The Sunshine Harvester works was an Australian factory making agricultural equipment founded by industrialist H. V. McKay, and with engineering development headed by H.B. Garde.
The Sunshine Harvester works was an Australian factory making agricultural equipment founded by industrialist H. V. McKay, and with engineering development headed by H.B. Garde.
Having established an agricultural implement works in Ballarat he moved his factory and many of his employees to Braybrook Junction, in 1906, where he had earlier purchased the Braybrook Implement Works (1904). He named the new enterprise the Sunshine Harvester Works after his Sunshine Harvester, which was one of his major products. The name "Sunshine" is assumed to have been given by McKay to his harvester works after he attended a lecture by the American evangelist Reverend Thomas De Witt Talmage who visited Victoria in 1894. [1] Another account holds that the name was suggested by James Menzies, who painted the first model. [2]
Through a revolutionary piece of marketing, this had gained a reputation as the first successful combine harvester in Australia. The factory became the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and, in its early stages, McKay successfully increased the concentration and efficiency of the workers: ‘between 1907 and 1910-11, McKay’s workforce expanded from just over 400 to around 1500’. [3] McKay rapidly expanded the factory to become the largest manufacturing plant in Australia and, at its peak, it employed nearly 3,000 workers. In 1907, following a residents' petition, the locality was officially renamed Sunshine in honour of the factory. [4] Housing for the Sunshine Harvester Works' employees swelled the local population and the town of Sunshine was touted as the "Birmingham of Australia". [5]
The Sunshine Harvester Works was also the site of a protracted industrial dispute in 1907, between McKay and the unions representing the Sunshine workers. While this was based on claims for wages and conditions, McKay also argued that he should continue to receive import protection. The case was heard before H. B. Higgins at the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in Melbourne between 7 October 1907 and 8 November 1907. Higgins heard evidence from employees and their wives regarding conditions at the factory and costs for supporting their families. In the Harvester Judgement, he obliged McKay to pay his employees a wage that guaranteed them a standard of living which was reasonable for "a human being in a civilised community", regardless of his capacity to pay. McKay successfully appealed this judgement, but it became the benchmark industrial decision which led to the creation of a minimum basic wage for Australian workers that dominated Australian industrial relations for the next 60 to 80 years. [6]
By the 1920s, the company was running the largest implement factory in the southern hemisphere, and had led the international agricultural industry through the development of the world's first self-propelled harvester in 1924.[ citation needed ] At the time of McKay's death in 1926, the factory covered 75 acres (30.4 hectares). [7] In 1930, the Canadian farm machinery manufacturer Massey Harris bought a controlling interest in H.V. McKay Pty Ltd, with the Australian operations of both firms being merged under the title H.V. McKay Massey Harris Pty Ltd. [7] Throughout World War II, H.V. McKay Massey Harris exported 20,000 Sunshine drills, disc harrows and binders to England, to facilitate an increase in food production. [8]
In the 1950s, the McKay family sold out to the newly-formed agricultural implement conglomerate Massey Ferguson, which was a combination of the Canadian and American interests of Massey Harris, and the British tractor firm of Harry Ferguson. However, from the 1970s, when many Australian-based manufacturing industries were experiencing financial difficulties, the business progressively contracted, and most of the factory was demolished in 1992, to make way for the development of the Sunshine Marketplace. [9] The former bulk store, factory gates and clock tower, [10] factory gardens, [11] and head office complex [12] are all listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
McKay's Sunshine Estate (now the eastern part of the suburb of Albion, part of greater Sunshine) is considered a pioneering development of a company town on the town planning principles of the Garden city movement. [13] [14] The principles of the Garden City movement were first developed in England by Ebenezer Howard in 1898 and re-applied in various contexts and forms.
