Kempthorne Prosser
Kempthorne Prosser & Co. Ltd, also known as the New Zealand Drug Company Ltd, was the leading drug and fertiliser manufacturer in New Zealand from 1869 until 1978. The company's full name was Kempthorne Prosser & Co.'s New Zealand Drug Co. Ltd, established in Dunedin.
Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne and Evan Prosser entered into business together in 1870 as chemists.[1] They set up Kempthorne Prosser, which became a limited liability company in 1879. The head office was set up on Stafford Street in City Rise, Dunedin. In 1904 Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne retired. Kempthorne Prosser & Co became Kempthorne Prosser & Co. Ltd in 1879 when the New Zealand Drug Company was formed.
Superphosphate
In early 1881 the NZ Government offered a bonus for three years to any company that would manufacture 50 tons of
By the mid-1970s, some New Zealand farmers decided it was time to take control of the fertiliser industry, and established a new company, the Ravensdown Fertiliser Co-operative Ltd. With help from
'Ravensdown' as a name comes from the 'Raven', taken from the Ravensbourne site combined with the 'down' taken from the Seadown site.
Ravensdown was described by the High Court, in March 2021, as causing a 'reputational risk' to New Zealand by importing phosphate rock mined illegally in Western Sahara.[4] The imports have attracted criticism that Ravensdown has found difficult to shake off.[5]
Kempthorne Prosser operated four large chemical works. The
Chemical works and buildings
In 1870 the firm erected its first premises, on Stafford Street, City Rise, Dunedin. This row of three joint buildings still stand today on the lower reaches of the street, below the SaveMart Building, which was the Kempthorne Prosser laboratory from 1900 until the 1960s. Directly opposite the former laboratories is the office that Kempthorne Prosser occupied during the 1970s, built to replace the earlier structures (31 Stafford Street).
The Burnside Chemical Works in
The Hornby Chemical Works in Hornby, Christchurch, was opened in 1922, and the Wanganui Chemical Works, Brunswick Road, Aramoho, was opened in 1926. Both are still used by Ravensdown Fertiliser.
Kempthorne Prosser also had non-factory buildings in three main centres. Offices in Albert Street, Auckland, were occupied by the company until 1973 (the building was demolished in 1982). An ornate warehouse on the corner of Willeston and Victoria streets as well as Jervois Quay in
Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne (1834–1915)
Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne was born in Cornwall, England. He was the son of John Kempthorne and Anne Whitelock. He was baptised on 3 February 1834. In 1854 he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia. He worked briefly as a labourer digging up tree stumps. In 1855 he found a position in the wholesale drug trade. On 23 June 1859 in Melbourne he married Sarah Inman. They had five daughters and one son before Sarah's death in 1895.[1]
Kempthorne arrived in Dunedin in April 1863, sent by the Melbourne pharmaceutical firm of H. & E. Youngman to look at the prospects of establishing a warehouse there. When the company's managers died Thomas Kempthorne stayed in Dunedin and set up his own drug business, French Kempthorne & Co (after going in partnership with a Mr French). It did not last very long and in 1870 Kempthorne, Prosser & Company was formed when he went into partnership with Evan Prosser, a Welsh chemist on the
He became a prominent figure in the Dunedin business community, remaining managing director of Kempthorne, Prosser & Company until 1904 when he retired.
He gave generous support of
In 1901 as the first Dunedin citizen to own a car he created a minor sensation when he was driven along Princes Street in his steam-operated two cylinder Locomobile with one of his company's engineers at the tiller.
New Zealand, he concluded, was 'a land...in which man indeed is blest.' He became unwell at a board meeting of the National Insurance Company and died of a cerebral haemorrhage in Dunedin on 3 November 1915.
Evan Prosser (1830s–1896)
Prosser was elected to the
Mr Prosser operated the Western Drug Hall in Hokitika but sold it in 1870 when Kempthorne Prosser & Co got underway.
Mr Evan Prosser committed
A deliberate case of suicide and attempted murder occurred at
Sydney Daily Telegraph), [6]
Products
Some of Kempthorne Prosser's most well known material:
KP/Kempthorne Prosser's products were popular in New Zealand. K.P. Lifesalt was a drink offered in the late 1920s until at least the 1940s when Andrew's Liver Salts gained the market. KP also produced flavouring essences in up to eight different flavours.
KP Rockland and Westfield Manures were celebrated manures produced at the Burnside and Westfield Works in Dunedin and Auckland. From 1881 until about 1920 Kempthorne Prosser held a monopoly in the fertiliser division in the country until competition existed.
KP supplied major chemists and hospitals throughout New Zealand.
Publications by Kempthorne Prosser
- Late 1920s - Profitable Fertilising in New Zealand (1st edition)
- Early 1930s - KP Fertiliser Handbook for New Zealand (2nd edition)
- 1960s - KP Fertiliser Handbook (3rd edition)
- A 24-page history published by the company in 1954 provides a glimpse of the company’s first 75 years.
References
- ^ a b Parry, Gordon. "Thomas Whitelock Kempthorne". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ Duncan, Arthur (13 July 2012). "3. New Zealand superphosphate". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ "Ravensdown - History". Ravensdown Ltd. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ https://www.nzsuperfund.nz/assets/Uploads/Mohamed-v-Guardians-of-NZ-Superannuation.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Ravensdown's Western Sahara story rebutted | Scoop News".
- Sydney Daily Telegraph). Vol. XVI, no. 5399. National Library of New Zealand. 3 August 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^ Wilson, Simon Shield (2011). From Eau de Cologne to Rat Poison: Kempthorne Prosser and Co.'s New Zealand Drug Company Limited, 1869-1918. (Thesis, Master of Arts). University of Otago. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
External links
- Shield, Wilson, Simon (18 August 2017). "From Eau de Cologne to Rat Poison: Kempthorne Prosser and Co.'s New Zealand Drug Company Limited, 1869-1918". Itago.ourarchive.ac.nz. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Messrs Kempthorne, Prosser and Co.'s Premises - NZETC". Nzetc.org. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- Lamer, Mirko (18 August 2017). The World Fertilizer Economy. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804704748. Retrieved 18 August 2017 – via Google Books.
- Zealand, National Library of New. "Papers Past - MR. PROSSER'S SUICIDE. (Evening Post, 1896-07-31)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 18 August 2017.