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Calico Printers' Association

1814-1982
Archives

PARENT COMPANY

Secretary's Department: Indexes to Correspondence files c.1904-1949; Correspondence files 1901-1949 (288 boxes); Agreements with members firms 1899-1940s; Trust deeds 1900-1969; Annual reports and accounts 1900-1968; Reports from Beirut 1905-1906; Headquarter's Trade Returns 1909; Branch Statistics 1906-1909; Copies of Notices and Circulars No. 8 1933-1952; Record of legal business 1908-1919
Directors, Executive and Management: Directors' minutes 1899-1917; Board Meetings minutes 1915-1973; Executive Director's minutes and reports 1899-1917; Managing Director's minutes 1899-1902; Directors' Committee minutes1899-1921; Executive Committee / 'A' Committee of Directors minutes 1942-1945; Management Committee minutes 1947-1967; Seal books 1900-1981; Finance Committee minutes 1900; Special Committee minutes 1902; Committee on Internal Competition minutes 1906; Joint Committees minutes 1927-1944; Reports on the Malauney Works by Mr L. Bolden 1912-1913
Shareholders: Annual General Meetings minutes 1900-1982; Notes of meetings of shareholders 1946-1948; Loan Stockholders' minutes 1967
Property: Inventories and Valuations for St. James' Building, Oxford Street, Manchester and for member companies' print works 1904-1954 (242 volumes); Register of rents etc. payable (i.e. property and agreements) 1800s-c.1968
Pattern Books: Design Department Collection 1820-1912; Harrop and Ogden Collection 1820-1915; Historical Collection 1818-1933; Engravings Books 1934-1958
Employment Department: Staff files 1940s-1960s; Addresses of Head Office Employees c.1900-1960s; Register of employees receiving salaries of £150 per annum and up and students 1905-1907; Register of Directors and Managers of member firms 1899-1905; Register of Retirement of Directors 1900-1969; Service agreements sealed register 1900-1906; Secrecy declarations register 1903-1926; Register of Warehouse staff 1909-1910
Research Department: Research Committee minutes 1920-1932; Technical Committee minutes 1929-1943; Process Committee minutes 1915-1917; Central Laboratory Reports and files; Chemists Reports; Chemists Day Books; Research Lab records; Reports and Circulars; Legal Records; Research Department Notes; Miscellaneous; Research Department Information Bureau Bulletins 1927-1929
Publicity: Newspaper cuttings 1930-1968; Special newspaper cuttings 1899-c.1968; Material compiled for the Company's Jubilee in 1949
COMPANIES BELONGING, OR OTHERWISE CONNECTED WITH THE FIRM:
W. Ashton and Company Ltd., Newton Bank Works, near Dukinfield, Cheshire. Directors and General Meeting minutes 1900-1926, and other documents 1900-1914. A valuation and plan of Newton Bank Works, 1850, can be found in the Slater Heelis solicitors collection (M159).
R. Dalglish Falconer and Company Ltd., of Glasgow, calico printers.
Directors and Shareholders minute book 1892-1901; share ledger 1895-1899
Henry Fielding and Bros., of Catterall and Bowker Bank Printworks, Blackley, Manchester, calico printers. Bowker Bank Works wages book, 1845-1847, 1852-1858
Richard Fort and Company, of Oakenshaw Printworks, Lancashire, calico printers.
Pattern book of John Mercer, circa 1847
F.W. Grafton and Company of Broad Oak Printworks, Accrington, (formerly Fort, Taylor and Bury, then Hargreaves, Dugdale and Company), calico printers.
This firm benefited from the management and scientific expertise of John Emmanuel Lightfoot, his brother Thomas Lightfoot and Thomas' son John. The dye, aniline black, was discovered by John Lightfoot. Broad Oak Printworks was also the site for experiments by John Mercer, works chemist and later partner at Oakenshaw Printworks, whose 'mercerisation' process improved the finish of cotton fibre. Business memoranda books, notes and diaries of John Lightfoot, his sons Thomas and John Emanuel Lightfoot and grandson John, 1818-1869; trial books, 1831-post December 1864 (9 volumes); receipt books, 1831-1871 (12 volumes); swatch books, 1841-1871 (8 volumes); pattern books and pattern samples, 1840s, 1867-1872 and un-dated; pattern books, 1850-post 1857, 1863 (2 volumes); newspaper cuttings, 20th century; papers and notes on patents with printed specifications.
Hayfield Printing Company Ltd., of Hayfield, Derbyshire, calico printers. Colours and examples of work done, associated with Abel Buckley Wimpenny, 1865-1884 (3 volumes); general information, 1876.
St. James' Building Ltd., of Manchester. Directors minutes, 1911-1972 and index (4 volumes); transfer minutes, 1922-1935; seal books, 1911-1971; records relating to stocks and shares, annual reports and accounts; papers relating to the construction of St. James' Building.
Strines Printing Company, of Strines, Cheshire, calico printers. Registered patterns, 1870-1881 (6 volumes).
Sydall Bros. Ltd., of Chadkirk Printworks, Romiley, Cheshire, calico printers. Volumes containing receipts, printing costs and patterns, circa 1851- post 1858 (2 items); order book, 1860-1872, with samples circa 1929.
Thornliebank Company Ltd., of Glasgow (formerly Alexander Crum and Company), calico printers. Pattern books, 1814 (2 volumes).
United Turkey Red Company Ltd., of Alexandria, Dumbarton, dyers and calico printers.
This company was established in 1898 and was the largest firm in the bleaching, finishing, dyeing and printing industry in Scotland. In 1960, its assets were purchased by the Calico Printers' Association, and the Alexandria Works closed. Board minutes, 1897-1971; Annual General Meeting minutes, 1929-1971
Wallace and Company, Netherplace Ltd., of Glasgow. Directors minutes, 1888-1972
Whalley Abbey Printing Company Ltd., of Wiswell, calico printers. Six colourist's notebooks 1887-1919
John Wilkinson and Company, of Oakenshaw Printworks, near Blackburn, calico printers.
Printing and dyeing day book, 1864; trial book, 1857-1872.
CPA (France) Ltd. Correspondence and papers ) c.1920-1946; Wages book 1920-1937.

