This article was published:
Andrew Gray Staley (1890-1981), textile manufacturer, was born on 25 April 1890 at
In 1921 Staley was involved with his friend George Foletta in establishing the Atlas Knitting & Spinning Mill Pty Ltd at
Staley was inspired by the ideas of Dale Carnegie. He gave copies of the American author’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) to company executives and plant managers. At Holeproof a welfare capitalist model of factory management was adopted. A nurse was employed, and workers enjoyed a varied cultural and social experience with debating, drama, music and theatre nights. Throughout the 1930s the company conducted fund-raising activities to help unemployed families in
Five ft 11 ins (180 cm) tall, and physically strong and active, Staley enjoyed swimming and motoring. His wife died in 1971. On 5 January 1978, at the age of 87, he married Irene Coghlan at Toorak. Survived by his wife and the two daughters of his first marriage, he died on 25 June 1981 at Toorak and was cremated.
Cecile Trioli, 'Staley, Andrew Gray (1890–1981)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/staley-andrew-gray-15537/text26751, published first in hardcopy 2012, accessed online 4 December 2024.
This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 18, (Melbourne University Press), 2012
View the front pages for Volume 18
25 April,
1890
Wilby,
Victoria,
Australia
25 June,
1981
(aged 91)
Toorak, Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.