Summary

Biography of J.K (Ken) Gaunt, Director Engineering at Massey-Ferguson (Australia).

Since joining the Sunshine Harvester Works in 1946, Ken Gaunt was closely associated with the company's Engineering Department and had a strong knowledge of the agricultural sector. As a young man, Gaunt spent seven years working the land in the Riverina district. In 1934 he returned to England and studied agricultural science. He received a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) degree from Leeds, a National Diploma of Dairying at Glasgow and Diploma of Rural Economy in Agricultural Engineering at Oxford. He gained employment as a Senior Scientific Officer with the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering in the United Kingdom. He was also Agricultural Machinery Adviser to the British Ministry of Agriculture during World War II. Gaunt returned to Australia in 1946 and became a technical assistant to the company's director. Gaunt was involved in developing and testing the firm's new and existing farm machinery. He went on to become the Superintendent of Engineering Design and Research. In 1955, Gaunt was appointed manager of the product engineering division. Three years later he became the company's Director Engineering. While working for the department, Gaunt made many valuable contributions to Australian agriculture - most notably designing the Massey-Ferguson cane harvester. Gaunt also contributed to the company's sporting life. Sunshine Harvester Works' employees formed many sporting clubs, including a cricket team. Gaunt designed the 'Ashes' trophy which was used in cricket competitions held between Massey-Ferguson (Australia) and the International Harvester Company. Gaunt retired as Director Engineering in July 1970 but stayed on as a Director of the company.

References
Interview with Ian O'Donnell, Lawrie Persell, Don Langdon and Ken Porter by Liza Dale-Hallett, 29 July 2002. Held in H.V McKay Sunshine Collection, registration no. HT 33598.
Massey-Ferguson International Harvester Company Cricket Cup. Held in Museum Victoria's H.V McKay Sunshine Collection, registration no. HT 4450.
'Personals', 1955, The Argus, 11 October, p.11.
Sunshine Outlook 1970, 'J.K Gaunt to Retire from MF on July 3', vol. 1, no. 34, pp.6.
Sunshine Review 1946, 'New Administrative Appointment', vol. 3, no. 8, pp.2.

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