Leslie Perry
Inducted into the Shell Rimula Wall of Fame at Reunion 2006.
Leslie Horace Perry was born in Port Pirie, SA in 1925. At 18 he joined the transport division of the RAAF. After the war he took a job with the Shell Company carting 44-gallon drums. Les married Joy Argent in 1947. She died in 1949 just as the company, LH PERRY Fuel Distributor, was founded. Drums were delivered to customers in a 30cwt Cherolet tray top. A drum platform was built at the family farm in the old horse stable. Les was call The Agent by his three brothers. In September 1949 Les Perry took over the Crystal Brook (SA) Agency.
In 1950 Les opened an office in Brandis Street, Crystal Brook for storage and sales of lubricants and Wiles machinery sheds, Javelin and Singer cars. Les became the first oil agent to deliver bulk fuel to farms in this district, mainly triple-filtered Voco Power Kerosene. Les and his new wife, Yvonne, expanded into electrical goods in 1952 and in the following years Les took over the distributorship of Vacuum Oil products in the Port Germein area, the Gladstone Depot and surrounding areas. He purchased his first retail outlet in Crystal Brook in 1962. It was the same year Vacuum Oil became the Mobil Oil Company. Commission was four pence per gallon.
By 1974 the fleet had grown to include Les' three sons, several KGL diesel Bedfords 690 and D2F Dodges, a C180 Inter prime-mover, an Acco 2150B prime-mover, Dodge Fusos and Leyland Comets and Hinos. In 1975 LH Perry took over Jamestown and by 1981 LH had expanded to include the Clare area. By 1980 retail outlets and bulk deliveries were spread from Gawler to Yunta. In 1986 LH took over Kapunda. In 1999 LH celebrated 50 years of successful business. Today the business is based at Crystal Brook, Jamestown, Clare and Kapunda and other regional locations in SA.
The number of service stations have grown from the first outlet at Crystal Brook to 15 major outlets throughout the mid-north. After the death of LH in 2003 the company has been run by his two sons, Robert and Phillip.
