Essington Lewis
LEWIS, Essington, HonFIEAust CPEng (1881-1961)
Essington Lewis was born in Burra and gained a degree in Mining Engineering from University of Adelaide in 1903. He started work for BHP the following year and remained with them for 50 years.
His biography, written by Geoffrey Blainey, is entitled The Steel Master: a Life of Essington Lewis. He had a significant influence on the steel industry, able to anticipate future needs, and by the end of the 1920s BHP was operating one of the cleanest, safest, and most cost-effective steel plants in the world.
In 1940 Sir Robert Menzies appointed Essington Lewis Director General of Munitions, and Director General of Aircraft with the responsibility of harnessing the nation’s entire manufacturing industry to the war effort.
In 1940 he received the bronze medal of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; in 1942 he was made an honorary member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers; he was awarded the Kernot medal by the University of Melbourne in 1943 and the Bessemer gold medal by the Iron and Steel Institute, London, the next year. Essington Lewis refused recommendation for a knighthood, but Prime Minister Curtin initiated Lewis's appointment in 1943 as Companion of Honour.
After the war he was associated with several important industrial projects in South Australia - the establishment of the long-range weapons project at Salisbury and Woomera, the foundation of shipyards and steelworks at Whyalla and the production of the first all-Australian manufactured car, the Holden, in 1948.
Essington Lewis was Chairman of BHP from 1950-1952.
He was added to the Engineers Australia South Australian Hall of Fame in 2015.
