British Military Accoutrement Makers - Advertisements & Information

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MILITARY ACCOUTREMENT MAKERS - ADVERTISEMENTS AND INFORMATION



A topic devoted to military and naval accoutrement makers, including, Lacemen, Embroiderers, button makers, sword cutlers, helmet makers, etc. If this is your interest, and you would like to share information regarding these makers, then here's to topic to add to.

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W. CATER & Co.

56, later, 62, Pall Mall, and Thurlow Works, Blackfriars Road, London, and Cape Town



W. Cater & Co. - London - 1901


W. Cater & Co. - London - 1903


Established in 1776.

W. Cater & Co. appear to move from 56, Pall Mall to 62, Pall Mall around 1918.

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BRYAN BROS. & Co.

9, Dacre Street, Westminster, London



Bryan Bros. & Co. - London - 1877


Bryan Bros. & Co. - London - 1882

Established in 1770.

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W. JONES & Co.

236, Regent Street, London



W. Jones & Co. - London - 1877

Thought to be working at 236, Regent Street from at least 1859 until 1888.

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JOSEPH JENNENS & Co.

Details of Joseph Jennens & Co. can be found at:

Joseph Jennens & Co. - Military Accoutrement Maker

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WEBB & BONELLA

23, Old Bond Street, London



Webb and Bonella - London - 1867

The business of Charles Tarr Webb and John Bonella.

Noted as suppliers of belt buckles to the Confederate forces during the American Civil War.

Charles Tarr Webb died in Rome on the 21st November 1862. He is buried in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome, along with his eldest son, Charles Edward, who died on the 6th October 1904.


Pursuant to the Act of Parliament, 22nd and 23rd "Victoria, re chapter 35, intituled " An Act to further amend the Law of Property, and to relieve Trustees."

Notice is hereby given, that creditors and all other persons having any claim against the estate of Charles Tarr Webb, commonly called Charles Webb, late of 23, Old Bond-street, in the county of Middlesex, and of Folkstone, in the county of Kent, Gold-Lace Manufacturer, deceased (who died on the 21st day of November last, and whose will was proved in the Principal Registry of Her Majesty's Court of Probate, on the 8th day of December instant, by Charles Thomas Lucas, Thomas Parker, and John Bonella, the executors therein named), are required on or before the 15th day of February, 1863, to send in particulars of their claims to the said executors, at the offices of us, the undersigned, at 18, Saint Paul's Churchyard, in the city of London; at the expiration of which time the said executors will proceed to distribute the whole of the assets of the said testator among the parties entitled thereto, having regard only to the claims of which the said executors shall then have had notice; and the said executors will not be liable for the assets so distributed, or any part thereof, to any person of whose debt or claim they shall not then have had notice.–Dated this 15th day of December, 1862.

PARKER, LEE, and HADDOCK, 18, St. Paul's Churchyard, London, Solicitors to the said Executors.

Source: The London Gazette - 16th December 1862


Noted employees include:

JAMES BOTWRIGHT was indicted for stealing 1 sword, and 3 hat covers, value £4.; the goods of Charles Tarr Webb, his master; to which he pleaded GUILTY. Aged 21.–Recommended to mercy by the Prosecutor. Confined Three Months.

ADAM SAMSON was indicted for embezzling £2-15s., and £2., the monies of Charles Tarr Webb, his master; to which he pleaded GUILTY. Aged 25.–Recommended to mercy by the Prosecutor. Confined Six Months.

Source: Central Criminal Court - Minutes of Evidence - George Herbert - 1837

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NOAH GOETZE

Details of Noah Goetze can be found at:

The Drawings of Noah Goetze (Grimwade 2091-2)

and

GOETZE, Noah (Grimwade p.525)

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ROBERT MOLE & SONS

Granville Street, Birmingham



Robert Mole & Sons - Birmingham - 1886


ROBERT MOLE & SONS, Sword and Matchet Manufacturers, Granville Street, Birmingham



For more than half a century this eminent Firm have been the principal contractors for swords to the Home and Indian Governments, and claim to have made more than all the English makers put together; they have been, in the fullest sense of the word, Government contractors, and they executed large orders for the East India Company and Board of Ordnance, while those authorities existed. Their resources are so great that they can turn out 20,000 swords a year, and a thousand dozen of matchets in a single week. Their catalogue of manufacture includes, also, naval cutlasses, lances, boarding-pikes, halberds, fencing foils, &c., which they supply for all branches of our Army and Navy Services. The present head of the Firm is Mr. Fredc. M. Mole, who is a thoroughly practical man in every department; their aim is always to supply only good articles at a very moderate price for real English work, and they are always willing to execute the smallest order.



