Perry Engineering was a major foundry and steel engineering works in the state of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
History
Perry Engineering had its origins in 1899 when Samuel Perry purchased from the estate of James Wedlock the Cornwall Foundry on Hindley Street, renaming it the Victoria Foundry. He leased or purchased a nearby property on North Terrace and there established a bridge and girder factory. He purchased a large block of land at
Mile End
Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...
with potential for a private
railway siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch line, or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end. Sidings often have lighte ...
and around 1911 established the factory there, by 1916 it was known as Perry Engineering.
In 1915, Perry purchased the
James Martin & Co
James Martin & Co was an Australian engineering company which progressed from making agricultural equipment to making railway locomotives.
History
James Martin & Co. was founded in Gawler, South Australia in around 1848 by James Martin as a ...
Phoenix Foundry works in
Gawler
Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...
Anlaby
Anlaby is a village forming part of the western suburbs of Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Anlaby with Anlaby Common.
History
Anlaby is recorded in the ''Domesday Book'' as "U ...
. The company had recently lost a major contract for locomotives, which may have affected the price, as may have
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
which was then consuming capital and manpower.
James Martin's locomotive manufacturing business was also being challenged by the state-owned
Islington Railway Workshops
The Islington Railway Workshops are railway workshops in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. They were the chief railway workshops of the South Australian Railways, and are still in operation today.
Perry Engineering built locomotives for the
Commonwealth Railways
The Commonwealth Railways were established in 1917 by the Government of Australia with the Commonwealth Railways Act to administer the Trans-Australia and Port Augusta to Darwin railways. It was absorbed into Australian National in 1975.
O ...
,
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the statutory corporation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Aust ...
and
Tasmanian Government Railways
The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Na ...
. It also built 19 locomotives for Queensland sugar cane line operators. The Victorian State Rivers & Water Supply Commission purchased eight for construction of the Hume Weir and nine for the rebuilding of
Silvan Reservoir
The Silvan Reservoir is located in Silvan about east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It has a capacity of . The reservoir is operated by Melbourne Water.
Operations
Silvan is an off-stream storage reservoir, meaning that most of the water ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
much 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.
A heavy steel manufacturing plant was established in
Whyalla
Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta i ...
in 1958, and the factory at Mile End expanded. In 1947 the company became a
public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( ...
. In the 1950s, it manufactured mechanical presses for Chrysler,
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
and Holden.Johns Perry Limited Boral
In 1966 Perry Engineering merged with Victorian company Johns & Waygood to form Johns Perry Engineering. The Mile End workshop closed three years later. Ten years later the company had no manufacturing capabilities in South Australia.Susan 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 In 1986 the company was taken over by Boral. 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.
Bushmaster PMV
}
The Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle or Infantry Mobility Vehicle is an Australian-built four-wheel drive armoured vehicle. The Bushmaster was primarily designed by the then government-owned Australian Defence Industries (ADI), and is curr ...
- (Prototype built in 1995/6, project then sold to ADI Limited sometime around 1996 when Boral divested its engineering division)
* Collins Class Submarines - Hull Segments 300 & 600, Interior Platforms, Drinking Water Piping & Storage Tanks & Thrust Bearings
*Construction Equipment - Trenchers, Tractor Cranes & Crane Borers
*Cranes - (Travelling, Portal, Container & Tractor cranes)
*Controllable-pitch propellers - Joint-venture with Lips N.V of Holland
*Elevators & escalators
* Northern Power Station - Electrostatic Precipitators & Structural Steel
* Olympic Dam Mine Project
*Paper Machines (Contract manufacturing of paper machines for Beloit)
*Perry-Hitachi Reclaimers
*Structural Steelwork - Adelaide Festival Centre, Goldsbrough House, Yallourn W Power Station
*Metal Castings & Forgings
*TACLOP aircraft freight loading system
South Australian Railways F class (1902)
The South Australian Railways F class is a class of 4-6-2T steam locomotives operated by the South Australian Railways.
History
The F class hauled the majority of Adelaide's suburban passenger trains from its introduction in 1902. The first 22 w ...
Tasmanian Government Railways R class
The Tasmanian Government Railways R class was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.
History
In 1923, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of four 4-6-2 locomotives from Perry Engineerin ...
0-6-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of no leading wheels, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The type is sometimes kno ...
) - 4
** Proserpine Mill No 1 (1939)
** ''Chiverton'' at Kalamia (1938)
** ''Carstairs'' at
Inkerman
Inkerman ( uk, Інкерман, russian: Инкерман, crh, İnkerman) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but '' de jure'' within Ukraine. It li ...
List of South Australian manufacturing businesses
A list of manufacturing companies founded in South Australia, many now forgotten but "household names" in their day. It does not include local affiliates of multinational companies, such as General Motors Holden, Kelvinator and Philips Electrical ...