Draft:Collins House Group

The Collins House Group (CHG) was a group of Melbourne-based companies with interlocking business relationships that was influential in Australian business and politics during the 20th century. The name of the group originated from Collins House, an office building on Collins Street, Melbourne, that housed the companies' corporate headquarters. Companies in the group shared directors, common shareholders (and sometimes cross holdings), and 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

Headquarters located at 360 Collins St, Melbourne. The building was constructed in 1911 and owned until 1960 by the Baillieu family.

Built by Eggleston & Oakely with consulting design by Walter Burley Griffin.

History

Consolidated Zinc North Broken Hill Broken Hill South

In 1915, NBH, BHS and Consolidated Zinc established Broken Hill Amalgamated Smelters (BHAS).

Individuals

• William Lawrence Baillieu / Baillieu family
• William Sydney Robinson
• Colin Fraser - effective head in the 1930s
• William Alexander Watt - political connection, later held directorships
• H. W. Gepp - technical advisor
• Lindesay Clark

Later years

Earlier collaboration fizzled after 1930s.

A 2002 article in The Australian Financial Review viewed the sale of Western Mining Corporation in 2002 as constituting the end of the group and marking "the end of a key chapter in Australia's corporate history".

Sources

• Richardson, Peter (1987). "The Origins and Development of the Collins House Group, 1915-1951". The Australian Economic History Review. 27 (1): 3–29.
• Ralph, Gilbert (2004). "The Broken Hill – Collins House Connection: Mining Personalities" (PDF). Journal of Australasian Mining History. 2: 198–221.