Mary Jane Innes (née Lewis, 18 April 1852 – 14 November 1941) was a Welsh-born New Zealand brewery manager.

Early life

Mary Jane Lewis was born on a farm in

Llanvaches Llanvaches or Llanfaches is a village and community parish within the boundaries of the city of Newport, Wales. It lies to the east of the urban area, in the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. The population ro ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...

, Wales on 18 April 1852. Her parents were Thomas Lewis and Hannah Morgan Lewis. She immigrated to New Zealand with her older brother and sister in 1870, after their parents died.Crystal Ardern
"Mary Jane Innes: A Lady in the Brewing Business"
''Waikato Times'' (2 September 2006): D7.

Career

Mary Jane Innes owned and operated Te Awamutu Brewery from 1877 (with her husband), and Waikato Breweries from 1889. In widowhood she launched the successful C. L. Innes and Company, in partnership with her eldest son Charles Lewis Innes. She turned the company over to two of her sons in 1912. The Innes brewing and bottling businesses not only produced alcoholic beverages, but "aerated waters," thus making a start to the soft-drink industry in New Zealand. Her grandson Harold Innes was senior director of Innes Industries in 1961, when they merged with another company to create Oasis Group.

Personal life and legacy

Mary Jane Lewis married Scotsman Charles Innes in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1874. They had ten children together. She was widowed in 1899. Mary Jane Innes died in Auckland in 1941, age 89. Her remains were buried in Hamilton East Cemetery. In 2013, she was inducted into the

New Zealand Business Hall of Fame The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealanders who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of New Zealand. The hall was established in 1994 by the Young Enterpri ...

, 72 years after her death. Objects and papers belonging to Innes and her family are part of the collection in the

Waikato Museum Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...

. Mary Jane's grandson Colin V. Innes co-wrote a book about the family's early history in brewing, ''A Crown for the Lady: The Unravelling of a Pioneer Story'' (Tauranga: Moana Press, 1989).Colin V. Innes and Kieran P. Lynch
''A Crown for the Lady: The Unravelling of a Pioneer Story''
(Tauranga: Moana Press, 1989).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, Mary Jane 1852 births 1941 deaths New Zealand women in business People from Newport, Wales Welsh emigrants to New Zealand Burials at Hamilton East Cemetery 19th-century New Zealand businesspeople 19th-century New Zealand businesswomen