E.Lazenby and Son

Walter Lazenby (c1835-1910), was a sauce and pickle manufacturer. He was the head of the long established firm of wine merchants, which traded as E. Lazenby and Sons. What had been a small business employing 20 to 40 employees expanded under his direction to become a large factory in Bermondsey making bottled sauces and employing several hundreds.

The company was absorbed into Crosse and Blackwell empire in the 1920s.

by Paul Green

Ingall, Parsons, Clive & Co. Ltd.

Ingall, Parsons, Clive & Co. Ltd. was a brassfounder and coffin manufacturer and was regarded as a leading funeral supply company in the UK in the 20th century. The business was established in Birmingham in 1888 following the amalgamation of fifteen companies in the city.

In 1928, Ingall's had 600 employees and was the largest firm in the coffin trade, with branches in most of the larger cities in the UK. The company is now dissolved but it seems to have traded until at least the early 1980s.

Advertisement from 1945

by Mark Matlach

Thomas Tapling & Co. Ltd.

Thomas Tapling & Co. Ltd. was a furniture manufacturer and carpet wholesaler based in London. The company owned a furniture factory in Finsbury, a bedding factory in east London and carpet warehouses in Manchester.

Thomas Tapling died in 1882, having made a fortune from the business. His son, Thomas Keay Tapling, abandoned his plans for a career in law, and took over the family enterprise. The company expanded and prospered, enabling Tapling to return to his childhood hobby of stamp collecting. By 1887 he had one of the two greatest stamp collections in the world, the other being that of Count Ferrary. Among his holdings were many famous rarities, including both values of the “Post Office” Mauritius and three examples of the Inverted Head Four Annas of India. Tapling became Vice-President of the Philatelic Society and his collection was a key source for the Society's handbooks.


Thomas Tapling died of pleurisy in 1891 aged just 35. After his death, Tapling's stamp collection was donated to the British Library in London, and remains intact—the only 19th century collection to be so—though it is too large to display all at one time. Its 4,500 valuable sheets are now thought to be worth at least £10 million. 

Thomas Keay Tapling, 1855 - 1891

 

by Mark Matlach

K. & Co. Limited (Kessler & Co. Limited)

Kessler & Co. was a textile wholesaler established in Manchester in 1830. In 1850 the company had a shipping warehouse constructed at 40 Port Street, Manchester. Kesslers moved into banking in New York in 1882, but still maintained their textile merchandising activities. In 1902 the business was incorporated as a private limited company. In the 1920s the registered office for Kessler & Co. Ltd. was given as 33 Dale Street, Manchester with a branch office at Vicar Lane, Bradford. The company traded until at least the 1950s. 

The warehouse in Port Street is now occupied by various workshops and offices.

 40 Port Street, Manchester, formerly a warehouse for Kessler & Co.

by Mark Matlach

Redmayne & Co.

Redmayne & Co. was founded in 1868 by Samuel Redmayne who established a clothing manufacturing company in Wigton, Cumberland. Redmayne purchased an old shirt factory which he named the Wigton Clothing Factory, and began producing ready-made clothing for men and boys. The company grew and became the leading employer in Wigton. By 1878 branches had been opened in Carlisle, Cockermouth, Penrith, Maryport and Workington.

The factory in Wigton was demolished in 1987, but the company continues today as a bespoke and custom tailor at 30 High Street, Wigton.

Advertisement, 1951

by Mark Matlach

The White House

The White House is a retailer of linens, china, toweling and other home interior accessories, currently based in Chessington, Surrey. The company also has a yachting division that supplies bed and table linen to some of the world's most glamorous super yachts.

The White House was established in 1906 when Jean Delliere, a Frenchman from Paris, opened a clothes shop at 51 New Bond Street in London's West End. The shop specialized in up-market blouses and lingerie, or “whites”. The shop grew into an exclusive department store which sold linens, china and clothing.

The store closed down in 1997 and the company relocated to Chessington.

by Mark Matlach

Pride & Clarke Ltd.

Pride & Clarke Ltd. was a retailer of motorcycles and motor accessories at 158 Stockwell Road in south London. The company was established in 1920 by John Pride and Alfred Clarke and grew to become probably the largest motorcycle retailer in the world in the 1960s.

The firm was famous for its special deals with manufacturers, enabling it to offer motorcycles at very low prices. Before the Second World War, Pride & Clarke Ltd. was best known for the "Red Panther", "AJW" and "Cathorpe" motorcycle models.



In 1939 the company added its own model called "the Club". It was a machine with a 122cc Villiers engine, three-speed gearbox built in-unit, a simple loop frame and blade girder forks. It was only listed for one year.

As Pride & Clarke Ltd. expanded during the 1960s, it took on many additional premises located on Stockwell Road. The whole front of these shops was painted with the company's trademark maroon paint. There were departments for new and secondhand motorcycles, new and secondhand spares, a mail order section, an export and import department, as well as finance and insurance offices. Mail order was a specialty of the business and products were dispatched all over the world.

Besides motorcycles, Pride & Clarke Ltd. sold cars, three wheelers, bicycles and sailing dinghies, plus clothing for motorcycling and sailing. In 1960, when motorcycle sales were at an all-time record high in the UK, Pride & Clarke Ltd. displayed no fewer than 2000 new machines and a good selection of secondhand bikes in the company showrooms.

In 1982 Pride & Clarke Ltd. was sold to Inchcape plc for around £3 million. Inchcape plc is currently a multinational automotive retail and services company headquartered in London.

by Mark Matlach