Battersby and Co
Battersby Hats of Nicholl Square, London, EC1 - London Office. Factory at Offerton Works, Stockport. (1929)
of 5 Roseberry Avenue, London, EC1 - London Office. Factory: Offerton Works, Stockport, Cheshire. (1947)
1865 Established by W. J. Battersby.
1901 Incorporated as a Limited Company.
In May 1906, a fire gutted their factory at Offerton. The fire started on the evening of the 22nd and burned all night destroying the warehouse and "enormous stocks" of straw and felt hats and part of the working area. The cost of the damage was estimated at about £50,000.
In 1907, they bought a second factory in Conty, near Arras in the north of France. William John Battersby's son, Edgar died there in the 1917 Battle of Arras, and his son Ernest, who managed the factory died on 1 October 1918 at Yvetot, near Rouen from tuberculosis.
1929 Listed Exhibitor - British Industries Fair. Manufacturers of Battersby Hats, best quality Fur Felt Men's Hats for all Markets of the World. Made throughout at Stockport, England. Wholesale distributors of Falcon Make Hats and Caps. (Stand No. S.79) [1]
At one time, the firm was one of the largest hat manufacturers in Britain with an international trade. For an Australian court case of 1935, James Johnson Battersby sent evidence that his company had the capacity to produce 12,000 hats per week.
1947 British Industries Fair Advert for Hats. Manufacturers of Fine quality Fur Felt Hats for Men for all markets of the World. (Textiles Section - Earls Court, Ground Floor, Stand No. 351) [2]
1966 Battersby merged with four other felt hat manufacturers to form Associated British Hat Manufacturers.[3]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1929 British Industries Fair p16
- ↑ 1947 British Industries Fair Advert 450; and p25
- ↑ Denton and the Archaeology of the Felt Hatting Industry by Michael Nevell, Brian Grimsditch and Ivan Hradil ISBN 1 871324 36 X