John Kitchen

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John Kitchen
Born	(1799-07-08)July 8, 1799 Long Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire, England
💀Died	June 8, 1890(1890-06-08) (aged 90) Kew, Boroondara City, Victoria, Australia.June 8, 1890(1890-06-08) (aged 90)
💼 Occupation	Kitchen & Sons
👩 Spouse(s)	Ruth Freeman (m. 1825; died 1853) Mary Hogan (m. 1864–1890)
👶 Children	Eliza Kitchen, John Kitchen, Sarah Ann Kitchen, Maria Elizabeth Kitchen, Philp Freeman Kitchen, Susan Ruth Kitchen, John Ambrose Freeman Kitchen, Joseph Kitchen and Theophilus Kitchen

John Kitchen (26 July, 1799 - 8 June, 1890) was born in England to a poor family.. In 1855 he went to Australia and would then go on to be the founder of Kitchen & Sons which would become a big soap and candle company in Australia and New Zealand at the time. He had two wives, Ruth Freeman (1797 - 1853) and Mary Hogan. He had 5 sons and 4 daughters.

Early life

John Kitchen was born in Crowmarsh, Oxfordshire on July 26 1799. His parents were Thomas Kitchen and Sarah Kitchen (1777). He had 6 siblings, William Kitchen (1795 - 1804), Charles Kitchen (1797 - 1805), Eliza Kitchen (15, 11, 1797), Thomas Kitchen (?, 2, 1801), Sarah Kitchen (?, 12, 1806) and Charlotte Kitchen (1809). He was taught the trade of candle and soap making by his Uncle Burgis Kitchen. He was very intelligent and even though receiving no formal education he taught himself how to read and write.

Before Kitchen & Sons

John Kitchen married Ruth Freeman in 1825. They had 5 sons John Kitchen (1827 - 1827 or 1828), Philp Freeman Kitchen (1, 3, 1832), John Ambrose Freeman Kitchen (27, 2, 1835 - 24, 5, 1922), Joseph Kitchen (?, 6, 1837 - 1890) and Theophilus Kitchen (10 ,10, 1840 - after November 1909). They also had 4 daughters Eliza Kitchen (4, 5, 1826), Sarah Ann Kitchen (8, 10 ,1828), Maria Elizabeth Kitchen (3, 6, 1830) and Susan Ruth Kitchen (13, 7, 1833). He owned a grocery shop in Reading. He was very strongly willed which is shown on multiple occasions. The first being when a famous preacher was speaking in a religious meeting and said something that John disagreed with. He then banged his walking stick on the floor and shouted "No! No! No!" On another occasion on a very hot day he was riding the bus. He asked the conductor to open the door and the conductor said no. He then smashed the window with his walking stick. John Kitchen was very religious with beliefs similar to Christadelphians what he would later join up to in Melbourne, He was a strong supporter of the temperance movement. Because of this he made a lot of enemies. Once he believed that God was coming because of his interpretation of the book of revelation. He then gave away all his groceries and lead the towns people up onto a hill to await the coming of the lord. When God did not come, the towns people got very angry and with his anti temperance enemies they smashed his shop windows and chased him from the town. After the loss of his business he decided to try his luck elsewhere. Melbourne was full of new opportunities and there was lots of gold mining. He took his 3 sons Philp, John Ambrose and Theophilus with him. John Ambrose wanted to come because he worked in a Lawyers office but decided the law didn't suit him so he went to go to Australia instead. John Ambrose arrived a year earlier and worked in the mines. When John Kitchen and his other sons arrived on the ship Champion of the Seas in 1855. When they reached Melbourne John got the Job as manager of a tallow candle business.

Kitchen & Sons

In 1856 John Kitchen and his Sons, Philp, John Ambrose and Theophilus started up Kitchen & Sons. They rented a small house in Bridgeport Street, Emerald Hill (now South Melbourne). They got candle frames from buying them out of a bond at Customs and got the fats from the butchers. They took their products to the grocers where they sold them. They boiled down their candles in copper tins out the back. In 1857 the local council gave them a month to move their candle making away from town because their trade was toxic. In November John Kitchen wrote to the council for the extension of 12 months to move because he had his factory up and running before the council existed, he had already renewed the lease for 2 years and he had received no complaints about the factory. John then asked them to lease him land to build his factory. They then leased him the land and gave him an extension of 5 months to build his factory. The factory was made of wood and was worth £400. It was built next to a swamp which flooded, halting work. They lived in two cottages next to the factories. The workers of Kitchen & Sons had to work 12 hour days in the week and 9 hour work days on Saturdays which was standard at the time. The Kitchens also worked these hours with their workers and had very good relations with his workers except John Harrison who was supposed to deliver candles to the grocers but they fired him because he neglected his work.

