Sir Edmund Hoyle Vestey, 1st Baronet (3 February 1866 – 18 November 1953) was an English food producer and importer and shipowner, and co-founder with his brother

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

of Vestey Brothers.

Early life

Vestey was born in

Rainford Rainford is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England, north of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census, the population was 7,7 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, the fifth child of provision merchant Samuel Vestey. He was educated at the

Liverpool Institute The Liverpool Institute High School for Boys was an all-boys grammar school in the English port city of Liverpool. The school had its origins in 1825 but occupied different premises while the money was found to build a dedicated building on M ...

and then joined his father's firm in 1883.

Career

He was soon given the management of his father's corned beef cannery in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In 1890 he joined William in his new business of importing refrigerated meat from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The Union Cold Storage Company was to become one of the world's largest cold storage operations. They began to diversify into other food products and in 1906 also began importing from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In 1909, they purchased two tramp steamers (''Pakeha'', renamed ''Broderick'', and ''Rangatira'', renamed ''Brodmore'') for the China trade and converted them into refrigerated ships. This was the beginning of the Blue Star Line, which was registered in 1911. They set up their own

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

es in Argentina and Australia. The brothers acquired the Wave Hill Station, a cattle station in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia, in 1914. At that time, legislation permitted

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

workers to be paid in tea,

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and other rations. The Vesteys refused to pay their workers in wages, leading to tensions and arguments from the beginning, which continued until the Wave Hill walk-off, a strike beginning in 1967 and lasting eight years. By 1925 the Blue Star Line was the largest refrigerated fleet in the world. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

the Vestey brothers owned 2,365 butcher's shops. Edmund succeeded William as chairman in 1940 and held the post until his death in 1953. He was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in the 1921 Birthday Honours for his services in supplying food to British troops during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Personal life

Vestey married Sarah Barker on 15 August 1887; they had seven children. After their divorce, Sarah married

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament Sir William Lane-Mitchell. Vestey married Ellen Soward on 10 March 1926, and they remained together until his death in 1953 when he was then aged 87. They had no children. His ashes were buried in Liverpool Cathedral. Vestey was the maternal great-great-grandfather of actor

Tom Hiddleston Thomas William Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981) is a British actor. He gained international fame portraying Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with ''Thor (film), Thor'' in 2011 and incl ...

Arms

Footnotes

References

*Biography, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' 1866 births 1953 deaths English businesspeople Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English businesspeople in shipping People educated at Liverpool Institute High School for Boys

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

People from Rainford {{UK-business-bio-1850s-stub