Kiwi icons: The baking powder king - Grave Story 108

Edmonds is a name every New Zealander will know. How many of us had at least one copy of the famous Edmonds Cookbook? Does anyone have the copy their grandmother used?

My now tattered spiral bound version is still used. If I am looking for the basic recipe for something, it’s an invaluable resource.
Thomas John Edmonds is where it all began.
Edmonds was born on October 13, 1858, in Poplar, England, to James Darley and Jane Elizabeth Edmonds.
He began working for London confectionery maker F Allen and Son where he worked with the powders for sherbet.
He married Jane Irving and together they came to New Zealand, arriving aboard the Waitangi in September 1879.
He promptly set up his own shop on Ferry Road, Christchurch.
Edmonds set about making his own baking powder, after learning of the unreliability of what was then available. He made his first batch and sold 200 tins in his store.
That phrase - Sure to Rise - was coined when he told a customer "It is sure to rise, Madam" when she questioned why it was better than the product she was already using assuring her that her scones would not be flat if she used his baking powder.
He perfected his formula and began marketing it, giving away tins for free if someone wouldn’t buy it and offering to take it back if they were unsatisfied. (He said no tins were ever returned).
In addition to the baking powder his company T J Edmonds, made custard powder, egg powder and self raising flour.
By 1912 one million tins of baking powder had been sold.
That first cookbook was released in 1908 as a promotional tool.
Along with the business was Edmonds’ philanthropy. He built several buildings in Christchurch along with the Edmonds factory and gardens.
The factory was demolished in 1990 but the gardens were bought by the city council and kept as a public garden.
He also gifted the city a band rotunda and the clock tower on the Avon River.
He and his wife had eight children. Edmonds died of peritonitis on June 2, 1932.
He is buried along with his wife at the Linwood cemetery.