A British Meat Cannery in Moldavia, Constantin Ardeleanu

In June 1844, Stephen Goldner, a Jewish-born Hungarian entrepreneur residing in Britain, obtained approval from the Moldavian authorities to establish a cannery in Galatz. Involved for several years in preserving meats by means of an innovative technological process, Goldner attempted to benefit from the resources of the Romanian Principalities, particularly their rich agro-pastoral lands, where domesticated animals were extremely cheap. On the basis of documentary sources from British and Romanian archives, this paper details Goldner’s activity in Moldavia during the seven-year period in which he administered the cannery from Galatz and supplied most of the Royal Navy’s contracts. In 1851–52 Goldner was the subject of a public investigation in Britain. It was believed, as it still is now, that the low quality of his products had likely endangered Sir John Franklin’s polar expedition.