How to find it
This plaque is placed on the front of a private house. It is 20ft from the pavement, with limited text it is readable from a distance. Do not enter the garden to view it more closely.
Unveiling
The plaque was unveiled by Richard Bennett DL on 10 September 2022. It was erected by the house owner Diz Adelman during the 2022 celebrations which marked the bi-Centenary of the founding of Huntley and Palmers. There was also a well-attended celebration event in nearby Christ Church during which the story was told.
Other than Joseph Huntley Street, named after him in the new riverside development in Reading called ‘Huntley Wharf’, there is no other commemoration of him. His grave near a disused chapel in Stoke on Trent is unmarked and overgrown with rank grass and brambles
Background
The name “Huntley and Palmers Biscuits” is well known throughout world.
Yet it is now over 200 years since Joseph Huntley started a biscuit business in nearby London Street with his son Thomas. After Thomas died, in 1857, partner George Palmer changed the name to Huntley and Palmers and took the business forward. It became one of Reading’s most celebrated and famous biscuit companies, bringing world fame to the town.
Between 1837 and 1842 Joseph Huntley lived at 9 Whitley Crescent, now 21 Christchurch Road. After 1842 he lived in Crown Street. His two daughters were recorded as living in London St in 1835.
The houseowner believes that after Joseph retired from the business, in 1838, he made biscuits in the basement of the house and sold them to people who arrived at the basement window.
So how did it all start?
Joseph Huntley was born in 1775 into a Gloucestershire Quaker family. His father was a headmaster while his mother, Hannah, baked biscuits in the school oven and sold them outside the school gates where the coaches stopped.
He opened his bakery in 72 (now 121) London Street, Reading in 1822. His son, Thomas, having completed a two-year apprenticeship at a bakery in Uxbridge, made the biscuits. His 2 daughters served at the counter and Joseph stood at the door greeting famous customers such as the local author Mary Russell Mitford, who never forgot the exquisite taste of the Huntleys biscuits.
At this time, London Street was the main stagecoach route from London to Bristol, Bath, and the West Country. Soon Joseph was sending a delivery boy with baskets of biscuits to every stagecoach that stopped at the Crown Inn, at the corner of Crown St and London Street.
In 1829 Thomas became a partner in his father’s firm.
A turning point for the business came when Joseph retired in 1838 due to ill health, a year after moving to 9 Whitley Crescent. Thomas found he needed a partner to replace his father. His wife’s young cousin, George Palmer, showed interest in joining him as he had some training as a baker. Thomas took George on as a partner in 1841, George bought a half share for £550. In 1857, on Thomas’s death, the name was changed to Huntley and Palmers.
