Charles Henry Hoskins was born in London on 26 March 1851 and came to Australia aged two with his parents. He started work as a mail boy at Ballarat, tried the diggings without success, and at the age of 25 went to Sydney to join his brother in a small engineering enterprise.
G & C Hoskins began general engineering work in 1874 and grew to become one of Australia’s largest suppliers of pipes, as well as manufacturing boilers and water engines. The firm laid the first six-foot main for the Sydney water supply and in 1899 manufactured and laid the pipeline for the Perth–Coolgardie water scheme.
Charles married Emily Wallis in 1881 and they had nine children. During the Lithgow years, the family lived at Eskroy Park, Bowenfels. The property is now the Lithgow Golf Club and the family home forms part of the clubhouse.
From 1908 until his death in 1926, Hoskins transformed the struggling Lithgow Ironworks into Australia’s first successful and economically viable steelworks. The achievement was especially notable because it occupied the final two decades of his life.
“Ambition to do great things, amazing clarity and vastness of vision.”
Contemporary obituaries described Hoskins as a “captain of industry” associated with major engineering enterprises and noted his determination, organisation and service to Australia.