May 2018 Project Martha – Historical & Archaeological Background 66 Later History Waihi The PYE (NZ) Ltd Factory The land on which the PYE (NZ) Ltd Factory stands at the corner of Moresby Avenue and Martha Street, Waihi, is formed of Section 92, Town of Waihi. The section is visible on a plan of the Waihi Township, dated 1909 (NZ Map 3604 – Figure 47), although not in its present layout. In 1919 Section 92 was included on a plan of a residence site (SO 20650) which indicated two extant buildings within the property. It is unclear who constructed the buildings; however, a residence site license was granted to Jeremiah Hirst, a laundryman, for the land on 28 November 1919.203 Following Hirst’s death in 1922, ownership of the property, granted for a term of 42 years, remained in the Hirst family, eventually passing to Eric Maurice Hirst and then to Lily Kate Hill.204 Hill changed to her married name, Bjerring, in 1953 and transferred the interest of the residence license for Section 92 to the Akrad Radio Corporation Ltd on 26 November 1954.205 The Akrad Radio Corporation Ltd was founded by K.M. Wrigley, who was born in Waihi in 1913.206 Wrigley moved to Auckland after finishing high school, where he worked with Johns Ltd and obtained his Radio Serviceman's certificate.207 He returned to Waihi in 1932 and established a radio sales and repair shop in lower Seddon Street where he worked with his brother. Wrigley began the manufacture of his own radios, which were cheaper to build than to buy, and trade prospered. By 1939 Wrigley employed 50 persons and the business was obliged to move to larger premises. The name Akrad (an abbreviation of Auckland Radio) was first used from around this time and Wrigley promoted sales by frequently travelling around the North Island.208 During the Second World War the government disallowed the manufacture of domestic radios and Akrad was contracted to produce army radios, spare valve cases, signal lamps, Morse keys, and buzzers for defence purposes.209 Staff numbers increased to 90 during the War years and the firm was relocated into the King’s Hall in Haszard Street. From the mid-1940s Akrad diversified by producing children’s tricycles and arranged for a separate marketing organisation to sell the new enlarged factory output.210 Wrigley died shortly afterwards, in 1946, and the business passed to the Public Trustee who administered Akrad on behalf of the estate until 1947 when it was purchased by a group of shareholders. A limited liability company was formed under the name of the Akrad Radio Corporation Ltd and in 1951 Pye (N.Z.) Ltd (manufacturers of televisions) acquired a controlling interest in the business.211 The Waihi factory produced Pye domestic radios along with the established brands of Regent, Pacific and Five Star, and from the 1950s additional products were also manufactured, including: mobile radio telephones and related telecommunications equipment, New Zealand’s first single-cabinet stereograms, transistorised radios and the use of printed circuits.212 The 203 SA3C/167, LINZ. 204 Ibid. 205 Ibid. 206 Nellie Scott Climie, Waihi Borough Council Diamond Jubilee¸ 1902-1962, Paeroa, 1962, p.161. 207 R.E. Skinner, ‘Akrad Radio Corporation’, Ohinemuri Regional History Journal, 9, May 1968. 208 Ibid.; Climie 1962, p.161. 209 Ibid. 210 Ibid. 211 Ibid. Pye (N.Z.) Ltd was set up by Pye Ltd., of Cambridge, England who retained substantial shareholdings in the new company. 212 R.E. Skinner, ‘Akrad Radio Corporation’, Ohinemuri Regional History Journal, 9, May 1968.
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