Misc. Notes
Name, year of birth, from research file10 in June 2017.
Preferred name of Dick from:
http://www.theprow.org.nz/enterprise/nelson-brewing-family/#.WUxqMMZ7F0oBrian of
nzolivers.com says
Richard (Dick) Duncan entered his father’s brewing business and in 1937, along with his brother
Sholto Duncan, and father’s cousin Harry Dodson became partners.
Further background information here:
A Nelson brewing family
Extracts from:
http://www.theprow.org.nz/enterprise/nelson-brewing-family/#.WUxqMMZ7F0oJoseph Dodson [
Richard Duncan’s great-grandfather] was a clever English businessman who, within days of arriving in Nelson in 1854, bought into Hooper & Co. [Brewery].
Henry Dodson [
Richard’s great-uncle] joined his father [Joseph Dodson] in brewing in 1879 and after George Hooper's death they changed the company name to J R Dodson and Son.
Henry Duncan, [
Richard’s father] son of Joseph Dodson's daughter Mary-Ann, joined his uncle and grandfather in 1888. When Joseph Dodson died in 1890, Henry Duncan and Henry Dodson continued to run the firm until Henry Dodson's early death in 1894.
Henry Duncan, [
Richard’s father]
had inherited his grandfather's business sense, and in 1901 bought the entire company and began an extensive upgrade. He also took on his cousin Harry Dodson, and expanded into aerated waters and cordials.
Henry's sons, Richard (Dick) Duncan and Sholto Duncan became partners in 1937, along with Harry Dodson. The family began to focus on the malting process and were soon supplying malt to breweries around New Zealand. Dick and Sholto were both on military service in Europe when their father died in 1942. By then, the company owned nine hotels: Customhouse, Pier, Central, Royal, Tasman, Prince Albert, Commercial, Brightwater and Star & Garter. In 1944, with the equipment ageing, the beer was sent to Harley & Sons for bottling. Rising costs after the war saw the brewery close to bankruptcy so the Duncan family's Nelson Brewery was merged with the Harley family's Raglan Brewery on Trafalgar Square. The new business was renamed Nelson Breweries Ltd.
Sholto Duncan died tragically in an air crash in 1953, after which Dick Duncan continued to run the business with J A (Auty) Harley.