According to The Oxford Dictionary of Human Geography, a Garden City is "a planned settlement designed to overcome the limitations of both town and country, by combining the best of both in free-standing, self-sufficient communities with ample parkland and public space." [15]
The main correlations between Howard’s ideas and H.V. McKay’s plan for the Sunshine Estate include, firstly, the formation of a plan for a new town on undeveloped rural land (including the provision of varied infrastructure), the development of housing on spacious lots, and the establishment of a central garden for the benefit of the public. These aspects combine to present an early Australian version of a Garden City, as well as the influence of an individual on the way in which Garden City principles were applied, and the direction of town planning in Australia.
The Garden City ideal came to Australia in the 1900s and the principles played out in various ways. H.V. McKay’s development at the then town of Sunshine, 12 km from the centre of Melbourne, exemplifies this and represents an "early Australian version of the Garden City ideal". [16] As was reported in The Burrowa News in May 1926, "Mr. McKay from the start took an active interest in Sunshine, and was lavishly spending money there to make the conditions of his employees as ideal as possible. A Garden City soon sprang up, having as its centre the great works of H.V. McKay Pty Ltd, which occupy more than 60 acres of ground, on which more than 30 are built on." [17]
The basic principles of the Garden City movement that evidently influenced McKay include: the development of an entirely new city on rural land, the development of housing on large plots, and that the centre of town should comprise and ornamental garden surrounded by civic buildings. [18] McKay’s plan for a model industrial town involved providing key infrastructure and services, including "electric lighting, parklands, recreation areas, public buildings, land for school and library, and housing for employees." [19]
McKay also established the Sunshine Gardens (today called the H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens) adjacent to the factory, which was "central to his vision of a garden suburb to house a contented and respectable workforce whose life would revolve around work, church, sport, and horticulture." [20] Bampton says ‘these gardens are a remnant of the ordered, controlled world dominated by McKay and his factory’. [21] McKay maintained the gardens for the benefit of the community, providing for entertainment and outdoor recreation.
Furthermore, Garden City principles are evident in the employee housing on Leith Avenue – the project developed by McKay and financed through the State Savings Bank, including twenty-eight homes designed by Burridge Leith [22] According to the Brimbank City Council, ‘the spaciousness of the lay-out of Leith Avenue suggests the influence of Garden City planning principles’. [23] Lastly, this segment from Australian Home Builder in 1926 demonstrates the significance of Sunshine to the wider Garden City movement in Australia and the attractiveness of Garden City ideals as a means of overcoming the limitations of urban life:
If a cluster of outer suburbs could be ringed around Melbourne, all planned and developed with the prescience and system that has been exercised in Sunshine, there would be no grounds for fearing the growth of new slums that now haunt many once-promising districts. Sunshine today illustrates how pleasant and secure life can be made when a powerful industrial concern undertakes the housing of its employes [sic].
— Australian Home Builder (1925) [24]
Sunshine provides an interesting example of the way in which the Garden City idea filtered down to Australia, and the form in which the foundational principles were applied. H.V. McKay was, undoubtedly, an individual who had yielded influence on the manner and form in which the principles were applied and adapted to the Australian context in the early 1900s. Moreover, examination of the relationship between Garden City principles and McKay’s plan, including the early increase in industrial efficiency that the development of Sunshine facilitated, points to social and cultural changes that were occurring at the time. As such, Sunshine holds an important place in Australian industrial and planning history.
Albury–Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New South Wales, while Wodonga on the south bank is in Victoria.
Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in Toronto, then Brantford, Ontario, Canada, until 1988. The company transferred its headquarters in 1991 to Buffalo, New York, U.S. before it was acquired by AGCO, the new owner of its former competitor Allis-Chalmers. Massey Ferguson is among several brands in a portfolio produced and marketed by American industrial agricultural equipment conglomerate AGCO and a major seller in international markets around the world.
The City of Brimbank is a local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the western suburbs between 10 and 20 km west and northwest from the Melbourne city centre.
Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km (2 mi) south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a population of 17,633 at the 2021 census.
Deer Park is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km (11 mi) west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. Deer Park recorded a population of 18,145 at the 2021 census.