The matchet–for which this Firm stands pre-eminent, their well-known steamer brand being over and over again preferred for its regularity of temper and finish, notwithstanding the keen competition of home and foreign makers–is a kind of cross between a gigantic carving-knife and a broad cutlass fitted with a short handle, and used by the Central African tribes, the West Indian and South American labourers, for cutting through the jungles and chopping down the sugar canes; they vary from 12 to 30 inches in length of blade, and 1½ to 4 inches in width, and are generally made from bevel-edged steel passed through a patent process, which gives them their special superiority. The works are very extensive and complete; are equipped with the best machinery (adapted to the various processes required), and most of which is of their own special design; forging, hammering, tempering are some of the processes gone through, and to all of which the greatest care is given. The grinding department is a marvel of cleanliness ; this Firm having studied in all ways the well-being and comfort of their workpeople. In numerous exhibitions they have taken first rank. Visitors to the International Exhibition of 1873 will well remember the magnificent display of sword cutlery by this Firm, which included fine examples of silver work produced entirely by themselves; and in recent years they received gold medals for swords and matchets at the Inventions, 1885; Edinburgh, 1886; Liverpool, 1886; Newcastle, 1887; Adelaide, 1887; and they have sent some fine specimens to Melbourne for this year, 1888, intending to uphold and maintain their premier position as the leading sword and matchet manufacturers both of England and the world.

Source: Wyman's Commercial Encyclopædia of Leading Manufacturers of Great Britain - Wyman and Sons - 1888



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BODLEY & ETTY

31, Lombard Street, London



Bodley & Etty - London - 1843

The business of Bodley & Etty was later acquired by Thomas Wilson.

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J. ELLWOOD & SONS

98, Gracechurch Street, and Great Charlotte Street, later, 26, The Cut, Blackfriars Road, London



J. Ellwood & Sons - London - 1861


J. Ellwood & Sons - London - 1877

The business of John Ellwood (b.1775-d.1835)was established in 1811 and stayed a family owned business until his grandson, Arthur Ellwood's death in 1924. The business was converted into a limited liability company in 1933, styled Ellwood Hats Limited. The company ceased trading in 1938 and their derelict factory in Great Charlotte Street was destroyed by enemy action in WWII.


ELLWOOD HATS Limited.
NOTICE is hereby given that a Meeting of the creditors of the above named Company will be held at the offices of Keens, Shay, Keens & Co. Bilbao House, New Broad Street, London, E.C.2, on Wednesday the nineteenth day of October 1938 at 12 o'clock noon, for the purposes mentioned in sections 238, 239 and 240 of the Companies Act 1929.–Dated this nth day of October, 1938.
A. E. COTTER, Managing Director.

Source: The London Gazette - 14th October 1938


ELLWOOD HATS Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at Bilbao House, New Broad Street, London, E.C.2, on the 19th day of October, 1938, the following Extraordinary Resolution was duly passed: –
" That it has been proved to the satisfaction of this Meeting that the Company cannot by reason of its liabilities, continue its business, and that it is advisable to wind up the same, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily, and that Albert James Harmer Shay, of Bilbao House, New Broad Street, London, E.C.2, Incorporated Accountant, be, and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
Dated this 19th day of October, 1938.
A. E. COTTER, Director and Chairman.
26 The Cut, Blackfriars Road, London, S.E.1.

Source: The London Gazette - 25th October 1938

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CATER & SONS

21, Ryder Street, St. James's Street, London



Cater & Sons - London - 1908

Any connection between this firm and W. Cater & Co. (see above post) is unknown to me at present.

