The history of the early days of Bayswater Contracting spans a century of resilience, adaptation, and steady growth.
Its origins date back to 1926, when Frederick List and his sons, Albert and Harold List, founded F. List and Sons in Perth, Western Australia. What began as a modest landscape gardening business, hauling soil with horses and drays, soon transitioned into pavement and driveway construction—marking the company’s first steps into civil contracting.
By the 1930s, the firm had moved almost entirely into civil works, building driveways, parking areas, and small roads. During World War II, Harold List served in the Royal Australian Air Force, supervising military airfield pavements. The 1950s and 1960s brought significant growth. The company acquired a gravel pit and specialized in grain storage facilities and roadworks across the Wheatbelt. In 1962, Harold’s son (Paul List) joined, learning the trade from the ground up and later helping expand into Northern Western Australia, including projects in the Pilbara and Kimberley.
In 1970, the firm was sold to the Landall Group, with Harold remaining as Managing Director. When Landall faced financial troubles, the Lists reclaimed ownership, renaming the company Bayswater Contracting after its Perth depot. The focus turned to remote regional works, particularly in the Wheatbelt and Pilbara. Following Harold’s passing in 1979, the company remained family-owned, jointly run by his widow (Elwyn Ethel Hamersley) and son (Paul List).
The 1980s marked a breakthrough decade. In 1981, Bayswater Contracting completed nearly 30 grain storage facilities across Western Australia, recording its first monthly project payment exceeding one million dollars. The company expanded into major infrastructure contracts for the Main Roads Department and delivered landmark projects in Broome and Kimberley, including moving over 100,000 cubic metres of earthworks during the wet season.
From its beginnings in landscape gardening to delivering multimillion-dollar infrastructure, Bayswater Contracting’s legacy is one of endurance and evolution. It is a story not only of the List family’s entrepreneurial spirit but also of Western Australia’s growth—building the roads, facilities, and infrastructure that supported its agriculture, resources, and communities.
Slide 1: Paul List and Jeremy when he was 22 months old at the time.
Slide 2 to 5: Construction in Pilbara & Kimberley’s (e.g., Derby, Broome). Major contract in Broome: 100,000 m³ earthworks for grain storage facility near port.
Slide 6: John Hughes General Manager/right-hand man and John King General Operations Manager in the early days of BCM in Ghana
Stay tuned, there will be updates as we continue to share more legacies from this remarkable journey.
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