Fire

On February 27^th, 1860 the workers were dismissed early because it was too hot to work. At night the only person there except from the Kitchens was George Moral who slept there. Just before midnight John Kitchen was woken up by George Shouting "fire, fire". The factory was on fire. John Kitchen got his sons to save the factory. The Emerald hill fire brigade were very slow to arrive because the police had to get all the fire fighters out of bed do they could get the hose reel and put out the fire. A large crowd had gathered outside the factory to watch. Sandridge had their own fire brigade so they had to compete with Emerald hill fire brigade for the branch hose. While they were arguing the Melbourne fire brigade arrived. The Melbourne fire brigade was owned be the insurance companies. The Magistrate and Superintendent of the United Insurance company's fire brigade was Mr William Bencraft. He demanded that the fire hydrant be give to him. The Emerald hill and Sandridge then banded together against him and didn't hand it over. Receiving calls of mockery from the crowd he ordered his men to take charge of it. Then a brutal riot took place. The Melbourne fire brigade was attacked. Bencraft was kicked in the face and was rendered unconscious. He would have been killed if troopers and members of the public hadn't driven the mob away. The police arrived later and restored order. After the fire and riot the whole factory was destroyed except one chimney. This means that the Kitchens pretty much had to start from scratch. When enquired about the fire John Kitchen said "I am a proprietor of the premises of which the fire occurred on Monday last night about midnight, I carry on the business of a candle maker. The premises are situated on Sandridge, they are of wood. I was partly insured on the building, only to the amount of £300, the value of the building was about £400, the stock and plant were worth about £700 and was not insured. I was not pressed by anyone for money, I was doing a good business... I, and my sons slept on the premises that night, one of the work men remained also on the premises that night, he slept on the hay over the premises, close to where the fire commenced... I had no quarrel with anyone but dismissed a man about 3 weeks ago, he's been at Sandridge ever since, I suspect this man of setting the premises on fire, John Harrison is his name." John was then taken to court. After hearing the witness the jury had the opinion "that the premises had willfully been set fire by one John Harrison and John Harrison was guilty of arson." The judge let him off and thought it was just a case of mere suspicion. Several men were charged either £5 of a month imprisonment for rioting. Emerald Hill fire brigade was under investigation for the riot. The brigade disbanded and asked the council to come up with better fire protection.

Growing the business

After a few months the factory was rebuilt and the business was fully operational again. A legal partnership was formed in 19^th November 1860 between John Kitchen and his sons. The partnership was for 7 years and said that they would operate under the name J. Kitchen & Sons. Each person was allowed to draw 2 pounds and 10 shillings a week. If they wished to get more than £5 they had to get consent from the other partners. There was accounts which had to be approved and sighed by all the partners. If the partners wished to resign 3 months notice must be given. If 2 People wished to resign 6 months notice must be given and then the partnership would be dissolved. Also there was to be an official general meeting every 6 months. In march 1864 Theophilus resigned to started his own grocery store in North Melbourne. He decided to rejoin Kitchen & Sons in June 1^st 1864. While Theophilus was running his grocery shop the government passed the "Companies Statute 1864" which meant that J. Kitchen & Sons would have to register in 1864. Also in the same year John Kitchen married Mary Hogan. They had no children. In 1865 John Kitchen getting old moved to waterloo street, St Kilda because he was getting old. In 1866 they received a medal of excellence for their soap. On the 11 June 1868 the partnership was renewed for 10 years. The capital of the company was divided in to equal shares between all the participants and they decided to take equal responsibility throughout the company. Their salaries were £3 a week but if someone wanted extra money they had to ask the partners. The rest was the same as the 1860 agreement. In 1870 they bought the Gossage Bros factory where they transferred all their soap making there. The hours of work were 6 to 6 in week days and 6 to 5 on Saturday. John Ambrose was in charge of the city office. His staff were Mr. Pell who was the chief clerk and a factory boy who helped out in the office. In 1873 Philp, John Ambrose and Theophilus moved from the cottage to Pakington Street, Kew. In 1873 the partnership was renewed for another 10 years which was the same as the previous one but with the addition of a death of one of the partners. If one of the sons died his share shall remain in partnership and £3 must be paid to his estate. On the death of John Kitchen his share must remain but %8 of the profits must be paid to his estate. John Kitchen then virtually retired on £5 a week. The sons got paid £7 a week because they were working on the business. In 1876 they decided to open a branch in Wellington, New Zealand. They then sent Joseph Kitchen, the other son to go and manage it. 2 years later they brought Mr. W. H. Carwardines soap and candle business at Sandhurst. They sent Mr. Carwardine over to New Zealand for 3 years to superintend the soap making in association with Joseph Kitchen. They paid him £500 a year plus %10 of the profits. When he came back they made him manager of the Sandhurst factory. J. Kitchen & Sons was reorganized under the Companies Statute on 30^th January, 1883. The list of share holders and capital was registered on 6^th July. The capital was 30,000 shares worth £150,000 at £4.10 per share. The number of shares paid up was 15,445. John Kitchen had 10 shares. Philp 4,759, John Ambrose 4,387, Theophilus 5,279, John Hambleton Kitchen (John Ambrose's son) 10 and Joe Frith 1,000. They were all family shares except Joe Frith. They sold him 1,000 shares if sold them back to them after 3 years. The Kitchens wished to Keep the shares in the Family. They were also selling glycerin, washing blue, soda crystals and baking powder.