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HAMBURGER, ROGERS & Co.

30, King Street, Covent Garden, London



Hamburger, Rogers & Co. - London - 1877


Hamburger, Rogers & Co. - London - 1879


Hamburger, Rogers & Co. - London - 1893


Hamburger, Rogers & Co. - London - 1908


HAMBURGER, ROGERS, & CO., Army Contractors, 30, King Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.

This old-established and well-known business was founded some hundred and fifty years ago under the sign of the "Sun," on the same spot where it is still carried on, and it was during the year 1820 that Mr. Jonas Hamburger became the leading partner therein.

This gentleman had been a practical weaver himself, and had given especial study to the production of gold lace. By his skill and care in this direction, he brought the manufacture of gold and silver laces to such a pitch of perfection that no innovation has been introduced in making these goods since his time. Among the many new designs and improvements which Mr. Hamburger brought forward, we may mention that he was the first to introduce the "oak-leaf" into the woof,–it will be remembered that oak-leaf gold lace is now used in every general's uniform.

His ability in this production made his name famous. Gold lace, which had fallen somewhat into disrepute, owing to the fact that when it is indifferently made it readily tarnishes, now again became popular. Hamburger's lace was, and always is, asked for by those who desire to be supplied with that which is best, brightest, and most durable. In the many air-tight, chamois-leather-lined cases, in which this Firm keep their cords and laces, are still some samples of the work of Mr. Hamburger's day; these are as bright and fresh as if they had been produced yesterday, literally as good as gold; precisely the same quality is manufactured by Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co. to-day, as in '22: this is a distinction to which few Firms lay claim.

To return for a moment to Mr. Jonas Hamburger; without the slightest advertisement, but by the sure means of splendid quality, his business extended so largely as to cause the aid of a partner to be of the greatest value.

The late Mr. Robert Rogers entered the Firm in 1841; he was a man of acute business capabilities, under whose vigorous management the trade of the house advanced with gigantic strides.

All connected with the Firm henceforward worked at the highest possible pressure. These were extremely busy times; there were wars on hand and rumours of wars to come. In 1854, before and during the Crimean war, Messrs. Hamburger's historic ledgers show in plain figures, black on white, the extent of the immense business that was done by them.

How many heroes of Balaclava, of Sebastopol, or of the lesser battles lost and won since those days, have fought and fallen beneath coat or cuirass provided by this Firm, we have no mode of judging. But a glance at the books of '54 show many customers, from Sir Colin Campbell downwards, whose names have since been inscribed upon the scroll of fame. The indexes of their ledgers, which date back to 1811, will give one a complete list of the regiments which compose our army, as well as the names of most of the well-known Yeomanry and Militia corps.

For many years Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co. have been appointed gold-lace manufacturers to the Royal Family. At the accession of Her Majesty, fifty-one years ago, their appointment as embroiderers and gold lace manufacturers to the Crown, was ratified by the Queen, and in 1840 they were so appointed to His late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, and also to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, when he commenced a separate establishment. They are also honoured by several Government appointments; they make the historic dress for the Beefeaters ;of the Tower of London; and their garments and accoutrements have been worn and used upon every battlefield where the English have been engaged during the last fifty years.

They hare in many instances supplied the same families for several generations; here is a somewhat notable roll of customers :–The Dukes of Richmond, of Marlborough, of Hamilton, and of Rutland; the Marquises of Hastings, of Londonderry, and d'Azeglio; the Earls of Lucan, of Aylesford, and of Lonsdale; Lords Clyde, Cathcart, Combermere, Elphinstone, Hardinge, and Raglan; Sir James Chatterton, General Cavendish, Colonel Sibthorp, and Sir Henry Havelock. There are many others of interest, but our space will not admit of a further list.

Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co. are the master tailors of various cavalry regiments; this appointment is carried out by a staff of workmen, under a foreman, following the regiments from station to station, and supplying their needs as occasion arises.

