Mervyn Godfrey

Mervyn Godfrey OAM (1924-2013), Dean Godfrey (b. 1970), David Godfrey (b. 1951) and Murray Godfrey (b. 1958) are respectively the founder, managing director and directors of the mapping company Ausway. Merv Godfrey trained as a draughtsman with the Victorian Lands Department and served as a radio operator in the RAAF in World War 2. After the war he worked for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and became a founding member of the Institute of Cartographers. Having worked on the Olympic Games map of Melbourne in 1956, he proposed to a publisher friend that they produce a better Melbourne street directory than those currently available. Godfrey resigned from the SECV in 1961 to embark on the project. Working from his home in Glen Waverley, he drew pen and ink maps of Melbourne's streets that his partner, Iven Mackay, would then drive around to check. For the first edition the typesetting was carried out by Godfrey's wife Barbara on a hand letterpress machine in their garage; a specially-made camera reduced the scale of the maps he drew. In May 1966, after five years' toil, the first Melway was produced. Over the ensuing years the Melway enterprise expanded to premises in Malvern, Glen Iris and Mount Waverley and the 'cottage industry' aspects of its production became more sophisticated. The Godfrey family assumed full ownership of the business in 1989. Thirty-six more editions over the years to 2009 saw many new structures, urban features and services added to the maps. In 1994 a Sydway was produced; 2005 saw the introduction of the Brisway. From 2003 the maps were GPS compatible and in 2008 the eway electronic Melway Street Directory was introduced. Now Ausway Managing Director Dean Godfrey oversees a team of ten drivers who spend eleven months of the year updating all of the company's street maps. David and Murray are Ausway directors.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of June Orford 2009