By PEACE IJIYERA
THE saying goes, ‘disappointed, but not surprised’.
That’s how Bill Holden felt when the Trafalgar Holden Museum did not acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the death of Holden pioneer, Henry James Holden (H.J Holden).
Melbourne-based Bill Holden is the great, great, grandson of James Alexander Holden, and the “last and only living descendant” of H.J Holden’s father.
The unintentional snub was brought to the attention of the Express by Bill Holden.
Bill said the 100th year death anniversary was a “milestone event” for “the founder of the Australian vehicle manufacturing industry.”
In an email he wrote, “The Trafalgar Holden Museum heavily promotes itself as telling the remarkable story and celebrating Australia’s Holden heritage, yet this day passed without even a whimper from them.”
“Sadly, I believe the museum is very much GMH-centric and has little understanding of the early Holden history which is why historical milestones like this are completely forgotten.”
Though Bill Holden thinks the Trafalgar Holden Museum is “an excellent motor museum”, he also believes that the museum shows “serious shortfalls in accuracy when it comes to advocating the early history of Holden pre-GMH.” (General Motors Holden).
In response, Trafalgar Holden Museum secretary, Anne Schembri wrote that the museum does its best to include and acknowledge all aspects of Holden’s history.
“At the Trafalgar Holden Museum, we proudly acknowledge the contribution of Henry James Holden as part of the broader Holden story,” she said.
“This history is reflected throughout the museum, including within our dedicated ‘Origins of Holden’ exhibit, which recognises the various members of the Holden family and their role in shaping the name.
“As a volunteer-run organisation, our focus is on preserving and presenting the full history of Holden to our visitors. Given the depth and span of that history, we are not always in a position to formally mark individual anniversaries. We have not received any direct enquiries regarding this matter, however we are always happy to provide information about our exhibits and the history we present.”
Photograph supplied
H.J Holden was born in 1859 in Kensington, Adelaide.
He worked at his father’s business, ‘J. A. Holden & Co’ which manufactured leather and saddlery.
H.J Holden became a senior partner when J. A Holden & Co began trading as ‘Holden & Frost’ in September 1885.
The leather and saddlery business was especially popular during the South African Boer War in 1889. During this time, Holden & Frost was able to supply equipment including saddlery, harnesses and swords for Australian fighters.
As written in Bill Holden’s book More than Holden Our Own, in 1910, Henry “ventured beyond his usual recovering of buggy hoods” and began servicing imported motor cars “but only to the extent of supplying and installing hoods and side curtains”.
In 1914 came the first request to trim a motor body, then followed suggestions for Holden & Frost to start painting motor bodies. This birthed the exploration into the motor body repair business.
In 1918, Holden & Frost Ltd was registered and a new division, ‘Holden’s Motor Body Builders’ was established. This began the “production of its own bespoke standardised motor bodies which would set Holden on the path to becoming Australia’s leading car manufacturer with the formation of General Motors Holden” in 1931.
H.J Holden died on March 6, 1926, aged 66.
The Trafalgar Holden Museum is open from 10am to 5pm every day along Waterloo Road. Just look for the big red car hoisted in the air as you come into Traf.