As we have said, the manufacture of gold lace has always been a specialty with this house. In their stores are many kinds. There is lace in which the emblematic Rose is worked, this is, of course, used for the English regiments; there is the Thistle for the Scotch, and the Shamrock for the Irish, and many other designs and devices, which tell at once, to the practised eye, of which regiment it is the proper adornment. Here, too, is the lace worn by the Queen's pages; the gold gimp chains for the Hussars; the laces and braids of diverse patterns which are used by the Indian regiments. The stock of gold lace is particularly large at the present time.

The spirit of economy is abroad, and gold lace manufacturers have suffered slightly along with other makers of that which is merely beautiful and not very useful. One has only to look at a couple of shabracques in Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co.'s show-rooms, to see the marked difference between the work which is done to-day and that of thirty years ago; upon a shabracque which they have just finished for an officer of an Hussar regiment is a simple design, carried out in gold and silver wire, with perfect taste certainly, but quite without the flourish, the scrolling, the grandeur of the older style.

No doubt in such an extensive business as the one with which we are dealing, the loss of some of the gold-lace work is compensated by an extension of business in other directions. The fact that the Militia now wear gold instead of silver would make a considerable difference, and the constant extension and growth of the Volunteer movement may be said to supply, to some extent, the orders of the pre-Crimean time. Then, again, from India, where the Oriental love of colour and brilliancy is by no means dimmed by British rule, come orders which would have surprised the generation last gone by. Business with foreign countries has also largely extended.

Some five-and-twenty years ago Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co. rebuilt their establishment in King Street, Covent Garden. Upon the ground floor is an extensive show-room, behind which are the offices, and large store-rooms; on the floors above are the cutting-out departments, etc., and rooms in which uniforms are fitted. No doubt the broad mirrors which stand on duty in this inner sanctum could tell many a tale of handsome young officers who have caught sight of the reflection of themselves for the first time, in the brilliant regimentals of, say, Her Majesty's Dragoon Guards, and who have thought, in other words than Mr. Gilbert's :–

"It is one to a million
That any civilian
My figure and form will surpass."

As may be supposed a business such as this, which has been so nearly connected with the great wars of our time, possesses many relics of our more famous victories. At Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co.'s we see helmets and sabretaches whose wearers have fallen upon the field of Waterloo, coats and accoutrements which were intended for the heroes of the Crimea, relics of the Indian mutiny, and swords that have been used in many a battle.

Artists are not unfrequent visitors to this establishment; the Firm's correct and minute knowledge of costumes being of the greatest value to them. Messrs. Hamburger have received several presents of pictures from painters to whom they have imparted their knowledge of the intricate details of military dress, the most important being a striking portrait of the "Iron Duke," and some fine "proofs before letters," engravings of well-known pictures. Upon the wall of the first show room is an elaborately worked panel of military embroidery, which was shown by the Firm at the Exhibition of 1851, and which, with their other exhibits, gained them a prize medal and much "kudos." The style of embroidery which was shown is that greatly in use for work upon the "colours" of regiments, and the pipers' banners of the Highland regiments, where the Captain-of every troop provides a banner with the regiment's arms worked on one side, and his own on the other. Many of these are most carefully produced, and handsome in effect. As well as constantly making the colours and embroidering the banners for different regiments, the Firm are often busy with the repair of the old flags, which have seen the battle and the breeze. There is a particular sort of silk netting in use for this purpose, with which material Messrs. Hamburger have preserved many "colours," that now hang in the military chapels or elsewhere. Amongst those recently preserved in this way are some for the Honourable Artillery Company, and those which hang in Archdeacon Farrar's interesting church, St. Margaret's, Westminster.

Not only does this Firm supply officers with every sort of regimental accoutrement, but with all necessary camp furniture and appliances; every sort of horse-clothing, and all kinds of portmanteaus, air-tight cases, &c. Here the men can buy every sort of "necessary," as much of their clothing is technically called; and as Messrs. Hamburger, Rogers, & Co. are manufacturers as well as contractors, this can be done at an appreciable advantage. It not unfrequently happens that the King Street house is given a design, and called upon to furnish specimens of uniform for the consideration of the War Office, when a change is about to be made in a detail of uniform; thus their show-cases contain not a few samples of failures, such as disused shakoes, helmets, and the like. Before the present white helmet for foreign service was arrived at, this article of warfare went through quite a number of evolutionary steps, many of which may be seen here.

