Records of Frederick Longdon and Co. Ltd and Thomas Glover and Son Ltd, surgical bandage and hosiery manufacturers of Derby and Nottingham, 1885-1985

The collection is divided into 22 series and all items relate to Frederick Longdon and Co. Ltd unless otherwise stated. The collection comprises:

• Minutes of the Corset Department Management Committee, April 1938-September 1939 (BLD 1).
• Final account books, December 1899-December 1961 (BLD 2).
• Ledgers, January 1916-1981 (BLD 3, 4 and 9).
• Cash-books, April 1950-January 1981 (BLD 5 and 6).
• Special order book, 1885-October 1919 (BLD 7).
• Trade expenses book, January 1972-November 1980 (BLD 8).
• Petty cash book, account book and sales ledger for T. Glover and Son Ltd, May 1959-October 1985 (BLD 10, 11 and 12).
• Photographs and printed images of employees, c.1884-c.1970s (BLD 13).
• Share certificates, September 1946-June 1981 (BLD 14).
• Correspondence, agreements, printed items and other papers and artefacts, April 1935-July 1980 (BLD 15-22).

The collection represents the surviving records of F. Longdon and Co. Ltd and a few items relating to Thomas Glover and Son Ltd. Of particular interest are the minutes for Longdon's Corset Department covering the period 1938-1939, photographs of employees, and a few items of correspondence with the American fabric manufacturer Kaylooms Incorporated.

The collection incompletely records the history of Longdon's and Glover's and information relating to their products and manufacturing processes is limited. The collection would provide supplementary information for any study into the firms or the textile industry in general but is insufficiently complete to permit detailed research into these subjects.

The company of Robert Longdon, hosiery manufacturers of 32 Friargate, Derby appears in trade directories from 1835 until 1852. The company may have existed before 1835 but probably ceased trading soon after 1852. Historical information is slight but later references indicate that the name changed to Robert Longdon and Son, the firm specialised in silk hosiery including gloves, and also operated from premises in Short Street. Frederick Longdon and Co. Ltd, an elastic stocking manufacturer of Short Street, Friargate, is recorded in the 1855 Post Office Directory. The common name, trade and address suggest that the firm was a successor to Robert Longdon. By 1881, Frederick Longdon and Co. Ltd is described as a surgical bandage manufacturer operating from Agard Street, Derby, an activity and a location associated with the firm until the 1970s.

Items in this collection also suggest that Longdon's had a factory in Chermnitz in Germany from some time before 1899 to about 1924. A trade directory for 1932 records that the firm also had premises at 179 Forest Road West, Nottingham. F. Longdon and Co. Ltd (Canada) was incorporated on 24 October 1919 and operated under that name until 1975 when it changed its name to Nelson Scott (Canada) Ltd.

Thomas Glover and Son, elastic web and fabric manufacturer, appears in the Post Office Directory for Nottinghamshire for 1855. The firm's address was Greave's factory, Station Street, Nottingham (it also used premises in Parkinson Street, Nottingham around this time). It remained there until about 1889, when perhaps following the death of Thomas Glover, it moved to Cooper's Factory, Roden Street, Nottingham. By 1894, the firm was at Russell Street Mills, Russell Street and in 1897 the trade directories record a separate address as Herne Hill, London. The company had disappeared from directories by 1900, returning in 1925 described as a surgical hosier in Woodborough and Chesterfield Street, Carlton, both in Nottinghamshire. The firm remained at the Carlton address until the 1970s.

F. Longdon and Co. Ltd had shares in Thomas Glover and Son Ltd from 1935 and in Nelson Scott Ltd from 1918. Both interests continued into the 1960s. Longdon also had a controlling interest in a company called Farstar Trading Inc. in Canada. It is possible that Longdon's secured a controlling interest in Thomas Glover and Son Ltd during the twentieth century (Longdon's manufactured products at Glover's Carlton factory in later years). It appears that Longdon's was taken over by Courtaulds Textiles PLC in the 1980s.

The collection has been divided by document type into 22 series. Within these series, items have been arranged 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 can be difficult and the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the person wishing to publish.

LANGUAGE: English

This collection constitutes a random selection of material salvaged from Longdon's Derby factory. Series BLD 1-14 were acquired by The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections in three instalments between 1989 and 1991. Series BLD 14-22 were given to the Department in 1995. Other records of the company may survive elsewhere but none are known to the department.