Arthur & Enid Gillott
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Re Union 2006.
Over a period of 63 years Arthur H. Gillott, with his wife Enid, developed and operated a multi-faceted road transport service.
Established in 1935, the firm began with two small tip trucks and by the 1990s had grown to a fleet in excess of 80 vehicles from Kenworth prime movers hauling 3-axle trailers to 53-seat Leyland Tiger buses. It has remained family-owned ever since.
Arthur Gillott's sons, Arthur and George, and son-law Allan Hibble, managed different divisions of the company which grew to comprise: Arthur H. Gillott Pty Ltd, which ran a fleet of local tip trucks delivering building materials all over the North Shore; St Ives Bus Services Pty Ltd, which operated from Pymble and Gordon stations providing a feeder service to the developing suburb of St Ives as well as numerous local schools; Pymble St Ives Hire Cars Pty Ltd which provided a day and night taxi service and hire car operation for weddings and outings; and Highway Haulage Pty Ltd which ran heavy interstate freight vehicles mainly to Brisbane.
In 1935 Arthur set up his own haulage contracting business with his brother-in-law, Herbert Tunbridge. They each began driving a Chevrolet truck and advertised their firm as Dependable Carrying Contractors Anything, Anywhere, Anytime. The trucks undertook local carting jobs all over the North Shore when building in the pre-war period was high, from the beginning it was a family business with Mrs. Enid Gillott, Arthur's wife, an active member of the company and working as his secretary.
By the Second World War Arthur began to expand his firm having two trucks working on the graving dock at Garden Island, another in Queensland and another in the Northern Territory with the Allied Works Council. After that he went back to hauling building supplies again around the North Shore. His trucks mainly comprised the chassis of the Canadian Chevrolet, Maple-Leaf with purpose-built bus bodies constructed in his workshops.
Arthur passed away and his wife Enid is leaving the business in the capable hands of son Arthur who continued the family tradition of not only running a successful transport business but supporting his industry through many avenues.