In another case is the head-gear of the past, things at once cumbersome and ugly, as laughable to us as our own immaculate designs of to-day will be to future generations. Amongst others here we notice the peculiar shako which the late Prince Albert desired at one time to introduce, but which was killed by the humours of "Mr. Punch," and his artist, John Leech.

In the spring Messrs. Hamburger are very busy with the Yeomanry uniforms, many of which are extremely elaborate and costly. This house is often called upon to act as agents for some of their many customers who are stationed in distant parts of the world; their capability in this direction has been testified to by many handsome presents which have been sent to them from overseas.

Source: Wyman's Commercial Encyclopædia of Leading Manufacturers of Great Britain - 1888

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H. & W. TOWELL & Co.

10, Argyll Place, London, and, Rue Marsollier 15, Paris, and, 60, St. Enoch Square, Glasgow, and, 18, Crow Street, Dublin



H. & W. Towell & Coy. - London - 1908

Late William Jones & Co.

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WILLIAM RAWLE

Details of William Rawle can be found at:

William Rawle

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M. DAVIES & Co.

1-3-104, St. Martin's Lane, London, 24, St. Andrew Street, Dublin, and Nottingham and Coventry



M. Davies & Co. - London - 1884

Established 1737.

Joseph Roche was noted as manager of the Dublin branch in 1883.

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J. MURFITT

26, Porter Street, Newport Market, London


LONDON FIRES IN 1838

At each of the following fires very serious damage was sustained, and although the firemen were eventually triumphant, it was only by dint of most extraordinary efforts that the flames were vanquished :–January 25, 5 p.m. Mr. Bowe, furrier, 3, Little Carter-lane, Doctor's Commons, upper part of building and back workshops destroyed; ten other buildings more or less damaged. February 6, 5½ a.m., Mr. R. Flack, licensed victualler (sign of the Brown Bear), Lemon-street, Goodman's Fields; building and contents nearly destroyed, and two adjoining buildings damaged. March 8, 4½ a.m., Mr. J. Murfitt, military ornament maker, 26, Porter-street, Newport Market; second floor, attics and roof burned off and three other buildings damaged.

Source: The Mechanics' Magazine - 9th February 1839

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MILITARY EMBROIDERY

By Mrs. J. RAMSAY MACDONALD

Embroidery work done at home does not bring in quite such starvation wages as many of the unskilled home industries, but in noticing the prices paid we must remember that it is a skilled trade –that to do it properly the worker must have both art and practised dexterity, and that the workers have to go through an apprenticeship of four years, with wages usually beginning at 2/- and rising 2/- each year, and then a further period, varying according to their skill, before they are expected to be proficient.

The embroideress who is working at the Exhibition reckons her earnings at about 4d. an hour with an average firm. She has worked for firms which pay much less than that, and on common worsted embroidery has had as little as 2½d. an hour. For military work at an average firm she gets 9d. a dozen for embroidering diamonds and stars on cloth, 2d. a pair for straps with three letters on them. For her frames she had to pay 18/- for two; these last a lifetime. But the 4d. an hour is dependent on whether she can get work, and there is much slack time. The highest she ever earned in a week, she says, was 18/-; 12/- she considers a good week, and the times when she can get no work are getting more frequent.



Gold and silver work, and better class work for officers, etc., is paid more highly, but also needs more skill, and this, too, is subject to fluctuations. The same tale is told by many homeworkers in the trade. They used to have good work, and plenty of it, but now there are long irregular times of slackness, and the sweating firms pay a price which is cruel. The slackness is due partly to the greater use of metal letters instead of embroidered ones for uniforms. The low wages are due to competition for contracts. It ought to be impossible for Government work to be given out at sweating rates. On paper it is so. In the "form of tender for clothing to be delivered by the contractor to the War Office" the following appears among the conditions of contract:–

"No portion of this Contract shall be transferred without the written permission of the Secretary of State for War– sub-letting, other than that which may be customary in the trades concerned, is prohibited. The wages paid in the execution of this Contract shall be those generally accepted as current in each trade for competent workmen in the district where the work is carried out. (Resolution of the House of Commons, dated 13th July, 1891)."

