From a fleet of ocean-going shipping vessels to Australia's first major airline, then a series of car dealerships, timber mills, hotels and food processing businesses, the Holyman name has a long and fascinating history in Tasmania.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But given how busy they were generation after generation from the 1850s to the late 20th century, who would have the time to tell the full story?
One attempt was made, with a leather-bound manuscript with personal and business records completed in 1956 by Sydney author Frank Johnston, but it wasn't converted into print.
In 2021 however, two books are now available to the public detailing the rich history of the Holyman name - first with Johnston's work for the first century, and now author and historian Julian Burgess has completed the picture with the release of Holyman's of Bass Strait.
Mr Burgess said the Holymans were synonymous with business in Tasmania, but there was still a lot to discover about the sheer scale of their business empire.
"There were business connections that you don't think of, [like] Northern Motors. Holymans held the first Datsun dealership in Australia with their dealerships in Tasmania," he said.
"In 1944, the Tasmanian fish canneries that were based down in Charles Street in Launceston produced two millions cans of canned salmon for the Australian Army's Burma campaign. The Launceston factory was producing 10,000 cans a day with all five Tasmanian factories' total production at 200,000.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"I thought, 'wow that happened in Launceston?' There's not a trace of that factory in Launceston now."
He was joined by Robin Holyman - the great-great-grandson of William Holyman who jumped ship at George Town in 1854 to begin a family business dynasty - for the launch at Petrarch's Bookshop on Monday.
Robin Holyman started working for the family company in 1959, and said there was always a desire to make sure the story was told - particularly to give credit to the Holymans' role in establishing Australian National Airways.
"I think that this sort of history is not necessarily for me, but I am a great-grandfather, and for our descendants I feel it's very important that they have the history written," he said.
"We had a 15-year-old grandson at our house the other night who was looking at the book and said, 'I didn't realise you were involved in the airline business'.
"My father did five hours of recording, so Julian has been able to put quite a bit of that in, which makes it quite a personable story."
Holyman's of Bass Strait is available in Tasmanian bookshops.