Keilor is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km (9.9 mi) north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank and Hume local government areas. Keilor recorded a population of 5,906 at the 2021 census.
Sunshine is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. Sunshine recorded a population of 9,445 at the 2021 census.
Sunshine railway station is located on the Sunbury line in Victoria, Australia. Originally named Braybrook Junction for the convergence of the major railways from central Melbourne to Ballarat and Bendigo, it was renamed when the suburb of Sunshine, which it serves, took its name from the nearby Sunshine Harvester Works. With the expansion of the railway network in Melbourne's west, Sunshine grew in importance, with cross-suburban goods routes constructed to Newport and from the adjacent Albion to Jacana line. From the mid-20th century, it became an interchange for the main interstate routes to South Australia and New South Wales, when the through line from Melbourne to Sydney was completed, although the main line to Adelaide was later diverted. In the early 21st century, the station was demolished and reconstructed to serve the diversion of the main passenger route to Geelong and beyond. It has been identified as a possible route for a future line to Melbourne Airport and as an interchange for the orbital Suburban Rail Loop.
Ardeer railway station is located on the Serviceton line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the western Melbourne suburb of Ardeer, and originally opened on 2 April 1929.
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture. Ebenezer Howard first posited the idea in 1898 as a way to capture the primary benefits of the countryside and the city while avoiding the disadvantages presented by both. In the early 20th century, Letchworth, Brentham Garden Suburb and Welwyn Garden City were built in or near London according to Howard's concept and many other garden cities inspired by his model have since been built all over the world.
Albion is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km (8.7 mi) west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Brimbank local government area. Albion recorded a population of 4,334 at the 2021 census.
Hugh Victor McKay was an Australian industrialist who is known for heading the company that developed the Sunshine Harvester, arguably the first commercially viable combine harvester. He subsequently established the Sunshine Harvester Works, which became one of Australia's largest manufacturers of agricultural equipment.
Ex parte H.V. McKay, commonly referred to as the Harvester case, is a landmark Australian labour law decision of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. The case arose under the Excise Tariff Act 1906 which imposed an excise duty on goods manufactured in Australia, £6 in the case of a stripper harvester, however if a manufacturer paid "fair and reasonable" wages to its employees, it was be excused from paying the excise duty. The Court therefore had to consider what was a "fair and reasonable" wage for the purpose of the act.
Dame Hilda Mabel Stevenson was an Australian philanthropist and community worker. She was the daughter of Hugh Victor McKay, a combine harvester inventor. She was the trustee and founder of the Sunshine Foundation.
Sunshine Marketplace is a regional shopping centre in Sunshine, about 13 kilometres (8 mi) west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It has been built next to the existing Sunshine Plaza.
The Housing Commission of Victoria was a Victorian State Government body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1938, and was abolished in 1984.
Stony Creek is located in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs through the suburbs of St Albans, Albion, Sunshine, Braybrook, Tottenham, Brooklyn, Kingsville and Yarraville.
Pelaco was an Australian clothing manufacturer based in Melbourne. Pelaco is best known for its men's shirts. The Pelaco sign over its former factory in Richmond is a Heritage Victoria listed landmark.
Meadowbank Manufacturing Company was an Australian manufacturer in Meadowbank, New South Wales.
The H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens, originally the Sunshine Gardens, are a public space located in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1909, the Gardens are Australia's oldest remaining industrial garden and one of only two remaining in Australia, the heritage-listed gardens on Anderson Road were established by H.V. McKay as Sunshine Gardens later taken over by Brimbank City Council and renamed the H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens. The development of the gardens was not only an expression of H.V. McKay's own social philosophy but also represented a changing attitude to Urban Planning that is known as the "Garden Suburb" movement. A Friends Group was established in 2007 to rescue the Gardens from serious decline and in April 2012, local residents were campaigning to preserve the original state of the public space.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)Coordinates: 37°46′52″S144°49′55″E / 37.781°S 144.832°E