List of South Australian manufacturing businesses

A list of manufacturing companies founded in South Australia, many now forgotten but "household names" in their day. It does not include local affiliates of multinational companies, such as General Motors Holden, Kelvinator and Philips Electrical Industries. Nor does it (yet) include food and beverage companies such as AMSCOL, Chapmans, Coopers, Glen Ewin and Haighs or pharmaceuticals and toiletries such as Bickfords, Cromptons and Fauldings.

Business
Name | Founded | Ceased | Founder/s | Factory address | SA-manufactured products | Notes

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Actil | 1941 |  |  | Actil Ave., Woodville | cotton fabric
bed sheets | for Australian Cotton Textile Industries Ltd.
Bagshaw Ltd. |  |  | John Stokes Bagshaw |  | farm machinery, inc. Ridley's "stripper" |
Castalloy | 1948 |  |  | 76 Mooringe Ave., North Plympton | aluminium alloy castings[1]
pressure cookers
alloy wheels |
Clipsal | 1920 |  | Alfred Gerard |  | electrical conduit fittings
mains plugs and sockets
switchgear |
Coldstream | 1926[2] |  | David Garvie | 82–86 Mary St., Unley | refrigerators |
Dobbie Dico | 1862 |  | A. W. Dobbie | Sultram Place, Adelaide | brass castings
water meters |
Entech Group  | 1986  |  |  | 7 Marlow Road, Keswick  | PCB's, membrane keypads, electronic products  |
Griffin Press | 1858 |  |  |  | contract printers | subsidiary of Advertiser Ltd.
Hills Industries | 1948 |  | Lance Hill | South Rd., Edwardstown | Hills hoists
TV antennae |
Horwood Bagshaw |  |  | Joel Horwood |  | farm machinery |
Humes |  |  | Walter Hume |  | concrete pipes |
James Martin & Co |  |  | James Martin |  | farm machinery
railway engines |
K.B.C. | c. 1947? |  | Kenneth Bowes | 17 Woodlands Tce., Edwardstown | die-cast parts for auto makers
hand-operated clothes wringer
pistol drills (240VAC and 32VDC models)[3]
domestic food mixers | for Kenneth Bowes Co.
Lightburn & Co |  |  | Albert Henry Lightburn |  | washing machines
hydraulic jacks
concrete mixers
Zeta cars |
May Brothers and Company |  |  | Alfred May
(John) Frederick May |  | mining machinery
farm machinery |
Metters | 1895? |  | Frederick Metters | 7–25 Manchester St., Mile End South | windpumps
wood stoves
gas stoves
bakers' ovens |
Minelab |  |  |  |  | metal detectors |
Perry Engineering | 1899 | 1969 | Samuel Perry |  | railway engines |
Pope Products | 1935 |  | Barton Pope | 13–23 Pope St., Beverley | garden sprinklers
washing machines
electric motors |
Rossi Boots | 1910 |  | Arthur Edward Rossiter | Dunn's Lane, Unley
now Churchill Road, Kilburn | boots and shoes | for Rossiters Ltd.
Sabco | 1892[4] |  |  | Betting St., Albert Park | brooms and brushes | for South Australian Brush Co.
Scott Bonnar & Co | 1920[2] |  | Scott Bonnar
Malcolm Cornelius Bonnar | Holland Street, Thebarton | brass castings
electric lawnmowers
hand mowers |
Simpson | 1853 |  | Alfred Simpson | 41–49 Pirie St., Adelaide
(later) Simpson Ave., Dudley Park | tinware
wood stoves
gas stoves
fireproof safes
washing machines |
Sola Optical |  |  |  |  | spectacle lenses |
Solver Paints | 1931 |  | W. P. Crowhurst | 95–97 Gouger St., Adelaide | house paints |
Sportco |  |  |  | 837 South Road, St. Marys | .22 rifles[5] | for Sporting Arms Ltd.
Wakefield Press | 1942 |  |  |  | books, esp. academic and SA history |
Wallis Refrigeration | 1935[2] |  | Hughie McKenzie Wallis | 136 South Rd., Richmond | kerosine refrigerators
electric refrigerators |
Mistral Appliances | 1968  |  |  |  | airfryers

kitchen appliances cooling systems

Gerard Lighting[6] |  |  | Simon Gerard |  | lighting appliances  |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Well, what is it?". The News. Vol. 61, no. 9, 457. South Australia. 1 December 1953. p. 19. Retrieved 4 January 2017 - via National Library of Australia.
2. ^ a b c "Big Variety in Electrical Appliances". The Advertiser. Vol. 94, no. 29, 142. South Australia. 6 March 1952. p. 13 (Royal Adelaide Exhibition Supplement). Retrieved 15 December 2016 - via National Library of Australia.
3. ^ "Advertising". The Chronicle. Vol. 92, no. 51, 194. South Australia. 7 July 1949. p. 12. Retrieved 15 December 2016 - via National Library of Australia.
4. ^ "About sabco".
5. ^ "Premier to see first mass-made shotguns". The News. Vol. 62, no. 9, 518. South Australia. 11 February 1954. p. 10. Retrieved 16 December 2016 - via National Library of Australia.
6. ^ Chappell, Trevor (1 August 2012). "Gerard Lighting shares soar 26 per cent". news.com.au. Retrieved 8 March 2022.