Records of Gilliatt and Sons Ltd, corn millers of Nottingham, 1900-1969

The collection comprises:

• Memorandum and articles of association, July 1909 (BGN 1).
• Legal papers, December 1900-January 1939 (BGN 2).
• Annual reports, 1950-1960 (BGN 3).
• Statements of accounts, 1919-1963 (BGN 4).
• Wage records, August 1908-December 1969 (BGN 5, 8).
• Millers' remuneration agreement forms, April 1942-July 1954 (BGN 6).
• Ledgers and cash books, July 1909-March 1963 (BGN 7, 9-11).
• Insurance records, valuations and inventories, August 1908-December 1968 (BGN 12-13).
• Shareholding records, July 1909-February 1957 (BGN 14).
• Correspondence with trade associations, December 1901-April 1969 (BGN 15).
• Specifications for new works, flow diagrams of milling systems, and plans of the mill, June 1925-August 1954 (BGN 16-18).
• Printed items, [1865]-1962 (BGN 19).
• Photographs, undated c.1920 (BGN 20).
• Personal papers of the Gilliatt family, 1931-1962 (BGN 22-24).

The longest series of records is the annual profit and loss accounts (BGN 4). Of particular interest are the wartime inventories and valuations (BGN 13), plans and photographs of the exterior of the premises in Pinder Street (BGN 18 and 20), and a pamphlet providing a short history of the firm up to 1920 (BGN 19/3). The collection provides an incomplete record of the firm and there are gaps in many series but there is sufficient information contained within the collection to support a modest study of the milling industry in the East Midlands.

The firm of Gilliatt and Sons, millers of Canal Mills, Pinder Street, Nottingham, dates from the late 1890s. The founder, John Gilliatt, had been a corn merchant. When he died in 1901 his sons Thomas and Christopher took over the business, which became a limited company in 1910 after the death of Thomas. The last family head of the firm, Gordon Gilliatt, was Christopher's grandson. He sold his interest in 1962, but continued to work there in the employ of the new owners, Associated British Foods, until 1969 when the business was finally closed, the premises sold and the buildings subsequently demolished.

The collection has been divided by document type into 24 series. Within these series, items have usually been sorted chronologically. In the series of correspondence with trade associations (BGN 15), however, the trade associations concerned have been arranged alphabetically and within them the correspondence has been sorted chronologically.

ACCESS: Accessible to all registered readers.

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

COPYRIGHT: Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk). The Department will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but this is often difficult and the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the person wishing to publish.

LANGUAGE: English

This collection remained in private hands until 2000 when it was given to The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections.