John Charles Ludowici established his tannery at Burns Bay in Sydney, 70 years after the arrival of the First Fleet.

The 1850s were the gold rush years - a period of rapid expansion in population and economic activity in young Australia.  It was a decade of significant political events - the Eureka Stockade; the establishment of a bicameral parliament in New south Wales and extension of parliamentary candidature to non-property owners:  South Australia and Queensland became self-governing stats: and Van Diemen's Land became Tasmania.  On the business front, Cobb & Co was founded in 1854 and Ludowici, and Tyrrell's Wines in 1858 - amongst others no doubt!

It was, then, a propitious time for an energetic young immigrant with special skills to start and build a business.  Although floated in 1891 and listed in 1911, Ludowici remained essentially a family business for the first one hundred or so years of its existence.  The descendents of the founder retain a keen interest in the company, quite apart from their proprietorship.  As a reading of this history^# will show, the business has evolved in step with its envrionment, a process of change which has accelerated over the last 40 years.  What has not changed is an ethos embracing quality in product and service, respect for people employed by or dealing with the company and an ethical approach to its corporate responsibilities.

From its beginning as a tanner and leather belt-maker, Ludowici has been a supplier of goods and services to other producers (rather than consumers).  For most of its history, the company's fortunes have followed the development and the ups and downs of Australia's primary and secondary industries, only in recent years becoming seriously interested in exporting to the wider world.  Even by contemporary Australian standards it is not a large company - proving, perhaps, that survival and prosperity owe at least as much to consistent application of prudent business fundamentals as it does to exponential growth . . . . . ,

^#Foreword Extract from Ludowici's History 1858-2004 written by Audrey Tate.  Foreword by Bob Wilkins Chairman January 2005.  (ISBN 1 74114 628 3)