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Category Archives: Associated industries
Fowell & Jones, Rugeley
Fowell & Jones were manufacturers of cork socks (linings for shoes) and lambswool slippers in the 1920s and 1930s. They occupied the Forward Works in Rugeley, a former corn mill in Mill Lane. Among other products, they made ‘Baggaley’s Premier’ … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Rugeley
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Stokes & Co., Tanners, Rugeley
Stokes & Co.’s origins lay with Stephen Stokes and John Negus, a Walsall tannery business founded in 1851. Stokes acquired John Cox’s tannery in Rugeley in 1865, which thereafter became the focus of the company’s leather production. However, the tannery’s … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Rugeley
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Heels Ltd
In about 1920 Heels Ltd. built their factory in Friars Terrace, Stafford, specialising in the manufacture of wooden heels for the boot and shoe trade. They became the largest manufacturer of heels in Britain, producing 400,000 dozen pairs a year … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Stafford
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Stafford Box Company
The Stafford Box Company still stands proud on the corner of Marston Road and Wogan Street. Although the company closed in 1997, the building has been converted into flats and apartments, and is an examplar for the successful conversion of … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Stafford
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Keats & Bexon Ltd.
John and William Keats set up a company manufacturing shoe making machinery on Gaol Road in the 1870s as Keats Bros. & Co. From about 1890 they were operating from the Albion Works on Marston Road. In 1904 the company … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Stafford
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Henry Venables Ltd, Timber Merchants
Henry Venables founded his timber business in Foregate Street, next to Bostock’s shoe manufactory. He made wooden packing cases for the export of shoes. The export trade to Australia was then at its height. He was born in Stafford in … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Bostock, Stafford
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Thomas Benson Elley
Elley’s of Stafford were one of the largest businesses working in the area’s leather industry in the mid 19th century. In the 1860s they had branches in Stone, Northampton and Kettering. They were involved in a wide range of leather … Continue reading
W.H. Dorman & Co. Ltd
Dorman’s, better known for manufacturing diesel engines, were originally founded to make machinery for the shoe industry, including sole and heel cutting knives. William Henry Dorman, a son of the local Congregational Minister, established his company on Foregate, Stafford in … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Stafford
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Evode Ltd
On 3rd June 1932 Spic and Span Shoe Polishes Ltd of Glover Street, Stafford was set up to supply shoe polishes for Lotus Ltd, who were part owners. The company was formed by Adolph Axelrath, the owner of the Yankee … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Evode, Lotus, Stafford
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J.H. Lines Ltd
By 1881, John Evans was making knives, iron lasts, presses and other machinery for the shoe trade in his factory on Fancy Walk, Stafford. By the 1890s it had been taken over by Richard Lloyd, soon becoming Lloyd & Yates, … Continue reading
Posted in Associated industries, Stafford
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