Catalogue description JOSEPH and HENRY WILSON LTD, WESTBROOK MILL, SHEFFIELD SNUFF MANUFACTURERS

BUS 8/1 CORPORATE AND MANAGEMENT

BUS 8/2 SITE AND PREMISES

BUS 8/3 ACCOUNTING

BUS 8/4 STAFF AND WAGES

BUS 8/5 PRODUCTION AND SALES

BUS 8/6 ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

BUS 8/7 ARTEFACTS AND PRINTED MATERIAL

BUS 8/8 ILLINGWORTH'S SNUFFS LTD. (KENDAL, CUMBRIA)

As little trace of original order was discernable, the records have been arranged broadly according to their business function.

Imperial Tobacco Co. (of Great Britain and Ireland) Ltd.: corporate, financial, sales, employee and London Branch records 1834-1974 [deposited at Bristol Record Office, ref. 38169]; also Ogden Branch records [deposited at Liverpool Record Office, ref. 380 OGD]

Joseph and Henry Wilson Ltd, snuff manufacturers of Sheffield

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

At some point after 1962 the records were moved from Sheffield to Liverpool. Many remained in excellent condition, some of the account books being stored in a glass-fronted display case in the Boundary Lane board room on account of their fine leather bindings. Others, however, were moved, with the Ogden Branch's own records, into storage on the floor of a damp ground level room where they suffered accordingly. A proportion of the records were transferred at an unknown date to the Redcliffe (Bristol) Headquarters of Imperial Tobacco where they remained until late 2002. As part of a project to overhaul and document the Group's archives, the Ogden Branch records including J. and H. Wilson Ltd. were re-assembled at Liverpool Record Office where they were sorted and catalogued on behalf of the Group in 2002-2003, prior to return of the Wilson records to Sheffield Archives.

The records were accessioned in 2003 (Accession 2003/84).

• Imperial Tobacco Co of Great Britain and Ireland Ltd
• Tobacco

This snuff manufacturing business traced its origins to at least as early as 1746. It was moved by Joseph and Henry Wilson (who had previously been in business with their cousins William and George at Sharrow Mill) to the newly-built Westbrook Mill in 1833. It was incorporated as a limited company in May 1895. It continued in local ownership until 1953 when the elderly proprietors, having no successors in business following the tragic death of John Wilson Harland in a R.A.F. flying accident, sold the concern to the Imperial Tobacco Co. (of Great Britain and Ireland) Ltd. Imperial Tobacco, formed in 1901, conducted its business through large 'Branches' based on its original constituents; Joseph and Henry Wilson Ltd. was placed under the management of the Ogden Branch (best known for its 'St. Bruno' and 'St. Julien' pipe tobacco brands) in 1953 and production moved in 1962 from Westbrook Mill to the Ogden Branch factory at Boundary Lane, Liverpool.

It should be noted that the original Wilsons and Company (Sharrow) business has continued in existence as a separate firm, and that for virtually all of the period covered by the archives the two Wilsons snuff firms - despite sharing a common origin - were commercial competitors.