Engineering Heritage Australia (Victoria)

Herbert Thomson and the
Fate of the Phaeton

Thursday   24th October 2002

In mid 1899, news gradually crept out that a novel horseless carriage had been seen about the streets of Armadale in suburban Melbourne. The rumours were soon confirmed when a proud young engineer Herbert Thomson presented his "steam phaeton" to fascinated crowds at several public events. Built over a period of three years in a backyard workshop this remarkable invention representing not only the Victorian-designed motor car, but also a sophisticated piece of engineering with few overseas parallels.

In April 1900, Thomson and his cousin, Edward Holmes loaded the steam car onto a steamship bound for Sydney, where it was again presented with much acclaim at the Royal Easter and Bathurst Agricultural Shows. Then in an inspired publicity spectacle, the pair drove the car almost 800 km. from Bathurst back to Melbourne in a rough overland journey that can rightly claim to be the first interstate motor car journey in Australia.

In June 1900, the Thomson Motor Car Co. Ltd. was launched to manufacture and market steam vehicles built to Thomson's designs. Three years later, after some 12 further vehicles had been built the initiative was finally abandoned as cheaper imported vehicles flooded local markets.

The speaker, Matthew Churchward, is a Senior Curator with Museum Victoria. In this talk he will explore the origins of the Thomson steam car and the significance of subsequent attempts to develop a local motor car manufacturing industry, drawing on new research from a recently discovered archive of original letters and papers.