Ordish Brick Works, Stud Road, Dandenong, Early 1930s.

Established by W. P. Ordish, in the early 1890s, and carried on by him successfully for many years. Located east of Stud Road, north of
David Street. The fire clay was of the type required for furnaces, at a time when a great many furnaces were being built. However, better clays, capable of withstanding higher temperatures, were later in demand and the Ordish Firebrick Company began importing clay from other areas.

The business was acquired in 1922 by the Ordish Fire Brick Co. Pty. Ltd, having been established in 1894, and under the new management turned into one of the four largest industries giving employment at the time, employing up to thirty men and sending its products to every state and New Zealand.

Possessing what was at the time the largest known deposit of fireclay in the world, covering some 20 acres. . In 1930, the Ordish Firebrick
works were described as:
One of Dandenong’s valuable assets ... situated in Stud Road, about a mile and a quarter from the town, on 52 acres. The six kilns have each a capacity of 37,000 bricks, and the weekly output is 50,000 bricks and tiles, keeping 30 hands engaged (Weekly Times 12 July 1930).

In 1930 the Ordish company was supplying firebricks to Newport Railway Workshops, the SEC at Yallourn, and gas works and factories in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, according to their own designs. Later there was a demand for firebricks of a different kind of clay and the firm began importing clays from elsewhere, including overseas. The company name changed to Newbold Refractories, which finally ceased operation in 1975.

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