Essington Lewis, CH (13 January 18812 October 1961) was a prominent Australian industrialist. He was the Director-General of the

Department of Munitions The Department of Munitions was an Australian government department that existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948. Reporting to it was the Factory Board, which was in charge of the six Small Arms Ammunition Factories, along with a n ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Early life

Essington Lewis was born in

Burra, South Australia Burra is a pastoral centre and historic tourist town in the mid-north of South Australia. It lies east of the Clare Valley in the Bald Hills range, part of the northern Mount Lofty Ranges, and on Burra Creek. The town began as a single company ...

on 13 January 1881. His father was the pastoralist and politician

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

(1844–1923), founder of Bagot, Shakes & Lewis. He was named after

Port Essington Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...

, where his father owned a cattle property. He was educated at

St Peter's College, Adelaide , other_name = The Collegiate School of St Peter , seal_image = St Peter's College, Adelaide Logo.svg , seal_size = 150 , image = SPSC chapel and memorial hall.jpg , image_size ...

and the

South Australian School of Mines The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

Career

After joining

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

in 1904, he rose through the company ranks to become managing director in 1926 and chairman in 1950, a position he held until his death in 1961. For the whole of his period as M.D., he had a close working relationship and personal friendship with Chairman of Directors

Harold Gordon Darling John Darling and Son was an Australian wheat merchant and flour milling company founded in Adelaide, South Australia, for many years the largest in Australia. It was founded by John Darling Sr. (1831–1905), a businessman of Scottish origin, ...

(1885–1950). During his travels to Germany and Japan in the 1930s, he realised the threat of these countries to Australia. Accordingly, he helped establish the

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...

and many munitions facilities meaning Australia was better prepared for industrialisation when the war started in 1939. During

, he also served as Director-General of the

. He supported the establishment of the motor industry in Australia in 1948, being rewarded by being able to purchase the first commercially produced

Holden 48-215 The Holden 48-215 is a mid-size sedan which was produced by the Australian automaker Holden between November 1948 and October 1953. A coupe utility derivative, coded as the 50-2106 and marketed as the Holden Coupe Utility, was produced from J ...

. He was appointed a Member of the

Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. Founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire, it is sometimes ...

on 24 September 1943 for his work as Director - Munitions & Aircraft Production in WW2.

Personal life

In 1910, he married Gladys Rosalind Cowan, OBE, the only daughter of James Cowan. Their family consisted of five children – sons James Essington Lewis and Robert Brook Lewis OAM, and daughters Helen Clarke, Mary Munckton OAM and Jane Nevile. His sons were educated at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"(1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ty ...

and the daughters at the

Clyde School Clyde School was founded as a private girls' school in 1910 in Alma Road, St Kilda, Victoria, Australia by Isabel Henderson, a leading educationist of her day. It quickly gained a reputation for excellent academic results. The school was relocate ...

. Two children died in infancy - David and Janet. The family lived in

Malvern, Victoria Malvern () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington Local government areas of Victoria, loca ...

and owned a country property named "Landscape" near

Tallarook Tallarook is a town the Shire of Mitchell local government area in central Victoria, Australia. The town is in on the Hume Highway, north of the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Tallarook had a population of 789. Tallarook Post Office opene ...

in central Victoria. Robert Brook (1918–2009) is notable as being the Master of St Mark's College, University of Adelaide from 1957 to 1968 and the Master of Menzies College, La Trobe University from 1968 to 1970.SLSA, 2012, page 3.

Death

He died while riding his horse on his property "Landscape" near Tallarook on 2 October 1961, aged 80. Newspapers of the day claimed he suffered a heart attack. St John's Anglican Church, Toorak, was overflowing for his funeral; he was cremated.

Legacy

His life is the subject of several books, including ''The Steel-Master: a life of Essington Lewis'' by historian

Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...

, another by

Clive Turnbull Stanley Clive Perry Turnbull (22 December 1906 – 25 May 1975) was an Australian writer and journalist. He was born in Glenorchy in Tasmania. He joined '' The Mercury'' newspaper as a reporter in 1922 and then moved to Melbourne where he worke ...

and the musical play ''I am Work'' by John O'Donoghue. The Essington Lewis Memorial Lecture has been presented annually in South Australia since its establishment in 1975. It is funded by BHP and was instituted by the Adelaide Branch of the

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) provides services to professionals engaged in all facets of the global minerals sector and is based in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. History The Institute had its genesis in 1893 with ...

. One of

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks 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 with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Death

Legacy

Citations and references

Citations

References

Further reading and external links