Elias Davies 1870
Dawesley was the location of what is generally regarded as the first Bacon Factory in South Australia, set up by Elias Davies c.1870. This little factory produced many award winning products at Adelaide shows, and had a shop in Nairne and also in the Adelaide Market. The Watts and Jacobs families were living in Dawesley and several of the Watts and Jacobs boys learnt their butchering trade at the Davies Bacon Factory at Dawesley. Notably George Henry JACOBS (brother to W. JACOBS), and Kenneth Reginald WATTS.
Photo: Sarah & Elias Davies c.1870s, Mt.Barker Local History Centre, PH-V56-00040.

Monks of Old 1880
Henry Appleton MONKS ran a butcher shop/abattoirs in the main street of Littlehampton from about 1880. His business brand, 'Monks of Old', became widely recognised throughout the Adelaide Hills and beyond. In 1892, he built a larger meat-works between the road and the creek on land he had bought from the Gray family, which included the old Littlehampton Brewery site across the creek. This meatworks became Foggit Jones in 1926 and subsequently, Foggit Jones built a new abbatoirs on the other side of the railway line. This became the 'Once a Jolly Swagman' restaraunt in the 1970's and is now a child care centre.

George Chapman 1899
Originally established by George and Abe Chapman in 1899 at Nairne. At its peak, there were nearly 400 people employed at the Nairne site, with a further 70 employed both within South Australia and interstate. Chapman's Smallgoods merged with Southern Farmers Group in 1982 before being acquired by George Weston's foods in 1987. However, aging infrastructure and internal company restructuring saw Chapman's Smallgoods relocate from Nairne to Murray Bridge in 2002. The site is now Klose's supermarket.

Walter Jacobs 1901
Walter JACOBS started a small bacon factory at Nairne around 1901 and it is my assumption that he likely learnt his trade at the Davies Bacon company at Dawesley. Certainly his brother George Jacobs did as did his cousin Kenneth Watts. In September 1903, Walter Jacobs won a prize for bacon at the Royal Show in Adelaide. In December the same year, he won prizes at the Nairne Exhibition for bacon and ham.

George (Geo) Jacobs worked with his brother Walter at Nairne until 1906, when he moved to Yahl in the South East to manage a Bacon Curing factory alongside (and possibly owned by) the Yahl Cooperative Cheese and Butter Factory. By 1909, George Jacobs and his family returned had returned to Nairne.

In 1904, at the Mount Barker Agricultural Show, Walter Jacobs received a prize for bacon & ham. Many other show prizes followed. Walter Jacobs purchased the old "Shamrock" bacon factory from Mr. Paltridge in Nairne. This building still exists as a private home on Thomas Street, Nairne, and is Heritage listed. By 1907, there was a growing concern about slaughtering of animals in the town of Nairne. George Chapman and Walter Jacobs were both waiting on a board of health notice.

In December 1907, Walter Jacobs advertised that he had taken over the butchering business of Mr. C. Atkinson at Mt. Barker and intends continuing the rounds as run in the past (by Mr. Atkinson. On 19 September 1913, Walter Jacobs took over the old Mt. Barker Butter Factory. Before long, his brothers George, Henry, Ernest and Arthur were all working with him. Early in 1916, an anonymous complaint was made to Mount Barker Council about the state of the Jacobs slaughterhouse (at Mount Barker). An inspector visited the premises and he reported that there was nothing to complain about, there was no smell and everything was very clean. Councilor Monks said the objectionable smell was coming from the tannery and was worse at the Railway Station than Mr. Jacob's place.

In 1926, W. Jacobs Ltd. was registered as a limited company. Shareholders were Walter Jacobs, George Jacobs, Ernest Jacobs, Susan Annie Jacobs (George's wife), Florence Ellen Jacobs (Walter's wife) and Arthur Charles Jacobs. The first directors were Walter, George and Ernest Jacobs. Later in 1926, Walter went to the United States to buy new plant and equipment, notably the cryovac vacuum packing system, making Jacobs the first meatworks in Australia to vacuum pack meat. Soon after, the company made considerable progress in the curing of bacon and ham and also in the manufacture of smallgoods and the treatment of offal into by-products.

Charles Herbert (Bert) Watts 1907
Bert Watts was a grand-son of John Watts. In 1907 Bert established a new purpose-built butcher shop on the main road in Nairne. He kept this business until 1920 (perhaps later) serviced by his brothers. In 1910, Bert moved on to Murray Bridge to establish a second business at an area called "Hungry Hill" above the swamp lands at Murray Bridge. This business consisted of a slaughter yard, the abattoirs, a bacon and smallgoods processing factory and a shop in the main street as an outlet for his produce.

Harold Avery Watts 1912
Harold was a brother of Bert Watts. He worked at his brothers shop at Nairne in 1912 and 1923 before relocating to Milang. Also at Milang to learn the trade from his brother was younger brother Gordon. Harold Avery Watts enlisted for WW1 on 15 Aug 1916 and in his will, he appointed his brother-in-law George Henry (Geo) Jacobs as executor and guardian of his children if Edith pre-deceased him. Harold was KIA in France in Sep 1918. Some years later, when Harold's two children were teenagers, Geo Jacobs took them in and helped the pursue their chosen careers, Elsie to dressmaking and then teaching, and Harry, who went to work at the JACOBS factory at Mount Barker firstly as a labourer and later, a delivery driver. Harry eventually went into carpentry.