JOSHUA – JOSEPHISACC – ROBERT
Following the death of Joseph Whitaker in 1884, his sons Joshua, Joseph Isaac, and Robert inherited the winery in Marsala and named the business “Ingham-Whitaker & C.”
The new owners made new investments, modernised equipment introducing mechanical fans to dry the barrels, and built a pier in front of the production plant to load barrels with a special crane. However, their main contribution to the business was the improvement of the “Marsala” production by ageing the wine in special barrels for longer. Their wines were appreciated around the world for over 50 years. From 1846, for 40 years the efficiency of the business was the result of the work of R. Cossins, who also managed the five auxiliary premises in Campobello di Mazara, Musciuleo, Castelvetrano, Balestrate and Vittoria. In 1903, the winery in Marsala had 250 regular employees, plus a number of seasonal workers.
Among the Whitaker brothers, Joseph Isaac, known as Pip,was the one who linked his name to the company. Thanks to his initiatives he received much recognition for the excellent quality of the wines, including Diplomas, Medals and Cups of Honour. He also had a passion for archaeology and ornithology, and showed his strong link to the city of Marsala when, between 1903 and 1906, he bought the little island of San Pantaleo in the Stagnone lagoon, where his excavations unearthed the site of the old Phoenician city of Motya, and built a museum. From 1919, due to the crisis of the wine industry, Ingham-Whitaker’s sales of “Marsala” wine started to drop. In 1926, after Joshua (the administrator of the company) died, the crisis within “Ingham-Whitaker & C.” became apparent: exports dropped by two thirds and “Marsala” wine was going out of fashion.
Joseph took the helm and in 1928 decided to sell the company to Cinzano, a financial group from Turin that had already acquired the Florio business. It was the end of an adventure that had lasted 150 years and saw British families find fortune and wealth but also play a significant role in the industrialisation process of the region.