James Alexander Holden

James Alexander Holden, came from England to Australia in 1852. A young man aged 17, he was willing and eager to use his skills as a leatherworker in a new land. He set up business as an upholsterer in Adelaide, making seats for carriages and harnesses for the horses that pulled them.

On his retirement, James Holden passed the leatherworking business onto his son Henry. When the horseless carriage took the world by storm, Henry Holden and his business partner, Henry Frost, began building cars, putting their knowledge of carriages to good use. As World War I prevented completed cars from being imported, Holden and Frost had quite a good business building the completed cars up from the bare chassis.

Ref. http://www.privatefleet.com.au