The history of the Company is a typical example of free enterprise — 150 years of industry and progress. The Company today is very different from the business which was originally conceived. It is hoped to describe this evolution, giving some indication of the forward thinking and positive attitudes which have always been important in formulating Company policy.
John Wragg, the founder, was born in 1813 of a Derbyshire farming family. He came to Sheffield in 1835, when times were hard, and the difficulties he met in finding a living inspired.him with the idea out of which the modern concern has developed. He began to sell eggs from door to door, walking with a basket over his arm. Occasionally, he sold herrings, but his interest in eggs prevailed and gradually he prospered and saved enough to expand his business, arranging to buy a box of 1200 eggs from a man in Ireland. There being no registered post, John Wragg followed the custom of cutting bank notes in two and sending them in separate envelopes. The cash arrived safely, but not the eggs, the Irishman having absconded. In spite of this setback, he continued to save from his door to door sales and in 1840, rented a small shop at number 25, Bath Street, Sheffield. This shop was eventually purchased together with the surrounding property and formed the base for the Company until 1965 when it became the subject of a compulsory purchase order.
Here he started business as an egg merchant, selling eggs to both grocers and retail customers. He had two sons and three daughters who all worked in the family business. After years of hard work, a large import business was built up, trading with Ireland and other European Countries.
During the years 1840 to 1965, the progressive attitude of the Company was born and nurtured. John Wragg, himself, discovered an original way of preserving eggs in lime water which was used extensively by the Company until 1940 to help overcome the 'short supply' seasons which prevailed before current methods of egg production were introduced.
John Wragg, the founder, was born in 1813 of a Derbyshire farming family. He came to Sheffield in 1835, when times were hard, and the difficulties he met in finding a living inspired.him with the idea out of which the modern concern has developed. He began to sell eggs from door to door, walking with a basket over his arm. Occasionally, he sold herrings, but his interest in eggs prevailed and gradually he prospered and saved enough to expand his business, arranging to buy a box of 1200 eggs from a man in Ireland. There being no registered post, John Wragg followed the custom of cutting bank notes in two and sending them in separate envelopes. The cash arrived safely, but not the eggs, the Irishman having absconded. In spite of this setback, he continued to save from his door to door sales and in 1840, rented a small shop at number 25, Bath Street, Sheffield. This shop was eventually purchased together with the surrounding property and formed the base for the Company until 1965 when it became the subject of a compulsory purchase order.
Here he started business as an egg merchant, selling eggs to both grocers and retail customers. He had two sons and three daughters who all worked in the family business. After years of hard work, a large import business was built up, trading with Ireland and other European Countries.
During the years 1840 to 1965, the progressive attitude of the Company was born and nurtured. John Wragg, himself, discovered an original way of preserving eggs in lime water which was used extensively by the Company until 1940 to help overcome the 'short supply' seasons which prevailed before current methods of egg production were introduced.
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