One of Boksburg's earliest pioneers, Mr B Owen Jones, a chemist by profession, arrived in the area in the mid 1880s. He started a business supplying the new mining fraternity with the heavy chemical and laboratory equipment needed. As the population grew an entrepreneurial Mr B Owen Jones diversified his chemical business to fulfill the needs of the growing communities in the region. He started importing medicinal and fancy goods and opened a wholesale chemist shop in Boksburg followed by a manufacturing plant in Standerton and as the needs of the population grew he opened more chemist shops in Van Rhyn, Springs, Benoni, Brakpan and Standerton. A distinction to his chain of shops was the monopoly he had for Zeiss Cameras.