The Collins House Group was an informal alliance of largely Anglo-Australian companies, which shared an office building, Collins House, at 360-366 Collins Street, Melbourne, from 1911 until 1951. The building gave the group its name. The most significant of these companies were three mining companies, Zinc Corporation, North Broken Hill and Broken Hill South, whose operations began at Broken Hill. The companies had interlocking business relationships and were influential in Australian business and politics during the 20th century. Companies in the group shared a common pool of directors, shared ownership of subsidiaries, and shared relationships with financial backers. According to historian Geoffrey Blainey, Collins House was "the most influential group of financiers in Australia between the wars and that period was its heyday".
Collins House
The building that gave its name to the Collins House Group, stood at at 360-366 Collins Street, Melbourne. It was constructed in 1911 and owned, until 1960, by the Baillieu family. It was built by Eggleston & Oakely with consulting design by Walter Burley Griffin. The building had extensive additions in 1914, and it was said that the building "with its extension will have the largest ofllce accommodation of any building in Australia."
The base of the building was of trachyte from Bowral, NSW, the facade of Wangaratta stone, a granite with low mica content, paving of white Sicilian marble, with red marble from Orange, NSW. The building was in three parts; the front made of stone, the middle made of reinforced concrete, and the rear made entirely of brick. All floors were ferro-concrete. The building had a golf practice green on its roof, by late 1916. The building was further extended in 1925.
During the construction of Collins House, John Monash was the Superintending Engineer. His firm, Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Company, took a suite of nine rooms in the new building.
It was demolished in 1974, and replaced with the building that now occupies the site, which was upgraded in 2017. The original Collins House is not to be confused with the modern-day building of the same name, Collins House, at 464-466 Collins Street, Melbourne.
The companies
Common factors A number of companies had their Australian headquarters in Collins House. Although many were in similar or related lines of business, in mining, smelting or chemical technology, not all were part of the informal alliance known as the Collins House Group. For example, the Mount Lyell Mining & Railway Company, used the building, but was not part of the Collins House Group.
Another common factor of early Collins House Group of companies was an origin associated with Broken Hill. However, the most prominent of the Broken Hill mining companies, Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP), had its headquarters elsewhere on Collins Street, and was never a member of the group. The only readily apparent linkage between the original companies in the group was that they had directors who were relatives or business associates, and the companies had offices in Collins House.
Some Collins House companies were registered in the United Kingdom, and their boards—representing largely British shareholders—resided and met in London. For such companies, Collins House was an Australian address, and was used as an office for local management, local subsidiaries, and service companies.
Emerging grouping - before Collins House building to outbreak of war The name Collins House Group was only ever informal, but the name could not have been applied, before the original building was completed in 1911.
Companies that were considered to be earliest parts of the emerging Collins House Group (CHG) were:
Zinc Corporation (1905) (*+*) - Floated by founders of the CHG North Broken Hill (NBH) (Mine founded in 1895, in CHG after reconstruction of North Broken Hill Mining Co., in 1905) To which were later added, in the year indicated: Amalgamated Zinc (De Bavay's) (AZDB) (1909) - Formed to apply de Bavay's process at Broken Hill Australian Smelting Corporation (ASC) (from 1907 to 1909 only) - A unsuccessful company that attempted to build a smelter at Port Kembla Y-Water Tin Company (c.1907) - A tin mine at Emmaville, using hydraulic mining Hampden Cloncurry Copper Mines Ltd, a copper mine at Kuridala; in GHC from around 1910. The mines closed in 1920. Adelong Gold Estates (1912) - A gold dredging company on Adelong Creek at Grahamstown. Barrier South Limited (1915) - A company formed by the reconstruction of the British-owned Broken Hill South Extended, in 1913 Broken Hill Associated Smelters (BHAS) (1915) - formed after CHG companies bought part of BHP's interest Broken Hill South Limited (BHS) (Mine founded in 1885, it was holding meetings meeting at Collins House by 1912, but was not fully-controlled by CHG until after reconstruction of Broken Hill South Silver Mining Co., in 1918 In 1913, E.L. Bailieu and Lionel Robinson became directors of Mount Morgan Gold Mining Co (MMGM) after a large share transfer. MMGM was never fully-controlled by CHG, but its subsidiary company Electrolytic Refining & Smelting would eventually become part of CHG,
Other CHG companies The name Collins House Group seems have been applied from around 1924, at latest.
