the early 1900’s, nothing was mass produced and anything made of steel was either made in a small manufacturing forge or by the blacksmith. All his work was done simply by heating steel in his forge and shaping it while it was hot and malleable.

“One blacksmith in nearby Kerang employed thirty hands in his business”. The Bacchus Marsh Express Saturday 27 April 1912

In the early days he would have burnt charcoal. Nowadays, our "smithy's" use coke (partly burnt coal) for heat. In order to get the heat required to forge wrought iron, a large bellows is used to blow a stream of air over the charcoal or coke to make it burn faster. Once the metal is hot enough, the blacksmith will use a variety of hammers and other tools against his anvil to form the metal into the required shapes, or to weld pieces of metal together.
The "Smithy" was important in that he repaired ploughshares, picks, axes, wheels, shod horses and made items such as hinges and hammers and branding irons as well as basic cutlery.

James Henry Fradd was an active community member of Quambatook living in a 4 bedroom egyptian brick dwelling on a half acre allotment situate in the best portion of the rising township; adjoining the "Mechanics".

He was secretary of  the 'Quambatook Mechanics Institute' a progressive committee, who met monthly in the Reading Room of the local hall and pursued common town interests such as arranging library books from Melbourne, holding gala events including pantomimes, concerts, dancing, horse racing (mostly for fund raising) town greening, hall lighting, water supply and other issues.
 
James ran the publicans booth on the 35th Annual St Patricks Day Sports Club meeting and was Clerk of Scales for many of the horse racing events held. He was also an election scrutineer on polling day in 1914.

James died on the 2nd of September 1933 in Quambatook, Victoria, Australia.