John Lysaght Pty Ltd was founded in 1918

1918 in Australia

See also:1917 in Australia,other events of 1918,1919 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.1918 in Australia was dominated by national participation in World War I...

. The company pioneered modern steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 coating technologies (Galvanization

Galvanization

Galvanization is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, in order to prevent rusting. The term is derived from the name of Italian scientist Luigi Galvani....

). Its coated steel building products were sold under the ‘ORB’ brand and contributed to Australian architectural style

Architecture of Australia

Architecture in Australia incorporates the architecture produced in the area of the Commonwealth of Australia...

.

History

John Lysaght established his iron working business at St Vincent's Works

St Vincent's Works

The St Vincent's Works is at Silverthorne Lane in Bristol, England.The building was built as the offices of a factory by Thomas Royse Lysaght, for his brother John Lysaght and possibly completed by R Milverton Drake. The site was previously owned by Acraman and Company and was involved in the...

, Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

  and commenced manufacturing corrugated iron

Corrugated galvanised iron

Corrugated galvanised iron is a building material composed of sheets of hot-dip galvanised mild steel, cold-rolled to produce a linear corrugated pattern in them...

 in 1857. The firm exported to many countries including Australia and South America. By 1880 Lysaghts was exporting so much corrugated iron to Australia that it established a central selling agency in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

.

In 1897 the company publication, the Lysaght Referee, detailed the products Lysaghts sold. The original Lysaght brand of corrugated iron was Orb, followed in 1897 by a cheaper version of Redcliffe. Both brands were exported in large quantities to Australia. Globe was a brand produced for American and African markets but some quantities ended up in Australia.

Lysaghts manufactured galvanised sheet and plate between 1880 and 1912 at the Eskbank steelworks at Lithgow, New South Wales

Lithgow, New South Wales

Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the centre of the local political division City of Lithgow. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales.Lithgow is...

. The brand was Crown and it appears these sheets were not corrugated for roofing.

In 1920 John Lysaght Ltd was acquired by the steel giant GKN

GKN

GKN plc is a multinational automotive and aerospace components company headquartered in Redditch, United Kingdom. The company was formerly known as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds and can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution.GKN is listed on the London Stock...

, while a wholly owned subsidiary John Lysaght (Australia) commenced manufacture of corrugated iron in 1921

1921 in Australia

See also:1920 in Australia,other events of 1921,1922 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V*Governor-General – Henry Forster*Prime Minister – Billy Hughes-State premiers:...

 opening a sheet rolling and galvanising works next to BHP

BlueScope Steel

BlueScope Steel is a flat product steel producer with operations in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Pacific and North America. It was spun off from BHP Billiton in 2002 as BHP Steel and renamed BlueScope Steel on 17 November 2003...

 at Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

. In 1936

1936 in Australia

See also:1935 in Australia,other events of 1936,1937 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George V , then King Edward VIII , then King George VI...

 a further plant was opened at Port Kembla, New South Wales

Port Kembla, New South Wales

Port Kembla is a suburb of Wollongong 8 km south of the CBD and part of the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The suburb comprises a seaport, industrial complex , a small harbour foreshore nature reserve, and a small commercial sector. It is situated on the tip of Red Point, first sighted...

, and by 1939

1939 in Australia

See also:1938 in Australia,other events of 1939,1940 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King George VI*Governor-General – Alexander Hore-Ruvthen, 1st Baron Gowrie...

 these two plants were meeting 100% of the local demand for galvanised sheeting.

In 1979

1979 in Australia

-Incumbents:*Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser*Governor General – Zelman Cowen*Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran*Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan, Des Cocoran*Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen...

, the company was fully acquired by BHP Steel (subsequently spun off into BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX:BSL). In 2003

2003 in Australia

-Incumbents:*Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II*Governor General – Peter Hollingworth, then Administrator of Australia – Sir Guy Green , then Michael Jeffery*Prime Minister – John Howard*Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr*Premier of South Australia – Mike Rann...

the company changed its name to BlueScope Lysaght. It remains a division of Australia's BlueScope Steel.

In 2004 it acquired Shed Manufacturing company Ranbuild, and added "Lysaght Home Improvement Centres" both of which compete with its customers.

External links

• Bluescope Lysaght name change announcement of 2003