Person
Austin, Herbert (1866 - 1941)
Baron
- Born
- 8 November 1866
Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England - Died
- 23 May 1941
Lickey Grange, Worcestershire, England - Occupation
- Engineer
Summary
Herbert Austin worked for Frederick York Wolseley from c.1885, rising from foreman to chairman of directors (from 1911). He designed and made the first Wolseley motor car in 1895 and in 1905 he started the Austin Motor Co.
Details
Born Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England, 8 November 1866. Died Lickey Grange, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, 23 May 1941. KBE 1917, Baron. Arrived Melbourne 1884, apprenticed to Henry Langlands junior in a foundry, after completing his indentures became foreman in R.P. Park's engineering works, which carried out the first commercial order for production of shearing machine handpieces for Frederick York Wolseley (q.v.), suggested improvements which resulted in his appointment as foreman of Wolseley's plant in Melbourne, Wolseley's Sydney office 1888-93, production manager of the Wolseley company at Birmingham 1893-1901, Wolseley's board of directors from 1901, chairman from 1911, general manager of Vickers Sons & Maxim which took over the machine tools and motor car side of Wolseley's 1901-05, started his own manufacturing company 1905. Member, Labour Resettlement Committee 1919-25. In 1936 gave £250,000 to finance the scientific work of Lord Rutherford (q.v.) at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge.
Related entries
Published resources
Book Sections
- Gibbney, H. J., 'Austin, Herbert (Baron Austin) (1866-1941), engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 62-63. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030064b.htm. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q333855. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/29526745. Details
- 'Austin, Herbert (1866-1941)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1468660. Details
See also
- Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_a.html. Details
McCarthy, G.J.
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 2 March 2018
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education