Carrs of Carlisle, Cumberland. Telephone: Carlisle 608. Cables: "Carr, Carlisle"
Carr's is perhaps best known as a brand of English crackers or Water biscuits.
1776 Jonathan Carr born in Kendall, Westmoreland.
1831 The company was founded by his son J. D. Carr.
1837 J. D. Carr finished the building of the factory he started in 1831 to produce bread. His business of baking bread and biscuits was successful.
1842 Royal Appointment from Queen Victoria.
1856 Worked with John Dauglish on his mechanical process for making bread.
1884 Jonathan Carr died of a stroke, the company was run by various members of the Carr family, initially Henry Carr, James Nicholson Carr, and Thomas William Carr.
Claimed to be the first firm to make Fancy Biscuits by machinery.
1885 The company was making 128 varieties of biscuits and employed a thousand workers.
1894 Carr and Co Ltd was registered on 27 February, to acquire the business of millers, corn merchants, and bread and biscuit manufacturers of the firm of the same name. [1]
1908 Carr’s Flour Mills Limited was incorporated to acquire the flour milling assets of Carr and Co from which it was demerged.
1908 Reverted to a private company.
1914 Directors: William Theodore Carr (Chairman), son of Thomas W. Carr, Laurence Carr (son of Henry Carr), Bertram Carr and Harold Carr (sons of Thomas W. Carr). Claimed to be the oldest house in the trade.
1927 Raised capital as Carr and Co. William Theodore Carr is Chairman. [2]
1929 Listed Exhibitor. Manufacturers of Chocolate and Confectionery. Royal Appointment granted in 1841. Makers of the celebrated Table Water and Club Cheese Luncheon Biscuits; also Fancy and Chocolate covered Biscuits in great variety for afternoon tea. (Stand No. K.2) [3]
1964 The business was bought by Cavenham Foods.[4][5]
1965 Acquired 49.8 percent of J. A. and P. Holland, maker of toffees; the fact that the rest of the equity was not acquired caused controversy[6]
1972 Carr's was acquired by United Biscuits together with the other biscuit businesses of Cavenham's; the Carr's branded products were then marketed in the USA by the Kellogg Company. The factory today is known officially as McVities but still known locally as Carr's.
2012 Carr's lost its Royal Warrant due to 'changing tastes' in the Royal Household
See Also
Sources of Information
- [1] Biscuit Tins - the Tin Pages
- Trademarked. A History of Well-Known Brands - from Aertex to Wright's Coal Tar by David Newton. Pub: Sutton Publishing 2008 ISBN 978-0-7509-4590-5