John Danks & Sons
🏭 John Danks & Son Pty Ltd began as a plumbing business in 1859, established by brothers John and Samuel. It occupied a prominent site at 42 and then 391 Bourke Street, Melbourne where it traded from for 100 years. The business quickly grew to include from 1881 factories in Melbourne and Sydney which manufactured and supplied a variety of plumbing and engineering products such as water meters, brassware, pumps, windmills and bells. Early success came from supplying connectors for Melbourne’s Yan Yean Reservoir, one of the city’s first major water projects The official company was registered in 1889. 1902 - 1928: Following John Danks' death in 1902, his son Aaron, later Sir Aaron led the company. Aaron's son Fred, became Chairman and Managing Director upon his father's death in 1928. In 1951, Danks Holdings Limited was incorporated as a public company and John Danks & Son Pty Ltd became its wholly owned subsidiary. At this time, the company was operating retail and wholesale shops in Bourke Street, Melbourne, and Pitt Street, Sydney, as well as its manufacturing plants in Melbourne and Sydney. A 1952 catalogue has no mention of water meters, so it is estimated that the product line was discontinued after WW2. In the mid 1950s, the decision was made to phase out retailing and manufacturing to concentrate on distribution to independent hardware retailers. This decision spurred the construction of a new warehouse in Alexandria, New South Wales, in 1956 and in South Melbourne in 1958 - both situated on the company's previous factory sites. The city premises were then sold.
.jpg@webp "1890's Bourke st Melbourne")
In 1958 John Danks-III was appointed as General Manager and subsequently in 1966 Managing Director. Over the next two decades, the company acquired the hardware interests of EL Yencken & Co Pty Ltd and JS Kidd & Co Pty Ltd. To accommodate the rapidly expanding businesses, a decision was made in 1970 to construct the company's first high-rise distribution centre at Braeside, Victoria, and expand facilities in Alexandria New South Wales. In 1982, Danks purchased the promotional group, Home Saver, and the following year, the hardware operations of Geelong's Hawkes Bros. Limited. The purchase of Hawkes Bros. Limited included the Thrifty-Link promotional group. In 1993, Danks united the members of its Homestead and Homesaver retail groups under one banner - Home Timber & Hardware. Below are 5 pages from the company's 1893 manual for water measurement products; It explains the meters incorporate the Siemens turbine type measurement principle made with brass housing for sizes 1/2" to 1-1/2" and 2" to 8" made with cast metal. Further Danks were supplying standpipes for fire hydrants.
In 1997, John Danks-III passed away after 48 years devoted service to the company including 31 years as Managing Director and 26 years as Chairman. He was succeeded as Chairman by his brother David who had been on the board of directors since 1964. 2001 the company returns to its origins when it launches an initiative to reclaim a piece of the plumbing market as Plumblinx. Danks was acquired by a joint venture of Woolworths Group and Lowe's in 2009, thus ending 150 years of Danks family history. In 2016, the former Danks operations were then on-sold to Metcash. Records indicate Danks were selling imported water meters from 1859 and began manufacturing their own in 1881. It is not known when the company ceased production and or supply of water meters but scant records indicate sometime soon after WW2. There is only one known surviving John Danks made Water Meter (pictured below) which is located at the Goulburn NSW Water Works Museum. Below are extracts from the Danks 1941 year catalogue which included water meters. This Museum is yet to acquire a John Danks meter, but it does has have a historical drinking troth in its collection. One original Danks water meter resides at the Goulburn WaterWorks Museum. (Research by ATM 2025)
.jpg@webp "1920's -3/4 meter at the Goulburn water works")
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