Jack Wilson

Jack Wilson (1905–1972) was an Australian engineer. The company he founded, Wilson Transformers, continues to manufacture electrical transformers in Australia. Early life Wilson was born on 16 May 1905 at Batley, Yorkshire in England. After school at Purlwell Council and Batley Grammar Schools, he was apprenticed to Ward & Co, a local electrical and mechanical engineering firm. He went on to be a draftsman and designer with Yorkshire Electric Transformer Company. In 1929, Wilson emigrated to Victoria, Australia and joined the Australian branch of the British Electric Transformer Co. in South Melbourne. Four years later, he launched his own business in 1933. It had several homes before settling at Port Melbourne in 1938 as the Wilson Electric Transformer Co. Pty Ltd. Wilson Transformer Company Following World War II, in 1950 Wilson moved to a larger site at Glen Waverley in what was then an outer suburb surrounded by market gardens. He travelled frequently to England, New Zealand and Canada to keep abreast of new technology and forge relationships with international partners such as Ferranti. A second factory opened at Clovelly Park in Adelaide in 1963 to build distribution transformers. A factory opened at Wodonga in 1981.