75 Years Progress SARGOOD, SON AND EWEN

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 72, 18 December 1926, Page 27

75 Years Progress SARGOOD, SON AND EWEN

IN the year of Grace One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty Nine a sailing ship arrived in Melbourne. Over her side descended Frederick James Sargood. Nobody knew much about him then, but the name he bore was destined to become famous right throughout Australasia. F. J. Sargood started a small drapery business; his affairs flourished until in 1851 he set up as a whole-, sale soft goods warehouseman and importer at 3 I, Flinders Street, Melbourne. Only twelve months passed before Mr. John King was admitted as a partner in the concern, and Sargood, King Co. came into being. When, in 1858, the Founder of the firm found it necessary to return to London and take charge of the buying establishment there, .his son, Frederick Thomas Sargood (afterwards Senator Sir F. T. Sargood, K.C.M.G., M.L.C.,), became a partner in the firm, and so the title of the house was Sargood, King Sc Sargood. New Zealand’s First Branch . • It was not until 1862 that a New Zealand Branch of the firm was opened by Mr. J. A. Ewen in Dunedin, and the now famous title of Sargood, Son & Ewen came into being. Then followed rapid progress, a large new Warehouse being built in 1875 followed by the opening of other branches in both islands as follows: Auckland 1871, Christchurch 1886, Wellington 1888. 1888 was an important year, for it was then that the purchasing and disposing of the stock of Messrs. Harcourt & Co. was undertaken, the business of Turnbull §mith & Co. acquired, and the Wellington Warehouse installed, to be followed in 1889-1890 by the building of the present fine block. The arrival of Mr. P. R. Sargood, 1891, was followed by the promotion of Mr. John Ross, the Auckland Manager, to the senior Resident partnership for New Zealand, but unfortunately, in 1902, Mr. Ross was compelled to retire owing to ill-health, and Mr. P. R. Sargood took over the control. Sir F. T. Sargood and Mr. J, A. Ewen, both died in the early days of 1903, and in 1906 Mr. Thomas Finlayson was admitted to the Directorate. A Limited Liability Company , This conversion was made in 1907. The first Directors being Mr. P. R. Sargood, Governing Director, Mr. Thomas Finlayson, Managing Director, and Mr. H. C. Tewsley and Mr. Montague Laing, Directors. Upon Mr. Finlayson s death in 1913, Mr. D. A. Ewen was appointed Managing Director, Mr. Tewsley having retired a

I 1 he present Directors of the Company are: Mr. P. R. Sargood, Governing Director, and the two sons of the founder of the New Zealand business, Messrs. D. A. Ewen, Managing Director, and J. F. Ewen, Director in /tuckland, also Mr. Montague Laing, in London, and Mr. J. P. McGowan, in Dunedin. Thus, to-day., after 75 years of progress — 18511926 — the c oncern is still controlled by the second and third generations of the founders. Other branches were opened in Invercargill 1882, Napier 1890, New Plymouth 1895, Nelson 1900, Wanganui 1906, Gisborne 1906, and the Company also has sample rooms in all leading country towns in the Dominion.’ The Standard Boot Factory was established in 1869, in Dunedin, and the popularity of Standard Brand Boots and Shoes bears witness to the success of the enterprise. The Orehunga Woollen Mills . In Dunedin also are clothing, shirt and mantle factories, an underclothing factory was purchased in Auckland in 1920, and in 1919 the famous Onehunga Woollen Mills were added to the business. Ihe firm directly employs 716 hands in New Zealand, many of them having been employed for well over 30 years. A Provident Fund A Provident Fund was established in 1920, which enables employees to retire after 25 years’ service, on a substantial endowment, and now, after only six years, the accumulated funds, heavily subsidised by the firm, amount to £51,000. Some Important agencies are the well-known Gutta Percha & Rubber Co. Ltd., of Toronto (G.P. Footwear), and John Tann’s Reliance Safes and Strong Room Doors. lhe Company’s buying establishment in London at 1 1 Bunhill Row, E.C., comprises some eight buyers with its shipping, sample room and forwarding department staffs of some 50 hands, being one of the largest Colonial buying and shipping offices in the city of London. During the Great War, 156 employees went overseas. Thus a small enterprise, has grown into a tremendous business — a business which not only plays an important part in the commercial life of the New Zealand community, but which can fairly claim to have done much towards establishing a representation of New Zealand trade in Imperial markets.