Gear Meat Company

The company was founded by James Gear, a butcher born in England who had emigrated to Australia in 1857 and then to New Zealand around 1861.

[1] From about 1865 Gear operated butcher's shops in Wellington,[2] and in 1873 he started a meat preserving plant in the city.

[3][4] The land included the Te Puni urupa (Māori cemetery) and some sections set aside as Native Reserve.

[4]: 27 The meat works is believed to be the first industry in the Hutt Valley,[4] with its importance reflected in its inclusion on Petone Borough's first coat of arms in 1884.

[6] Pigs and sheep were kept nearby at a leasehold section of 100 acres near the mouth of the Hutt River that was used as a grazing area and stockyard, and which quickly became known as Gear Island and was later bought by the company.

[8] The new company consisted of various properties in Wellington operating as butchers, meat preserving factories, stables and dwellings, the 16-acre plant at Petone, the lease on Gear Island, and two acres at Featherston used as stockyards.

[12] Meat was processed at the Petone works then transferred by rail to the Jubilee moored at the wharf for freezing.

In 1891 a freezing plant was built at the Petone works to replace the Jubilee,[14] and a few years later the company decided to dispose of the ship since it had become possible to transport frozen meat to Wellington quickly and cheaply by rail.

[4] During World War 1 the company provided meat and other products such as wool and hides to the British government and made donations to patriotic funds and hospitals.

[4] The purchase agreement with the British government ended after the 1953-54 killing season, and after this the company needed to find alternative markets.

A deal with Israel saw the Israeli government send kosher slaughtermen to New Zealand to process beef for that country.

The early 1970s were a profitable time for the reorganised and modernised company, but in 1974 it reported a large financial loss.

In January 1886 Seu Manu and William Upolu, two Samoan chiefs who had come to New Zealand to discuss annexation of Samoa, visited the works and went on to the Jubilee.