Summary

Photograph of men in Wyeera Educational Centre locker room.

Massey Ferguson's Wyeera Education Centre was established in 1966, situated on a 250 acre property on Taylors Road, St Albans, Victoria, where staff and dealers involved in the firm's Australian and overseas operations were brought for training in the operation of tractors, industrial machinery and harvesting equipment produced by the company. The centre's name was taken from an Aboriginal word meaning 'to till' or 'dig the soil'. The facility was closed in 1978.

Part of a collection of photographs, negatives, moving film, artefacts, documents and trade literature belonging to the H.V. McKay Sunshine Collection - one of the most significant industrial heritage collections in Australia. The collection relates to the agricultural manufacturing firm that operated the Sunshine Harvester Works. Australian operations of the company were originally founded by Hugh V. McKay at Ballarat in the late 1880s. Between 1906 and 1907, McKay moved production to Braybrook Junction on the western outskirts of Melbourne, where the firm developed its operations into one of the largest industrial businesses in Australia. Change in ownership is a recurring theme in the company's history. In 1930, it merged with the Australian operations of Massey-Harris Ltd, of Toronto, Canada, to become H.V McKay Massey Harris Pty Ltd. In the mid-1950s, the company was absorbed by the British-Canadian multinational Massey-Ferguson. Production at Sunshine ceased in the mid-1980s, following almost 100 years of manufacturing agricultural equipment.

Description of Content

Four men in the Wyeera Educational Centre locker room getting changed out of their overalls.

Physical Description

Black and white photograph

More Information