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Our Story
Over the Years
1842
The Jeffries family arrived in Adelaide
- John Jeffries, born in 1805, and his wife Susannah and young son Johnson arrived in Adelaide on the ship, City of Adelaide in 1842. He bought land at Gawler Plains and named the property Sturton. John and Susannah had 11 children.
1885
Fred Jeffries was born
- The farm was eventually divided between four of John’s sons including the youngest, Robert Nelson Jeffries. Robert and his wife Mary, who was under age at the time, eloped and had five children. The eldest, Frederick Nelson Jeffries, was born in 15/5/1885
1912
Fred Jeffries marries
- Fred married Ethel Painter in 1912 and went on to have six children. Fred did not carry on with the family farm as by now there was not enough land to share. He was a hard worker and put his hand to many things including butchering and driving buses.
1930s
First truck purchased
- Fred eventually bought a truck and, carted manure from Balaklava and Mallala to some of the new nurseries starting up around Adelaide at that time. As it had to be shovelled on and off by hand, one load a day was all he could manage
1940s
Expanded to soil deliveries
- His eldest son, also Fred (born 6/2/1913), sourced and delivered soils to the home gardens of Adelaide and the emerging landscape trade. He married Delia Nordhausen on 10/8/1940 and had five children: 3 girls and 2 boys, including eldest son Leonard Frederick Jeffries (born 14/3/1946).
1950s
Loam supplies run out
- Eventually the local supply of quality loam used by Jeffries to blend their soils began to run out. With increased demand for their products, Jeffries needed to completely review the way they operated in order to move forward
1960s
First move into manufacturing
- Eldest son, Len, and now third-generation Managing Director, recognised that the company’s survival lay in manufacturing material to meet the needs of their customers and suppliers.
1970s
Len has two sons
- Len Jeffries has two sons, Lachlan Jeffries (born 1971) and Martin Jeffries (born 1974). By the 1980s there was becoming a better understanding of the need for material that would both improve soils and assist plant growth
1980s
Idea for compost & mulch
- Len struck upon the idea of producing soil additives in the form of compost and mulches. Len and the Jeffries team wrote the instruction manual for commercial composting as they went along, heavily researching and drawing on worldwide information and experience to produce compost from recyclable material and green organics.
1990s
Relocated to Wingfield
- With the increasing volume of green organic material being produced by Adelaide’s gardeners and local councils, Jeffries signed agreements with local councils to ensure a regular supply of kerbside green organic material
2000s
A new generation
- Lachlan Jeffries takes the helm. Brothers, Lachlan and Martin Jeffries both have two children, Beau, Sky, Hugh and Aston. The future fifth generation Jeffries.
2010s
New Buckland Park site
- Further improvements have seen the expansion of Jeffries Group including the construction of a multimillion dollar, world-class environmental recycling development located on a 125 hectare site at Buckland Park just north of Adelaide
2014
Martin Jeffries becomes managing director
- Martin Jeffries takes over from his brother as Managing Director of the Jeffries Group.
Today
Tonnes of green organics recycled each year
- The Jeffries Group now employs more than 70 people and recycles over 150,000 tonnes of organics each year, supplying quality compost, soil and mulch to landscape yards, vineyards and vegetable growers across SA
The future
Help us write a new chapter
- Look after your soil for the next generations
Work with us
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Make a difference in one of the fastest growing and future-focused industries.
