Catalogue description PEAL AND COMPANY LIMITED [BOOTMAKERS]

Records

The collection consists of 660 items, 40 of which are administrative records such as account books and ledgers. The remaining 620 volumes are 'Feet Books' recording each order and usually containing an outline drawing of the customer's feet. Every book includes 150 orders and was given a running number. The earliest surviving book is no. 23 from the 1870s and the last is no. 1002 from shortly before the firm closed in 1965.

Selected list of customers:

Academics: Hugh Trevor-Roper 543 (822) page 42

Art Dealer/Gallery Proprietor: Sir Hugh Lane 02/096 (371) page 95

Actors/Film Industry: Frank Allenby 02/503 (781) page 53

George Arliss 02/052 (327) page 68

Adele Astaire (later Lady Charles Cavendish) 02/366 (644) page 142

Fred Astaire 02/260 (538) page 64 & Mrs F E Astaire 02/366 (644) page 142

Joan Barry 02/495 page 94

Ethel Barrymore 02/038 (313) page 68, John Barrymore 02/038 (313) page 56

Humphrey Bogart & Mrs H Bogart (Lauren Bacall) 02/618 (999) pages 33 - 34

Herbert B Brill, producer 02/620 (1002) page 68

Sir Charles Chaplin 02/231 (509) page 49

Gary Cooper 02/610 (992) page 42

Mrs Walt Disney 02/399 (677) page 35

William Dozier, actor/producer 02/559 (838) page 37

Edward Dymtryk, director 02/495 (773) page 94

Sir Douglas Fairbanks 02/373 (651) page 74

Henry Fonda 02/620 (1002) page 108

James Garner 02/597 (880) page 126

Cary Grant 02/558 (837) page 87

Rex Harrison 02/576 (857) page 7

Van Heflin 02/524 (802) page 60

Boris Karloff 02/433 (711) page 42

Steve McQueen 02/592 (874) page 26

John Mills 02/483 (761) page 42

David Niven 02/580 (861) page 32

Sir Laurence Olivier 02/526 (804) page 80

Charles Buddy Rogers 02/415 (693) page 33, actor/jazz musician, husband of Mary Pickford

Mrs Rudolph Valentino 02/541 (263) page 102, actress Jean Acker

Sam Wanamaker 02/610 (992) page 76

Jane Wyman 02/613 (995) page 14

Bankers: N Hambro, Coldham Hall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 02/390 (668) page 139

Guy de Rothschild 02/392 (670) page 151 & Mrs Guy de Rothschild 02/421 (699)

Page 1

Industrialists & Engineers: Miss Irving J Bloomingdale 02/240 (518)

Page 89

Mrs Gilbert Colgate 02/361 (639) page 20

Henry Ford II & Mrs H Ford 02/613 (995) pages 26 - 27

Mrs Wallace Goodrich 02/399 (677) page 122

R Noel Guinness 02/263 (541) page 32

Howard Heinz 02/330 (608) page 38

Faith Rockefeller 02/301 (579) pages 4 & 5

Gladys Rockefeller 02/341 (619) page 131

Edgar Saunders, Chairman, Guinness 02/541 (820) page 39

Richard W Woolworth 02/614 (996) page 103

Military: Field Marshall Lord Allenbrooke 02/012 (287) page 17

Air Vice Marshall Playfair 02/406 (684) page 71

Col. Frank Shuttleworth, Old Warden Park, Biggleswade 02/013 (288) page 1

Musicians/Singers: Eddie Fisher, singer 02/565 (844) page 137

Edward German, composer 02/034 (309) page 126

Benny Goodman 02/614 (996) page 19

Dean Martin, singer/actor 02/585 (867) page 93

Jehudi Menuhin 02/594 (877) page 2

Dickie Valentine 02/578 (860) page 26

Photographers: Richard Avedon 02/555 (834) page 37

Walker Evans 02/520 (798) page 100

Politicians - UK: Lady Violet Bonham Carter nee Asquith, 40 Gloucester Sq., Liberal politician 02/453

Mrs Neville Chamberlain 02/027 (302)

Rt Hon Sir Anthony Eden KG 02/489 (767) page 81

Politicians - foreign: Dean G Acheson, US Secretary of State 02/499 (777) page 109

Barry Goldwater, Senator (Republican presidential candidate) 02/591 (873) page 54