Related Material: Deeds and related papers of Calico Printers' Association member firms printworks in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and London, 1687-1905, including a schedule of design numbers and dates for Kinder Printing Co., can be found in the Slater Heelis solicitors collection (M159). Journal of Design 1850-1853 BR 740 J1 [6 volumes] - these give samples of Manchester Cotton Patterns. We also have the records of the English Sewing Cotton Co. Ltd. (M127). Place:/Manchester/Manchester/Lancashire/England

Title:
Calico Printers' Association
Date of work:
1814-1982
Reference number:
GB127.M75
Level of description:
Fonds
Custodial history:
The Association was formed in 1899, by the amalgamation of 46 firms of printers in England and Scotland (several of which also had spinning, weaving and dyeing plants) and 13 merchant firms, based in Glasgow and Manchester. The Head Office was in Manchester, from 1912 at St. James' Building, Oxford Street. The Association's early organisational structure was based on the report of a special committee in 1902, which established a small Board of Directors, with sub-committees to deal with works production, design, styles, prices, trading, cloth buying, etc. A separate Research Department was set up in 1906. After the First World War the Association faced competition from exports from America and Japan. It also lost markets, as countries like Brazil, India and China began to import machinery and produce their own textiles. In response, it established works abroad, either independently or as joint ventures with foreign firms. In Shanghai the China Printing and Finishing Co. Ltd. was fully established by 1935. Other works were set up in India, Java, Egypt, Australia ('Actil' - Australian Cotton Textiles Industries Ltd.) and South Africa. The 1950s and 60s saw the establishment of subsidiaries in Uganda and Nigeria, respectively.By 1949, the Association was organised in four main groups, supported by service departments including accounting, advertising and publicity, engineering and research. The Overseas Group comprised the above works established abroad. The Commission Printing Group consisted of the selling organisations for the main print and dye works, and had branch offices in London, Glasgow and Belfast. The Merchanting Group of trading departments produced printed and dyed cottons, rayons, linens, mixture fabrics and silks for dress and furnishing purposes, mainly using cloth from external suppliers. It had branch offices in London, Glasgow, Australia, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. The Mills Group consisted of the various textile plants acquired on amalgamation, which supplied some of the company's cloth, and developed new fabrics for wider sale.The period after the Second World War saw increased foreign competition, both in the home and overseas markets. This was offset in part by income generated by the Association's discovery of a new synthetic, polyester fibre, Terylene, manufactured by other companies under licence, and by its development of crease resistant finishes and other new finishes for cloth. In 1968 the Association merged with English Sewing Cotton Co. Ltd. to form English Calico Ltd. This textile group subsequently became Tootal Ltd. in 1973, Tootal Group PLC in 1982 and is now part of the Coats Viyella group.(This historical account is based on 'A Jubilee History of the Calico Printers' Association' (1949, published by the firm, Local Studies q 667.3Ca) and newscuttings on annual reports, shares etc.
Access restrictions:
RestrictedRESTRICTED ACCESS: with the exception of material in the Historical Documents Collection, records less than 30 years old can only be inspected with the specific written permission of the depositor; applicants for access must sign an undertaking not to publish material without first submitting it to the depositor for approval. Staff files are on restricted access for 75 years.RESTRICTED ACCESS: no copying or photography of pattern books permitted without specific written permission of the depositor.Some of this collection is stored off site and we require 2 weeks' notice in order to retrieve it.For permission to photograph the pattern books contact:Company SecretaryCoats plcThe PavilionsBridwater RoadBristolBS13 8FDhttp://www.coats.com
Use restrictions:
Restricted
General notes:
Old Accession Number: 1998/18 2000/32 2000/91 2005/39
Record types:
COLLECTION
Language:
English
Record number:
7188712
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