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named ‘Ericstane’ in honour of the boy. At the age of 10 young Eric was badly injured in an accident, his leg being
fractured in five places. He spent 12 months in hospital and for three years afterwards he wore a calliper and was
warned against running and jumping and all the adventurous things boys like to do. The advice seems to have been
ignored as family legend has it that he won a statewide one-mile race during this period, calliper and all. He was
advised to wear a metal shield to protect the bone from further injury. When Izod came to Darwin in 1946 he put
the shield in a bottom drawer and only brought it out when he went on fishing trips to Arnhem Land.
Eric Izod was mechanically minded from an early age. At 13 he talked his father into allowing him to leave
school to work in a garage. He started work at Mackie Motors and finished his apprenticeship at Melbourne
Engineering Works. During this time he was a professional musician, playing saxophone and violin equally well.
However, playing seven nights a week and working at an apprenticeship was too much, so he had to make a choice
between careers. He chose mechanics but his love of music was to last all his life. He raced motorbikes and won a
Melbourne to Sydney car race in a 1926 Chevrolet.
At the completion of his apprenticeship he operated a small workshop, Riverdale Road Motor repairs, in a
building in the grounds of ‘Ericstane’ and continued to improve his engineering qualifications. Eric married Ellen
Florence Armitstead and built a new home next to ‘Ericstane’ for his bride. There were three children of the
marriage, Leo, Marcia and Michael. The original home was turned into a small private hospital for convalescents
and geriatrics. Times were tough during the early Depression years. Eric worked at Toynes and invented the first
hydraulic clothes hoist but failed to take out a patent. Just prior to the outbreak of war he opened a garage at
St Kilda named Izod’s Village Belle but this was requisitioned by the military.
During the early 1940s Izod had tried to join one of the armed services but was rejected time and again
because of his leg injury. Finally he was allowed to join the Citizen Military Force (CMF) as a Private. After
waiting on tables he demanded something more in keeping with his qualifications so he was promoted to Corporal.
He was commissioned in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in April 1943. After further training he was sent to
New Guinea in charge of motor transport maintenance with the rank of Captain. During this time he devised a
technique for cutting grooves across the ends of universal joints to allow grease into the needle rollers to prolong
life. In 1945 he was sent to Darwin in charge of motor transport.
So impressed was he with the potential of Darwin that as soon as the war was over he moved his family north
and they lived in a house on the Esplanade. He purchased seven ex-navy boats with a view to establishing an
inter-island trade but was persuaded by the Administrator to open a garage-service station. The first site of Izod
Motors, Darwin, was an old soft drink factory in Cavenagh Street. In 1949 he built the Silver Top Service Station
at the corner of Smith and Knuckey Streets. From November 1952 he ran a taxi service. In 1955 when the site
was resumed to allow the Post Office to be erected he was offered another business block. The second showroom
for Izod Motors in Darwin was opened at the corner of Knuckey and Cavenagh Street in 1955 (now the site of
the AMP Building) and he operated from these premises until his death. Izod’s initial vehicle agencies were for
Chevrolet and Oldsmobile. He then obtained the first Holden agency in the Top End in 1948 and he held it for
23 years. Each year he would announce the new model with a huge party at his home.
Izod Motors, Katherine, was opened in 1949 and this operated for 10 years. During the 1950s, in partnership
with Ivor Hall, he owned Killarney station, reputedly one of the best in the Territory. In the early post-war years
Izod also had mining interests in Tennant Creek and at one time was in partnership with the redoubtable
Tiger Brennan in the Mauritania and Klondyke mines. Later in the decade he built nine luxury flats at
Myilly Point.
He was active in the political and civic scene. He was appointed to fill a casual vacancy as one of the two
Darwin members of the Legislative Council on 18 August 1949. The last sittings of this Council were held on
30 November 1949. He stood for election to the third Council on 15 October 1951 and served until 29 May 1954
when pressure of business forced him to retire from the political arena.
He was one of the foundation members of the post-war racing club and did an enormous amount of work to
build the race course using his own equipment and he is credited with getting post-war racing going. He owned
many racehorses and won numerous trophies in 1952 and 1953 including the Darwin Cup, Katherine Cup, Jubilee
Cup, Tennant Creek Gold Cup for Territory bred horses, and the Anzac Memorial Sash. He was Chairman of the
Darwin Turf Club from 1955 to 1957 and served on the committee until his death. He was made a Life Member
in 1964.
He was also active in the Returned Services League Club and in this capacity assisted young unemployed
ex-servicemen who could not get work because of lack of tools. He was a committee member and Vice-President
at the time of his death. As a Reserve officer, he started the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
(RAEME) section of the CMF in Darwin. He was active in the Chamber of Commerce, the Police Boys Club and
sat on the Apprenticeship Board. There were few organisations in the town with which he was not involved; at one
time he was on nine committees simultaneously. He was on the planning committee for the Darwin Community
College, which ultimately grew into the Northern Territory University, an appointment that gave him much
satisfaction.
He was a noted safecracker—legally—and the man called upon by the police to open safes when keys were
lost or the mechanism damaged. This started in 1946 when the Police Inspector, A V (Alf) Stretton, sought his
assistance to open safes, keys having been lost during the evacuation and war years. Thereafter his services were
often called upon and he gave expert witness at a number of trials. He always had a reputation as an athlete.
He liked to dance and could outstay his peers and most of the teenagers, except his daughter-in-law. His favourite
party trick was to hang from the rafters by his ankles while drinking a beer without using his hands. Although
not a big man he was very wiry and was noted for his robust sense of humour. He was also known as a very