An early Rosebank industry: the Best family's varnish works

Back in 2005, I compiled a history of the Best family varnish works for an article in the Avondale Historical Journal. The embedded document is updated to include an account of the fire and destruction of the works in 1907 -- it was rebuilt, but on a vastly smaller scale amid the ruins, to continue producing varnish from kauri gum into the first three decades of the 20th century.

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