1864 Fireworks
In 1864, Geelong marked the Queen’s Birthday with a dazzling display of fireworks that lit up the night sky and stirred the town’s imagination. Though not as riotous as Guy Fawkes Night — with its bonfires and effigies — the celebration was no less spirited. The Geelong Chronicle described the spectacle in vivid detail: rockets, Roman candles, and Catherine wheels bursting above the rooftops, drawing families and onlookers into shared delight.
Such public displays were rare and memorable, offering a moment of unity and wonder in a town otherwise shaped by commerce, rural rhythms, and civic duty. The fireworks were more than entertainment; they were a symbol of loyalty to th ehome country and a growing confidence within the community.
This article revisits that luminous evening, capturing the sights, sounds, and sentiments that made the Queen’s Birthday in Geelong a highlight of the year, and also paints a portrait of Mr Adler, the pyrotechnic entrepreneur behind the fireworks.
FIREWORKS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
In the fireworks calendar, there were two big nights each year in colonial Geelong: the Queen’s birthday in May and Guy Fawkes in November.
The Geelong Chronicle advised those of its readers who wish to have fireworks on the occasion of the ‘anniversary of our gracious Majesty’s birthday’, would do well to pay Mr Alder’s firework manufactory a visit, ‘where everything from a cracker to the finest rocket may be obtained’.
James Alder was a pyrotechnist in 1864. His factory and store was in Great Malop Street, east of Yarra Street.
Alder advertised that he had for sale Roman Candles, three sizes of Rockets, Squibs, Serpents, Flower Pots and Crackers. He also stated that he could make to order every description of ‘Colored Fires’. In fact, Adler had gone so largely into the ‘blazes line’ that the young ones had now christened him ‘Old Fireworks’.
The reporter from the Geelong Chronicle had first-hand knowledge of Mr Alder’s wares. ‘We discharged one of the sky rockets the night before last and the effect was magnificent; it travelled to such an immense altitude that our devil, who is a remarkably keen-sighted imp, declares he saw it a long way out of sight, and that it did not fall to the earth for twenty minutes or so, and then it kept all on fizzing.’
On the Queen’s birthday, 24 May 1864, stores were shut for a public holiday, the circus was in town, the theatre was open, loyal demonstrations were given by many worthy organisations and there was a fireworks display.
Mr Adler had not always been a pyrotechnist. For many years he had been a ginger beer manufacturer in Geelong. Then, in 1863, he had been the licensee of the Oxford Arms Hotel, in Spring Street, Little Scotland, which is now part of Geelong West. After a year making fireworks, he reverted to his earlier career as a ginger beer manufacturer, in 1865. He later moved to Clunes, as a cordial manufacturer, and died there in 1868, aged 66 years.