Edward L Kennedy 02/594 (877) page 5

John F Kennedy 02/568 (847) page 102

Mr Marx of Berlin c/o Dr W Smith, West Lodge, West End Lane, Hampstead 02/003 (023) page 142

Col. Elliott Roosevelt, son of FDR & Eleanor 02/466 (748) page 112

Theodore Roosevelt 02/036 (311) page 54

Publishers: Conde Nast 02/250 (528) page 104

Royals and Aristocrats - UK: HM King Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor 02/414 (692) page 4

Hon F Bowes-Lyon, brother of the Queen Mother 02/087 (362) page 79

F J Bowes-Lyon, Grenadier Guards 02/417 (695) page 57

Lady Rosemary Spencer Churchill 02/526 (804) page 22

Lord Louis Mountbatten 02/212 (490) page 40 & 02/336 (614) page 99

Lord Petre 02/499 (777) page 1

Duke of Westminster 02/541 (820) page 18

Royals and Aristocrats - foreign: Prince Aga Khan 02/013 (288) page 57

Princess Eugene of Belgium 02/299 (577) page 17

King of the Hellenes (Greece) 02/409 (687) page 94

Crown Princess of Greece 02/418 (696) page 111

Prince Nicholas of Greece 02/047 (322) page 23

Prince Peter of Greece 02/439 (717) page 121

Crown Prince Constantine of Greece 02/575 (856) page 86

Crown Princess of Japan 02/299 (577) page 92

King & Crown Prince of Norway 02/427 (705) page 78

Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein 02/049 (324) page 87

Crown Prince of Sweden 02/285 (564) page 40

Queen Marie of Yugoslavia 02/555 (834) page 147

Sportsmen: J H Parks 02/401 (679) page 15 cricketer, Surrey & England

This collection is arranged in the following series:

LMA/4454/01 - Administration

LMA/4454/02 - Customer Orders

Peale and Co Ltd, 1791-1965, bootmakers

THESE RECORDS ARE OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION, ALTHOUGH RECORDS CONTAINING PERSONAL INFORMATION MAY BE SUBJECT TO CLOSURE PERIODS

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London

Peal and Company, boot makers produced bespoke footwear for 174 years, between 1791 and 1965. The founder of the family firm was Samuel Peal, a shoe maker from Wirksworth, Derbyshire who came to London and established himself at Stepney Green. Peal had taken out a patent for rendering clothing materials waterproof by finely brushing them with a coat of caoutchouc, Indian rubber solution. The process quickly proved its worth, Peal's boots and shoes becoming renowned for their comfort and durability. The success of their products allowed the firm to relocate to the more prestigious West End, at 7 Frederick Place, Tottenham Court Road. Further moves took place in 1830 to 11 Duke Street, Grosvenor Square; in 1886 to 487 Oxford Street and finally in 1958 to 48 Wigmore Street.

In the course of its 174 year history, control of Peal and Company passed through six generations of the Peal family. The second incumbent, Nathaniel Peal was apprenticed in April 1808 and went on to display a selection of boots at the Great Exhibition of 1851. A century later, Peal and Co.'s products were shown at the Festival of Britain exhibition. The firm also had trade stands at the Badminton, Burghley and Hickstead horse trials, and at the Royal International Horse Show and Horse of the Year Show. Attending such prestigious events helped Peal and Company attain a reputation that was second to none.

This reputation was also earned by the salesmen who, from the 1880s onwards, travelled extensively throughout North and South American, Europe, Asia and the Far East. They succeeded in winning an enormous number of foreign orders and by the 1960s around two-thirds of the footwear produced went to export. In addition to taking measurements, the salesmen made outline drawings of every customer's feet. These were kept in a series of Feet Books that now form the bulk of this archive collection, with 617 of the books available for consultation. The books were extensively used in the firm's shop as well as by the travelling salesmen. A list of some of the interesting and famous customers is given at the end of this introduction.

Orders were posted or telegraphed back to the firm's factory in Jeddo Road, Acton Vale, with delivery of the finished shoes generally taking around 6 weeks. Unfortunately, in its last few years Peal and Company had great difficulty in replacing skilled craftsmen who had retired or left the firm. This led to longer delivery times and to the eventual demise of the firm. Upon closure, the trading name was sold to Brooks Brothers of New York, who still produce a range of traditional English-style footwear marketed under the Peal banner.

The records were originally deposited with the British Records Association early in 1965 before transfer to the Greater London Record Office in December of the same year.

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