December 2, 2015, 5:08 am
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The origins of the company go back to the early 1860s when the Duke of Norfolk sank a pair of shafts to a depth of 265 yards into the Silkstone seam, a couple of miles from the centre of Sheffield. After only a decade of working, the Duke decided to hand over the operation to a group of businessmen who became known as the Nunnery Colliery Company.
The Nunnery Colliery was responsible for producing almost half of all the household coal consumed in Sheffield, and it was also producing more than 200 tons of coke a day for the local steel makers at the beginning of the 1900s. The company built a brickworks which was capable of manufacturing half a million bricks per month, the raw materials being extracted from the colliery.
In 1923 tragedy struck when an accident at the colliery, caused by the breaking of a rope hauling an underground train carrying 90 men and 30 boys, resulted in the death of 7 men and 46 injured.
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By 1935 the Nunnery Colliery Co. was turning out 2,000 tons of coal per week. During the Second World War the Nunnery pit was used to store valuable museum pieces and art treasures, including stained-glass windows from Westminster Abbey. Following the end of the War attempts to retrieve the treasures proved difficult. The crates used for packing items had rotted and were buried in mud, due to severe flooding at the mine during the war years. Alot of the glass was rescued, but the drawings for the window designs were sadly missing.
Following nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, the National Coal Board decided that the Nunnery Colliery was uneconomical and it was closed in 1953.
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December 8, 2015, 6:23 am
W. G. Clarke & Sons was established in Limehouse, London, in 1851 as a purveyor of food for game and poultry and dog food. At this time the packaging and marketing of dog food was a relatively recent innovation, and most dogs were fed scraps and whatever food their master might prepare for them. The company had a dog food factory called the Anchor Patent Biscuit Works in east London which produced Metoxdog food made from buffalo meat, as well as City Meat Dog Biscuits and Buffalo Dog Cakes.
W. G. Clarke & Sons later became a subsidiary of Spratt's Patent Ltd. which in turn became part of Spillers in 1961. In 1968 W. G. Clarke & Sons was made responsible for pet product interests other than food, and for sales of pet food to specialist outlets and customers such as pet shops, breeders and kennels. In 1979 Spillers was acquired by Dalgety who sold the pet foods side of the business to Nestlé in 1997. Advertisement c.1890s
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December 8, 2015, 6:27 am
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Smith, Payne & Smiths was established as a private bank in the City of London in 1758, originally with the name of Smith & Payne. The founding partners were Abel Smith II, senior partner of Abel Smith & Sons bankers of Nottingham, and John Payne, a London merchant and linen draper who was chairman of the East India Co.
John Payne died in 1764 and was succeeded by his son Rene Payne. The bank was styled Smith, Payne & Smith from 1773 to 1783; Smith, Payne, Smith & Payne from 1783 to 1785; and Smith, Payne & Smiths from 1785.
In 1799 the Payne family withdrew and ownership of the business passed entirely to the Smith family. In 1837 new premises were built for Smith, Payne & Smiths in Lombard Street. In 1902 the bank merged with Union Bank of London Ltd. to form Union of London & Smiths Bank Ltd. In 1918 the bank amalgamated with National Provincial Bank of England to form National Provincial & Union Bank of England. In 1924 the bank's name was shortened to National Provincial Bank Ltd. In 1968 the bank merged with Westminster Bank to form National Westminster Bank plc, which today is a constituent of the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Smith, Payne & Smiths overprints are most commonly found on the Queen Victoria and Edward VII Foreign Bills - note the thinner font used on the Edward VII issues.
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December 8, 2015, 6:30 am
Edward VII stamps with C. A. overprints are sometimes mistakenly taken for commercial overprints. In fact they are official government overprints and the initials stand for Crown Agents, who were basically the administrators of the British Empire from 1833 to 1974.
