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About Thomas William Beckett
Arrived in Port Elizabeth November 1864
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQLB-7CM
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Thomas William BECKETT * in 1851 at Merton Abbey in Kent. The family moved to Australia, where Thomas had a few years of schooling, before moving to South Africa.
T.W. Beckett & Co. was founded in 1875. Mr. Beckett bought land and built a single-storey store in Pretoria. In 1885 T.W. Beckett and Co. expanded into a double-storey building. Doors were open early in the morning and, before any business was done, time was made to meet friends and socialise. T.W. himself was always ready to stop work to have a cup of coffee with his customers.
In 1887 T.W. bought land in Johannesburg. Prior to this, T.W. Beckett and Co. became a Limited Liability Company. The directors were T.W. BECKETT and his friends James HILL and John PADDON. All the shareholders were family members.
In the early 1900's, Phillip GAWITH joined the company and introduced the name Five Roses and was registered as a Becketts trademark in 1909.
In 1912, a branch was opened in Durban, which was followed by the establishment of the first tea and coffee factory. Branches were also opened in Cape Town and East London.
In 1915 P.V. GAWITH and T.C. KNIGHT were made joint general managers of Becketts.
In 1924 T.W. Beckett died and George Beckett (T.W.'s eldest son) became chairman and managing director of the company. When T.W. Becketts' wife died in 1933, George and Herbert Beckett were the only Becketts to retain their investment in the Company.
The Johannesburg store was sold in 1934. During World War II, tea and coffee were in scarce supply. Becketts' was forced to ration customers in accordance with their consumption before the war. Shortly before the war, Becketts had entered into a contract with chicory growers in Alexandra in the Cape, which stood the company in good stead during the war when the demand for chicory products increased due to the shortage of coffee.
In 1946, P.W. GAWITH became managing director and the Company went public. Shareholder confidence in T.W. Beckett and Co. Ltd was high and the public over-subscribed 231 times! This was believed to have been a record on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange at the time.
Sadly, George Beckett died in 1947 and the Beckett family involvement with the Company fell away. During the 50s the head office of T.W. Beckett and Co. Ltd moved to Johannesburg and the business expanded to become the leading tea and coffee company in South Africa.
In 1948, P.V. GAWITH became chairman.
P.W. GAWITH died in 1961. His sons Richard, Steven and Toby moved up in the company hierarchy, while George's son-in-law, John INGLIS, became chairman.
Becky Horne, Port Elizabeth, South Africa (From Roots Web 27/10/2002)
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Thomas William Beckett's Timeline
| 1851 |
August 2, 1851
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Deptford St Paul, Kent, England
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| 1875 |
August 27, 1875
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| 1881 |
1881
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| 1882 |
April 2, 1882
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| 1887 |
October 6, 1887
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Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
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| 1888 |
November 16, 1888
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Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
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| 1924 |
April 29, 1924
Age 72
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Pretoria
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