Summary

Negative of J.K Gaunt, an employee in the Engineering Department at H.V McKay Massey Harris.

Gaunt commenced employment at the company in 1946. As a young man, he 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 director of H.V McKay Massey Harris. 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.

Part of a collection of photographs, negatives, moving film, artefacts, documents and trade literature belonging to the H. V. McKay Sunshine Collection. The McKay collection is regarded as one of the most significant industrial heritage collections in Australia. The collection relates to the agricultural manufacturing firm, the Sunshine Harvester Works. The Australian operations of this company were originally founded by Hugh V. McKay in the 1890s in Ballarat. Between 1906 and 1907, McKay moved production to Sunshine where the firm became 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 Massey-Harris to become H.V McKay Massey Harris. In the mid-1950s, the company was absorbed by Canadian agricultural firm Massey-Ferguson. Production in Sunshine ceased in the mid-1980s, following almost 100 years of manufacturing agricultural equipment.

Description of Content

Portrait of man wearing jacket, shirt and tie. He is sitting in front of a photographic backdrop and shelves containing files.

Physical Description

Black and white negative.

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