Austin Edwards the first owner of Margaret Rintoul
A W signed up for WWI 19 February 1915, aged 20 years 11 months, citing 2 years 9months service in the 25 Infantry, already. No. 1090, he was in the Signallers Unit, but his Attestation paper has a note that looks like Infantry Sequesters? Light horse Signalling?? dated 22 March 1915. He was a Joiner by trade and had been apprenticed to W Rigby & Jones, Government Architects Branch, for 5 years in all. NOK was his mother, Jessie Edwards of Cundletown. In or about 1940 Austin and his brother Silas started the building and construction business that still bears his name :
Published in the Sydney Morning Herald of Monday 18 March 1940:
"NEW REGISTRATIONS. "A W EDWARDS PTY. LTD. capital £50,000 in £1 shares to acquire the business of builder and contractor now carried on by Austin W Edwards First Directors, Austin W Edwards and Silas O Edwards. "
COMPANY HISTORY
Austin William Edwards (A W) founded the construction business in 1921. In 1960, after nearly forty successful years, Austin's son Stanley took over as Managing Director. Stanley continued to build the company and its fine reputation until he retired in 1994. His sons Bruce and Malcolm Edwards then took over the executive management of the company with Bruce becoming Managing Director in 1999. For over 19 years Bruce's leadership and governance positioned A W Edwards as a key player in the Australian Construction Industry.
In July 2018, A W Edwards became part of the Bouygues Bâtiment International (BBI), a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction, that has been specialising in complex construction projects around the world for more than 40 years. BBI operate across all five continents employing over 50,000 people and turning over A$17b per annum.
The A W Edwards name and brand will be maintained with the fourth generation of the Edwards family remaining in the business. Through this globally-respected network A W Edwards can offer clients the accessibility and support of an Australian based company, gaining support where appropriate with the additional resources, international procurement reach, financial strength and the technical capacity of Bouygues Construction. To find out more visit the BBI Website
1950 Hobart
There is an article in "The Sydney Morning Herald" of Monday 1 January 1951, when his 43' yawl, "Margaret Rintoul" was first to cross the line in the Sydney-to-Hobart race, which includes a photo of the owner and rest of the crew on board (see below) and another article of Wednesday 26 December 1951 also describes the "Margaret Rantoul's entry in the 6th Sydney-Hobart.
" FIRST BOAT TO CROSS LINE Jan 1951
Mercury Hobart Photo ©
The crew of the Sydney yawl, Margaret Rintoul, photographed onboard their boat soon after crossing the finishing line in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race yesterday. The men standing (from left) are: R. Tice; Lieut.-Colonel K. Wylie; F. Mecham; R. Wiese; M. Davey (skipper) and Austin Edwards (owner). Seated (from left) are Norman Hudson (mate); G. Perroux and W. Carrol.
Sydney Yawl First In
The 44ft Sydney yawl, Margaret Rintoul, was first across the finishing line at 4.29 p.m. yesterday to lead narrowly from the Tasmanian sloop Mistral V in the race to Hobart.
The 45ft South Australian yawl Nerida was third.
Corrected times for the first three are:
Rintoul, 3 days 23 hours, 26
mins. 14 secs.
Mistral V., 4 days 1hr. 21mins. 23 secs.
Nerida, 3 days 20 hrs. 17mins. 30 secs.
Elapsed time: - Rintoul, 5 days 5 hrs. 28 mins. 35 secs.; Mistal V., 5 days 5 hrs. 47 mins. 1 sec; Nerida, 5 days 6hrs. 13 mins. 49 secs.
Nerida probably will be the winner on handicap.
However, Royal Tasmanian Yacht Club officials said For- tuna has until 3 a.m., Jasnar 7 a.m., and Seaward 9 a.m., limits to beat Nerida's corrected time.
The Margaret Rintoul finished the course amid prolonged cheering.
She crossed the line 18 minutes ahead of Mistral V.
LONG SEAWARD LEG
Abrupt changes in position overnight on Saturday and yesterday brought Nerida closer to the leaders, and helped to clinch her probable victory on handicap, and also reduced Mistral V's lead surprisingly.
Dusk on Saturday found Mistral V 10 miles ahead of Margaret Rintoul, but during the night the Hobart sloop was becalmed for three hours near the coast, off the Hippolyte's.
The Margaret Rintoul, after adjusting her gear near Maria Island, made a long seaward leg. This meant beating back into the remains of the southwesterly, which had hit the seven leading yachts on Saturday morning.
TACTICS SUCCESS
Despite heavy seas, she beat landwards to make a Tasman Island landfall at dawn today. Mistral V made little distance in very light airs near the coast.
This change of position on Saturday night lost the race for Mistral V and won it for the Margaret Rintoul.
The Margaret Rintoul took the lead in the 635 miles' race on Thursday, but while running before a hard north-easter she had her big spinnaker come away and rip to shreds in the rigging.
With a smaller extra set and the loss of 500 sq. feet of sail area, she lost speed, while Mistral V moved into the lead, logging 208 miles in 24 hours under the north-caster pressure.
Mistral V held a good lead, and was nearly 30 miles ahead on Friday night, according to one of the crew.
The Margaret Rintoul altered her course landward to find lee when the south-westerly hit the fleet on Saturday morning, but Mistral V was caught well off the coast and had to work back in the face of this hard blow, reducing her lead.
At this stage, Nerida was third, with Fortuna, Mistral II, Kintail, and SeeVogel struggling along the coastal area to St. Patrick's Head.
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