Jeremiah Colman (1777–1851) was an English

miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

who founded Colman's Mustard, a business which merged into the conglomerate Reckitt & Colman, and is now owned by

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Life

He was born in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

in 1777 to Robert Colman (1749-1807) and Mary (née Harmer). Trained as a

, Jeremiah Colman managed a mill at Bawburgh before buying his own mill at Pockthorpe in 1803.Norwich since 1550 By Carole Rawcliffe, Page 393
Hambledon Continuum, 2004, In 1814 he bought the

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, small, round seeds of ...

business of ''Edward Ames'' and moved it to a mill at

Stoke Holy Cross Stoke Holy Cross is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately south of Norwich. Geography Stoke sits on the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,568 in 674 households at the 2001 census. The village is access ...

where he started crushing mustard seed. In 1823, having no children of his own, he went into partnership with his nephew James. By 1829 J & J Colman was selling mustard in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was elected Sheriff of Norwich in 1845 and Mayor of Norwich in 1846. Colman died aged 74 in 1851. He had married Anne but had no children. Within 20 years of his death his mustard business had become a Victorian household name.

References

1777 births 1851 deaths British food industry businesspeople Reckitt people English Baptists Mayors of Norwich

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

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