Summary

Humes Ltd was incorporated in August 1920 under the name of Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited. The name was changed to Humes Limited in 1950. The company acquired the business of Hume Brothers Cement Iron Company Limited (established 1910). In 1922 the Singapore Hume Pipe Company Ltd was incorporated in Victoria to operate the Hume processes in Malaya. Subsequent changes of name were Hume Pipe (Far East) Ltd (1923), Hume Industries (Far East) Ltd (1948). In 1928 Steel Pipe and Lining Company (Humes) Ltd was registered in Victoria to acquire the foreign patents of Hume Steel Ltd (established 1923). In 1951 a separate company Hume Industries (N.Z) Limited was formed. Hume Steel Limited and Humes Limited merged on 1 July 1952 to form Humes Limited. Wunderlich Humes Asbestos Pipes Pty Ltd was formed in August 1960 jointly owned by Humes Ltd and Wunderlich Ltd (wound up by 1965). Humes Concrete and the 'Hume' name was sold to CSR Limited in 1988. Smorgans acquired Humes the same year. On 25th January 1990 Humes Limited changed its name to S.C.I Steel Ltd (Smorgan Consolidated Industries).

Related entries

Timeline

 1920 - 1950 Hume Pipe Company (Australia) Limited
       1950 - 1990 Humes Limited
             1990 - S.C.I. Steel Limited

Archival resources

Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, (formerly Archives of Business and Labour)

• Humes Limited records, 1911 - 1988, Various, contact Archive; Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University, (formerly Archives of Business and Labour). Details

Published resources

Books

• Commemorating 50 years of progressive industry 1892-1942, The Company, Melbourne, Victoria, 1942, 8 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Snooks, G.D., 'Innovation and the Growth of the Firm: Hume Enterprises 1910-40', Australian Economic History Review, vol. 13, no. 1, 1973, pp. 16-40. Details
• Snooks, G.D., 'Constraints on the Growth of the Firm: Hume Enterprises, 1910-40', Australian Economic History Review, vol. 14, no. 1, 1974, pp. 37-57. Details