Alexander MacRae

For those of a similar name, see Alexander McRae (disambiguation).

Alexander MacRae
Born	1888 Scotland
Died	1938 Australia
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation	Businessman
Spouse	Martha MacRae
Children	Alisdair MacRae William MacRae James MacRae Ronald MacRae Duncan MacRae Jean MacRae
Parent(s)	Murdo MacRae Mary MacRae

Alexander MacRae (c. 1888 – 1938) was an entrepreneur and clothing manufacturer. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia where in 1914 he founded the company that became the swimwear giant Speedo.

Biography

Early life

Alexander MacRae was born in Scotland to Mary and Murdo MacRae. His father, Murdo MacRae, was a fisherman in the north Western part or Scotland near the Kyle of Lochalsh. They married Mary at the Kyle of Loch Alsh train station. In 1910, Alexander immigrated to Australia.

Career

It was in 1914, he founded the hosiery company MacRae Knitting Mills in Regent St, Sydney Australia. In 1918, the company became a company and moved into a larger factory in Camperdown. The company was growing quickly which required further area to manufacture what was becoming an icon of Australia. In 1928, the company held a competition to see who could come up with a new name for the business, the name,'Speedo'was born and is it the company's name to this day.

Later, he flew to America and set up there.

Personal life

He married Martha MacRae. They had five sons and a daughter: Alisdair, William, James, Ronald, Duncan and Jean. All of their sons became directors of Speedo.