These overprints can be found on the Edward VII 1d scarlet and 6d purple (pictured above) and, less commonly, on the George V 1d red 1911-1912. Overprinting was discontinued after this time. The overprinted stamps were intended for fiscal use only, but are also known postally used. There is some variety in the positioning of the overprint on the stamp; typically styles h1a and h1b are noted.
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December 8, 2015, 6:34 am
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The company began in 1784 when James Fitch opened a cheesemaking business in Leadenhall, London. During the 19thcentury Fitch & Son grew from being a cheesemaker to become a producer and provider of many food products, from cheese to bacon. In 1839 the company had premises at 66 Bishopsgate, 83 Leadenhall and 98 Union Street in London. The firm held several Royal Warrants and by the 1870s had expanded to provide livestock auctioning and supplying dairy products nationwide.
The business was incorporated as Fitch & Son Limited in 1908. During the 1940s and 50s the company grew further into different areas of the food industry, and at some point was renamed as Fitch Lovell. During the 1940s the company purchased the Hales Home Bakery. This was followed by the acquisitions of the Far Famed Cake Co. in 1950 and John Trent Co. in 1952. Fitch also expanded into the butchery market, first buying Keevil & Keevil, a Smithfields meat seller, before buying the Layton & Burkett group in 1950, and expanding the business by purchasing several other London butcher chains.
During the 1960s Fitch Lovell opened its own supermarket chain called Keymarkets, opening many stores in the south and east of England. In 1982 Linfield plc purchased the 98 Keymarkets stores and merged them with their Gateway business. With the finances raised from the sale of its supermarkets, Fitch continued to expand its catering and production business. In 1990 Fitch Lovell was acquired for £308 million by the Booker Group who merged the company into its business in 1991.
Keymarkets store in Hockley in 1970
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December 15, 2015, 9:30 am
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In 1847, almost by accident, Tom Smith invented the cracker. It was a simple idea which became an integral part of British celebration and tradition which still continues today.
Having worked as baker's and confectioner's assistant from 1830, Tom Smith set up his own confectionery business in Goswell Road, Clerkenwell, east London, in 1847. On a trip to Paris that year, he discovered the bon bon, a sugared almond wrapped in a twist of tissue paper. The bon bons sold well in Tom Smith's shop the following Christmas, and he now began to experiment on ways to make them even more appealing. It was the crackle of a log as he threw it on his fire one evening, that gave him the flash of inspiration which would eventually lead to the crackers we know today. Smith perfected a chemical explosion to create a “pop”caused by friction when the wrapping was broken. This later became the “snap”and the cracker was born. Trade jumped at Smith's latest novelty and he quickly began to refine his product. He dropped the sweet and the bon bon name, calling his new product Cosaques, but he kept the motto and added a surprise gift.
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By the turn of the century Tom Smith & Co. Ltd. was producing crackers not only for the Christmas season, but also to celebrate every major occasion from the Paris Exhibition in 1900 to the World Tour in 1926 of Prince Edward. Contents were tailored to each box; grotesque or artistic masks, puzzles, jewels, games and mottoes, and most of the beautifully illustrated boxes, crackers and hats, were made by hand. Special writers were commissioned to compose snappy and relevant maxims with references to every important event. The original Victorian mottoes were eventually replaced by puzzles and cartoons, and finally by the corny jokes and riddles which characterise crackers today.
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In 1953 Tom Smith & Co. Ltd merged with Caley Crackers, taking over their headquarters and factory in Norwich. Further mergers took place over the following years with Mead & Field, Neilson Festive Crackers, and Manson & Church, each specialists in their own particular field. Today, the Tom Smith Group is a subsidiary of Napier Industries, the largest manufacturer of crackers in the world.
Tom Smith's Christmas Catalogue cover 1940.
