William Nelson (industrialist)
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William Nelson | |
|---|---|
 Nelson brothers: William, Montague and Frederick Nelson | |
| Born | February 15, 1843 |
| Died | 16 November 1932 (aged 88–89) |
| Known for | Nelson Brothers Limited |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Newcome Bicknell (1865), Emma Caroline Williams (1884), Katharine Maud Orford (1922) |
| Children | 11 |
| Parent(s) | Sarah Philbrick and George Nelson |
William Nelson (15 February 1843 – 16 November 1932) was a New Zealand industrialist and farmer[1] described in his obituaries as "the father of Hawkes Bay". He personally managed his Nelson Brothers freezing works at Tomoana for nearly 40 years.[2]
He arrived in Auckland in February 1863 with his elder brother Frederick Nelson. They settled in Hawkes Bay but their farming ventures were unsuccessful and William returned to his father's business in Warwick, England in the early 1870s leaving Fred in New Zealand. Gathering management experience in Warwick he meanwhile learnt all he could about meat preservation to export the meat otherwise wasted in New Zealand for the sake of consumers.[1]
Meat exports
Fred and William, now back in New Zealand, established in 1880 a boiling down and canned-meat plant at Tomoana just north of Hastings in Hawke's Bay. The buildings were carefully planned for use as a refrigeration plant and laid out accordingly but the brothers waited for others to prove the best maritime refrigeration process.[2] The first frozen meat shipment went to London from Otago in 1882. In London Frederick and his brother Montague, manager of their father's Warwick gelatine factory, floated a company, Nelson Brothers Limited in May 1883 to raise capital for refrigeration machinery at Tomoana.[3] In March 1884 Nelson Brothers arranged the first shipment, 9,000 sheep and six bullocks, on the sailing ship Turakina.[2] By the middle of the 1890s Nelson Brothers Limited had the largest share of New Zealand's frozen meat export trade.[1] In 1914 232,560 sheep, 217,908 lambs and 5,250 bullocks were slaughtered and frozen for export.[2]
Nelson Brothers Limited opened new freezing works at Waipukurau, Gisborne, Woodville and Spring Creek.[1]
