OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums The History Forum Personal Histories SIDNEY BOWDITCH - A Scott Bonnar Legend

Hello ODK History Lovers

Sidney Hubert Bowditch was the respected tradesman, then Factory Manager and lawnmower designer
at Scott Bonnar for about 4 decades. He would have seen the Company grow from a fledgling lawnmower
manufacturer, through the lean years of the Great Depression, the War Years, and then the rise to
popular success, with the mass-produced residential machines of the modern era.

This post is one for the Record. We don�t know a lot about the man at all. What we can glean, from
the surviving records, is that he played a key � and pioneering - role in the history of the great
Australian company, Scott Bonnar.



The records I�ve found are largely personal � Notices for Births, Deaths, and Marriages.
The earliest record I have dates from 1906, with results for rifle shooting at the Murray Bridge
Rifle Club. Young Sid was a good shot.

I found an important academic result for Fitting & Turning (II) from 1913.
Sid received a First Class rating:-



Sid married Doris Beatrice Carter in 1923. They had two children: a son, Douglas, in 1924;
and a daughter, Phylis, in 1926. The couple celebrated their Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1948:-



Tragically, Sid�s wife passed away at the young age of 57 in 1954. I lose the record trail here
because of a paucity of digitisation of records after this date year.

The most revealing records have come from Sid Bowditch�s War Record and Malcolm Bonnar�s
brief references concerning Sid in his 1971 Memoirs.

TO BE CONTINUED �

PART TWO - War Record

Sid�s War Records do reveal a few things. He was born in Adelaide on 17 December, 1895.
There is a quaint correction of the birth year (in Sid�s handwriting) on the Attestation papers:-



Sid attests to being a Fitter & Turner by trade, 22 and a half years of age, and single.
We know some physical details:



Sid was sent to London and then garrisoned near Vovant in Southwest Wiltshire. It then
appears that he was attached to the Australian Mechanical Transport Service (A.M.T.S.) at
Chelsea for duty as an artificer (fitter & Turner). He returned to Australia at the end of 1919.

I have no doubt that Sid signed up late in the war because of his occupation.
He was needed here for the war effort.

Most importantly, we know that he served 6 years as an apprentice and tradesman at the renowned
Adelaide firm of Dobbie and Company. This is highly significant because Scott Bonnar�s War Records
also reveal he served � 6 years at Dobbie and Company! Sid signed up 15 June; Scott, less than a
week later, on 21 June. Scott and Sid were about the same age.

The significance, then, is that it is very likely Scott and Sid knew each other from their time
at Dobbie�s. It may also be that Sid worked for Scott prior to the formation of the Scott Bonnar
Company (the one we know about) in early 1920. That�s another story.

In the meantime, Malcolm Bonnar, when 83 years of age, wrote his Memoirs. In it he made
a few brief references to Sid Bowditch. I'll cover that in the new part.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

PART THREE - MALCOLM�S Memoirs

Sid retired in 1958, after some 4 decades of service to the Company, and just two years before
Malcolm Bonnar, himself, would retire. In a memoir that gives very little recognition to key
people for the success of the Scott Bonnar Company, Malcolm Bonnar�s 1971 Memoir says, under the
heading 26/5/58, this:-



Sid was clearly a key developer in the Scott Bonnar range. I guess he was the No.2 person to
Mr Scott Bonnar himself. What is certain is that Sid Bowditch contributed to the great Scott
Bonnar machines that many folk admire today.

I guess the greatest achievements are the Queens bowling club lawnmowers that were used at
the vast majority of bowling clubs throughout Australia, and with significant success abroad.
Many consider (as I do) the Supercut machines as being the quintessential example of a
lawnmower done right.

I also want to point out � for the Model 45 lovers � that even though Sid had retired
from the company years beforehand, the engineering DNA for the 45 can be traced to the
post WWII machines he would have had input to.

POST SCRIPT
p.s. Sidney Bowditch passed away in mid to late 1976. I have been told by Sid�s grandson
Geoff Nowak that Sid was, �sitting on a chair in the back yard of his home in Tobruk Avenue,
Kensington Park, and passed away peacefully.�

The rest is history.
------------------------------------
JACK

SID BOWDITCH and the Shanks-Douglas



The record on Sid Bowditch is clearly wanting in detail.
If you have information, or would like to comment then please
create a topic in the Old Soap Box HERE.