Wikipedia

Perry Engineering

Perry Engineeringwas a major foundry and steel engineering works in the state ofSouth Australia.

Perry Engineering
IndustryFoundry and steel engineering works
Founded1899
FounderSamuel Perry
Defunct1969
Headquarters
Mile End, South Australia
SubsidiariesJames Martin & Co

History

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Perry Engineering had its origins in 1899 whenSamuel Perrypurchased from the estate ofJames Wedlockthe Cornwall Foundry on Hindley Street, renaming it the Victoria Foundry. He leased or purchased a nearby property onNorth Terraceand there established a bridge and girder factory. He purchased a large block of land atMile Endwith potential for a privaterailway sidingand around 1911 established the factory there, by 1916 it was known as Perry Engineering.[1][2]

In 1915, Perry purchased theJames Martin & CoPhoenix Foundry works inGawlerfrom the estate of the ownerHenry DuttonofAnlaby.The company had recently lost a major contract for locomotives, which may have affected the price,[3]as may haveWorld War Iwhich was then consuming capital and manpower.[4]

James Martin's locomotive manufacturing business was also being challenged by the state-ownedIslington Railway Workshops.Samuel Perry transferred most of the heavy work to the Mile End factory, leaving the Gawler works with the rump of the business. He took on his nephew Frank as works manager at Mile End around 1918;[5]In 1930, on the death of his uncle, Frank took over the company, which in 1937 was registered as Perry Engineering Co. Ltd.[6]

Perry Engineering built locomotives for theCommonwealth Railways,South Australian RailwaysandTasmanian Government Railways.It also built 19 locomotives for Queensland sugar cane line operators.[7]The Victorian State Rivers & Water Supply Commission purchased eight for construction of theHume Weirand nine for the rebuilding ofSilvan Reservoir.[citation needed]

DuringWorld War IImuch of the factory was converted to manufacture munitions and defence equipment including two types of vehicles which were sold to the Americans. One of the two vehicles was the Ferret scout car.[citation needed]

A heavy steel manufacturing plant was established inWhyallain 1958, and the factory at Mile End expanded.[8]In 1947 the company became apublic company.In the 1950s, it manufactured mechanical presses forChrysler,FordandHolden.[9]

In 1966 Perry Engineering merged with Victorian companyJohns & Waygoodto form Johns Perry Engineering.[9]The Mile End workshop closed three years later. Ten years later the company had no manufacturing capabilities in South Australia.[6]In 1986 the company was taken over byBoral.[10]As part of a company-wide rationalization, Boral decided to divest its engineering division and subsequently, Perry Engineering was sold to the Pope Electric Motors Group however, due to financial issues and lack of projects & contracts, Pope Electric Motors & Perry Engineering went into administration in 2000 and were subsequently liquidated.

In 2001, most buildings on site were demolished to allow construction of the Mile End Homemaker Centre, then in 2004/2005 the last remaining buildings were demolished to make way for stage 2 of the Homemaker Centre.[citation needed]

Output

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Products and projects

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Locomotives

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Proserpine MillNo 1 (1939) with a short chimney, the small sand boxes and the red and light lights on the smokebox door

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Advertising".The Advertiser.Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 26 October 1916. p. 5.Retrieved9 December2014.
  2. ^"Engineering Works".The Advertiser.Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 January 1934. p. 30.Retrieved8 December2014.
  3. ^"Martin & Co's Works".Bunyip.Gawler, SA: National Library of Australia. 16 April 1915. p. 2.Retrieved9 December2014.
  4. ^James Martin & Co Phoenix FoundryTown of Gawler
  5. ^"Tariff Revision".The News.Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 14 January 1925. p. 6 Edition: Home.Retrieved5 December2014.
  6. ^abSusan Marsden,'Perry, Sir Frank Tennyson (1887–1965)',Australian Dictionary of Biography,National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 9 December 2014
  7. ^Sugar cane transportLight Railway Research Society of Australia
  8. ^Cumming, D. A. and Moxham, G.They Built South AustraliaPublished by the authors February 1986.ISBN0 9589111 0 X
  9. ^abJohns Perry LimitedBoral
  10. ^"Johns Perry Limited (JPL)".deListed AUSTRALIA.Retrieved26 December2017.
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