Item 102 - Dunlop Australia

In 1888, John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic bicycle tyre, forming the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company in Dublin in 1889. In 1893, the Company opened a branch office and factory in Melbourne's Chinatown district. In 1899, a Canadian syndicate purchased the Australasian rights from the UK Company and floated the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australasia Limited in Victoria on 30 August 1899. In 1905 the Company purchased its main rival Barnet Glass & Sons Proprietary Limited. In 1908, Barnet Glass created another public company, Barnet Glass Rubber Company Limited which also merged with Dunlop in 1929, being fully absorbed in 1937. On 16 August 1920 the company changed its name to the Dunlop Rubber Company of Australia Limited and became a listed public company on the Melbourne Stock Exchange, and since then has remained the parent company of the group. After merging with the Perdriau Rubber Company in 1929, the company adopted the name Dunlop Perdriau Limited, which changed to Dunlop Australia Limited in 1967. In 1980, the company acquired Olympic Consolidated Industries and a half-share in Olex Cables (which became a wholly-owned subsidiary in 1981). To reflect this merger, the name of the company was changed to Dunlop Olympic Limited.