EDITION 198 JAGUAR MAGAZINE^77and best of Lyons’ newest models. The XK120 set the motoring world
on proverbial fire when it was revealed in London late in 1948, but
Brylaw Motors got the very first RHD car built (chassis #2) after the
prototype. It was the first XK120 sold by Jaguar. Indeed, Australia
received 21 of the 58 RHD aluminium bodied XK120s created. In
1959 it also got 45 of the first 51 RHD 3.4 litre Mk2s.
Things began to collapse into a tragic inescapable black hole for
Jack though from 1962.
His beloved Trox died on February 19, at just 51 years after a long
battle with cancer, and according to John she also suffered bouts of
depression. Devastated, Jack buried himself in his work - and whisky
after hours. Sir William did the same when his son John died in a
Jaguar accident in France in 1955 - minus whisky.
Worse was to come. Hugh was entered in the 1966 Rothmans 12
Hour endurance race at Surfers Paradise to drive for Pitstop Motors
with Dick Thurston and Tom Roddy. He piloted himself north in a
new S-Type with his 21 year old model fiancée, Janice Martin. Being
the same age and good friends, Reg Kenny was asked by Hugh to
go with them because Hugh wanted to make the 1000 mile journey
without a break. Reg said he had too much work. Sliding doors ...
In the early morning of Saturday August 13, Hugh and Janice
headed, at a serious pace, along the dark flat Oxley Highway near
Mullaley in northern New South Wales when the Jaguar suddenly fell
into an unseen and very deep concrete causeway at Goally Creek. It
impacted nose first, flipped onto its roof and skidded upside down
along the highway. The rear suspension was located 60 metres from
the wreckage, and the roof flattened to seat level where Hugh sat.
Hugh Christopher Barron Bryson died shortly after being rushed
to Gunnedah Hospital, while Janice was taken to Tamworth Hospital
with severe concussion and internal injuries. She thankfully
recovered, fully supported by a shattered Jack.
According to all of those who knew him including John, Helene
and Reg, Jack never got over those losses. Reg and Helene were
great chums with Hugh, and shared a lot of fun times together as
a tight group. They took on the business load after Jack lost his
once unstoppable motivation, and retreated more into his favoured
whisky and cigarettes. He had worked miracles to get his family to
an esteemed place in life with a sparkling future, and it was dashed- John and his family excluded, of course. Reg recalled Jack would
never drink during work, but spent more hours in his massive home
virtually alone.
He drove him to the Brighton Cemetery at least once a week to
visit the graves of Trox and Hugh, and although Helene continued to
live in the house with him, she fell in love in 1969 with visiting UK
Jaguar Service Manager Christopher Leaver, and planned to marry.
It was the last straw for Jack. In desperation he rang Reg and asked
him to stop the impending marriage. It was not that he disapproved,
but the couple, who married in St Andrews Church in Brighton early
in 1970, intended to move to Sydney. He asked the same of several
other executives, and when one told him he was wrong to do so, Jack
sacked him on the spot. It was all becoming very sad.
In 1971 he was Guest of Honour at the Jaguar Car Club of Victoria’s
annual dinner held in the Alexandra Gardens opposite where his
coach building business had been in the 1930s, not that anybody was
aware of that then. He asked JCCV President, the great and gracious
Cliff Rattray-Wood, to have a particular whisky at his disposal, but
typically, did not want to be in the limelight while on the main table.
Perhaps mercifully, on August 10, 1971 Jack suffered a massive
stroke at home, was rushed to the Alfred Hospital but died without
regaining consciousness at the age of just 69 - with his brother Fabian
Shailer and son John at his bedside. A truly remarkable life was done.
Sir William Lyons: “I have not had the pleasure of knowing many
Australians, but I have been fortunate enough to have had a close
personal and business relationship with Mr Jack Bryson for the past
thirty years. He was a man of outstanding integrity. His friendliness
and desire to help others was a characteristic which singled him out
amongst other men. He possessed, in full measure, the shrewdness
and capacity for hard work. His contribution to the growth of British
car sales, and those of Jaguar in particular, was very considerable
indeed, and in his passing Britain has lost one of its most devoted
and loyal supporters ...”
John took control of the business and in December 1978, Bryson
Industries took Leyland Australia to court. The bizarre nature of
Leyland management is well documented, and in this case it simply
tried to remove Brysons and make itself the Jaguar and Daimler
distributor, despite having no legal right. The parties agreed to
retain the original agreement until the last day of June, 1979 when
Leyland Australia would take over distribution and Brysons would
become one of many dealers, most of whom sold Jaguars alongside
Morris 850s, 1100s and 1800s in the same showrooms! Go figure ...
That was as good as the end for Bryson Industries despite going on
to sell Citroens and BMWs. Facilities were sold, and its showroom in
Exhibition Street, Melbourne replaced by the Bryson Hotel.
Today John lives north of Sydney, is restoring his XJ-SC (Cabriolet)
and continues to write among many interests. He is a delightful man,
has been a great friend to this magazine since our inception, and
naturally is very proud of his family and its Jaguar history, as is his
son and daughter. Thank goodness he recorded the unknown side of
his father’s remarkable life. It would have been a tragedy to remain a
family secret. What a man was Jack Bryson!12
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