Sir Edward Wheewall Holden (14 August 1885 – 17 June 1947) was an Australian industrialist who took his family carriage and saddlery business, Holden & Frost, into a partnership with

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

to create Australia's first automobile manufacturer, General Motors-Holden's Ltd.

Early years

Edward Holden was born at College Town (now St. Peters), the son of saddler and carriage-maker

Henry James Holden Henry James Holden (18 July 1859 – 6 March 1926) was an Australian businessman, a partner in Holden & Frost, which became the automobile manufacturer Holden. He was a longstanding member of the Kensington and Norwood Corporation, and served a ...

(1859–1926) and his wife Mary Ann (née Wheewall). He was educated at

Prince Alfred College , motto_translation = Do Brave Deeds and Endure , established = 1869 , type = Independent, single-sex, day & boarding , headmaster = David Roberts , chaplain = Reverend ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, where he graduated with a B.Sc. in 1905 and joined the family firm Holden & Frost.Healey, John (ed.) ''S.A. Greats: The Men and Women of the North Terrace Plaques'' Historical Society of South Australia 2003

Career

Edward saw the necessity for the firm to diversify into motor vehicles, initially maintaining and repairing (imported) automobile bodies then building motorcycle sidecars in a shed at the rear of the firm's

Grenfell Street Grenfell Street () is a major street in the north-east quarter of the Adelaide city centre, South Australia. The street runs west-east from King William Street to East Terrace. On the other side of King William Street, it continues as Currie S ...

premises. In 1917 the Australian Government introduced policies to restrict importation of fully manufactured motor cars to encourage the country's nascent automotive body building industry. Holden developed a relationship with America's

(as Adelaide contemporary T. J. Richards did with Chrysler) to fit bodies to imported chassis. In 1919 Edward (as managing director) and his father founded a company Holden's Motor Body Builders with a factory at 400 King William Street later occupied by A. G. Healing Ltd. In 1923, following the signing of an exclusive agreement in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

with General Motors by Edward Holden, a new factory was set up at 879–895 Port Road,

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, employing the latest in

production line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward c ...

technology. Automated mass-production techniques increased productivity spectacularly. Edward Holden introduced to the business new standards of scientific management,

cost accounting Cost accounting is defined as "a systematic set of procedures for recording and reporting measurements of the cost of manufacturing goods and performing services in the aggregate and in detail. It includes methods for recognizing, classifying, al ...

and production control. In close association with General Motors Export Co., Holdens established a dominant market position throughout mainland Australia. By 1929 the company employed 3,400 workers and was the biggest automotive bodybuilder in the British Empire. In October 1929 the plant closed temporarily for lack of continuous work, and in January 1930 Holden set out for the United States to discuss amalgamation with General Motors. In February 1931, General Motors offered £1,116,000 for Holden's, which was ultimately accepted. This reduced the cash burden of the merger for General Motors, while giving it complete control while maintaining an Australian character in name, ownership and management. Holden was appointed Executive Chairman of Directors and joint Managing Director of General Motors-Holden's Ltd. in August 1931 and later sole Managing Director. He was supplanted as managing director in 1934 by

Laurence Hartnett Sir Laurence John Hartnett CBE (26 May 18984 April 1986) was an engineer who made several important contributions to the Australian automotive industry, and is often called "The Father of the Holden". Childhood Hartnett was born into a middle-c ...

but remained Chairman until ill health forced his resignation in January 1947. The advent of World War II saw a rapid switch of the motor body building plant at Woodville to war production. Early in 1941 it was almost fully committed to war production, and it was employing 20% more people than were on the normal peacetime payroll. He became honorary Controller-General of Army Canteens in 1939–45 and visited troops in the Middle East. The profits from army canteens, which were immense, initially went to improve camp facilities and the surplus of around £2,000,000 realised by the end of the war was distributed by the Australian Military Forces Special Benefits Committee to organisations whose membership was restricted to service personnel. Holden was sued for damages and taking bribes, but the case lapsed for lack of evidence. Edward Holden was also prominent in many South Australian enterprises: *Adelaide Cement Co. (including chairman of directors) *Alma Shoes (including chairman of directors) *Australian Cotton Textile Industries Limited (ACTIL) *The

Bank of Adelaide The Bank of Adelaide was founded in 1865 in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was incorporated by an act of the Parliament of South Australia. The original directors of the company were Henry Ayers, Thomas Greaves Waterhouse, Robert B ...

* Colton, Palmer and Preston Ltd. (including chairman of directors) *

South Australian Brush Company Sabco is an Australian company specialising in cleaning and garden products. It was established in South Australia in 1892 as the South Australian Brush Company by W. E. Hay. It has been wholly owned by the American Libman Company since 2009. Sab ...

(SABCO) (including chairman of directors) *The Council of the

*South Australian Industries Assistance Corporation *

Adelaide Chamber of Commerce , merged = , successor = , formation = {{start date and age, 1839, df=y , founder = , founding_location = , extinction = , merger = {{plain list, * South Australian E ...

*The

National Safety Council The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressi ...

*The

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

South Australian Chamber of Manufactures The South Australian Chamber of Manufactures was founded in 1868 to promote manufacturing industries in the Colony and State of South Australia. Strongly Protectionist, it lobbied on such subjects as unionized labour, Federation, rail standardizatio ...

(and president from 1936 to 1939) *Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia.

Politics

He served for three years as councillor and alderman with the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

. In 1936 he was defeated in a bid to oust the sitting

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, J. R. Cain. In 1935 he was elected to the Central District No.2 seat in the

Legislative Council of South Australia The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...

made vacant by the death of

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's William Humphrey Harvey. Holden was a strong supporter of Premier Tom Playford's push to industrialize South Australia.

Honours

In the New Year's Honours List of 1946, he was created a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

Death

He died in North Adelaide of cerebro-vascular disease on 17 June 1947, aged 61, and was survived by his wife, Hilda May (née Lavis), a son and two daughters. One of those daughters was Senator Dame

Nancy Buttfield Dame Nancy Eileen Buttfield, ( Holden; 12 November 1912 – 4 September 2005) was an Australian Senator and the first woman to serve in the Australian Parliament as a representative of the state of South Australia. Early life Buttfield was ...

, the first woman to represent South Australia in the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

References