Mary Penfold

Mary Penfold, née Holt (1820–1895), was an English businesswoman, pioneering winemaker and co-founder of Penfolds Winery.

Early life

Mary Holt, born 1820 in Edmonton, London, was the only daughter of a London medical practitioner, Dr Thomas Holt.

On 26 Mary 1835, Mary Holt married Christopher Rawson Penfold and they settled in Brighton, England.

At the age of 24, Mary emigrated to Australia with her husband who was a physician, their young daughter Georgina, and their employee Ellen Timbrell, who is recorded to have served not only as the family's maid and Georgina's nurse but also as assistant winemaker. They arrived in the colony of South Australia on 18 June 1844 on board the barque Taglioni in the first decade of the colony's establishment.

Christopher and Mary Penfold purchased 500 acres of land at Magill, then known as Mackgill, for £1,200.

Winemaking While Dr Penfold worked long hours setting up his practice, Mary supervised the running of the house, garden, the farm, the vineyard and winery. The first wines were prescribed as tonic wines for patients, particularly those suffering from anaemia.

Penfold kept many records, including a diary and a daybook, that outlined her work managing the farm and developing the Magill Estate; however, historically, the development of the winery has been attributed solely to her husband. Similarly, many historical records suggest that upon her husband's death in 1870, their son-in-law, Thomas Hyland, took control of the business; however, the records Mary Penfold left behind demonstrate her continued control of the company.

It was reported that, upon Christopher's death, Hyland suggested that she had no choice but to sell the Penfolds winery and draw a pension. Mary responded by mailing her son-in-law a detailed financial ledger and business forecast, created in her own hand.

The article also indicates the "large market for her wines in Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand" and even India

In 1884, at the age of 68, Mary Penfold retired from active involvement in the winery. Penfold's body was transported back to Adelaide to be buried at St George's Cemetery in Magill, near her former home of The Grange, the original site of Penfolds vineyard.