Fred Bult, Factory Foreman, Sunshine Harvester Works (1881-1955)

Summary

Biography of Fred Bult who worked for Sunshine Harvester Works between 1894 and 1945.

Fred was born in 1881 in Ballarat. He was one of 12 children. After finishing school, Fred joined the Sunshine Harvester Works in 1894. The company was based in Ballarat at the time. When Fred started, the factory was powered by a horse works and his first job was to drive two ponies. He also tended to and fed the horses. Earning 4/- per week, Fred's day commenced at 6 a.m. and finished at 9 p.m.

When steam power replaced the horse works, Fred was appointed stoker to a boiler, earning him 10/- per week. When a drought hit Victoria in 1902, many workers were laid off except for Fred who was the only machinist in the company at the time.

Following the company's purchase of the Braybrook Implement Works in 1904, Fred became an advance agent and then worked in various machining departments. He became a factory foreman, a position he held for 42 years. When Fred retired from the company in June 1945, he was the longest-serving employee having worked there for 51 years. Fred passed away in Footscray in 1955, aged 73.

Fred was one of many family members who worked for the Sunshine Harvester Works. Fred's father Walter William joined the Sunshine Harvester Works in 1897, while six of his brothers were also employed by the company. The Bults had the longest association with the company, beginning in the 1890s until the 1960s. Four generations of the family accumulated over 500 years of service to the firm. D.B Ferguson, an executive at Sunshine Harvester Works, jokingly likened the family to cockroaches, 'every time you turn something over you find one!' (Sunshine Review, September 1952, p.10).

References:
1. 'Hats Off to Freddy Bult', Sunshine Review, 1943, vol.1, no.1, p.1.
2. 'Retirement', Sunshine Review, 1945, vol.2, no.3, p.8.
3. '447 Not Out!', Sunshine Review, 1946, vol.3, no.6, p.4.
4. 'It's a Family Affair', Sunshine Review, 1952, no.17, p.10-11.
5. Victoria, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages. Digger - Death Index. Victoria 1921-1985.
6. Victoria, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages. Digger - Pioneer Index. Victoria 1836-1888.