Wilkin & Sons - History

History

The Wilkin family came to Tiptree, Essex and started farming at Tewlands farm in the early 1700's. By 1865, the farm was beginning to move from arable crops to fruit, which were shipped to markets in London. From 1904 this was via the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway, with the company providing most of the railway station's freight traffic until its closure in 1962.

After Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone commended fruit preserving to the British population, Arthur Charles Wilkin founded the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company in 1885. This produced the first "Tiptree" branded preserves, with all production sold that year to a merchant who shipped it to Australia. 10 years later 400 seasonal pickers were annually producing 200 tons of fruit, of which half was turned in jam and preserves.

Reformed as Wilkin & Sons, the company leased farms as far away as Dagenham and Suffolk. By 1906, the company owned 800 acres (320 ha) of land on farms in Tiptree, Tollesbury and Goldhanger producing 300 tons of fruit per year, and feeding a factory capable at peak production to create 10 tons of strawberry jam per day. The company has continuously held a Royal Warrant for preserves and marmalades since 1911.

With the need for 1lbs of sugar to 1lbs of fruit to produce 2lbs of preserves, production was halted during World War I due to a lack of essential supplies. But by 1922, and now owning 1,000 acres (400 ha) of farmland across eight farms, the company was back onto creating record outputs of fruit and preserves. An integrated production facility, the company also owned 100 houses, the village's windmill and blacksmith’s forge, the Factory Club and the freehold to the Salvation Army hall.

During World War II, the company and factory came under the control of the Ministry of Food, and kept producing its preserves alongside other essential food products.

In 2010, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary, highlighted by a visit from HM Queen Elizabeth II. The company also commissioned a stage play to relate the life of John Joseph Mechi, silversmith, inventor and experimental farmer at Tiptree Hall. Writtle College were also commissioned to create a "Tiptree" garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.