Lindsay Frederick Nelson was born in Bendigo on October 12, 1935.
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He was the son of Frederick William Nelson, a farmer from Goornong, and Jean Anderson Nelson, née Lake.
His older sisters Norma and Denise were six and three when Lindsay was born. His younger sister Wendy arrived three years after Lindsay, followed by Kingsley two years later.
Lindsay’s family attended St George’s Church of England at Goornong, with the children also attending Sunday school.
It was a farming life, but also a family life, with Fred working in partnership with his brothers Ernie, Keith and Jackie.
Lindsay attended the state school at Goornong along with his siblings and cousins, before moving on to Bendigo Technical School, where he studied until 1950.
He was always the first home from school, keen to get back down to the farm.
Farm life was where he wanted to be. Even as a boy, he seemed happiest when he was among the machinery, the animals and the work that needed doing.
He had a particular interest in machinery, completely absorbed as he watched the steam engine chaff-cutting machine at work. That fascination with how things worked remained with him for the rest of his life.
In later years, that childhood fascination became something much bigger. Lindsay bought and restored many pieces of machinery, ranging from various tractors and carts to a Bren Gun Carrier.
The family had three farms and Lindsay took on responsibilities early. By the age of 12, he was already driving the grain truck.
In the early 1950s, the family moved to Bendigo when Lindsay’s father became unwell with cancer. By 1955, his father and uncles Keith and Ernie had both died, and life changed significantly for the Nelson family.
The Nelson Brothers farming partnership came to an end with the sale of the farm and woodyard.
Even as a young man, Lindsay’s ability and character were clear to those around him.
In February 1952, at just 16, Lindsay began his apprenticeship in boiler making at the Bendigo Ordnance Factory, working in Shop 8.
Each day, he would ride to work on his motorbike, and he settled into the kind of work that suited him perfectly.
It was also during his time at the ordnance factory that Lindsay met Essie, who worked in the canteen in Shop 7, with the apprentices and metalworkers.
It was the beginning of a relationship that would become one of the great constants of Lindsay’s life.
A supervisor at the factory once said that the way to get Lindsay to do anything, especially something he did not particularly want to do, was to ask Essie instead.
From January to June of 1956, Lindsay served in National Service with the air force at Laverton.
He had originally been conscripted to the army, but somehow, in true Lindsay fashion, managed to find his way into the air force instead.
In 1956, Lindsay and Essie became engaged, and together they began planning the life they would build.
That plan included opening a welding and engineering business. Two towns were considered, Boort and Rochester. But Lindsay could see the potential in Victoria’s irrigation areas and, for him, Rochester became the obvious choice.
In late 1956, Lindsay moved to Rochester ahead of Essie and began building his first workshop on the corner of Bridge Rd and Baynes St.
By April 1957, Lindsay F. Nelson’s Engineering Works was operating.
On December 14, 1957, Lindsay and Essie married at the Methodist Church in Quarry Hill, Bendigo. Their reception was held at the Baptist Church Hall.
Their first home in Rochester was built by Uncle Alf Exell, with the workshop right beside it.
In those early years, Lindsay turned his hand to all types of steel fabrication. Some projects included a conveyor for cream cans for Murray Goulburn and the ladders for the Rochester swimming pool.
Alongside the growth of the business, Lindsay and Essie’s family was also expanding. Eric Frederick was born in 1960, followed by Kerry Junette in 1963 and Owen Lindsay in 1969. All three were born at Rochester hospital.
Lindsay believed strongly in education. He and Essie made sure all three of their children were given the best education they could provide, with each of them attending school in Melbourne.
As Lindsay’s business grew, it also began to change and expand.
Nelson Manufacturing became agencies for Mobilco and McCulloch, with Mobilco augers and farm machinery becoming part of the work carried out through the business.
Machinery was also manufactured under licence with others, always with the purpose of meeting the needs of the local area.
Lindsay and Ron Main designed a drain cleaner, which became known as the Main Drain Cleaner, under licence for Ron Main. Steel irrigation stops, known as Metseal stops, were made under licence for State Rivers and sold by Bob Dick.
But Lindsay was always looking ahead. Eventually, he saw an opportunity to develop the first self-emptying, pre-assembled silos, delivered directly to site.
