Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

Godfrey Hirst

Company · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending

Made by: Godfrey Hirst
Date: roots 1865; carpet focus from 1966
Place: Geelong, Victoria
Held by: Godfrey Hirst
Themes: Machine tufting & Dalton, Global diffusion of tufting

View at the source Cited in chapter 11, notes 16, 23

Cite this source

Godfrey Hirst. “Godfrey Hirst,” roots 1865; carpet focus from 1966. Godfrey Hirst. godfreyhirst.com/au/about-us.

Research notes

Traces itself to the Victorian Woollen and Cloth Manufacturing Co., set up in Geelong in 1865. Godfrey Hirst, an English migrant, began making flannel around 1888 and took the business over; incorporated 1909. Made blankets, rugs, tweeds and flannel until it narrowed to carpet in 1966. Bought Feltex (NZ) in 2006; acquired by Mohawk in 2018 (see co-mohawk). Tufts wool carpet in Auckland and Australia. Why it matters: Australasia's main carpet maker and an example of a wool-textile mill turning to tufted carpet in the 1960s. Dates: Hirst's arrival given as 1880, 1883 or 1885. Whether the 1966 carpet start was tufted from the outset not found. "World's largest wool carpet manufacturer" is a company claim. Other pages with images: https://www.godfreyhirst.com/au/resources/news/strength-strength-160-years-local-manufacturing Independent sources: https://camd.org.au/?p=36561 · https://architectureanddesign.com.au/suppliers/gh-commercial/celebrating-150-years-of-australian-manufacturing Research note (Oct 2026): facts taken from search-result summaries; the pages themselves weren't opened. Check the cited pages before quoting.