Few early settlers helped shape Colac as literally as Charles Prigg. His roads connected the district, while bricks from his kilns helped build the growing town.
Born in Somerset, England, around 1821, Charles worked as an agricultural labourer before marrying Ann Gaylard at Stoke-sub-Hamdon when both were twenty years old. In 1848 they emigrated to Australia aboard the Mahomed Shah with their two young children. A third child was born during the voyage.
After arriving in Victoria, Charles travelled directly to Colac to work for pastoralist William Robertson at Lake Colac. Within months he attempted farming on his own, but floods and fires brought heavy losses. Rather than surrender to failure, Charles adapted. By 1859 he was a government contractor responsible for constructing Colac’s first metalled road, at a time before local councils existed.
An enterprising and practical man, Charles later established a brickmaking business. Although he knew little about brickmaking himself, he recognised the value of skilled workers and employed experienced brickmaker George Reed as foreman. With innovative machinery capable of producing 5,000 bricks a week, Charles built a thriving business that supplied the expanding district.
Charles and Ann raised eight children before Ann died in 1875 after a long illness. He remarried Mary Finigan three years later and became father to two more children.
In January 1891, still actively managing his brickworks, Charles was kicked by a horse and suffered a severe leg fracture. True to the determined nature that had carried him through floods, fires and business ventures, he struggled to remain inactive while recovering. The injury worsened, an amputation became necessary, and he died from complications aged 71. Remembered as an old and respected resident, Charles Prigg helped shape the roads, industries and community of early Colac.

Research by Jill Judd
Story by Merrill O’Donnell

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