Keiller's marmalade, named after its creator Janet Keiller, is believed to have been the first commercial brand of marmalade, produced in Dundee, Scotland.
The apocryphal story tells that James Keiller bought a ship load of oranges from a ship which was seeking harbour from a winter storm. The ship was on its way from Seville and due to the storm the oranges were already less fresh than they ought to have been. The bargain gave his wife (Janet Keiller) the opportunity to manufacture a large quantity of marmalade. In reality the Keillers adapted an existing recipe for manufacture by adding the characteristic rind suspended in the preserve.
The first commercial brand of marmalade along with the world's first marmalade plant was founded in 1797. In 1880 the company opened a factory at Tay Wharf, Silvertown in London.[1] By the late 19th century the marmalade was shipping as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and China.
The firm was acquired by Crosse & Blackwell in 1920.[1] It was subsequently sold on multiple times before ending up with Robertson's
One of Janet Keiller's great-great-great grandsons was Alexander Keiller and one of her great-great-great-great grandsons is the British television presenter Monty Don.[2][3]
It is believed that Keiller's marmalade were the first people to produce Dundee Cake, or at least, if not the first to make this cake, the first to make this cake commercially available and to call it "Dundee Cake".