![Robert Bunning 1936](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Robert_Bunning_1936.jpg)
Robert Bunning (13 December 1859 – 12 August 1936) was a
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
n businessman involved in the construction, timber, and sawmill industries. He co-founded Bunning Bros, predecessor to the modern-day retailer
Bunnings Warehouse
Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand.
Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...
.
Early life
Bunning was born in
Hackney, London, on 13 December 1859 to carpenter Joseph Bunning and his wife Jane, née Bain. Bunning became a carpenter's apprentice, travelling across London for work. The Bunning family moved to the U.S. city of Boston in 1872, where Joseph Bunning found work with church buildings. The Bunnings moved back to London, though Robert and his younger brother Arthur initially stayed in Chicago for work; by the 1880s they had returned to London to help their father erect a church spire.
In 1886 the two Bunning brothers travelled to
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
on , to visit their sister and brother-in-law.
They departed
Gravesend
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...
on 9 May, and arrived in Fremantle on 29 June.
The brothers had intended to travel on to California, but decided to stay in Australia.
Business
Robert and Arthur Bunning formed a partnership business, Bunning bros Brothers, in 1886, and soon won construction contracts from the
Western Australian government
The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...
for expansions to
Fremantle Lunatic Asylum
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
and
Roebourne's hospital. They built the
Weld Club
The Weld Club is a private male-only social club in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 1871 as a gentlemen's club, it is named after Frederick Weld, the chronologically first patron of the club and the Governor of Western Australia at the tim ...
and
Trinity Church in the early 1890s, as well as developing a large property portfolio, including four
brickworks
A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...
.
In 1896, Bunning Brothers was struggling to acquire
jarrah
''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...
timber due to a boom in exports. This led them to buy a timber mill in
North Dandalup in 1897, and later set up
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s across the state's
South West region.
Bunnings also became one of the largest exporters of
railway sleeper
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer ...
s in Western Australia.
Other roles and personal life
Bunning went to Scotland in 1889, where he married Georgina Taylor on 28 August at Strathdon, close to Aberdeen. They had two children before Georgina died in 1897. Five years later, Bunning married Helen Marion MacRae in Edinburgh, in October 1902, and they had five children.
Bunning was part of the Timber Merchants and Mill Owners' Association from near its inception . He became the association's president in 1904, a position he held until 1925, and was its representative on the executive of the
Western Australian Employers' Federation
The Western Australian Employers' Federation was an employers' organisation in Western Australia between 1913 and 1975.
It was a member of the Employers' Federation of Australia. As an employers advocacy group, the organisation was involved in ...
from 1917 to 1936. Bunning also had a role on the executive of the Sawmillers' Association, from when it started in 1913 until 1936.
Bunning died on 12 August 1936, while at a dinner celebrating his 50 years in business in Western Australia.
It was held at the
Palace Hotel, attended by around 50 WA business leaders, friends, and staff. After listening to various speaker lauding him, Bunning started his reply speech, but after approximately five minutes he collapsed, and was dead by the time a doctor attending the party had rushed to his side.
A crowded funeral was held on 14 August, and Bunning was buried in
Karrakatta Cemetery
Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...
's Presbyterian section. At probate, his estate was valued at £29,220. Bunning's sons
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
, Tom and Joe, took over the
family business.
Legacy
Bunning's business was expanded by his sons, listed as a public company in 1952, and taken over by
Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...
in 1994. The business, focused on
Bunnings Warehouse
Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand.
Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...
hardware stores, became a national and international brand, with stores across Australia and New Zealand,
and until 2018, the UK and Ireland.
The state's logging competition, organised by the Australia Day Sports Committee, named the 12in. standing block the Robert Bunning Memorial Cup, after Bunning.
Bunning, along with his brother and sons, was recognised as one of the most influential Western Australian businessmen in ''
The West Australian
''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...
'' 2013 list of the 100 most influential.
References
my head.
Further reading
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{{authority control
Australian businesspeople
Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery
1859 births
1936 deaths