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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Mosgiel Woollen Company, Ltd

Mosgiel Woollen Company, Ltd. Directors, Messrs John Roberts, C.M.G. (chairman), Hon. Thomas Fergus, W. Hislop, and J. R. Sinclair; general manager, Mr. J. H. Morrison; secretary, Mr. W. Nicolson. Head office and warehouse, High Street, Dunedin. Mills at Mosgiel. Telephone, 208. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. Cable address “Morisco.” Code, private. Motto, “A' Ae' Oo'.” Agents: London, Messrs Wm. Nicolson and Co., Bury Court; Scotland, Mr. John Brown, Selkirk; Sydney, Messrs A. T. King and J. L. Morrison, George Street; Melbourne, Messrs Stogdale and Duffus, Flinders Street; Perth, Mr. C. Dunckley; Christchurch, Mr. R. Shanks. Branch at Wellington: manager, Mr. G. Pirie. With the exception of a handmill at Nelson, the Mosgiel Woollen Company was the pioneer of the great woollen industry of the Colony, being followed successively by the Kaiapoi, Kaikorai, Oamaru, Ashburton, Roslyn, Timaru, Wellington, and Onehunga mills. To the late Mr. Arthur J. Burns, sometime deputy chairman, belongs the honour of founding the premier woollen factory in New Zealand. Mr. Burns established the factory in 1871 as a private concern, and two years later, in conjunction with Mr. Smail, formed the first company. The original capital of the Mosgiel Woollen Company was 16,000 shares of £5 each, of which £3 10s, per share is now paid up; the capital was increased in 1889, when the mill at Ashburton was acquired, by the issue of 5,000 additional shares of £5, now paid up to £3 10s. per share, making in all £73,500 of subscribed capital paid up. In the year 1900, 2,845 additional shares were issued, paid up to £3 10s. per share: which brought the capital up to £83,457 10s. With the exception of one year when no dividend was declared, the company has steadily paid dividends, which have averaged the handsome rate of eight and a quarter per cent, for the whole period of the company's existence. All kinds of woollen goods are manufactured by the company, including tweeds, flannels, blankets, rugs, hosiery, &c.; the name “Mosgiel,” as applied to these goods, has long been a household word throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand. The head office and warehouse of this successful company in High Street is a brick and stone building of two stories in height, possessing large accommodation for the storage of stock, the trade being supplied chiefly from samples kept at the several agencies of the company. The products of this large organization have been regularly exhibited at leading exhibitions throughout the world, commencing page 336 with the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. This was followed by that of Sydney in 1879, and in the following year, at Melbourne, a gold medal and a special certificate were obtained for the best woollen exhibit in the colonies. At the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886, held in London, and at the Wellington Exhibition of the same year, the company's exhibits were greatly admired. In 1888, at the great Exhibition held in Melbourne, a gold medal was won by the splendid collection of woollen goods shown. At the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin (1889–90) a handsome display was made by the company, and, at the Brisbane Exhibition in 1897, two gold medals were awarded to the company's exhibits. A full description of the mill at Mosgiel appears under the name of that town in the pages of this volume. Formerly the company had mills at Ashburton and Kaikorai, but that at the latter place having been closed down, and the Ashburton mill sold, all the work now goes through the Mosgiel mills.