born on 13 January 1881 at Burra Burra in South Australia
fair-haired, 178cm (5'10'') tall, broad-shouldered, ‘big-hearted’, and
handsome; a bit obsessed with order and efficiency so always carried small black notebooks
with him everywhere he went
My name is Essington Lewis (my friends call me ‘Essie’) and I represent
‘Golden soil, wealth for toil’ because of my long association with Broken Hill
Proprietary Co. Ltd. (BHP – ‘the big Australian’). I joined BHP at Broken
Hill, NSW, in 1904, just after completing my diploma in mining engineering, and rose
through the ranks to become managing director by 1926. Under my management, BHP grew to be
one of the biggest and most efficient steel companies in the world.
1901-2001 Centenary of
Federation