Inquiries made by the Women's Industrial Council as to the present conditions in that part of clothing which comes under the heading of military embroidery showed the disregard of the prohibition of sub-letting, and the utter futility of the provision which is supposed to ensure a fair wage. Wages current in the district implies no standard at all in the case of unorganised women workers. Nor is any attempt made by the Government authorities to put any meaning into the phrase by inquiring into the rates of wages paid on work done for them. Employer after employer whom we asked about this laughed at the inquiry. "Fair wages shift according to your conscience," "It's all tommy rot putting that in the contract– nobody ever asks us what we pay," were the sort of answers we got, and the better-class employers deplored the fact that they could not compete with the cut prices offered by sweating firms, and said they would like a standard set and kept to for the wages to be paid.

On the matter of home work the form of tender is equally disregarded. The members of the Women's Industrial Council, after seeing the prevalence of home work, could hardly believe that these words appear in the official forms :–

"The Contractor undertakes that all garments included in this Contract shall be made up, and the material cut out, in his own Factory, as specified in the Schedule, and that no work shall be done at the homes of the workpeople."

Besides the home workers whom we know personally, employer after employer told us he employed out-workers, and indeed it was generally mentioned as one of the chief advantages of the trade that after a girl had served her apprenticeship she could so easily get work to do at home.

We found that the home workers usually got the work only after the apprentices and other indoor hands were fully supplied, this extra irregularity of home work being one of its most common disadvantages, and one difficult to meet.

I do not myself see, however, that in military and naval embroidery there is any good reason for the prohibition of home work if ample precautions are taken against infection. With regard to the making up of coats and trousers and uniforms for Government officials, there may be a good deal to be said against home work: it leads so easily to sweating and overcrowding the home. But the skilled work of embroidery is not specially unsuitable for doing in dwelling-rooms. If, however, any home work is to be allowed, it should not be forbidden in the form of contract. The present disregard of the conditions laid down turns the idea of Government as a model employer into mockery. At the beginning of this year we were no further forward than at the time of the House of Lords inquiry into the Sweating System, 1890, when the Lords Committee reported as follows :–

"GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

"143. In inquiring into this part of the subject, we have no reason to doubt that sweating has been carried on to the detriment of the public service and also of the workers, who did not receive the whole of the moneys voted for the purpose of their payment. And further that the public do not always receive the value of their money, keeping in view the nature of the goods supplied.

"144. A Factory Clause is now inserted into Government contracts providing that the work given by the War Office shall be done on the premises of the contractor. The penalty for the infraction of this clause is £100, but whilst some witnesses spoke to the infraction of the clause, in no case did it appear that the penalty had been enforced previous to the investigation of this Committee In examination, Mr. G. D. Ramsay, the Superintendent of the Army Clothing at Pimlico, was asked whose duty it was to see the Factory Clause carried out. His answer was, "I do not know whether we consider it anybody's duty." Mr. Ramsay owned that the Department had never taken steps to ascertain whether the contractors had actually complied with the Factory Clause or not. So, too, Mr. Nepean was asked whether anyone was responsible for the discharge of this duty, and his answer was "Not at present." It was put to him that if a tender was made below the price at which he knew work could be executed in the Pimlico Factory, would he not infer that the contract would pass into the hands of sweaters ?" The facts," he answered, "would lead to that idea, certainly." Mr. Ramsay stated that the work could not be done so cheaply in the Factory as outside. That in former days, when the Department was "not so very strict" as to the acceptance of tenders, the Jew sweater always beat the factories in the tenders, and he admitted that not only was there a temptation to violate the Factory Clause, but that there is no way of finding out whether the contractor violates it or not. Under great and sudden pressure of work, contracts would be put out again as in former years. "I am inclined to be afraid that during a pressure of that kind we should not be too particular as to the enforcement of the Factory Clause. It would be impossible to enforce the Factory Clause if there were a sudden demand for clothing, we should be only too glad to get the clothing, wherever it was made, to mind how." Mr. Nepean, at a later date of the inquiries acknowledged that the evidence before the Committee showed that the War Office contracts had been some years used "as a vehicle for sweating," and that the work has been handed down from contractor to gang-master, "and that the gang-masters had prices given them by the contractors, of which we knew nothing, and which necessitated the grant of low wages to the actual worker, and that the whole of the sweating business has been carried out almost under the protection of the War Office."

