LYSAGHT AUSTRALIA CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF LOCAL MANUFACTURING LEADING AUSTRALIAN STEEL BUILDING PRODUCTS COMPANY, LYSAGHT, IS CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF LOCAL MANUFACTURING— AN IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENT THAT GOES AGAINST THE TREND OF OFFSHORING, WHICH HAS PREVAILED IN AUSTRALIA DURING RECENT DECADES. WHILE THE CURRENT LYSAGHT RANGE COVERS ROOFING AND WALLING, ARCHITECTURAL CLADDING, GUTTERING, FASCIA AND RAINWATER GOODS, FENCING AND SCREENING, STEEL SECTIONS, FORMWORK AND FRAMING, PATIOS, CARPORTS AND STRUCTURES, IT’S UNDOUBTEDLY CORRUGATED IRON THAT IT’S LONG BEEN KNOWN FOR. THIS STEEL BUILDING PRODUCT HAS BEEN USED ON EVERYTHING FROM THE ROOFS AND BULL-NOSE VERANDAS OF HERITAGE HOMES, THROUGH TO SHEARING SHEDS AND OUTBACK DUNNIES, AND MORE RECENTLY IN EN VOGUE ARCHITECTURAL BUILDINGS.
REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS
For any lover of history, the 1850s was a pivotal and powerful decade. From a manufacturing perspective, the era marked the end of the industrial revolution, where production methods changed from manmade to mechanised, and mass production. With this insurgency came innovation and visionaries. One of these was a 25-year-old ardent Irishman by the name of John Lysaght. As demands for factory and warehousing needs grew in England, John developed his expertise in galvanizing and corrugating iron sheeting in Bristol during 1857. Durable, versatile, lustrous and resistant to rust, the product was trademarked as ORB. At the same time, Australian immigration boomed due to the gold rush era. The influx of people hoping to find their luck as prospectors created the beginnings of modern cities and a need for construction – both residential and commercial. That’s why, after satisfying demand in the United Kingdom which was being fuelled by the Industrial Revolution, Lysaght turned his attention
to export markets, namely Australia. John saw huge opportunities arising from the gold rush of the late 1800s, and he began exporting to the colony soon afterwards. Initially ORB was sold across Australia through independent merchants until John established his own distribution company, the Victorian Galvanised Iron and Wire Company. By 1913, some 80,000 tonnes of ORB had found its way across the Equator to our shores from Bristol, England. NAVIGATING THE WORLD WARS
The next challenge the company encountered was World War I, which saw compulsory redirection of production capacity to assist the war effort. This devastated local supply and highlighted the need for a local production presence in Australia. Within three months of the war commencing, the company (now under the direction of John Lysaght’s nephew Herbert Royse Lysaght in Australia) was making arrangements to purchase 24 acres of land in Newcastle, New South