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February 4, 2016, 6:14 am
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Aylward & Sons were beer, wine and spirit merchants based in the Hampshire towns of Southampton and Winchester. The company began as Aylward & Blake trading at 122 High Street, Winchester in 1859. In 1877 the company was titled Aylwood, Sons & Chase operating from 12 Jewry Street, Winchester. By 1889 the firm was Aylward & Sons and continued to trade at 12 Jewry Street into the 1950s, though by 1960 the business had become part of a company called Tyler & Co. Ltd.
Aylward & Sons beer bottle
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February 4, 2016, 6:16 am
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Hall & Pickles Ltd. is a multi-product general steel stockholder and processor of steel with five depots across the UK. The family run company is one of the largest independent steel stockholders in the UK with an annual turnover of 120,000 tonnes and over £50 million.
The company was founded by John Hall the Fourth in Manchester in 1812. In 1902 a modern, brick warehouse was erected in Trafford Park, Manchester, consisting of four bays, each equipped with a 5 ton rapid electric overhead crane. Hall & Pickles supplied a comprehensive range of iron and steel products, such as bars, angles, tees, joists and plates. A works was established in Sheffield to carry out the manufacture of high speed, alloy, stainless, and carbon steels, together with special nickel-chromium alloys for electrical resistance purposes drawn and rolled into wire and tape. Hall & Pickles were incorporated as a limited company in 1916.
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February 4, 2016, 6:20 am
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In 1880 an American called George Richards established a company in Hulme, Manchester for building woodworking machinery. The company prospered and expanded, soon moving to larger premises in Broadheath, Altrincham.
In 1896 George Richards & Co. Ltd. was taken over by Tilghmans Patent Sand Blast Co. but continued to trade under its own name. By 1912 the company confined its activities solely to the manufacture of high class machine tools including the Pearn-Richardspatent universal horizontal surfacing, boring, miffing, drilling and tapping machines. By the 1950s the firm had become a part of the Staveley Coal & Iron Co.
Side-planing machine by George Richards & Co. Ltd. 1891
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February 4, 2016, 6:23 am
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Brooke Bond & Co. was established in 1869 by Arthur Brooke, the son of a wealthy tea dealer. There was no partner named Bond, the name was added to the company's title simply because Arthur Brooke feltit sounded better. The first tea shop was opened in Manchester and Brooke began producing his own blends by mixing different teas. The company expanded quickly with new shops opening in Liverpool, Bradford and Leeds and in 1872 the headquarters were moved to London. After several years of struggle, the company began to thrive again in the 1880s when Brooke began supplying teas to grocer's shops. Success enabled the firm to expand around the world and to invest in its own tea plantations. In 1892 it was incorporated as Brooke Bond & Co. Ltd.
Arthur Brooke retired in 1904 and his son Gerald took over the business. Red Label tea was launched in India and in 1911 the company opened a packing factory in Stepney, east London. Brooke Bond's most famous brand, P. G. Tips, was introduced in 1930. By 1957 Brooke Bond was probably the largest tea company in the world, with a one third share of both the British and Indian tea markets. The different Brooke Bond blends and an innovative approach to advertising (notably through tea cards) guaranteed further success but increasing competition convinced the company to join forces with the Leibig company in 1968. Leibig's success had been based on Oxo, a cube of beef concentrate which had been invented in 1847 by Baron Justus von Liebig. In 1988 Brooke Bond Oxo merged with Batchelors & Co. to form Brooke Bond Foods and in 1995 it was merged into Van den Bergh Foods, a subsidiary of Unilever.
The famous TV commercials for P.G. Tips featuring “talking” chimpanzees were started in 1956.
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February 11, 2016, 4:48 am
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North West Securities was a financial company in Chester, providing hire purchase and credit finance, mainly for the motor trade. In 1958 the company was taken over by the Bank Of Scotland. Over the next twenty years the business grew rapidly as UK banking regulations were relaxed. By the mid-1980s North West Securities had become one of the biggest and most successful finance houses, contributing more than a quarter of Bank of Scotland's total profits. By the end of the 1980s, however, Bank of Scotland had taken a tighter grip on the company, renaming it NWS Bank, and then Capital Bank.