The present Government, however, has several times expressed its intention to carry out its professions as to being a model employer in actual practice as well as on paper, and the Minister of War has expressed himself as sympathetic on this matter. He has promised to put in force some system of inspection by which fair wages shall be secured for those employed by contractors on military embroidery. He has also expressed in a practical way his desire to put down sweating, by aiding us to show it up at this Exhibition, and has most kindly supplied from the Pimlico Army Clothing Factory the material upon which our military embroideress will work at the Hall. For this the Committee have to tender him their most sincere thanks.

Source: Handbook of the "Daily News" Sweated Industries Exhibition May, 1906

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When Boulsover (1743) discovered the ""rolled plate" process now known generally as Sheffield Plate, he devoted the invention first to 'buttone'; in fact, he never advanced its use to making the larger pieces of tableware, but confined its use to small ware, such as knife handles, etc. And buttons are the only surviving product made by the true Sheffield Plate process to this day. ' Mrs. Torrey, the American collector of this ware, author of the recent work "Old Sheffield Plate," gives her interesting experience in obtaining her specimens of these little objects as follows:

"We were lucky enough to find a few old plated livery buttons, and several of them were marked with the name and address of a London firm which proved to be still in existence. On calling at their offices, I was interested to learn that the methods first employed have never been altered, and that these buttons are still stamped out today from rolled plate in practically the same way, and sometimes from the same dies, as silver ones in the time of Queen Anne. This is the only branch of the Sheffield plating industry that has not been supplanted by the modern process of electro-plating, by which the article is plated after it is made up. I was presented with several buttons in various stages of construction, which illustrate the method used for both silver and plated ones. The face of the button is stamped from a small sheet of metal in a steel die. It is then cut to the shape, and the edges are rolled back over a foundation usually of brass, to which the shank has been soldered. As large quantities of these buttons are still made for liveries and uniforms, they are easily obtainable. Quite the reverse is true of other small articles, which are rare and difficult to find, because comparatively few of them were made, and of those not many have stood the wear and tear of a century and a half."

Source: The Jewelers' Circular - 8th December 1920

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METCALF & Co.

8, Pall Mall, later, 19, Cockspur Street, London


INVENTIONS APPLICABLE TO THE SERVICES

Diagram of Metcalf & Co.'s New Registered Buckle to secure Medals and Orders in position when worn, so as to prevent them from knocking together and damaging each other:



We are informed and can easily understand that this simple contrivance is of great service to all officers who value their medals and orders. The use of it will recommend itself especially to the cavalry branch of the service, as by its means the medals remain perfectly motionless. The idea of the split bars as represented above was, we believe, suggested by Captain Pyne, Royal Marines, and Messrs. Metcalf have taken out a provisional patent for securing medals and orders after this fashion, as it allows of changing the ribbons at pleasure. We are told that the invention has been extensively adopted, and that when introduced into a regiment, officers of all grades have been to 19, Cockspur Street, where the medal bar may be obtained. Our own opinion is, that it supplies a want much felt, especially as the cost is so trifling; and it appears strange that no one has introduced the plan before. We hope Messrs. Metcalf & Co. will reap profit out of so valuable an invention.

Source: Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine - 1888

See: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=30091&p=113449#p113449

Trev.

[dognose]

J. NICKLIN & Co.

23-24, Newhall Street, later, 166, Great Charles Street, Birmingham



J. Nicklin & Co. - Birmingham - 1879

Late Charles Rowley & Co.

Trev.