R. M. Williams
Born 24 May 1908
Belalie North, South Australia
Died 4 November 2003 (aged 95)
Toowoomba, Queensland
Nationality Australian
Occupation Entrepreneur, bushman
Reginald Murray Williams AO, CMG (24 May 1908 – 4 November 2003) was an Australian bushman and entrepreneur who rose from a swagman to a millionaire. Widely known as just ‘R.M.’, he was born at Belalie North near Jamestown in the Mid North of South Australia, 200 kilometres north of Adelaide, into a pioneering settler family working and training horses. R.M. had many adventures in Australia’s rugged outback as a bushman, and became known for creating an Australian style of bushwear recognised worldwide.
He was married twice, had ten children, and left an enduring contribution to the Australian identity.
From Welsh ancestors, his maternal grandfather Richard Mitchell being from Cornwall, Reginald Murray Williams was born to Joe Williams and his wife.
When he was 10 years old, R.M.’s family moved to Adelaide so that he and his two sisters could attend school there. School did not agree with R.M. and so, at 13, R.M. packed his swag and left for the land he loved. At 18 he started work as a camel driver and spent 3 years trekking through the Australian desert, living with Indigenous Australians and learning to survive the harsh conditions. During the Great Depression, R.M. returned to Adelaide, where he met Thelma Ena Cummings, who would become his first wife After they married, they settled in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges and had six children.
After the marriage broke up in the 1950s, Williams purchased 55 hectares of land behind Yatala Labour Prison, South Australia. There, R.M. constructed a homestead, planted vineyards and thousands of roses, and ran rodeos on the floodplain of Dry Creek. When the land was compulsorily acquired during the time of former State Premier Sir Thomas Playford, R.M. left South Australia for his Rockybar property in Eidsvold, Queensland, vowing never to return to South Australia.
He remarried in 1955 to Erica, had four more children, living at the North Burnett cattle station in Queensland. In 1985, he co-wrote his autobiography, Beneath whose hand. In 2003 Williams died at his home in Toowoomba on the Darling Downs in Queensland.
R.M. learned his leather-working skills from a horseman called Dollar Mick, making bridles, pack saddles and riding boots. In 1932, with his son’s illness and the expense of hospital treatment, he was in need of money and began selling his saddles to Sir Sidney Kidman, a wealthy pastoralist. R.M. soon had a small factory running in his father’s back shed in Adelaide that rapidly expanded. To address financial problems, he also became involved with the Nobles Nob gold mine, near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
Williams’ most successful products are handcrafted riding boots. Williams’ boots were unique when they were introduced to the market, as they consisted of a single piece of leather that was stitched at the rear of the boot (the models that featured an elastic side have been particularly popular). As of 2013, the R.M. Williams Company produces handcrafted riding boots, with the use of 70 hand processes and a single piece of leather externally (with the inside lining being made up of several pieces).
About 80% of R. M. Williams products are now made outside of Australia (mostly in China and South East Asia). This includes lace up footwear, leather bags and accessories, T-shirts, caps, seasonal shirts/shorts, polo shirts and some leather wallets.
The company brand is a Texas longhorn cattle head.
Ownership
Following the founding of the R.M. Williams company in 1932, Williams sold the business in 1988 to the long established South Australian stock and station agents Bennett & Fisher Limited. That business went into receivership in 1993, after banks were concerned about $16 million AUD of debts.
R.M. Williams Pty Ltd was then placed under the ownership of long-time friend Ken Cowley, who acted in partnership with Australian business mogul Kerry Stokes, and together with his family, presided over R.M. Williams Pty Ltd for two decades. The company employs 600 people globally, 300 of them based in South Australia.
On 26 March 2013, the Cowley family released a statement which announced an intention to sell the company to a new owner for AUD 100 million. The statement described the sale process as an assessment of “external commercial growth and expansion plans”, and the list of potential buyers included Oroton Group, Premier Investments and LVMH. As of March 2013, R.M. Williams Pty Ltd consisted of 50 retail stores, 900 stockists and exports to 15 countries. In April 2013, R.M. Williams sold a 49.9% stake to L Capital, the private equity affiliate of LVMH.
Today, the company is a wholly 100% owned subsidiary of the Singapore-based L Capital RMW (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a private equity firm of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Group.
In 1985 Williams was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), for services to the outback community.
In 1992 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for service to business and to the community.
In 2001 he was awarded the Centenary Medal
The bush businessman has left several legacies:
The Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame. Originating as an idea by artist Hugh Sawrey, RM Williams was an original board member of this institution that was opened in Longreach, Queensland, by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, on 29 April 1988.
Founded the Australian Roughriders Association.
Helped to form the Equestrian Federation of Australia (1951).
Led a committee which initiated and planned the Bicentennial National Trail.
A major road in South Australia’s mid north, which runs between Stanley Flat (near Clare) and Hawker, via Jamestown has been named the RM Williams Way in his honour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia