WARATAH
The ‘Waratah’ name was used on motorcycles between 1911 and 1953, perhaps the longest running Australian motorcycle brand. The Williams brothers – W.A., G.H. and H.J. – acquired the NSW branch of the Canada Cycle and Motor Agency, 625 George St, Sydney, in 1905, and grew the business dramatically, acquiring other businesses and moving into the purpose-built, seven-storey ‘Canada Building’ at 822 George St early in 1911. The Waratah brand – named for the floral emblem of NSW – appeared on bicycles in 1908, and the first Waratah motorcycle, powered by a 4 ˝ h.p. Fafnir engine, was advertised in the final months of 1911. If built in the Canada building, these Waratahs were among the small number of Waratahs assembled in Australia. A distraction in 1911 was the acquisition of the Douglas agency, which quickly became highly lucrative. In 1913 the brothers restructured the cycle and motor parts of the Canada Cycle and Motor Agency, Ltd, into a new private business: Williams Bros. A fire gutted the Canada Building, causing chaos and a search for new premises. In 1915, W. A. Williams travelled to England and gained the agency for Villiers- and V.T.S.-powered motorcycles, presumably from Sun Cycle & Fittings Co., Ltd, Birmingham. The first machines arrived at Williams Bros, now at 44 Campbell St, in June 1915 and were advertised initially as ‘Villiers’, but soon after as ‘Waratah-Villiers’. The V.T.S. engine joined the Villiers from October; either could be had with single- or two-speed transmission. Supplies continued during and after the war, very closely following the low-end models from the Sun range, all using Villiers engines. By 1928 the Waratah range included quite ‘modern’ saddle tank bikes with the Brampton fork and drum brakes alongside quite primitive machines still using the Sun single-tube frame, dummy-rim brake on the rear and none-at-all on the front. It is likely that all Waratah motorcycles between 1915 and 1928 were imported, complete, from Sun Cycle & Fittings. By this stage, the Williams’ business interests had passed to the next generation. P. H. (Perce) and D. R. (Reg) Williams opened a motor garage in Orange, NSW, in 1914, and after service in the war teamed up again to open P. and R. Williams in Sydney in 1920, a firm that became a subsidiary to Williams Bros. By the late 1920s, Perce and Reg were largely responsible for the Williams’ motor empire, which held many motor car and motorcycle agencies through three firms: Williams, Ltd, P. and R. Williams, Ltd, and the British Motor Cycle Co., Ltd. Waratah motorcycles were handled by Williams, Ltd, and at the time of the Sydney Motor Show in January 1929 it was reported that the 174 c.c. Waratah was being ‘assembled in Sydney from British components’. This local assembly was likely temporary. During 1929 Williams gained the agency for (British) Excelsior motorcycles, and briefly advertised two-stroke Excelsiors alongside Waratahs. Soon Williams dropped Excelsior; the Waratahs they continued to market bore strong family resemblance to the Excelsior machines and were advertised as ‘British made’. P. and R. Williams handled Waratah from about 1931, and it is likely that the machines – 125, 148 and 250cc motorcycles and a 98cc Villiers Junior autocycle in 1939 – were all built by in England by the Excelsior Motor Co. and shipped to Australia complete. Waratahs were last advertised during 1953.
©Leon Mitchell and Robert Saward, 2021
