HAMPSHIRE - LONDON - CARDIFF
Our Founder
Born in Mottisfont in Hampshire in 1838, Frederick Green was the son of the miller and corn dealer at Kimbridge Mill just a mile downstream on the famous River Test.
Although the mill is no longer, the mill cottage still exists and is now luxury accommodation for a private fishing club.
When Frederick was a young man he moved to London and lived in Hanover Square in Mayfair, before moving to Hammersmith.
We understand that he became involved with Welsh dairy businesses for which Hammersmith was famous and links to the drovers from West Wales.
At the age of 50, he saw the opportunity to relocate to open a dairy in Cardiff which was booming due to coal and shipping. In 1888 he opened his own dairy called the Roath Park Dairy Company.
They made milk, cream, cheese and had a grocers shop in the new suburb of Roath.
The company was known by everyone in the local community.
1926 - 1958
The business ran for 70 years, passing through three generations before closing after Norman Jenks, Frederick's grandson, retired in 1958.
This photo shows the staff outing to Porthcawl in 1926 in a charabanc. The awning of the shop shows the slogan " Unexcelled for Milk & Cream".
The gentleman standing, in the bowler hat is Herbert Jenks, Fredericks son-in-law and the gentleman, seated, wearing a Trilby hat is Norman Jenks, Herberts son and the grandfather of Gilly Jenks.
We discovered that the lady with the white beret is the grandmother of one of of our customers.
The Relaunch
Frederick's great, great grand daughter Gilly Jenks relaunched the family business in 2015.
She'd always had a passion for artisan producers and the more she found out about her ancestors the more she wanted to continue with the family firm.
In 2019 the opportunity arose to return to Roath, just around the corner from where it all began in 1888 and close to where Gilly was born and her family lived for many generations.
The farming and retail connections are well rooted as her father's family are farmers near Brecon and related to David Morgan, the founder of the famous department store on The Hayes in Cardiff.
In recent years, Gilly has worked in the cider industry with fruit farmers in Herefordshire and the West Country. Plus she is a trained Horticulturist and has won awards at RHS Chelsea Flower Show and has written articles for magazines.
She has a passion for nature and the countryside and continues to work closely with growers and food producers who supply Green & Jenks.
UNEXCELLED FOR QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
Rooted in Roath
We are immensely proud of our family's dedication to the Roath community, serving them through two World Wars and periods of rationing.
We remain an independent family business, with every decision made by us.
Every product carefully curated to offer our customers a wide range of quality and interesting products.