Crockatt family papers

Contents include narratives of family history, family trees, letters, company accounts, photographs, maps, diaries, personal memorabilia, and much else

The Leeds-based firm of Crockatt's dyers and dry cleaners was founded in 1875 by John Crockatt after his apprenticeship as a dyer. As well as being a businessman, he was a senior member of the Churches of Christ, and in his later years he and his wife travelled extensively. His son Douglas followed in his father's footsteps and saw the company through difficult times. Crockatt's became part of the Johnson Group in 1935 and Douglas became Chairman of the Group in 1952. He served in the First World War and was a Liveryman of the Dyers' Company. He was also involved with the Court and Council of Leeds University, in politics in the 1920s, and a magistrate for forty years. Like his father, he travelled a great deal. His son Douglas Allan later followed in his footsteps and was a director of Johnsons from 1961-1984 after a distinguished career in the Royal Navy. He was a well-known magistrate, Vice Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire and was awarded both the OBE and MBE. In 1975 to commemorate the firm's centenary, a history of the family firm was written by Colonel Ewart Clay, the family's archivist. Clay's book A Century of Crockatt Cleaning is a useful introduction to both the family and firm. The Crockatt name finally disappeared from the high street in 1997, a year after D. Allan Crockatt's death, to be replaced by Johnson's Cleaners

Arranged in a classified sequence established by Colonel Ewart Clay, the family's archivist

Access is unrestricted

The gift of Douglas Allan Crockatt in 1995

In English

The contents of the archive are listed in detail in Handlist 109

See A Century of Crockatt Cleaning, by Colonel Ewart Clay, 1975

The final deposit was received in 1996 after Douglas Allan Crockatt's death