W Sinclair and Sons is a company that operated in Melbourne from 1949 to 1988 under the control of the Sinclair family, almost 40 years. I recently met with John Sinclair, still looking spritely in his eighties, and reminisced about this company.
William Sinclair came to Australia from Scotland in 1922 with his wife. His children (three boys and 1 girl, with John the eldest) were all born in Australia.
He was clearly a get up and goer, buying into a milk trucking business in 1933 which grew with a loyal clientele who appreciated the service offered by Wm Sinclair. These were the days when milk was trucked directly to (the many) Melbourne dairies on a daily basis which then found its way to Melbourne households via a local horse drawn delivery. I can well remember the comfortingly sound of the milk deliveries some time during the night as a boy. The trick was to get the delivered milk from the doorstep before the beating sun in the morning could damage it. The smell of the early morning delivered fresh bread usually guaranteed this.
A decision by Peters Ice Cream, a long time client of Wm Sinclair, to arrange its own cartage in 1949, led to a decision to move into the bus operation business. However, this was not altogether an unpalatable move as Wm Sinclair had driven buses in Aberdeen before he came to Australia and had always been attracted to the buses in general. Mr. Sinclair was fond of saying, “With the milk carting business I had to haul the freight onto my truck, but with buses, the freight just walked on!”
Mr. K Smith had operated the East Oakleigh Station (Huntingdale) to North Road Beach service with six vehicles (plus one spare) and had decided to sell. Mr. Sinclair bought the business and adopted the same livery as Smith, green with black band and cream roof.
The business grew to 9 buses, first with an extension to Dandenong Road in 1950 to meet Grenda’s Oakleigh to Dandenong service, then with new peak services to emerging manufacturers near North Road in the 50s. It also meant they had to move from their original depot in North Road Carnegie opposite Tucker Road to one further up North Road in Murrumbeena, to accommodate the extra buses.
The extension to Monash University in 1960, with an additional 4 buses to 13, provided that extra boost to Sinclair’s and filled their new depot.
The first new bus bought by Sinclair's was a Seddon in 1949, similar to those operated by Eastern Suburbs Omnibus Service. No photo is available of this vehicle. After a stock Grummet bodied Vulcan in 1955 (the last Grummet bodied bus registered in Victoria), William Sinclair went for an Albion with body by Freighter Victoria. Freighter was completing an order for 100 buses under the Colombo plan for SE Asia at their Victorian plant. They decided to offer the same body to Victorian Operators. As it turned out, only two were made, one for Sinclair (Number 14, GNS 789) with two doors and one for West Newport BS for Mr. C Lucas which had only one door.
The next Albion came from Comeng (Number 20, HGM 786) in October 1960, but not before it had been a demonstration bus for almost two years. It was on an Aberdonian chassis which had been released in Britain in 1959:
A pair of Albions, part of a trio of buses bodied by Cheetham & Borwick (the other being on an AEC Reliance chassis) arrived in 1964. W Sinclair and Sons was to become one of the four major purchasers of C&B bodied vehicles in the 60s with 7 vehicles (the others being Woolnough, Walshe and Ryan). These Albions were Victors with a Leyland 375 engine and were new in March/April 1964. Here is number 25, HZG 629:
The next Albion was a Viking and also came with an AEC Reliance “pair” in April 1965. It is number 27, JFC 962:
The final two C&B bodied Albions came in February 1967 and were Vikings with the Leyland 400 engine. Number 31 was JRL 131 and was number 31:
The next Albion was bodied by Freighter with a rear engine, an AEC 505 at that, model AVK 43-505 new in Feb 1968. It was number 35, reg KEY 035:
In 1970, A Freighter bodied VK55 was delivered, number 40, reg KVO 880:
Then in April 1971, a Freighter bodied a Clydesdale CD23 chassis was purchased. Number 41 was reg KYU 857 (formerly IS 8118):
Here is a 1972 Freighter bodied VK55. Number 43 was reg LEB 482:
And finally, another VK55 from Nov 1976, number 54 reg IQT 079:
The Kefford Corporation acquired the company on 11 January 1988 and earlier this year, CDC acquired it from Kefford.
The photographers were Bruce Tilley for photos 1,2,3,4,5 and 8; John Masterton for photos 6 and 7; Geoff Mann for photo 9 and Andrew Potts for the last photo.
The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
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- system improver
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The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
Last edited by system improver on Wed Jan 27, 2010 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
WOW!!!
What great memories in this post. The Sinclair vehicles were always stand outs. Each bus had it's own peculiar body aspect, really interesting. The livery and signwriting were also excellent.
I hope that we get to see lots more of the Sinclair fleet.
Any chance you might also do eastern Suburbs Omnibus Company's interesting fleet please ??????
A Red and Cream with emerald green lining Coachmaster bodied AEC Reliance AH 505, ahhh, now there's a real bus!
Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
Thanks for posting these pics....Are there anymore pics.... I would really appreciate to view them....Thanks John
Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
Thank you for the informative history.
Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
The Comeng Albion also features in the current Australian Bus Panorama in its later ownership with Kastoria.
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Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
Theres a blast from the past, those Depot shots were taken in their North road depot (The Depot nearer Poath road)
KYU 857, LEB 482 and IQT 079 along with 2 Leopards, 2 x Tigers, an AEC and a Bedford or 2 were still in service for charters and as Spares in the late 80's although the AEC was probably well past its prime by then and painted in "Fosters" Advertising.
A real mix sitting side by side with the B10M's and B6's.
Boff
KYU 857, LEB 482 and IQT 079 along with 2 Leopards, 2 x Tigers, an AEC and a Bedford or 2 were still in service for charters and as Spares in the late 80's although the AEC was probably well past its prime by then and painted in "Fosters" Advertising.
A real mix sitting side by side with the B10M's and B6's.
Boff
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Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
Very interesting history of W Sinclair and Sons and great photos system improver, thanks for sharing
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Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
Many thanks system improver for the Great photos, brought back many memories of working with Bill, John & Lyn in th 70s on airport transfers & Melbourne Cup. A very efficient operator with good equipment. Now realize the Scottish heritage was the reason for the Albion preference. Its time for a book with all those great photos of past operators and buses.
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Re: The Albions of W Sinclair & Sons
HI Wm Sinclair was my Gran's younger brother. I had heard from my father before he passed about a bus company under the Sinclair name in Australia but I just did not know how well known they were over there. I live in the area of Scotland where William and the family came from . My Gran died before I was born so only heard immediate family talk about the Australian Connections. If anyone else can tell me more about the Family and the business then it would be great to hear from you. My email address is tomstevenson50@gmail.com My Great grandfather was Thomas Stevenson and my Great Gran was Jean Sinclair, William's older sister. Cheers Tom