From Australia’s Jewish past

Joseph Kronheimer – one of Victoria’s earliest successful businessmen and philanthropists

Joseph was the third child of Moses Hajum Kronheimer and his first wife, Margolis, and was born in Schopfloch in souther Germany on 6 July 1826.  He left his hometown in 1856 for Melbourne.  However, it appears that when news of the extraordinary discoveries of gold in Port Phillip first reached Europe, Julius, Joseph’s younger brother set sail for Melbourne, arriving there in 1852, with an influx of people from all parts of the world to try their luck in the goldfields.  Another family member, Max arrived in 1860, his shipping record describing him as a ‘’gold-seeker’’.

Shortly after Julius’s arrival, it was not the goldfields that he set off to.  Instead, he opened a tobacconist’s shop opposite what is now Flinders Street railway station, and, at the time, the railway, the first in Victoria, was about to be opened.  After a fair amount of success in the tobacco business, Julius pushed ahead, and obtained other premises on the site of the present Commercial Bank in Collins Street, in proximity to that historical hostel, the Criterion Hotel. He commenced then with importations from Europe and America and was joined in 1856 by his brother Joseph.  There can be no question that the honour of founding the business belongs to Julius and the crucial role that Joseph played in developing and expanding the family’s tobacco business regards him as the actual founder of the great wholesale business developed by the partnership.  It is fair to say that Julius was among the earliest entrepreneurs in the history of Victoria. Since Julius founded the company, it was known as J Kronheimer & Co, the “J” referring to Julius, and with the support of Charles Franklin – a tobacco authority at the time. In 1860, Julius returned to his homeland, Germany and established his base in Hamburg, continuing as a commercial dealer in an international import/export business.  Max joined the business as did Jack Englander another family member who arrived in 1888 and remained with the company for many years as one of its directors.  Max returned to Europe in 1893 and it appears that he drowned at sea whilst en route.

Joseph’s primary business interest was to import and sell high-quality tobacco – a product in demand and short supply.  The story goes that at one stage in the early history of the colony of Queensland, at a time of shortage of coins and notes, many people temporarily used Kronheimer & Co tobacco as a substitute currency!  For over fifty years, Joseph, with support from family members and business colleagues, developed the tobacco business into a major enterprise that spanned the continent, eventually merging with the Sydney-based cigarette manufacturing and distribution company, W D & H O Wills in 1904.

The new company, Kronheimer & Co Ltd was represented in all Australian States and had been described as a monopolist but, held no monopoly.  It had taken over the agencies of most of the Australian manufacturers, who for years had been doing their own distributing, but this was found to be very expensive. With the changeover,  distribution was able to be done far less expensively.  Joseph was no longer in charge, but he was a major shareholder and extremely wealthy and known as a generous philanthropist merchant donating considerable amounts of money to local synagogues, the United Jewish Education Board, numerous charitable organisations (Jewish and the wider community), and various hospitals. He also gave a substantial sum to an orphanage in Jerusalem, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.  Joseph kept an office at the firm’s business house for several years to attend to the constant stream of requests from those needing charitable assistance.  Most charities he was involved with were well-known organisations that received frequent gifts.

The importance of the J Kronheimer Company to the Australian tobacco trade was how Joseph made so much money to distribute to charities, both before and after his death.  He never married and believed in the principle of ‘’doing good’’ during his lifetime.  He passed away on 16 July 1914 aged eighty-eight at his home – ‘Rolveden’ in Brighton.  Several Australian Colonies’ newspapers published his obituary headed ‘’JEWISH PHILANTHROPIST Death of Mr J Kronheimer”.  Mr Kronheimer is one of the most charitable men in Australia, and his generous help to all deserving causes has been recognised for many years in Melbourne, probably there is much that he gives that is only known to a very few of his friends.

A Trove article reports that the firm of Kronheimer was the proprietor of the well-known brand of ‘’Derby’’ tobacco, which among smokers was a household word in Australia and New Zealand. Having enjoyed a cool refreshing pipe of ” Derby,” it is satisfactory to know that it does not end in ‘smoke, that Mr Kronheimer is doing his part to endeavour to alleviate humanity’s ills, and if a few more wealthy men followed this noble example, it would be beneficial to Australia.

The AJHS acknowledges the following references in the preparation of this story:

AJHS Journal 2023 – Dr Paul Gardner AM – great-great-great uncle; Trove National Library of Australia – 26 July 1903; Australian Postal History; Alemannia – Judaica.de

 

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