George Marchant (17 November 1857 – 5 September 1941) was a

soft-drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweetener ...

manufacturer and philanthropist in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Colony of Queensland The Colony of Queensland was a colony of the British Empire from 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federal Australia, Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-day Queensland, ...

Early life

Marchant was born in

Brasted Brasted is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks (district), Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. Brasted lies on the A25 road, between Sundridge, Kent, Sundridge and Westerham; the road is named Westerham Road, High Street and Main Road ...

, Kent, England, the son of a builder and hotel keeper. As a boy he became interested in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

. He arrived in

on the ''Ramsey'' on 9 June 1874 at age 16 with only a few shillings. He worked as a gardener and then a

station hand In Australia and New Zealand, a station is a large landholding used for producing livestock, predominantly cattle or sheep, that needs an extensive range of grazing land. The owner of a station is called a pastoralist or a grazier, corres ...

in the country until returning to Brisbane for employment as a

carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

in an

aerated water Water aeration is the process of increasing or maintaining the oxygen saturation of water in both natural and artificial environments. Aeration techniques are commonly used in pond, lake, and reservoir management to address low oxygen levels or a ...

s factory.

Business life

Marchant purchased the

ginger beer Traditional ginger beer is a sweetened and carbonated, usually non-alcoholic beverage. Historically it was produced by the natural fermentation of prepared ginger spice, yeast and sugar. Modern ginger beers are often mass production, manufactur ...

manufacturing business of John R. Palmer in

Elizabeth Street, Brisbane Elizabeth Street is a major street in the centre of the city in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The street was one of the Early Streets of Brisbane, earliest in Brisbane being established at the beginning of settlement in Brisbane as Moreton B ...

in 1886. Marchant then opened a factory in Bower Street, Spring Hill, Brisbane and his

business eventually became the largest in Australia, with other plants in Sydney,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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, and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. Marchant believed in social equality and had read

Edward Bellamy Edward Bellamy (; March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) was an American author, journalist, and political activist most famous for his utopian novel ''Looking Backward''. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of numer ...

's ''

Looking Backward ''Looking Backward: 2000–1887'' is a utopian time travel science fiction novel by the American journalist and writer Edward Bellamy first published in 1888. The book was translated into several languages, and in short order "sold a million ...

: 2000–1887''; in 1890 Marchant founded a Bellamy Society. Marchant chaired meetings which raised funds for striking workers and women in his employ were paid more than the average in the food industry. Most of the profits of his business were distributed amongst the employees. Marchant also invented a bottling machine that came to be used worldwide.

Philanthropy

With his wife, Mary Jane Dwyer, Marchant was the benefactor of many charitable causes, including providing land in Ann St for the

New Jerusalem Church The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to ...

and in Chermside, where he donated his horse paddock to the Kedron Shire Council as a park. ''Marchant Park'' is named after him. A ward of the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

centred on Chermside is also named Marchant Ward. He was a major benefactor in the establishment of the Canberra Temperance Hotel in Brisbane, which opened in 1929. In 1932, the Queensland Society for Crippled Children was established to care for children with severe physical disabilities arising from the polio epidemic of 1932. In September 1932, Marchant donated his home ''Montrose'' and its 5 acres of gardens at

Taringa Taringa is a suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser o ...

to the society to establish an institution for the care and treatment of the children. When the number of children needing care became too many to be accommodated in Montrose, Marchant purchased a property at Consort Street,

Corinda Corinda is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Corinda had a population of 5,555 people. History The suburb takes its name from the Corinda railway station, which in turn was likely named after a local cattle sta ...

as a new larger facility which continued to be called Montrose (which is still in use for the care of disabled children in 2015).

Later life

Marchant's wife died in 1925, and he died 5 September 1941. His soft drink business was purchased in 1964 by

Coca-Cola Amatil Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCAL) was an Australian bottler of non-alcoholic beverages that existed from 1904 to 2021, when it merged with Coca-Cola European Partners to form Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. It was one of the largest bottlers of ...

Awards

In 2018, George Marchant was inducted into the

Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame The Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame recognises a set of the leaders in business and social development in Queensland, Australia. Inclusion in the hall of fame can be of individual people (living or dead), groups of people, and organisat ...

References

Additional resources listed by the Australian Dictionary of Biography

*W. O. Lilley, ''Reminiscences of Life in Brisbane and Reflections and Sayings'' (Brisb,1913) *''Queensland and Queenslanders'' (Brisb,1936) *''Votes and Proceedings'' (Queensland), 1891, 2, p 1244 *''Queensland Digger'', 1 October 1941, p 31 *''Worker'' (Brisbane), 1 July 7 Aug, 1 Sep 1, 18 October 1890 *''Boomerang'' (Brisbane), 27 Sep 4 October 1890 *''Queenslander'', 16 July 1931 *''Sunday Mail'' (Brisbane), 7 September 1941 *''Courier Mail'' (Brisbane), 8 September 1941 *S. A. Rayner, ''The Evolution of the Queensland Labor Party to 1907'' (M.A. thesis, University of Queensland, 1947) *S. W. Jack's newsclipping book, no 41 (State Library of Queensland); company files, COM/1, 1863–88, and company registration, A/ 11849 (Queensland State Archives).

External links

SOFT DRINKS, 1945 – 65
History of Marchants company
George Marchant an ingenious drink manufacturerGeorge Marchant digital story and oral history: Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame 2018

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchant, George 1857 births 1941 deaths People from Brasted Businesspeople from Brisbane Australian company founders Australian philanthropists 19th-century Australian businesspeople 19th-century Australian inventors British emigrants to the Colony of Queensland