This scarce overprint has been reported only on SG 579, as pictured above.
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February 11, 2016, 4:55 am
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Teetgen & Co. Ltd. were grocers, tea merchants and confectioners established by Augustus Teetgen at Bishopsgate, London in 1834. The company traded independently until the 1960s when it amalgamated with Joseph Kingham & Sons Ltd.
Cinderella stamp collectors may also be aware of these promotional labels produced by Teetgen.
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February 11, 2016, 5:06 am
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Bulloch, Lade & Co. was a large whisky manufacturer in Glasgow during the Victorian period.
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The company was formed in 1856 following the merger of two family run distilleries called Bulloch & Co. and Lade & Co. At the time of the merger Bulloch, Lade owned two distilleries at Loch Katrine and Lossit, but a year later the firm was able to acquire the Caol Ila Distillery on the island of Islay off the west coast of Scotland. Extravagant expansion work was carried out at the distillery in the 1870s and all the whisky produced was sent back to the company headquarters in Glasgow to be blended. By the 1880s over 147,000 gallons of whisky were being produced each year at Caol Ila.
Bulloch, Lade & Co. went into voluntary liquidation in 1920 and in 1930 Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. obtained ownership of all shares. The company eventually became part of Diageo.
Receipt 1864
Caol Ila Distillery
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February 11, 2016, 5:15 am
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In 1884 H. J. Marsh joined the company as partner. He became the manager of the new warehouse and in 1891 the firm was restyled as McIntyre, Hogg, Marsh & Co. In 1908 the business was incorporated as a limited company.
During the Second World War the company produced shirts for the Armed Forces. In the 1950s the company's RADIAC brand of shirts, collars and pyjamas was widely advertised. In c.1961 McIntyre, Hogg, Marsh & Co. Ltd. was taken over by the English Sewing Cotton Company.
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February 17, 2016, 4:11 am
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Charles and Jeremiah Weldon established a button making company at 130 Cheapside, London in 1851. The Weldons were known to have a friendly relationship with Samuel Hammond of Hammond, Turner & Bate, another button making company which used commercial overprints.
There are at least 6 different C. & J. Weldon overprints :
OVERPRINT STYLE SG CAT.
Recd. / £ / for / C. & J. Weldon H4g IRS, 172
RECEIVED FOR // C. & J. Weldon H2d 442
RECEIVED FOR // C. & J. WELDON, LTD. H3f 368, 421
RECEIVED FOR // C. & J. WELDON, LTD. H2d 368, 421
Recd. / C. & J. Weldon. H2b 172
C. & J. WELDON H1b 219, 357
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February 17, 2016, 4:12 am
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Durex Abrasives Limited was formed by the 3M Company Ltd. (formerly the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. Ltd.) in 1929. Durex acted as an export company, buying products from domestic firms in the United States and selling them through its sales offices and distributors around the world. Durex also served to manufacture 3M products abroad and the company's UK factory was at Arden Road, Adderley Park, Birmingham, where branded products such as Durex cellulose tape, Durex masking tape and Durex abrasive paper were manufactured. The Durex brand name was discontinued in 1951.
Advertisement 1949
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February 17, 2016, 4:12 am
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The history of the Phoenix can be traced to the 20thNovember 1781. That evening 12 sugar importers led by Nathaniel Jarman met at a coffee house in Fenchurch Street, London. The highly inflamable nature of sugar made fire a very hazardous risk, but the men felt that the insurance rate of 18 shillings per £100 was too high. The result was that the group met again two days later and decided to form a fire insurance company. The company was established on 17thJanuary 1782, initially with the name New Fire Office. The name was changed to the Phoenix Assurance Company in 1813.![]()
The Phoenix began by offering discounted premiums if the insured also took out further insurances with the company. Until 1907 the Phoenix dealt solely with fire insurance, although it enlarged itself periodically by the acquisition of smaller fire insurance companies. Life insurance was begun after the absorption of the Pelican & British Empire Life Office in 1907 and further expanded by the acquisition of the Law Life Assurance Society in 1909. In 1910 the Phoenix entered marine insurance with the purchase of Union Marine. In 1922 the company established itself in accident insurance.
