Guide to the Records of Lever Brothers Ltd (as filmed by the AJCP), January 1925-December 1937

Summary

Collection number:

M1650

Creator:

Lever Brothers Ltd.

Extent:

11 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Australian and New Zealand weekly sales ledgers arranged by subsidiary companies. They include Lever Brothers (Sydney), W.H. Burford and Sons Ltd (Adelaide) and New Zealand Soap Co. (Wellington).

Biographical / Historical:

Sir William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925) was a partner in his father's grocery business before establishing a soap factory in Warrington in 1885. In 1889 he established Port Sunlight, near Liverpool, which remained the headquarters of his empire until 1921. Lever Brothers was registered as a private company in 1890 and converted to a public limited company in 1894. The company first concentrated on producing Sunlight soap, but within a few years diversified to other soaps, soap powders and other products. After 1900 there was an extraordinary expansion of the company's interests, as it took control of numerous companies in several countries, became involved in the production of raw materials, such as copra, and acquired shipping and food businesses. Lever, who became Lord Leverhulme in 1917, completely dominated the company right up to his death. He held all the ordinary shares, seldom met with the other directors, and dealt directly with the managers of Lever Brothers and the numerous subsidiary companies.

After Lever's death, Sir Francis Cooper became chairman of the company. In 1929 Lever Brothers amalgamated with the Dutch margarine manufacturer Margarine Unie to form Unilever, one of the first great international corporations. The name Lever Brothers was retained by subsidiary companies in the United States, Canada and Australia. Lever Brothers (Australia) became Lever and Kitchen in 1962 and later Unilever Australasia.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2265503] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Unilever Art, Archives and Records Management, Unilever Ltd., Port Sunlight, Wirral, Merseyside, England.

For more information see Unilever Art, Archives and Records Mangement [https://www.unilever.com/about/who-we-are/our-history/unilever-archives.html]

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for Access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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