 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2009) |
Henry Milward & Sons is an English manufacturer of sewing needles based in Redditch. Henry Milward and Sons and its employees boast over a quarter of a millennium making needles.
The earliest reference to the Milward family in connection with needle making is a James Milward who was a needle maker on Fish Hill in 1676. Symon Milward created the company of Henry Milward & Sons aka Milward's Needles (Milward's) in 1730 at the age of 40, in Redditch, United Kingdom. It was however, his son Henry who takes credit for the foundation of the company as the company was registered in his name during the first year of his birth.[see Redditch Museum Family tree] From the first half of the 18th century, the name of Henry Milward and Sons became well known as the makers of good quality needles.
At one point they were the largest manufacturer of its type in the world, producing knitting needles, surgical needles, and fishing tackle, from a number of factories both in the UK and globally, such as Murcia, Spain.[ citation needed ]
The manufacture of needles was originally a cottage industry. During the Industrial Revolution the industry prospered and became mechanised. By the late 1800s the company was the largest manufacturer in the whole district.
Redditch became the hub of the needle industry in the UK, with trade directories showing that in the Redditch area in 1868/9 there were 117 firms listed as manufacturers in various aspects of needle and fish tackle trades. Small needle businesses amalgamated, often through inter-marriage between the leading needle makers of Redditch. Henry Milward and sons amalgamated with John James, W. Avery & Son, Wm. Bartleet, and thus the "Milward empire" grew.
William Hall of Studley amalgamated with Thos. Harper, Samuel Thomas, H. Wilkes and William Vale among others and formed a group of needle makers known as Amalgamated Needles & Fish Hooks. This resulted in Milwards and the aforementioned group being the 2 largest needle makers in the district.
In 1912 John James and Sons merged into Henry Milward and sons and a new board was announced. Members of the board consisted of C.B James as chairman and C.F Milward as deputy chairman, H.T Milward, A.D Bartleet and C.E James.
In 1930 two of the great needlemaker giants Milward's of Redditch and Hall's of Studley joined forces under a single holding company, Amalgamated Needles and Fish Hooks Limited, who formed in 1932 a separate manufacturing organisation called The English Needle and Fishing Tackle Co. Ltd (ENTACO).
However Milward's needles continued in Redditch until the 1950s, there were satellite factories setup during World War II in Evesham, Bewdley, Kidderminster and Moreton-in-Marsh. The basic needle plant was dispersed between Studley and Redditch during the war and in 1952 Arrow Works was officially opened and were still producing some brands of Milward's needles as were first made and marketed under the name of Henry Milward & Sons.
The years of greatest growth both in factory growth and world sales were at the end of the 19th century when the fortunes of the company were in the hands of Charles Frederick and Henry Tomson.
Colonel Henry Milward was a fervent fly angler who decided to mix business with pleasure when he created Milward’s Fishing Tackle Company as part of his centuries-old needle-factory. A dozen workers left needle- and syringe-making to become experts in hooks, flies, devons, spoons and split-cane rods. This remarkable adventure lasted until 1965, when Milward died.
Milward, alongside Allcock, Partridge, Wilkins, Lee, Martinez & Bird and J.W. Young was just one of many fishing tackle manufacturers located in Redditch, just south of Birmingham
Colonel C.F. Milward, DL, was born in the United States and returned to England at the age of 5 and in due course he entered the family business, he was responsible for the companies amalgamations prior to 1930, he became the major chairman of the board of the holding company A.N. & F.H. Limited. His father was a justice of the peace.
He was elected to the Mastership of the Livery Company, The Worshipful Company of Needle Makers, and was High Sheriff of Worcestershire. He was known as the Colonel.
H.T Milward, justice of the peace, was known as Mr Harry, and was the Colonel's cousin. Harry's father was Colonel Victor Milward, a Member of Parliament. Harry's main interest in the family business was sales and included Russia in his sales trips.
In 1930, the board of directors were: Charles F Milward (Chairman of the company), Henry T Milward J.P, G.H. Corbet-Milward, C. Ernest James, Gerald Bartleet, Arthur D. Bartleet, and L. Sidney Milward.
When these 2 great figures died, others took over the running of the company, now renamed Needle Industries Limited, but still the name Milward was the major trading company.
The next Joint Managing Directors were Basil King OBE and Alderman L. Haines of William Hall and Company, whilst Colonel G.V. Milward DL of Worcestershire, was a director of the company. Colonel Milward became the Managing Director of Milwards Fishing Tackle. He was also responsible for Surgical needles and braided suture manufacture after he returned to the company after he saw active service between 1939-1945.