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In 1984 the Phoenix was acquired by Sun Alliance. In 1996 Royal Insurance and Sun Alliance merged to form RSA. Today, RSA is a multinational general insurance company headquartered in London.
The overprints:
Overprint Style SG Cat. Nos.
PHOENIX / ASSURANCE / CO LD H3b 341
PHOENIX / ASSURANCE / CO. LTD. H3b 219
PHOENIX // ASSURANCE Co., LD. V2a 357, 368, 381, 421, 426
Receipts from 1910 and 1930
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February 17, 2016, 4:12 am
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In 1853 a 63-year-old Scotsman called Alexander Gordon was leasing a market stall in Melbourne, Australia, working as an advertising agent for a local newspaper. One day he befriended a young, penniless Englishman called John Speechly Gotch, who had come to Australia to seek his fortune in the goldfields. Gordon offered Gotch a job selling newspapers at his stall and the two men soon became business partners.Gordon and Gotch were quick to recognise the opportunities in the rapid growth taking place in Australia and by 1859, when Gordon sold his interest in the business to Gotch and returned to Scotland, the company was pre-eminent in Melbourne as news and advertising agents and as distributors of newspapers and periodicals from Britain. Gotch took his brother William into partnership in 1860 and his brother-in-law Alfred Jones became partner in the company a year later. Gordon & Gotch opened a branch in Sydney in 1861, another in London in 1867 and a branch in Brisbane in 1875. Later, expansion continued with offices being set up in New Zealand and Canada. The company's activities extended from the export and distribution of newspapers and magazines through printing and publishing to advertising, a press telegraph service and the import of stationery and printing supplies. Later the London branch of the firm engaged in general exports and the Australian offices took over agencies for importing such goods as pianos and sewing machines. In 1885 the business was incorporated as Gordon & Gotch Ltd.
Eventually Gordon & Gotch Ltd. were split up and each country's division (Australia, New Zealand, UK and Canada) was sold off. Today, the remains of the company in the UK is called Gordon & Gotch Publishing Ltd., and since 1994 the company has been located in Slough, Berkshire.
Receipt 1954
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February 24, 2016, 7:24 am
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London & Lancashire Insurance Co. Ltd. was established in 1862 to transact accident, employers' liability and general insurance. In 1867 a sister company, London & Lancashire Fire Insurance Co., was established to offer fire insurance. The two companies shared joint head offices in London and Liverpool. In 1961 London & Lancashire Insurance Co. Ltd. was acquired by Royal Insurance Co. Ltd.
Receipt 1928
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February 24, 2016, 7:25 am
J. & I. Batten & Ginner were wholesale grocers and tea merchants at 125-126 Lower Thames Street, London in the Victorian period. The company was established by James Batten, Isacc Batten and Alfred Edward Ginner. At some point the Ginner name was dropped from the company's title and does not appear on overprints from SG 172 onwards.
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The origins of the company go back to the early 1860s when the Duke of Norfolk sank a pair of shafts to a depth of 265 yards into the Silkstone seam, a couple of miles from the centre of Sheffield. After only a decade of working, the Duke decided to hand over the operation to a group of businessmen who became known as the Nunnery Colliery Company.
By 1935 the Nunnery Colliery Co. was turning out 2,000 tons of coal per week. During the Second World War the Nunnery pit was used to store valuable museum pieces and art treasures, including stained-glass windows from Westminster Abbey. Following the end of the War attempts to retrieve the treasures proved difficult. The crates used for packing items had rotted and were buried in mud, due to severe flooding at the mine during the war years. Alot of the glass was rescued, but the drawings for the window designs were sadly missing.
