Hartnett, Laurence John (1898 - 1986)

Summary

Sir Laurence Hartnett was Managing Director of General Motors-Holden's Ltd Australia 1934-1947 and a director of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd, Melbourne 1935-1947. He was Director of Ordnance Production within the Munitions Department and presided over the first meeting of the Optical Munitions Panel. Hartnett was a guiding influence over the Panel's work. He was also involved with many external bodies including a stint as Chairman of Ferro Corporation (Australia) Pty Ltd and John Hart Pty Ltd. Hartnett completed a mechanical engineering apprenticeship with Vickers Ltd; Lt., before joining the Royal Navy Air Service and the Royal Air Force. After the war he joined General Motors and worked at many of their branches all over the world, before coming to Australia in 1934.

Details

Chronology

1917 - 1919

Career position - Served with the Royal Navy Air Service and the Royal Air Force

c. 1920 - c. 1933

Career position - Senior Executive of General Motors in India, Ceylon, Malaya, Singapore, Sweden, Finland, USA, UK

1934 - 1947

Career position - Managing Director of General Motors-Holden's Ltd Australia

1935 - 1947

Career position - Inaugural Director of Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd

1940 - 1945

Career position - Director of Ordnance Production within the Munitions Department

1942 - 1946

Career position - Chairman of the Army Inventions Directorate

1945

Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - Managing Director of General Motors Holden

1945 - 1971

Career position - Council member of the Science Museum of Victoria

1949 - 1986?

Career position - Chairman and Managing Director of Hartnett Holdings Pty Ltd

1967

Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Services to industry and government

1974

Award - Public Service Star of Republic of Singapore received

1983

Award - Doctor of Laws (LLD), honoris causa, University of Melbourne

Related entries

Archival resources

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Laurence John Hartnett - Records, 1934 - 1986; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• Exhibition Papers, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/exhib_papers.htm. Details
• The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/omp.htm. Details

Books

• Hartnett, Laurence, Big wheels and little wheels (Hawthorn (Vic.): Gold Star Publications, 1973), 278 pp. Details

Conference Papers

• Scott, D. R., 'Laurence J. Hartnett and the Holden Car', in Engineering Heritage Matters: Conference Papers of the 12th National Conference on Engineering Heritage, Toowoomba, 29 September to 1 October 2003 edited by Sheridan, Norman (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2003), pp. 152-163., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.339152638265643. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Four new Honorary Fellows named [Bryan Kelman, Brian Loton, Arvi Parbo, Laurence Hartnett]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 56 (13) (1984), 40. Details
• Rich, Joe, 'An Edwardian Childhood: Sir Laurence Hartnett and theSearch for Identity', Australian Historical Society, 24 (1990), 252-266. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6500638. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/78062748. Details
• 'Hartnett, Laurence (1898-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-595973. Details
• 'Awarded honorary LLD, 1983', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Hartnett, Laurence John', in The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/people/hartnett.htm. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_h.html. Details
• Bolton, H. C., 'Optical Instruments in Australia in the 1939-45 War: successes and lost opportunities', Australian Physicist (1990). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/bolton2.htm. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. pp.150-151. Details
• Gold, Ergad; Greener, Rosalie (Ed) ed., Inventive Vics Exhibition (Melbourne, Victoria: Australian Scientific Industry Association, 1985), 58 pp. Optical Munitions. Details
• Mellor, D.P., 'Optical Munitions', Chapter 12 in Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 4: Civil, volume 5 'The Role of Science and Industry', Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1958 (1958). http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/papers/mellor.htm. Details
• Sherratt, Tim; Condé, Anne-Marie, A Wartime Observatory Observed - the Mount Stromlo Community, 1940-1945, Australian Science Archives Project, Canberra, 1994, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/articles/tps/tps_stromlo_draft.htm. Details
• Wisdom, John, A History of Defence Science in Australia (Melbourne: Defence Science and Technology Organisation, 1995), 267 pp. Details