Holden Retirees Club

GM-H History and Management

Mostly 1931 to Present  

General Motors-Holden's Ltd was formed in 1931 by the merger of General Motors Australia Pty Ltd and Holden Motor Body Builders. By 1931, almost 70% of the output of the HMBB's factory in Adelaide was being used by GMA, and it was decided that the time was appropriate for a consolidation of the interests of the two firms. Thus General Motors-Holden's Limited came into being. The merger was completed and the concern was capitalised at £1,550,000, of which over £500,000 was held by some 1,600 Australian Shareholders.

The Company was controlled by a local Board of Directors, consisting of the Chairman, Mr. E. W. Holden; the Managing Direcror, Mr. L. J. Hartnett, two direcrors representing other Shareholders - Sir Wallace Bruce and Sir John Butters, and five operating Directors: Mr. J. R. McKenzie, Director of Finance; Mr. V. l. Sunners, Director of Sales; Mr. John Storey, Director of Manufacturing; Mr. J. J. Welker, Director of Service; and Mr. J. R. Holden, Director of Body Division at Woodville, S.A.

There have been many official and unofficial histories of GM-H published over the years, some of which appear below, along with memories of some of the management team from along the way.

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 The Holden Family Studies.

Neil Pogson has made use of the Covid-19 lockdowns to produce a series of studies of the major members of the Holden family. In particular, "James Alexander Holden - a corrected history" is a major study of the commercial life of James Alexander Holden which reveals that much of the published early history of Holden has been incorrect, including the year of his arrival and starting in business, and the location of his first business. 

Click here to read a shortened version of the extensive James Alexander Holden story, or Click Here to go to the full set of studies.

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 The diaries of Frank Daley, Production Engineer

Frank Daley - Production Engineer, served in many senior roles in Woodville, was involved heavily in the introduction of all steel bodies, was Master Mechanic and Chief Inspector. In Fishermens Bend he was assistant to L J Hartnett, responsible for the mechanical and electrical installations at the new Fishermens Bend plant. He spent some years overseas for GMH, dealing with vendors of new techniques and equipment, particularly in preparation for 48-215 production and later, when he joined Frigidaire and Kelvinator Australia. His wartime contributions drew recognition from Prime Ministers and captains of industry alike. The friendships he made with key Government officials during this period undoubtedly 'greased the wheels' for GMH's approvals to build the new car.  One legacy he left is a history of GMH, an unpublished manuscript of which some roneod copies exist (one on our website!). He was a sought after lecturer and organiser of education classes for tradesmen, and an inaugural lecturer for the Government's Industry Mobilisation Course.

A man of huge influence and ability, a proven asset to GMH and Australian industry,  but largely forgotten these days. A number of his dairies have recently turned up, and there is now a page dedicated to telling his story.

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Recently, some important collections of files have come to light, and are now presented here:

- The Hartnett Papers: These files belonged to L J Hartnett personally and for many years have been kept in a safe at GMH headquarters in Melbourne marked for his eyes only, so were obviously important to him.  They reflect mainly on the  arrangements for his arrival in Australia, and later, the circumstances of his dismissal from the post of Managing Director of GMH, a position he did not relinquish easily. Click here

- The Australian Manufacturing Files: Correspondence between General Motors-Holden and the Australian Government, detailing many of the steps that eventuated in the design and manufacture of the 48-215 Holden. Click here

- The MD Directives and Bulletins: L.J. Hartnett started a practice of issuing MD's Directives to Senior Staff on more confidential and organisational matters.  Some 29 of these are listed here.

He also issued MDs Bulletins on less confidential matters, which practice was followed by his successors.  Some 200 plus Bulletins are available here.

- A History of the Social Centre at Fishermans Bend - by eminent Holden historian,  Don Loffler. A look back at the significant part that this building has played in Holden's history, being the venue of events ranging from the most significant announcement ever made by Holden, to employee Supper dances.  Available here.

- Milestones: Lists and data of the milestones of vehicle production.

This page is divided into five sections (use links below):

Publications

Photo Albums

Training Photos

Photographs 

Documents

Phone Books

Managing Directors of GMH related companies

Publications    

Photo Albums

(Some large downloads here - In a few cases you may see a notice saying that the file is too big to preview or virus scan.  However if you just click the download link you will be able to view the file.  All files are virus free.):

Phone Books

Management Training Sessions

 Photographs: