Life Story

Early Life

Lloyd Addison Harding was born in February of 1921, in the Lameroo District of South Australia, on a farm that ran sheep and produced wheat, oats, and barley. At age 6, Lloyd attended the Hundred of Cotton School. A one room school built of wood and iron. Lloyd received his first knife when he was six years of age, purchased for him by a farm labourer in Lameroo. It was a two bladed folder with what would have been simulated pearl slabs.

In 1929, the family sold the farm and Lloyd moved to Glenelg, a sea-side suburb of Adelaide. He attended Glenelg Primary School, starting in grade four. During mid primary school, Lloyd joined the first Glenelg Scout Troop and in 1934, he completed his seventh year of primary school and gained the ‘Qualifying Certificate’ for entry to the Adelaide Boys High School in 1935. During his high school years, Lloyd developed strong interests in drawing, photography, and shooting.

Young Adult Years

In 1938, Lloyd started work as a junior draughtsman with A. Simpson & Son Pty Ltd. of Pirie Street, Adelaide. On Fridays, the pay clerk would have to carry the made-up pays to the factory and conditions of insurance required that he be escorted by an armed guard. Lloyd was often called upon to do the job. As a young man, he thought it was great to be walking along the streets of Adelaide with a .38 automatic pistol in his pocket.

In 1939, Lloyd joined the Volunteer Defence Corp (The VDC). He continued in this role during the war as he was engaged in a reserved occupation, as the firm manufactured many items for the forces and the war effort.

After the war in the Pacific (post 1945) restrictions on occupations ceased and in March of 1946, Lloyd left A. Simpson & Son and joined the Interim Army. After some training, in early 1947 he was able to serve as a member of the Occupation Force in Japan. With the Australians being a component of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF). With 12,000 Australian troops being stationed there in 1947. Lloyd’s position was a Warrant Officer in the Royal Australian Electrical Mechanical Engineers, who were based in workshops at Kure, approximately 18 miles north of Hiroshima.

During his stay in Japan, Lloyd visited other cities including Tokyo and climbed Mount Fuji. He also became good friends with a Japanese swordsmith and observed his work and learned much. He also purchased a small collection of quality Japanese bladeware and fittings (tsuba and kashira), including both swords (Katanas) and daggers (Tantos).

In March of 1950, Lloyd returned to Australia, was honorably discharged from the Army and returned to Adelaide. He then returned to work as a draughtsman with A. Simpson & Son in November of 1952.

In June of 1953, Lloyd returned to farming after purchasing a farm block in Forrest Grove, in the south west of Western Australia. During this time, he continued his interests in photography and film, often showing 16mm films at the local Witchcliff Town Hall. Meanwhile, at a Witchcliff dance, he met his future wife Kathleen Marie Hollands. They were later married at a family wedding in Witchcliff in May of 1958. Following their wedding, Lloyd sold his property in Forrest Grove and he moved back to Adelaide with his new wife.

Family Years

In July of 1959, Lloyd once again rejoined A. Simpson & Son. In his spare time, he also assisted his younger brother Ross, who owned a residential building company in Adelaide. Whilst living in Adelaide, Lloyd became a father - firstly, with his daughter, Glenda (born in September of 1959), and later with his son, Wayne (born in March of 1961).

In September of 1962, Lloyd and family moved back to Western Australia and settled on a farm north of the town of Margaret River in an area known as Osmington. Lloyd worked this dairy farm up until 1966, when the family moved to another dairy farm in Forrest Grove (adjacent to Kathleen’s family farm).

By the end of 1969, both Lloyd and Kathleen were getting too old for the rigours of dairy farming and decided to move to the northern suburbs of Perth. Here, Lloyd found long-term employment with a local paint manufacturing company, Berger Paints Pty. Ltd. in Osborne Park. Stable employment afforded Lloyd more time to focus on his hobbies at home. In the late 1970's, Lloyd began his comprehensive collection of military antiques and memorabilia. His collecting included the purchase of antique firearms, bayonets, powder flasks, bullet moulds, and military badges. In 1986, Lloyd became a widower as he lost his dear wife, Kathleen to illness. It was also around this time that he officially retired from his paid work.

Knife Making

By the late 1980's, Lloyd’s interest began to shift to knife making. He began by creating a number of very basic conceptual knives. By comparison to his later work, these knives seem very simple and somewhat naive. However, it was the beginning of something special. It wasn’t long before he began to read, watch, and learn from a variety of knife making publications.

Lloyd became a full-time member of the Australian Knife Collectors (AKC) club in 1991. He also started to attend ‘Hammer In’s’ in 1993 with other local West Australian knife makers. These interactions led to Lloyd turning his skills to hand-forging damascus (pattern-welded) bladeware. His work was typified by the creation of a wide variety of steel blades, coupled with the utilisation of a diverse selection of materials used for knife handles.

Lloyd quickly forged close and valuable friendships with many other members of the Western Australian knife-making community. As a widower who lived alone, he was never alone for long as he was always receiving visits from his many knife community friends. Lloyd built his own gas-fired forge and with hammer and anvil and the eager assistance of friends, over the years created a vast number of pattern-welded damascus billets.

Lloyd gave back to the knife-making community by mentoring many young aspiring knife makers over the years. He always showed great patience and offered endless encouragement. One of his pupils was a young man who was a direct family descendant of the famous Elkington & Co British silversmithing firm. Lloyd’s endless passion for knife making was a great inspiration for many aspiring makers and craftsmen.

Lloyd produced a wide range of knife styles including: bowies, daggers, skinners, hunters, wedding knives, folders, custom designs and miniatures. Blades were made from 440C stainless steel, tool steel damascus and damasteel (stainless steel damascus). A wide variety of materials were utilised for knife handles including synthetic materials, a wide variety of both exotic and native Australian woods, animal horns and jaw bones, as well as crushed natural stone and resin material. One of his knife handles even featured a buttcap consisting of a whole tectite.

He also incorporated decorative carving on some of his wooden handles. His knife guards were also a great feature of his work and often were composed of synthetics, stainless and tool steel as well as textured and polished brass. Some of his knives also incorporated matching buttcaps.

Lloyd was also very adept at leatherwork and as an extension of his knife work, he would make beautifully crafted leather sheaths to protect the blade and handle and fit neatly on one's belt. Lloyd's workshop was housed in a large shed near the rear of his property. Over decades of work he amassed a comprehensive range of tools and equipment, including drills, vertical saws, grinders, a belt sander (for hollow grind work), buffing and polishing wheels, a small metal lathe, arc welding equipment and a gas forge. He also had a vast variety of metal files and specialised tools for measurement and general metal work. To the uneducated eye, his workshop often appeared to be in a state of chaotic disorder and disarray, however Lloyd always knew where to find that knife design or tool when needed.

As he grew older and his eyesight deteriorated, he stopped making folders and miniatures, as they became difficult to work with as some of the components were very small. On more than one occasion as he was applying the final polish to a miniature knife, it would catch on the polishing wheel and fly off into the workshop, never to be found again.

Knife Making

In the late 1990’s, Lloyd purchased a personal computer and with some assistance from friends, he managed to use this new tool along with his passion for photography to catalogue many of his knives. This also opened up a new market for his knives and many were purchased and shipped overseas. He received many notes and letters in the form of product feedback from overseas collectors - always very positive.

Lloyd attended many of the Knife Makers Guild Fairs and in November of 2000, won Best Display Award. He sold a good number of knives at these fairs, so there will be many lucky Australian collectors out there today that can proudly claim ownership of a ‘Harding’ knife.

In the Spring of 2002, Lloyd was also featured in an article in the Knives Australia magazine. This article covered some of his early knife making history and featured a photograph of him at a knife show and several of his knives. When this was published, Lloyd at the age of 82 was delighted and very proud and made sure that all of his family members received a copy. Being recognised in this way meant a lot to him and he always cherished the friendships he made with the West Australian knife making community. He lived for the opportunity to work with others and complete a successful ‘hammer in’. His knife making friends held a special place in his heart, especially in his later years.

Unfortunately in his late 70’s and early 80’s, Lloyd’s health deteriorated and in late November of 2003, he abruptly passed away. His workshop was suddenly empty, with unfinished blades sitting idle waiting for their master’s hand.

However, after his death his friends rallied to the call and visited the workshop one last time. All of Lloyd’s knife-making materials, his forge, lathe and some of his tools were gifted to his fellow knife makers. Most importantly, a lifetime of knife designs (104 templates and 300 drawings) were electronically scanned and donated to the Tharwa Valley Forge (Australian Blacksmithing School). These designs were listed freely and distributed online for all future generations of knife makers to benefit from and enjoy. Lloyd would have been delighted with that outcome.