William Arnott

William Arnott (6 December 1827 – 22 July 1901 ) was a Scottish-born Australian baker and businessman. After emigrating to New South Wales in 1848, he worked as a baker and later founded a biscuit-making business in Newcastle, which became the basis of Arnott's Biscuits Holdings.

Early life William Arnott was born 6 December 1827, in Pathhead, Fife, Scotland, Arnott decided to try his luck gold mining in 1851, and left for the Turon River diggings alone. He was not successful; he failed to find any gold and eventually returned to life as a baker. It was so named as his biscuit-making machines (or "rotary ovens" ) were steam-powered. In 1894, Arnott employed numerous workers Arnott also produced Tim Tam, Jatz and SAO biscuits.

Personal life

William Arnott was a prominent member of the Wesleyan Church and taught Sunday school for close to 25 years. In 1848, Arnott wed Monica Sinclair, who already had four children at the time of the marriage; Sinclair died aged 36 on 11 April 1865. It is not in the Australian Dictionary of Biography had been transported here for breach of trust, fraud and embezzlement following sentence in 1837.

Death and legacy On 22 July 1901, aged 73. Shortly after his death, Arnott's sons spread out the business to other parts of the world, including East Asia and South Africa.