Huddart Parker

"Huddart Parker Limited" was an Australian shipping company trading in various forms between 1876 and 1961. It was one of the seven major coastal shippers in Australia at a time when shipping was the principal means of interstate and trans-tasman transport. The company started in Geelong, but in 1890 shifted its offices to Melbourne. By 1910 Huddart Parker had grown to rank 24th of the top 100 companies in Australia by asset value.

The company was founded on August 1, 1876 in Geelong as Huddart, Parker & Co. Pty. Ltd, by James Huddart, T.J. Parker, John. Traill, and Captain T. Webb. Earlier, in the 1850s, James Huddart's uncle, Captain Peter Huddart had made his fortune importing coal for use in the Victorian goldfields. He was the first major operator handling coal from the port of Geelong. Mr. T.J.Parker, was a merchant who arrived in Geelong from London in 1853. The trading activities each built up through the gold-rush era and beyond led to a linking of the businesses of their descendants and successors, to become Huddart Parker & Company.

After 1876 Huddart Parker expanded rapidly. By 1886 it had inaugurated the Melbourne-Adelaide shipping service and in 1882 entered the Sydney Melbourne trade. During the early 1890s its steamers were running to the principal ports of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, and in 1893 it was also trading with ports in New Zealand.

One of the original directors, John Traill, had survived the other directors by 1886, and remained chairman until his death at 92, in 1916.

By 1890, Traill had moved the company from offices on the wharves at Geelong to 466 Collins Street, in the heart of Melbourne.

The company registered in Victoria in 1889 as a proprietary company and converted to a public company in 1911.

In 1921 Huddart Parker came to an agreement with the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand to establish a joint venture operation on the Bass Strait where both companies owned a 50% stake in the company Tasmanian Steamers

During World War I five of the company's vessels were requisitioned for the war. Then again in World War II three of the company's passenger ships, Zealandia, Westralia and Wanganella were pressed into war service.

Huddart Parker was finally taken over by Bitumen and Oil Refineries Australia Limited in October 1961

Notable ships owned by Huddart Parker

* SS "Coogee", purchased in 1888 for the Bass Strait trade
* SS "Nelson", purchased in 1890, sunk on its first voyage, at the mouth of the Tamar River.
*, Trans-Tasman passenger steamer, sunk north of New Zealand in 1902, with a large amount of gold on board.
* "Zealandia", 1910-42, notable cargo and passenger vessel which served as a troopship in both World War I and World War II, sunk in the air raids on Darwin, February 19, 1942.
* "Westralia", Trans-Tasman liner, in service from 1929 to 1960; requisitioned for war service in 1939.
* TSMV "Wanganella", Trans-Tasman liner, in service from 1933 to 1962

References

* Barker, Anthony (2001), What Happened When: A Chronology of Australia from 1788, Allen & Unwin, ISBN 1-86508-426-3
* Merrett, David (2000), Business Institutions and Behaviour in Australia, Routledge (UK), ISBN 0-7146-4994-5
* Plowman, Peter (2004), Ferry to Tasmania, Rosenberg Publishing, ISBN 1-877058-27-0
* [http://mns.ewebs.com/index.php?id=13,0,0,1,0,0 Australia's Merchant Navy: Huddart Parker]
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