Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Humes Limited
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited (1920-1950)
- Hume Brothers Cement Iron Company Limited (1910-1920)
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1910 - 1990
History
In 1910, Ernest James and Walter Reginald Hume (Hume Brothers) established the Humes’ Patent Cementiron Syndicate Limited in Adelaide, which later became Hume Brothers Cement Iron Company Limited. Hume Brothers Cement Iron Company Limited operated factories in Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart and abroad, manufacturing centrifugally-spun reinforced concrete pipes by methods patented by Hume Brothers. Eventually Hume Brothers Cement Iron Company Limited became the Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited and was incorporated in Melbourne in August 1920. Shares in Concrete Constructions Pty Limited, established in 1914, were also sold to Hume Pipe Company in 1920. Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited opened factories in all states of Australia and in New Zealand, manufacturing high-quality spun concrete pipes, fabricated steel products, plastics and plastic pipes and products, concrete roofing tiles and building products. Singapore Hume Pipe Company Limited was incorporated in Victoria in 1922 and operated the Hume processes in Malaya. Subsequent changes of names were Hume Pipe (Far East) Limited in 1933 and Hume Industries (Far East) Limited in 1948.
In 1923 Hume Steel Limited was formed in Victoria to operate patented processes in steel pipe and electric welding machinery. Hume Steel Limited originated the concrete lining of steel pipes, which became the accepted practice throughout the world. Steel Pipe and Lining Company (Hume) Limited was registered in Victoria in 1928 to acquire the whole of the foreign patents of Hume Steel Limited.
On 22 March 1950 the name Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited was changed to Humes Limited. A separate company, Hume Industries (NZ) Limited, was formed in 1951. On 1 July 1952 Hume Steel Limited went into voluntary liquidation and was taken over by Humes Limited as its Steel Division. Wunderlich Humes Asbestos Pipes Proprietary Limited was formed in August 1960, jointly owned by Humes Limited and Wunderlich Limited. In 1964 James Hardie (Asbestos) Limited took over this company; by 1965 it had been wound up. In 1988 Humes Concrete and the ‘Hume’ name were sold to CSR Limited. Smorgan’s acquired Humes that same year. In January 1990 Humes Limited changed its name to SCI Steel Limited (Smorgan Consolidated Industries).
Places
Adelaide, South Australia; Melbourne, Victoria; Singapore; New Zealand
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
cement and concrete product manufacturing; civil engineering construction
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
Walter Reginald Hume (1873-1943), Founder and Managing Director, Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited and Hume Steel Limited
Ernest James (Jim) Hume (1869-1929), Consulting Engineer, Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited and Hume Steel Limited
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Prepared by Margaret Avard in May 2012
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Humes Concrete Pipes: 100 years 1910-2010 (NBAC Z757)
Jobson’s Year Book of Public Companies
Guide to Australian Business Records (http://www.gabr.net.au/biogs/ABE0096b.htm)