Information
John Hargreaves ran a Breakfast Creek store during the 1880s, when the jams made by his wife Hannah proved very popular. He purchased the 320-acre Woondall property in Manly in 1891, where he grew and preserved fruit (thanks to the abundant ground water and springs) and then set up a small jam factory that grew rapidly and became a significant local employer. Other Hargreaves’ products included canned fruits, tomato sauce and candied peels. There was eventually a tennis court and bowling green constructed near the factory for the use of employees. The business was taken over by Whatmore’s during the 1930s, but the name J Hargreaves & Sons carried on until the 1980s. The company was acquired by Edgell-Birdseye in 1963, and the site was closed in 1999 and redeveloped as a housing estate.
Citations
The Telegraph, 26 May 1932; Courier-Mail, 3 May 1935.
Image Citations
Pineapple farm and factory owned by J. Hargreaves and Son, Manly, ca. 1925. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Record number: 40415.
Map References
Currently Searching