Monday 7:21 pm
23rd August 2021 ·
FLOUR MILLING.
INTERESTING HISTORY OF
SIMPSON BROS., LTD.
It is not an uncommon thing to
find in the Old Country the same trade
or calling followed by father and son
through several generations. In Aus-
tralia, however, it is the exception
rather than the rule. With the Simp-
son brothers, who conduct Simpson
Bros, Ltd., Ann-street, Brisbane, and
Upper Melbourne street, South Bris-
bane, such is the case. The grand-
father of the present chief executives
of the firm, Mr William Simpson, who
was a flour miller in the North of
England, came to Adelaide, South Aus-
tralia, and set up in the flour-milling
business with much success in the days
of Governor Gawler. The father of
the present directors (Mr. W. J. Simp-
son) was born in 1845, a few years
after the State of South Australia was
declared insolvent. Later on he left
South Australia to try his fortune in
New Zealand, and settled in the
Christchurch district, South Island.
After spending some time on the land
as a wheat grower, during which time
he invented a machine for cutting
the gorse hedges, which are a feature
of New Zealand farms, and the fore-
runner of the very efficient hedge-cut-
ting machines of to-day; then took up
flour-milling, and followed this occu-
pation for many years. In 1888 Mr.
W. J. Simpson left New Zealand for
Victoria, and arrived shortly after the
bursting of the land boom, and spent
20 years in the retail business.
The Simpson brothers came to Bris-
bane in 1909, and at this time Mr.
W. J. Simpson was not taking an
active part in business, the conduct
of which was in the hands of his
sons, the present directors of the firm.
The Simpson brothers first started
making self-raising flour at premises
in Stanley-street, South Brisbane,
opposite the Woolloongabba railway
yards. In 1918 the fast growth of
the business and the necessity for a
more central distributing base brought
about the purchase of the present Ann-
street premises. Since that date great
progress has been made. In 1924 new
machinery was installed, which en-
abled the firm to double its output,
and again in 1927 further machinery
additions were made, and the output
was increased by 33 per cent. At
the present time arrangements are
being made to install machinery which
will further increase the output bv 25
per cent. In January, 1929, a new
factory was purchased by Simpson
Bros, Ltd., from Queensland Manu-
facturers, Ltd., in Upper Melbourne
street, South Brisbane. The firm's
market now extends throughout the
entire State of Queensland to the
Northern Rivers of New South Wales,
to Darwin, New Guinea, Thursday
Island, Papua, Java, and Straits
Settlements, and their products in-
clude Simpson's self-raising flour,
breakfast meal, wholemeal self-raising
I MR. M. II. FINLAYSON, Judge of Fruit and Vegetables at the coming Exhibition. MR. E. COLCLOUGH, Judge of Fine Arts in District Exhibits at the coming Exhibition. Help
MR. E. COLCLOUGH.
Judge of Fine Arts in District
Exhibits at the coming Exhibition.
flour, "Koala" jelly crystals, and
"Royal Blue" dried fruits. Messrs.
Simpson Bros., Ltd., are the largest
users of flour in Queensland, and also
the largest users of cream of tartar
in this State. They are also one of
the largest buyers of dried fruits in
Queensland. At the present moment
two sons of the directors are engaged
in the business, making four genera-
tions in the flour industry since 1840.