Aubrey Gibson
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4 May 1901
Aubrey Gibson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Aubrey Hickes Lawson Gibson 4 May 1901 |
| Died | 26 March 1973 (aged 71) |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | art collection and patronage |
Aubrey Hickes Lawson Gibson (4 May 1901 – 26 March 1973) was an Australian businessman, arts patron and art collector. Born and educated in Melbourne, Gibson became a successful businessman in the city, establishing his own company, A.H. Gibson Industries, which was listed on the stock exchange in the 1950s. He was also a director of other major manufacturers and distributors, including Volkswagen Australasia and Hoover Australia.
Gibson is notable for his services to the arts. He maintained a substantial private art collection. He was a founding director of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust and of the National Trust of Australia, and deputy-chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria.
Gibson was born on 4 May 1901 in Kew, Melbourne. The third child of Scottish business manager John Gibson and English born wife Ellen née Lawson,[1] he was schooled at Melbourne Grammar and the University of Melbourne.[2] He briefly studied art at the National Gallery of Victoria drawing school, but concluded that art was not his vocation. He said of that time that "with little resistance I allowed myself to be guided into commercial fields".[3]
He married twice, with children from both marriages. His first wife was Marjorie Isabel Kimpton, whom he married in Melbourne on 3 February 1930, and with whom he had a daughter and a son. They were later divorced, and on 19 September 1947 in Colombo he remarried to Gertrude Jean Balfour, with whom he also had a son.[1] Gibson lived in Hopetoun Rd, Toorak, Victoria for much of his life, but toward the end of his career he maintained a residence in Arthur Circle, Forrest in Canberra.[2][4]
Gibson died on 26 March 1973, survived by his second wife and a child of each of his marriages.[1]
Professional career
Gibson pursued a successful business career. He worked as a salesman for Hoover products. In January 1933 he established his own company A.H. Gibson (Electrical), which was a distributor of electrical appliances and parts. He also spent some time working in New York.[5] His company became A.H. Gibson Industries Ltd, and was listed on the stock exchange from 1949 to 1959, during which period he was chairman and managing director.[2] Gibson also held other directorships, most notably of Volkswagen Australasia from 1961 to 1967 and Hoover Australia from 1964 to 1970.[1][2] An active member of Victoria's wider business community in the 1940s, he was President of the Electricity and Radio Federation of Victoria (1947–1949) and President of the Institute of Sales and Business Management (1946–1949).[4]
Gibson's business interests were complemented by other activities, including farming land at Berwick, Victoria.
Gibson was active in what is now the army reserve. He was made a lieutenant in the Melbourne University Rifles in 1922, and by the time of World War II had risen to the rank of major in the reserves. Seconded to the Second Australian Imperial Force on 13 May 1940, Gibson served in Australia and in the middle east (1940–1942), where he performed adjutant and quartermaster-general duties. He was made a lieutenant-colonel in the Reserve of Officers on 13 May 1945, and was made honorary colonel when placed on the retired list in 1951.[1]
