Perry Engineering

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 (1864–1930) purchased from the estate of James Wedlock (1842–1898) 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;^[1] by 1916 it was known as "Perry Engineering Coy".^[2] In 1915 he purchased the James Martin & Co. works in Gawler (once the "Phoenix Foundry") 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,^[3] as may have the World War which was then consuming capital and manpower. Their 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 (1887–1965) as works manager at Mile End around 1918;^[4] In 1930, on the death of his uncle, Frank took over the company, which in 1937 was registered as Perry Engineering Co. Ltd.^[5]

During World War II he converted much of the factory to manufacture munitions and defence equipment. He established a heavy steel manufacturing plant in Whyalla in 1958, and expanded the factory at Mile End.^[6]

In 1966 Perry Engineering merged with Victorian company Johns & Waygood; the Mile End workshop closed three years later. Ten years later the company had no manufacturing capabilities in South Australia.^[5]

References