Sir Henry Joseph Kelliher - KSTJ

1 Nov

Henry Kelliher had already been a Gallipoli veteran, hotel owner, Scotch whisky importer and women's magazine publisher and editor before, at age 34, entering the brewing industry. This was by way of a partnership with the Coutts family, who in 1929, had opened the Waitemata Brewery in Otahuhu, Auckland.

Despite the Depression, the brewery was a success, and in October 1930, it became a public company, Dominion Breweries.

Under Kelliher's leadership, the company became a major hotel owner and liquor distributor, challenging the industry's major player, New Zealand Breweries. It survives today as DB Breweries, owned since 2004 by Asia Pacific Breweries.