Sir Leonard Bingley Southward (20 September 1905 – 19 February 2004) was a New Zealand engineer, businessman, and vehicle collector. His collection of cars, motorcycles, speedboats and aircraft is now entrusted to the

Southward Car Museum The Southward Car Museum is an automobile museum and event centre in Otaihanga, New Zealand. It was established by Len Southward in the 1970s to house his collection of over 450 vehicles and several aircraft, and is now run by a charitable trust ...

in Paraparaumu.

Early life and family

Southward was born on 20 September 1905 in Wellington to English immigrant parents. His father was Philip Edmond Southward and his mother was Elizabeth Sarah . He received his education at

Te Aro Te Aro (formerly also known as Te Aro Flat) is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It comprises the southern part of the central business district including the majority of the city's entertainment district and covers the mostly fla ...

Primary School and aged 13, he started working. At first, he was a messenger boy. He married his first wife, Eileen Mitchell, in 1931. They later divorced, and in 1954 he married Vera Bellamore, who survived his death in 2004 along with two sons.

Career

Southward worked for a Wellington motor warehouse from 1919 to 1921. From 1921 to 1926, he was a motorcycle mechanic. From 1926 to 1928, he was a partner in a motorcycle repair business. From 1928 to 1939, he had his own business and from 1935, he specialised in repairing light cars. Shortages during World War II led him as an engineer to build and use his own steel tubing machinery. After the war, he built an

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

-powered speedboat called the "Redhead" and became well known in New Zealand for his speedboating prowess. He was the first person to exceed in Australasia in 1953. Three years later, he set a new record at . Southward went on to establish Southward Engineering in 1955, which developed from marine engineering into a large steel fabrication business. The company supplied automotive exhausts, racking, light-walled carbon steel and stainless steel tubing. After Southward's death, it was run by family members until being sold in 2006 to what is now Amari Metals Australia. The

had its genesis in the 1956 purchase of a

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

Honours

Southward was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 1978 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to the community. In the

1986 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1986 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor, for services in the community, especially the disabled.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southward, Len 1905 births 2004 deaths New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand collectors