Editor Trudi Anne Gribble

Author Vivienne Sinclair

Western Preserving Works

John Joseph O’Heney was born in Ireland in 1878 and arrived in Fremantle around 1892 with his widowed mother, Catherine, and his siblings. They settled on Russell Street in Beaconsfield, and by 1903, John listed his occupation as a factory hand. It’s likely he was involved in producing pickles and sauces, as by 1910 he was employed as a vinegar maker at the Western Preserving Company on Samson Street in East Perth (West Australian, 1910, September 10).
In 1911, O’Heney became the owner of the company, which was later fined in 1914 for selling Worcestershire sauce with a misleading label (Evening Star Boulder, 1914, August 3). The company was rebranded as Western Preserving Works, and in 1915, O’Heney testified in a case against R.H. Maskiell Ltd, a competing firm known for its Special Navy Pickles. Maskiell was charged with storing pickle pulp deemed unfit for consumption, and O’Heney testified that such pulp would taint an entire batch (Daily News, 1915, April 15).
By 1924, O’Heney’s company had expanded its product line to include Sovereign pickles, sauces, and vinegar, competing against firms like W. Rayner & Co., Swan Brand Products, and RSD & Vinegar Brewery (Advertiser, 1924, December 5). Without refrigeration widely available in homes, pickles and sauces became essential for making meats more palatable. By 1932, Western Preserving Works advertised Worcestershire and tomato sauce, tomato chutney, mustard pickles, pickled onions, sweet pickles, and both mustard and clear mixed pickles (Dalgetys Review, 1932, May 13).
In 1933, O’Heney claimed his company was the only vinegar producer in Perth, with products frequently winning awards at the Royal Show (Westralian Worker, 1933, October 27). He lived on Bronte Street in East Perth, while H.J. McPherson and his wife Janet resided at the factory premises on Samson Street, indicating that the factory likely included living quarters (New Call Perth, 1933, November 23).
On November 27, 1947, O’Heney sold the business to Alick Charles John McDonnell (West Australian, 1947, December 10). O’Heney passed away at his Bronte Street residence on September 13, 1953. His wife, Agnes, whom he had married in Fremantle in 1926, died in 1943. They had no children (West Australian, 1953, September 15). Sovereign pickles and sauces continued to be produced at the factory under McDonnell, who ran the business until his death in 1973 (Beverley Times, 1958, November 6).
Sovereign pickle bottles from this period come in clear and brown glass and were available in round and square shapes.

References

Advertiser. (1924, December 5).

Beverley Times. (1958, November 6).

Dalgety’s Review. (1932, May 13).

Daily News. (1915, April 15).

Evening Star Boulder. (1914, August 3).

Find My Past, Ancestry Electoral Rolls, Post Office Directories.

New Call Perth. (1933, November 23).

Toodyay Herald. (1929, December 6).

Truth. (1929, October 13).

West Australian. (1910, September 10; 1947, December 10; 1953, September 15; 1954, May 20).

Westralian Worker. (1933, October 27).