Perry Engineering was a major foundry and steel engineering works in the state of
South Australia.
History
Perry Engineering had its origins in 1899 when
Samuel Perry
Samuel Frederick Perry (29 June 1877 – 19 October 1954), was a Labour and Co-operative politician in the United Kingdom. He was the father of the British tennis and table tennis champion Fred Perry.
Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Sam Perry bega ...
purchased from the estate of
James Wedlock
James Wedlock (22 March 1842 – 30 October 1898) was an ironmaster in the early days of Adelaide, South Australia
Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list ...
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 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 Henry Dutton may refer to:
* Henry Dutton (politician) (1796–1869), American politician, governor of Connecticut
* Henry Dutton (pastoralist) (1844–1914), pastoralist in South Australia
* Henry Hampden Dutton (1879–1932), his son, South Austra ...
of
Anlaby. The company had recently lost a major contract for locomotives, which may have affected the price, as may have
World War I which was then consuming capital and manpower.
James Martin's locomotive manufacturing business was also being challenged by the state-owned
Islington 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; In 1930, on the death of his uncle, Frank took over the company, which in 1937 was registered as Perry Engineering Co. Ltd.
Perry Engineering built locomotives for the
Commonwealth Railways,
South Australian Railways 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, ...
and nine for the rebuilding of
Silvan Reservoir.
During
World War II 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 in 1958, and the factory at Mile End expanded. In 1947 the company became a
public company. In the 1950s, it manufactured mechanical presses for
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
,
Ford and
Holden
Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...
.
[Johns Perry Limited](_blank)
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 Australia's largest building and construction materials supplier, with market-leading positions in quarries, cement, concrete and asphalt. Boral is actively pursuing a decarbonisation strategy through recycling of demolition ma ...
.
Output
Products and projects
* Anzac Class Frigates - Stabilizers & Rudders
* Bushmaster PMV - (Prototype built in 1995/6, project then sold to ADI Limited
Thales Australia (formerly Australian Defence Industries and ADI Limited) is a defence contractor based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the French defence technology conglomerate Thales Group.
Thales Australia had been engaged in numerous pr ...
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
Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...
, Goldsbrough House, Yallourn W Power Station
*Metal Castings & Forgings
*TACLOP aircraft freight loading system
Locomotives
*Commonwealth Railways KA class
The Commonwealth Railways KA class was a class of tender locomotives of the Commonwealth Railways, Australia. The class operated on the Trans-Australian Railway.
History
Between September 1918 and June 1920, Commonwealth Railways took delive ...
- 6
* South Australian Railways F class (1902) - 10
*Tasmanian Government Railways Q class
The Tasmanian Government Railways Q class was a class of 4-8-2 steam locomotives operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.
History
In 1922/23, the Tasmanian Government Railways took delivery of six 4-8-2 locomotives from Perry Engineering, ...
- 6
* Tasmanian Government Railways R class - 4
*Industrial steam locomotive
An industrial steam locomotive is a type of steam locomotive which primarily ran on industrial railways to serve a company by transporting or assisting the manufacturing products of that particular company's produce. Industrial railways often tra ...
s, (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 known a ...
) - 4
** Proserpine Mill No 1 (1939)
** ''Chiverton'' at Kalamia
Kalamia is a municipal department of the city of Kozani in northern Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located a ...
(1938)
** ''Carstairs'' at Inkerman Mill
** ''Tully'' at North Eton No 6 (1941)
See also
* List of South Australian manufacturing businesses
References
{{Reflist
Defunct manufacturing companies of Australia
Engineering companies of Australia
Defunct locomotive manufacturers of Australia
Australian companies established in 1899
Australian companies disestablished in 1969
Manufacturing companies established in 1899
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1969
Foundries in Australia