Three mining companies were added to the during the 1930s, to what was then already known as the CHG Gold Mines of Australia (GMA) (1930) (+) Western Mining Corporation (WMC) (1933) New Broken Hill Consolidated Limited (NBHC) (1936) (+*) There was also a financing vehicle, known as Gold Exploration and Finance Co. of Australia Ltd (GEFCA) established in 1934), which held large shareholdings in WMC and GM, and raised its funding mainly from London-based South African mining interests
Other mining companies, which were CHG subsidiary companies, were:
Central Norseman Gold Corporation (1935) - WMC subsidiary running development and operation of the Central Norseman gold mine Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie (Aust.) Ltd (1934) - It took over a block of leases adjoining the Lake View and Star leases at Kalgoorlie.(+) Kalgoorlie Southern Gold Mines NL (1950) - It acquired a lease south of the main Kalgoorlie field. Central Victoria Dredging Co. NL (1947) - It bought some assets of Victoria Dredging Co., paying by issuing new shares. Shale Oil Investigation Pty. Ltd. (1930) - A company formed to take over the oil shale mine and plant at Newnes; it was short-lived Cobar Mines Proprietary Limited (1957) - An exploration and mine development company working on old leases in the Cobar region of NSW
Downstream processors that were also considered to be part of the Collins House Group—in some instances jointly-owned by two or more of the other CHG companies, or were partly-owned—were: Broken Hill Associated Smelters (BHAS) (1915) - formed after CHG companies bought part of BHP's interest Zinc Producers Association Pty Ltd (ZPA) (1916) - A company to handle zinc concentrate (see WW1) for ref. Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia (EZ) (1916) British Australian Lead Manufacturers (1918) Barrier Roasters Pty Ltd (1918) - a company that roasted zinc concentrate to produce calcinates to feed the electrolytic process Commonwealth Red Lead and Litharge Co. Ltd.,(1927 - 28)- a company that produced red lead pigments and lead oxide for batteries. Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Co. (E.R. & S) (Founded in 1907, but part of CHG from 1928, after the liquidation of Mount Morgan mine) Imperial Smelting Corporation (ISC) (1929), which took over National Smelting Company, operator of the smelter at Avonmouth, England. Austral Bronze (1928) Australian Aluminium (1936) Broken Hill Corporation, Ltd. (1948) - a subsidiary of NBC and ISC formed to take over Sulphide Corporation, and its Cockle Creek Smelter Service companies that were considered part of the CHG were: E. L. & C. Baillieu (pre-dates CHG) - Melbourne-based stockbrokers , the principals were two brothers of William Baillieu. Lionel Robinson, Clark & Co. (pre-dates CHG) - London-based stockbrokers (+) Govett, Sons & Co. (pre-dates CHG) - London-based stockbrokers (+) Minerals Separation Limited (1903) - Assignee of key 1905 patent for froth flotation, later bought rights to 1912 differential flotation patent(+) Minerals Separation and De Bavay's Processes Australia Pty Ltd (1912) - Jointly-owned Australian subsidiary of Minerals Separation and AZ Edward H. Shackell & Co., later Secretariat Pty Ltd - Provided services of company secretaries and managers to CHG companies Pavey, Wilson & Cohen - Lawyers who acted for CHG companies, with offices in Collins House Arthur Robinson & Co. - Lawyers who acted for CHG companies, with offices in Collins House Fyvie and Stewart, later Alex Stewart & Co. - Consulting mining engineers, with offices in Collins House. Globe Pty Ltd (1919) - a company that bought timber for the mines Western New South Wales Electric Power Pty. Ltd (WNSWEP) (1930) - supplier of electricity and compressed air to the mines at Broken Hill Industrial offshoots of CHG companies were
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) Tasmanian Paper Pty. Ltd. (1926) - a precursor to APPM Associated Pulp & Paper Mills (APPM) Metal Manufactures (MM) (1928), a manufacturing offshoot of E.R & S. Cable Makers Australia (CMA) (1940), an offshoot of MM Austral Standard Cables (ASC), an offshoot of MM Other associated companies were: Imperial Chemical Industries of Australia and New Zealand (ICIANZ) - Linked to CHG via the Somerset family connection
Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) - Linked to CHG via Cohen and Baillieu family connections Myer Emporium - Its founder, Sidney Myer (18781934) was married to W.L. Baillieu's niece (Myer's second wife)
The Herald & Weekly Times (HWT) - Linked to CHG via a Baillieu family connection Melbourne Electric Supply Company (MESC) - Linked to CHG via W.L. Baillieu and W.M. Hyndman; taken over by SECV in 1930
Dunlop Rubber - Linked to CHG via a Baillieu family connection
Yarra Falls (textiles) - Linked to CHG via Baillieu, Robinson and Hordern family (Hordern related to Baillieu by marriage) Felt and Textiles of Australia, later known as Feltex Carpets - Linked to CHG via Walter Massy-Greene Australian Knitting Mills - Linked to CHG, via G.H. Robinson, its director and later chairman, who was a brother of W.S. Robinson Burmah Mines Ltd (+) - Linked via F.A.Govett,"Mr. F.A. Govett", The Times, 28 October 1926, p. 14. at one point Zinc Corporation owned a third of its shares Entities that were not incorporated as companies but in which the Collins House companies participated were:
Broken Hill Mine Owners' Association Broken Hill Mining Managers' Association - Employers counterpart to the Barrier Industrial Council Broken Hill Co-operative Coal Association (1923)
(+) Denotes a company registered in the United Kingdom.
(*+*) Denotes a company originally registered in Victoria, which changed its domicile to the United Kingdom and subsequently again to Victoria.
(+*) Denotes a company originally registered in the United Kingdom, which changed its domicile to the Victoria.
People
People associated with the companies Some of the people associated with the Collins House Group were connected by a familial relationship, by marriage, or by personal friendship, and others had close business relationships. Individuals with a significant involvement in the Collins House companies were:
William Lawrence Baillieu (18591936) - Known as W.L. Baillieu and 'Big Bill', former real estate auctioneer, later stockbroker and financier Lionel Robinson (18661922), Mining stockbroker, and principal of Lionel Robinson, Clark & Co. (*+) William Sydney Robinson (18761963), Known as W.S. Robinson, younger brother of Lionel Robinson, originally a journalist (*+*)