Benetfink & Co.

Benetfink & Co. was a large retail business located at 89-90 Cheapside, London, from c1845 to 1907. The firm described themselves as "furnishing ironmongers" and sold a huge range of metalware products for the home. An advertisement from 1852 claimed that Benetfink would furnish an eight-roomed house for £5.


The store also housed an optical department where chandeliers, lamps, optical lanterns, and cameras were for sale. A sports department offered a wide choice of bicycles and sportswear. By the turn of the century Benetfink was selling Kerry and Enfield motorcycles and a range of motor accessories such as jacks, motor watches, and headlights.

In 1907, Benetfink & Co. was taken over by the A. W. Gamage department store.

By Mark Matlach

Union of London & Smiths Bank Ltd.

The Union Bank of London was established at 8 Moorgate Street, London in 1839; the bank assumed limited liability in 1882. Five years later, a new head office was erected in Princes Street. By 1902 the bank had 24 branches in London and its suburbs.

In 1902, Union Bank of London Ltd. merged with Smith, Payne & Smiths. The new bank was called Union of London & Smiths Bank Ltd. The bank expanded steadily and in 1917 there were 231 branches in operation.

In 1918 Union of London & Smiths Bank Ltd. amalgamated with National Provincial Bank of England Ltd. to form National Provincial & Union Bank of England Ltd. The new bank continued to grow until its merger with Westminster Bank in 1968 and is now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

By Mark Matlach

Symbol Biscuits Limited

In 1938, Lyons & Co., a British company that controlled the largest food empire in Britain at this time, purchased the Bee Bee Biscuit Company, which manufactured biscuits from its factory in Blackpool. Bee Bee Biscuits had originated in 1922 as the Blackpool Biscuit Company. Six years later, Lyons changed Bee Bee Biscuit's name to Symbol Biscuits and began selling biscuits under the Symbol and Lyons brand names.

Symbol manufactured approximately 40 different types of sweet, dry, and savory biscuits packed and sold under the Symbol and Lyons brands, its logo being an elephant's head. The introduction of Maryland Cookies in 1956 brought a significant increase in revenues.

In 1990 Lyons changed Symbol Biscuit's name to Lyons Biscuits Limited. The company continued to trade profitably until December 1994, when the business was sold to a subsidiary of Hillsdown Holidays Plc. for around £20 million. At the time, 780 people worked at the Blackpool factory. Since then, the company has been acquired by a U.S. Investment house and is currently part of Burton's Foods Limited, the second largest biscuit company in the UK.

By Mark Matlach

Peek Brothers & Co. / Peek Brothers & Winch Ltd.

In 1823, three brothers, named Richard, William, and James Peek, set up a business as tea merchants in London, which was the headquarters of the tea auctions at this time. The company offered grocers reduced prices if accounts were settled in cash within one month of delivery. This meant a quick turnover and sure profits and helped the business to prosper and expand.

At this time, the East India Company had a monopoly of the tea trade in Liverpool. Once the monopoly was abolished in 1835, Peek Brothers & Co. and other London tea brokers were able to set up branches in Liverpool. Richard Peek retired in this year and the company was continued by his two brothers.

Peek House, Eastcheap

By the end of the 19th century, Peek Bros. & Co. was a large and successful company. In 1865 alone it imported over 5 million pounds of tea. The company also traded in coffee, sugar, spices, and tinned goods. In 1870, large new premises were built for the firm at 20 Eastcheap in London. The building had a circular corner tower with a carving of three camels and their loads being led along by an Arab. It was meant to represent the three varieties of merchandise that Peek Bros. dealt with--tea, coffee, and spices--and became the trademark of the company.

Peek Brothers & Co. later became known as Peek Brothers & Winch, and traded under this name until 1958.

By Mark Matlach

J. R. Tennent

Hugh and Robert Tennent founded H. & R. Tennent in 1740 at Drygate Bridge, Glasgow, although the Tennent family had been associated with brewing in Glasgow since the mid 16th century.

Hugh Tennent's sons, John and Robert, continued the family business, trading as J. & R. Tennent from at least 1769. In the 1790s the business expanded by absorbing an adjacent brewhouse and the Drygate Brewery was renamed Wellpark Brewery. The company originally brewed stout and strong export ales. By the mid-19th century, J. & R. Tennent was the world's largest bottled beer exporter.

J. & R. Tennent became a limited liability company in 1901. The firm produced the first draught lager in 1924 and the first canned lager in 1935. The business became a public company in 1953. J. & R. Tennent Ltd. was taken over by Charrington United Breweries Ltd. in 1963, and in 1966 formally merged with Caledonian Breweries Ltd., Charrington's other Scottish holding, to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd. The new company continues to brew at Wellpark Brewery and claims to have the largest sales of all beers sold in Scotland.

Tennent's Wellpark brewery early 20th century

By Mark Matlach

Hancocks & Company

Hancocks & Co. is a retail jeweller and one of London's oldest specialist dealers, buying and selling rare and collectable jewels.

The company was founded on 1st January 1849 by Charles Frederick Hancock, who opened a shop on the corner of Bruton Street and New Bond Street in the West End of London. The business also had its own foundry and workshops where craftsmen worked to produce fine jewellery and silver. After only eight months in business, Hancocks received the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria, who became a regular patron. Hancocks exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London; this was followed by exhibitions in Paris and Vienna in 1867 and 1873, where Hancocks were awarded many prestigious medals of excellence.

The rapid expansion and growing reputation of Hancocks led to the company being entrusted with the design and production of the Victoria Cross on the inception of the award in 1856. This medal is the highest award for gallantry and is still made exclusively by Hancocks today.

Hancocks & Co. moved to Vigo Street in 1917, then to Burlington Street in 1970, and in 1998 to their current home in Burlington Arcade.

By Mark Matlach

Carreras Limited

Carreras Ltd. was a tobacco business that was established in London in the 19th century by Don José Carreras Ferrer, a nobleman from Spain.

During the early years of the 19th century, Carreras began trading in London at a time when cigars were increasing in popularity, and Don José became a pioneer in his field. However, although the business prospered, it did not become a major concern until his son, Don José Joaquin, began to specialise in the blending of tobaccos and snuff. By 1852 Don José Joaquin Carreras had established himself near Leicester Square, and in 1853 was granted a warrant as the sole supplier of cigars and tobacco to the Spanish Legation in London. His fame as a skilled tobacco blender soon spread, and he produced special blends to suit the individual tastes of the highest members of society, with fashionable and distinguished customers visiting his showroom to select their own tobaccos. Some of Don José's tobacco brands, such as Craven Mixture and Guard's Mixture, became world famous. Over 1000 brands of cigar could be bought from Carreras, together with snuffs, cigarettes, and pipes.

The business continued to expand and in 1903 Carreras became a public company. In 1904 Carreras introduced the Black Cat cigarettes, which were one of the first machine-made cigarettes to be manufactured in Britain, and went on to become Carreras' best selling brand.


Carreras Ltd. continued as an independent company until November 1958 when it merged with Rothmans of Pall Mall. Carreras Rothmans Ltd. was formed in 1972, when Carreras Ltd. was used as the vehicle for the merger of various European tobacco interests to form Rothmans International.

By Mark Matlach

Carreras overprints appears on issues from at least SG421 to SG543. There are font differences between the first three stamps shown below.