Holden, Sir Edward Wheewall
Sir Edward Wheewall Holden was the namesake of the Holden automobile. He served as chairman of the board of General Motors - Holden's Limited, Woodville, Australia when that subsidiary was created at the time of General Motors’ purchase of Holden’s Motor Body Builders in 1931. Edward Holden was born on Aug. 14, 1885 in Adelaide, Australia. He studied and graduated from at Prince Alfred College, University of Adelaide.
From 1905 to 1917, Holden was manager of the Holden & Frost Saddlery Works in Adelaide. He was the grandson of the man that founded that firm, James Alexander Holden. That firm crafted horse saddles and other leather goods as well as some small-scale ironwork. It also performed repairs on horse-drawn carriages and coaches. Around 1908, Holden & Frost began to repair and manufacture automobile components such as upholstery, hoods, and side curtains.
Holden became managing director of Holden & Frost's new automobile coach building operations in 1917. This operation built coaches for chassis imported into Australia, including those built by Buick, at a time when the Australian government placed wartime restrictions on imports. In 1919, the name of the company was changed to Holden’s Motor Body Builders.
In 1931, General Motors, who had a presence in Australia and exclusive production and assembly agreement with Holden since 1924, purchased the entire Holden’s Motor Body Builders operations and merges it with General Motors-Australia (GMA). The resulting enterprise is named General Motors-Holden's Limited (GM-H)and is headquartered in Melbourne with Edward Holden as its chairman of the board and managing director. In 1934, Holden was replaced as managing director by Laurence Barnett of Vauxhall who the General Motors brass brought in to return GM-H to profitability. Holden retained the title of chairman of the board. He remained in this position until 1947 when he resigned in ill health. He died June 17, 1947.
In 1948, GM-H produced the first all-Australian built car, the Holden 48-215.
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