Perry Engineering was a major foundry and steel engineering works in the state of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
.
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 an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is east of Charing Cross. Situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road ...
with potential for a private railway siding and around 1911 established the factory there, by 1916 it was known as Perry Engineering.
In 1915, Perry purchased the James Martin & Co Phoenix Foundry works in Gawler from the estate of the owner Henry Dutton of Anlaby. 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
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-Australian Railway, Trans-Australia and Adelaide-Darwin railway, Port Augusta to Darwin railways. In 1 ...
,
South Australian Railways
South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation 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 Australian Natio ...
and Tasmanian Government Railways. 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
Hume Dam, formerly the Hume Weir, is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
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 is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's 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 ...
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 share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
. In the 1950s, it manufactured mechanical presses for
Chrysler
FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...
Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...
.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
Boral Limited is an Australian building and construction materials company. It is owned by Seven Group Holdings.
History
Boral was founded by David Craig on 4 March 1946 as Bitumen and Oil Refineries (Australia) Limited with Ampol, Caltex havi ...
. 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.
Output
Products and projects
* Anzac Class Frigates - Stabilizers & Rudders
* Bushmaster PMV - (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