A. E. Payne, Plumber

Towards the end of 1907, Charles Schilling and Arthur Payne announced the opening of their joint plumbing and ironworking business in Limestone Street, adjoining the saleyards. These were temporary premises until their own workshop could be built, also in Limestone Street. This construction was ready by July the following year and they moved in. The partnership of Payne & Schilling was short-lived however, being dissolved by mutual consent in September 1909. Payne was to carry on trading by himself. As an apprentice, Arthur Payne had been indentured to Thomas Dangerfield of Hanby & Dangerfield, learning his trade there. At one time he was also employed by Cuthbert's Plumbing in Ellenborough Street.

A. E. Payne advertised that his firm installed baths, sinks, washing troughs, boilers, gas fittings, mantles, roofing, spouting, drainage, water pipes & their connections. They performed plumbing and ironworking for clients and were later involved in installing sanitation systems, septic tanks and mosquito screening for water tanks. 

In the second half of 1915, Payne resigned as plumbing instructor from the Ipswich Technical College and closed his plumbing business. Following these events,  H. T. Hooper & Co. moved into  Payne's business premises in Limestone Street. Having a career change, for the next few years, Arthur Payne worked in the field of real estate and auctioneering.

In March 1922, Payne announced his return to the plumbing trade in Ipswich. For the next several months he combined his real estate and auction commitments with that of plumbing.  Initially he conducted his plumbing trade from his residence at Jenkins  (Jenkyn) Street, East Ipswich but the next year moved to Wharf Street where he remained until selling  the property in 1938 when he would have been about retirement age.

It appears that A. E. Payne was well-known and highly regarded in his field becoming Secretary of the Master Plumbers & Ironworkers Association in the 1920s, and assisting  Ipswich Council as a building inspector when the sewerage system was installed. 

Arthur's father was W. M. Payne the bookseller & stationer of Brisbane Street.