John Paul Sennitt was a refrigeration engineer who made and sold Sennitt’s ice cream in Melbourne in the early 20th century.
Early years
Sennitt was born in Stretham, Cambridgeshire, England in 1851. As a young man he left for South Africa where he established the first ice works in the province of Transvaal.
Personal life
Sennitt married Harriet Coulbeck in 1875 in South Africa. In 1888, John and Harriet and their 5 surviving children migrated to Melbourne. They had 2 more children while in Australia. Their youngest son, Alfred, died in action in France on 1 September 1918.
Career
Sennitt started working at the Melbourne Cold Accumulator Company. But soon he took over the business. Before household fridges existed, Sennitt used a novel system to make and sell ice.
When his son William joined the firm in 1898, they promoted Sennitt’s as clean and healthy. The Sennitt company had the reputation of being a ‘benefactor of humanity’.
By 1899, the South Melbourne plant and machinery expanded to occupy half an acre. They distributed ice all over Melbourne using drivers, horses and carts.
They manufactured their famous ice cream from 1904. Two years later, in 1906, they formed the J.P. Sennitt and Sons Ice and Refrigerating Company.
People remembered the Sennitt's Ice Cream logo - a polar bear licking an ice cream.
Civic life
Sennitt was also an active participant in civic life:
He was a Master Freemason at the Admiral Collingwood Lodge.
He represented Fawkner Ward on the South Melbourne Council from 1902 to 1909.
He was a Justice of the Peace and a council member of the Honorary Justices’ Association.
He sat on the local Court of Petty Sessions.
Death
Sennitt died in 1922 and is buried in Coburg Cemetery.
Sennitt's continued making ice cream for another 40 years under William’s management.
The brand disappeared after Unilever bought the business in 1961.
Bibliography
Adapted from material supplied by historian Dr Jan Penney, GMCT Trust member 2010-2020, and by the Friends of Coburg Cemetery Inc.
500 Victorians: Centenary edition (1934) M G Henderson (in Trove) [website]
Cozzolino M & Rutherford F (1980) Symbols of Australia, Penguin Books
O’Connell J (n.d.) 1904 Sennitt’s Ice Cream, Australian food history timeline [website]
Ray A (2005) Sennitt, John Paul (1851-1922), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian National University [website]
