Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
CSR Limited
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- C.S.R.
- CSR
- Colonial Sugar Refining Company
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1855-
History
CSR Limited began in Sydney on 1 January 1855 as the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, founded by sugar-refiner and banker Sir Edward Knox (1819-1901). Initially taking over assets from the Australasian Sugar Company and Robey and Company, it expanded rapidly, establishing refineries in Melbourne (1857) and Sydney (1878), and building sugar mills in New South Wales and Fiji from the latter half of the nineteenth century. In 1887 it amalgamated with the Victorian Sugar Company and became a limited liability company. By the early 1900s, CSR had major operations in Queensland and Fiji, introducing new refining technologies and adapting labour systems following the end of indentured and Kanaka labour. From the 1940s, CSR diversified into industrial chemicals, plasterboard and insulation manufacturing, acquiring interests in Bradford Insulation (1959) and Australian Estates Co Ltd (1975). The company formally changed its name to CSR Limited in 1973, marking its transformation from a sugar refiner into a diversified industrial group.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Revised
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Revised, Kymberley Doyle, 15-Aug-2025.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Lowndes, A. G. (1974). 'Knox, Sir Edward (1819–1901)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed online 15-Aug-2025.
Maintenance notes
Revised with history, source, dates of existence and authority record identifier, Kymberley Doyle, 15-Aug-2025.