A slice of Fiji’s history

fades with store closure

A slice of the history of Levuka in its halcyon days disappeared with the recent closure of the Morris Hedstrom store. Only a few months earlier the Morris Hedstrom com petitor in Fiji, Burns Philp (SS) Co Ltd, closed its retail store at Ba.

Both closures were a sign of changing trends. Levuka’s im portance as a trading centre fell away rapidly in the late 1950 s when the copra ships from the islands of Lomaiviti and from Savasavu, Lau and Taveuni bypassed Fiji’s old capital and carried their cargoes on to the newly-established crushing mill in Suva.

Levuka trading fell away rapidly and it was not long before it started to look a little like a ghost town, even though it retained its old world charm. The tourist industry provided a trickle of extra trading.

Then the arrival of the Japanese controlled Pacific Fishing Co, which set up a freezing plant and later a cannery, helped in a further revival of Levuka’s fortunes, but it was not sufficient to save the Morris Hedstrom branch.

Morris Hedstrom was founded in 1892 by Maynard Hedstrom, born at Levuka in 1872, the son of a Swedish sea captain, and Percy Atherton Morris, aged 23, who ar rived at Levuka with his parents in 1891.

The two young men soon got together and set up Morris, Hedstrom and Co. Mr Hedstrom was able to bring in a useful sub agency for the Union SS Co, which he had acquired earlier. He was also a recognised customs agent.

Expansion started almost im mediately. They took over the trad ing business of Miller Hedley and set their eyes on Suva. Mr Hedstrom went to the new capital and took charge of the firm’s branch there, while his partner remained at Levuka.

By takeover or amalgamation a number of old Fiji firms became part of Morris Hedstrom Ltd, under which name the company was incor porated with the comma dropped from the original name. Firms taken over were Brown. Joske and Hedstrom, Arthur Joske Ltd, G. W.

Miller and Co (Lau), Hugh Ragg and Co (Ba), John Robertson and Co (Sigatoka), Tindall and Ross (Tonga), and Smyth and Carruthers (Samoa). When Henry Marks and Co Ltd became part of MH’s it was the most important amalgamation which had occurred in Fiji up to then. An even bigger deal was in 1955, when Morris Hedstrom was taken over by W. R. Carpenter, which is now one of the biggest trad ing firms in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

A depressing day on Levuka - with the historic store of Morris Hedstrom Ltd on the left, facing Burns Philp's store on the right.