Wolseley, Frederick York (1837 - 1899)

Summary

Frederick Wolseley developed several versions of a sheep-shearing machine, and the first shed to be shorn completely mechanically in 1888 used the Wolseley machine. His business associate, Herbert Austin, designed and made the first Wolseley motor car.

Details

Born Kingstown, County Dublin, Ireland, 16 March 1837. Died London, 8 January 1899. Arrived Melbourne 1854, jackaroo, then Station Manager, Warbreccan Station outside Deniliquin 1854-59, Station Manager, Thule sheep station on the Murray River 1859-67, part-owner 1867-74, owner, Euroka station, near Walgett 1876, began experiments on a machine for shearing sheep 1868, first working model developed 1872, improved model demonstrated at the wool warehouse of Goldsbrough, Mort & Co. Ltd, Melbourne 1887, set up the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Co. Pty Ltd in Sydney 1887, with Wolseley and Herbert Austin as directors, Managing Director of the company in England 1889-94, resigned and returned to Australia 1894, returned to England 1898 for specialist medical help. Austin became Works Manager of the firm in England 1893, designed and made the first Wolseley motor car in 1895 and started the Austin Motor Co. in 1905.

Published resources

Book Sections

• Walsh, G. P., 'Wolseley, Frederick York (1837-1899), inventor' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 6: 1851 - 1890 R - Z, Bede Nairn, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1976), pp. 431-432. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wolseley-frederick-york-4881. Details

Edited Books

• Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 136 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA2_Anything%20is%20possible_0.pdf. 'Cutting it close - Frederick Wolseley' p.42. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q5499150. Details
• CA 5305 Patents Office, Victoria 1873 - 1904, 'NAA: A13150, 5097 [1887] : Improvements in overhead driving gear for sheep shearing machines', A13150 Specifications, examiners reports and correspondence relating to the Registration of Victorian Patents - Second system, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=9041183. Details
• CA 5305 Patents Office, Victoria 1873 - 1904, 'NAA: A13150, 3874 [1884] : Improvements in flexible driving gear', A13150 Specifications, examiners reports and correspondence relating to the Registration of Victorian Patents - Second system, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=9033453. Details
• CA 5305 Patents Office, Victoria 1873 - 1904, 'NAA: A13150, 3861 [1884] : Improvements in apparatus for shearing sheep', A13150 Specifications, examiners reports and correspondence relating to the Registration of Victorian Patents - Second system, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=9033444. Details
• 'Wolseley, Frederick York (1837-1899)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1467259. 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_w.html. Details
• Arthur, Ian, 'Technology and agriculture in Australia', ASHET News, 11 (1) (2018), 3-8. Details
• Ingpen, Robert, Australian inventions and innovations (Rigby Publishers Limited, 1982), 80 pp. "A Mechanical Shearing Machine" pp.29, 31-32. Details
• McCann, Joy; Churchward, Matthew, Victorian steampower : an illustrated social history (Melbourne, Vic.: Victoria Press, 1994), 179 pp. p.90. Details