Jack Wilson (1905–1972) was an Australian engineer. The company he founded, Wilson Transformer Company, continues to manufacture electrical

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

s in Australia.

Early life

Wilson was born on 16 May 1905 at Batley, Yorkshire in England. After school at Purlwell Council and Batley Grammar Schools, he was apprenticed to Ward & Co, a local electrical and mechanical engineering firm. He went on to be a draftsman and designer with Yorkshire Electric Transformer Company. In 1929, Wilson emigrated to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia and joined the Australian branch of the British Electric Transformer Co. in

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at the 2021 ...

. Four years later, he launched his own business in 1933. It had several homes before settling at

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

in 1938 as the Wilson Electric Transformer Co. Pty Ltd.

Wilson Transformer Company

Following World War II, in 1950 Wilson moved to a larger site at Glen Waverley in what was then an outer suburb surrounded by market gardens. He travelled frequently to England, New Zealand and Canada to keep abreast of new technology and forge relationships with international partners such as

Ferranti Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid system ...

. A second factory opened at

Clovelly Park Clovelly Park is an inner southern suburb of Adelaide in the local government area of the City of Marion. The suburb is bordered by Daws Road to the north, South Road to the east, Sturt Road to the south, and a combination of Percy Avenue and th ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in 1963 to build distribution transformers. A factory opened at

Wodonga Wodonga (pronounced ; ) is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury-Wodonga and is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga L ...

in 1981. Wilson Transformer Company is the largest Australian manufacturer of large transformers. The executive chairman is Jack Wilson's eldest son, Robert.

Personal life

Wilson's first marriage was on 17 June 1939 at All Saints Church of England in Saint Kilda, to Dulcie Dorothy Ann Howard. They divorced in 1946. He remarried on 3 September 1946 to Betty Evelyn Webster at Collins Street Independent Church in Melbourne. They had two sons and a daughter. During his first marriage, Wilson was commissioned as a lieutenant in the

Australian Militia The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

in December 1940, then transferred to the Australian Imperial Force on 7 August 1942 and promoted major in the Australian Army Ordnance Corps and transferred to the Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He served in the Middle East from May to December 1943 with the British 1st Armoured Division. He then performed staff and training duties in Australia before transferring to the Reserve of Officers on 20 June 1945. Wilson served as a councillor (1954–1957) and president (1956–1957) of Mulgrave Shire. He also had leading roles in many industrial and educational schools. He supplied equipment and prizes to the Department of Electrical Engineering at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, and is honoured by having the high voltage laboratory named after him. Wilson's health declined from 1966, and he died of a

coronary occlusion A coronary occlusion, or coronary artery disease, is the partial or complete Coronary artery disease, obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition was first discussed in 1910 by William Osler, Sir William Osler. This condition s ...

on 30 March 1972 at Glen Waverley.

Early life

Wilson Transformer Company

Personal life

References

Further reading