The dead tell tales
Many older readers will have heard of (or used) Pearson’s Sandsoap, a carbolic soap created in Hamilton by Edward Pearson.
As a private in the Fourth Regiment of Waikato Militia, Pearson was granted 50 acres of land at Rototuna and another acre in Nixon St, Hamilton East. He was a carpenter and is credited with building the first wooden house (merely a small hut) in the militia settlement. A sketch of the house is in the Waikato Museum collection.
The house has long gone, but another of his buildings, the Oddfellows Hall, still remains in Cook St as the Cook cafe.
In September 1879, architect Thomas Henry White called for tenders for the erection of a hall for the Oddfellows Society. Pearson, a member of the Oddfellows Lodge since 1875, won the contract and in turn called for tenders to bring 27,000ft of timber from Gibbons Wharf (now Memorial Park). The hall was opened on February 6, 1880, and was a great success as a dance and theatre venue, but later in 1880, Pearson was declared bankrupt. Undeterred, Pearson began experimenting with the manufacture of a carbolic sandsoap, using Waikato River sand. In May 1882 he left a sample of the sandsoap at the Waikato Times office, with the newspaper inviting readers to inspect it at their premises. The sandsoap could scour brass and tinware, clean unpainted wood to a ‘‘smooth clear whiteness’’ and serve as a disinfectant and flea deterrent – it was marketed as useful for hospitals as well as homes. The product was so successful it became one of our first exports. Samples of the sandsoap moulds and wrapping paper are also in the museum, as are two of Pearson’s smoking hats.
The Oddfellows Hall became the first factory in Hamilton with Pearson establishing his sandsoap manufactory in the building, possibly from 1884, which is when he applied for a patent. It was part of a large complex owned or leased by the Pearsons on the corner of Cook and Grey streets. By 1893, Pearson’s Sand Soap was operating with a larger factory at Leichhardt near Sydney, run by two of Edward’s sons, William and Thomas; son-in-law Henry Tristram managed the Hamilton factory. Edward lived in Sydney for a while but was here in 1889 to plant a commemorative tree in Steele Park for the 25th anniversary of the European settlement of Hamilton. He died in 1896 and is buried in Hamilton East Cemetery.