J. Kitchen & Sons and Apollo Company Ltd

In 1884 Mr. George Payne Clark was the manufacture manager for Apollo Candle Co. The Kitchens wanted him to work for them but Clark wanted a higher salary. Clark had an offer of £1000 from the Drivers company. Kitchen & Sons and the Apollo company decided to amalgamate because Clark was very expensive and the Kitchens was worried that Apollo Candles would amalgamate with Lewis and Whitty, a competitor. The companies both voluntarily liquidated, where each gave 17,500 shares of the new company. The capital of the company was £250,000. The shares cost £5 each. They worked under the title J. Kitchen & Sons and Apollo Company LTD. The Kitchens weren't very happy about the amalgamation because they wanted it to remain a family business. The companies would split again in 1901. Their first meeting of directors was held on 2nd February 1855. The first directors were Philp Kitchen, John Ambrose Kitchen, John Hambleton Kitchen, Charles Campbell and the treasurer. Thomas Loader was elected the first Chairman of the company. John Ambrose Kitchen was Managing director of the company for 5 years and was paid £1000. Theophilus was Managing director and was also paid ₤1000 a year. All the Kitchens combined still held four fifths of the shares. They had a lot of extra Apollo machinery which was not used so they decided to start a Sydney branch. John Ambrose went to Sydney and started an organization with Charles Upfold, Alfred Gilles, Benjamin Edward Gillis and Gilles Morton. The new company was called The Sydney Soap & Candle Company Ltd which was registered on 25^th July 1885. The share holders were Charles Upfold 1445 shares, Benjamin Edward Giles 723, Gilles Morton 723, Alfred William Gilles 1445, Philp Kitchen 690, John Ambrose Kitchen 690, Thomas Loader 690, John Hambleton Kitchen 690 and Charles Campbell 690. The first directors were Alfred William Giles, Charles Upfold, Benjamin Edward Giles, John Ambrose Kitchen, Thomas Loader and George Payne Clark. The first chairman of the company was Alfred William Giles for 3 years. Charles Upfold was made Superintendent of Manufactures, Benjamin Gilles was made secretary and Gillis Morton account. All were paid £240 a year.

Death

On June 8^th 1890 John Kitchen died in Kew, Boroondara City, Victoria, Australia. In his life time John Kitchen had made one of the biggest soap and candle companies in Australia and New Zealand despite facing many challenges. J. Kitchen & Sons Pty Ltd would merge with Lever Brothers Pty Ltd in 1962 which then would become Lever & Kitchen Pty Ltd. In 1989 they would join Rexona. It is now part of Unilever Australia

References

1. J Kitchen & Sons Pty Ltd - ANU Archives
2. History of J Kitchen & sons
3. J. Kitchen & Sons, The Candle Kings
4. John Kitchen (1799 - 1890) - Genealogy - Geni
5. J. KITCHEN & SONS PTY. LTD
6. The Soap Maker
7. Corporate entry J. Kitchen & Sons Pty Ltd (1883 - 1962)
8. History - The Soap Factory
9. J. Kitchen & Sons Pty Ltd. (1883-1962) - Trove
10. CORPORATE ENTRY Unilever Australasia (2000 - )
11. J Kitchen & Sons and Apollo Company Ltd - ANU Archives
12. Sydney Soap & Candle Company Ltd - ANU Archives
13. Victorian Historical Acts

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