R W Anderson and Sons Ltd, Tailors

Records relating to the finances and operations of R W Anderson and Sons Ltd. Also includes some pattern books, club colour books and a selection of printed material used for reference by the company.

There were three generations of Robert Andersons who worked as tailors in York.

Robert William Anderson (1) was born in 1803. His son Robert Anderson (2) was born in 1839. His son, Robert Walter Anderson (3), was born in 1869. He also had a son named Robert W. Anderson (4) who was 15 in 1911.

The first Robert William Anderson (b. 1803) was working as a woollen draper and tailor in 1851. By 1855, he had set up his own business on Coney Street, and by 1861, he employed 32 men in his business.

His son, the second Robert Anderson (b.1839), followed in his father's footsteps. He was working as a tailor in 1861, and by 1881, he was a merchant tailor and had joined his father at his Coney Street business, which was Robert Anderson & Sons that year.

Robert Walter Anderson was born in 1869, the son of Robert Anderson (2) and his wife, Isabelle. By 1891, he had followed his father and grandfather into their trade and was working as a tailor, presumably for the family firm. By 1920, he had taken over the family business, which was still located on Coney Street.

An advert for the firm in 1909 shows that firm was a 'high class tailors, practical shirt-makers, hatters and hosiers, and military and hunt outfitters'. The firm proclaimed that it was under Royal patronage and was the outfitter for the East Riding of Yorkshire Infantry.

By 1929, the firm had expanded, having premises at two locations on Coney Street - the original one at No 15 and another at No 33. In 1969, the firm moved to No 13 Blake Street and was still there in 1975, when it's primary trade was as a men's wear shop.

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