Monthly Archives: October 2015

100 Years it’s time for whoopee! 1975

This article appeared in The Herald, Thursday September 4th, p.19. The article mentions the forthcoming celebration dinner to be held the next day at the Southern Cross Hotel. For more info and a look at the dinner menu, go to the post ‘Centenary Month & Dinner 1975

The article contains some errors:

  • W. G. Goetz’s death as 1917. Recorded death 12th May 1913.
  • His arrival from Germany in 1875. Gottlob Wilhelm Paul Götz actually arrived in Australia aged 23 at the Port Melbourne Pier, on 14th December 1863 aboard the S.S. Great Britain, from Liverpool. No information regarding his journey from Germany to Liverpool has been found so far. One can only speculate that the reason for his emigration was to avoid military service. Had he remained in Germany, he may have been caught up in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 when his native Würtemberg took up arms on behalf of Austria. Austria was defeated by the Prussians, who promptly occupied northern Würtemberg. W. G.’s relocation to Australia turned out to be a good move!
  • No evidence has been found that his business commenced in 1875. Contrary evidence suggests later dates. For further discussion see this page Beginnings — Queen Street, Melbourne

100-Years-Herald-Thurs-4-Sept-1975-p19

Going Public. From Pty Ltd to Limited Public Company

In April 1939, W.G. Goetz and Sons Pty. Ltd. became a public company, renamed with the dropping of ‘Pty’ and simply becoming ‘Limited’.Going-public_argus_300339_p9Above: The Argus reports W.G. Goetz as a new public company, 30th March 1939 p.9.
Click image for larger version

Below: W.G. Goetz and Sons Limited business registration certificate, entitling commencement of business as a public company from the 29th of April, 1939. Click image below for larger version.

Business-Registration-29-April-1939

War production at the annexe

The extra requirements of wartime defence production at Goetz saw the construction of a new building adjacent to the main factory in Hall Street Spotswood.

Registered on 29 November 1940, Goetz Annexe Pty. Ltd. was formed as a subsidiary company of W.G.Goetz and Sons Ltd. Renamed Goetz Annexe Limited and finally Goetz Manufacturing Pty. Ltd., the company was deregistered on 11 July 2003. (ref: businessofaustralia.com)

These September 1941 newspaper clippings report that double 12 hour shifts had been undertaken in the preceding year, doubling regular production output. By October 1941, the defence annexe was in full production.

Click the newspaper images below for larger versionsWar_production_Age_020941

War_production_Argus_020941

Annexe_Sun_171041

Annexe_Argus_021046

Below: Some of the Goetz made munition percussion and timer caps from WWII. These particular  items in the photos were used by my grandfather Otto Goetz at home as paperweights. As a small boy, I used to play with them when I visited him. Neal
Muitions

The land on which the Goetz annexe operated was actually owned by the Department of Munitions. Following the war, in May 1947 W. G. Goetz and Sons Ltd. purchased the land, including all ‘buildings and services’ through the Commonwealth Disposals Commission.

Below: Sales advice from the Commonwealth Disposals Commission regarding Goetz’s purchase of the annexe site from the Department of Munitions, May 1947. Click image for larger version.

C'wealth-Disposals

 

 

New Employee Work Agreement, 1978

New-employee-work-agreement-1978-thumbAbove: Thumbnail image only. To download the document as a PDF, click this link: Work_agreement_1978

The 1978 standard new employee work agreement, provided a short history of the company plus working terms and conditions.

The official history claims September 1875 as the foundation date, but no evidence has been found for commencement in that year. Contrary evidence suggests a later date; perhaps 1878 or 1880. See this page for details: ‘Beginnings – Queen Street Melbourne’

Thanks to Ron Collins for the work agreement document.

W.G.Goetz & Sons advertising for RVB 21st

In May 1956, Goetz’s neighbour RVB Engineering Products were celebrating their 21st anniversary. Not being one to usually advertise in the papers, Goetz took out a half page ‘congratulations’ style advertisement on page 9 of The Argus, 22nd May 1956 as part of the RVB celebration and promotion.

Goetz-advert-for-RVB-21st-22-May-1956-Argus-p.9Click image for larger version

Directors of RVB at times included names familiar to W.G. Goetz and Sons. A newspaper clipping from The Argus on January 23rd 1951 regarding an RVB share offer following its conversion to a Public Company, lists directors including Captain J.H. Moss, O. Goetz, A.Goetz, F.C. Craddock and R.J. Burns.