In 1969, the government introduced wheat quotas in response to the record-breaking grain harvest of 1968 and 1969.
Farmers needed on-farm storage, and Lindsay had already recognised that need.
Essie remembers a queue of farmers down the street, lined up to order silos.
The good years allowed Lindsay and Essie to build a new home on Bridge Rd in the early 1970s.
Lindsay was also ahead of his time in flood mitigation and planning. The home remained untouched by many years, until the one-in-1000-year flood of 2022, when it was inundated by only 50mm.
In the mid-1970s, Lindsay bought a block in Parkes, NSW, and silos were delivered to that area through the winter. Then, in 1979, having outgrown the old factory, construction began on the new factory on Kyabram Rd.
Of course, business was not without its challenges. A power strike in 1977 caused enormous pressure, with three months of power interruptions. Lindsay, found a way through.
He secured his own generator so the business could keep going. Today, the plants at Parkes and Rochester have generators to cope with interruptions.
The drought of 1982 also brought tight years, followed by the recession in 1992, the millennium drought from 2002 to 2011, and floods as well.
Lindsay’s vision helped the factory endure the difficult times. Through the 1980s, Nelson Manufacturing supplied large grain storage across Australia, while also diversifying into industrial applications.
In 1981, after a huge year for the factory and staff, Lindsay rewarded all the factory workers by taking them to Hong Kong.
Nelson Manufacturing also became a long-standing part of the Elmore Field Days, exhibiting every year since its beginning more than 50 years ago.
Lindsay’s vision was not limited to the factory and farming was always on his mind.
He purchased 121 hectares on Dingee Rd, east of Rochester, known as Harry Staley’s farm. A house was moved from Rochester out to the farm, an 18-inch bore was struck, and the irrigation areas were laser graded.
Then came New Moon, around 162ha on Kyabram Rd. Lindsay subdivided a section of blocks for houses, planted thousands of trees and used the remaining land mainly for cropping and beef cattle.
Finally, in 1985, Lindsay purchased 204ha, known as Hicks Farm, at Strathallan.
Lindsay did retire once, at the age of 75. But it did not last long. He went back to work at the factory after lunch.
As the years went on, Lindsay’s family continued to grow with the arrival of his grandchildren.
Lindsay’s life was also closely connected to the wider Rochester community. He was not someone who simply watched from the sidelines.
He served for four years as a councillor with the Rochester Shire Council, on the Rochester Water Board, State Rivers and Water Commission and later the Campaspe Region Water Authority.
Lindsay was a member of Lions and, through Lions and council, he was involved in the renovation of the old Common School in High St.
He also believed the area would be further enhanced by saving the old Salvation Army Hall.
In typical Lindsay fashion, the plan was not just to talk about saving it, but to move it from the other side of town.
He had assistance from the SEC, but permission to cross the railway line became a problem. So Lindsay called then-Premier Sir Rupert Hamer, who reportedly told him to just do it early on a Sunday morning. And so, Lindsay and his team successfully moved it on one of the Nelson trucks very early the following Sunday.
Lindsay was also involved with 200 Club Liberal Party meetings in Shepparton, and through that connection, in 1978, Governor-General Sir Zelman Cowen visited the factory.
In 1982, Rochester was visited by Slim Dusty, who signed the visitors’ book at the Nelsons’ Bridge Rd house. The Slim Dusty and Kamahl Rochester concerts were underwritten by Lindsay, showing again his willingness to support the community and bring something special to the town.
As a child, Lindsay and his family holidayed at Queenscliff, and in the early 1960s, he decided to build a holiday house at Point Lonsdale to share with his sister Norma.
In the 1980s, Lindsay and Essie upgraded to another beach house at Point Lonsdale.
When Lindsay and Essie’s Rochester home was flooded in October 2022, they were grateful to be able to spend six months at Point Lonsdale.
Lindsay lived a full life, one he was proud of. He was a man who worked hard and made the most of the opportunities before him.
White Hills Cemetery is where Lindsay’s ancestors and a sister and brother are resting, so it is a fitting place for his final farewell.
Whether it was a factory, a farm, a community building, a machine, an event or a problem that no-one else could quite solve, he had a way of stepping in, working it out and making something happen.
Lindsay died on June 16, 2026.
— Information from Owen Nelson and Tracie Kyne, compiled by Peter Anderson