During the term of G.B King's Managing Directorship that Arrow Works in Studley was built, thus creating the business as we knew it to this present day. During this phase, the last of the Milward family was in the business: Ian Newton, grandson of Mr Harry briefly was Sales Manager (Needles) until 1968.
Since 1952 the fortunes of the Milward business were in the hands of L.H.Beare and in the 1980s J.A Mackrael was the managing director. The trend of taking over companies continued, taking over Abel Morrall's Aero Needles (1989). Although Milwards owned many companies, each retained their own trade mark and name!
In 1973 the entire share capital was purchased by Coats Patons Ltd, now known as Coats PLC. Needle Industries continued until the 1990s when Coats sold it to its management. Coats retained the Milwards brand name for its own use.
Following the management buyout of Needle Industries, led by Victor Barley, a new company was registered in 1991 called ENTACO, [1] (an acronym of English Needle & Tackle Company) in the old Victoria Works, adjacent to Needle Industries. Mr Barley was Managing Director of Entaco from 1991-1997.
Entaco were involved in a cartel with Prym and Coats at the later end of the 20th century. [2]
In 2016 Milwards Needles was purchased by Groves Ltd of Thame, Oxfordshire, a family company started in 1966 by Rodney and Marlene Groves. [3] The products are still sold around the world and in 2020 Milward's Needles celebrated its 290th year of trading.
Redditch is a town and borough in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, northwest of Alcester and northeast of Worcester. The borough had a population of 87,037 in 2021. In the 19th century, it became a centre for the needle and fishing tackle industry.
Studley is a large village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Situated on the western edge of Warwickshire near the border with Worcestershire, it is 3.5 miles (6 km) southeast of Redditch and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Stratford-upon-Avon. The Roman road of Ryknild Street, now the A435, passes through the village on its eastern edge, parallel to the River Arrow. The name derives from the Old English leah, being a meadow or pasture, where horses, stod, are kept.
Royal Enfield was a brand name under which The Enfield Cycle Company Limited of Redditch, Worcestershire, England, sold motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines which it manufactured. Enfield Cycle Company also used the brand name "Enfield" without the "Royal".
Sunbeam Cycles made by John Marston Limited of Wolverhampton was a British brand of bicycles and, from 1912 to 1956 motorcycles.
Mustad Fishing is a Norwegian company that manufactures and sells fishing tackle and accessories since 1877. The Mustad product range includes fish hooks, multifilament and monofilament fishing lines, fishing lures, fishing flies, fly hooks, terminal tackle and fishing apparel. The corporate headquarters are in Gjøvik, Norway.
Rapala is a manufacturer of fishing lures and other fishing related products. It was founded in Finland in 1936 by Lauri Rapala, who is credited for creating the world's first floating minnow lure carved from cork with a shoemaker's knife, covered with chocolate candy bar wrappers and melted photography film negatives, for a protective outer coating. He created the lure in order to try and catch a pike. The floating minnow lure later, once the Rapala company was created, went on to become the first Rapala lure.
Peek Freans is the name of a former biscuit-making company based in Bermondsey, London, which is now a global brand of biscuits and related confectionery owned by various food businesses. De Beauvoir Biscuit Company owns but does not market in the UK, Europe and USA; Mondelēz International owns the brand in Canada; and English Biscuit Manufacturers owns the brand in Pakistan.
Lindeman was a name used by a series of piano manufacturers in New York in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The concern was founded by William Lindeman (1794–1875) on a small scale in Dresden in about 1822, and reestablished by him in New York City in 1835 or 1836, where it grew to a medium size within twenty years. American piano historian Daniel Spillane credited him as one of the first successful immigrant German piano makers in the United States.
Harvington is a village near Evesham in Worcestershire, England. Bounded by the River Avon to the south and the Lench Hills to the north, three miles northeast of Evesham and now on the Worcestershire/Warwickshire border. The village today is an amalgamation of two smaller villages, Harvington and Harvington Cross, and has a population of around 1,750.
Whitby Seafoods Ltd is an independent, family owned and managed business based in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England specialising in frozen seafood products coated in batter and breadcrumbs. The company claims that it is the largest scampi factory in the world, turning out more than a million portions of the seafood dish per week.
Redditch is a town and local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England. The town is divided into separate districts. All street-name signs in Redditch have the street name in white lettering on a blue background and the district name in black lettering on a white background at the bottom of the sign. In the New Town areas the roads are usually named in alphabetical order and house numbering in the cul-de-sac closes is consecutive, starting with number 1 as the first house on the left as you enter, and the highest house number will be on the opposite side of the road as you leave.
Sir Harry Jephcott, 1st Baronet was a British pharmaceutical industrialist.
The Torrington Company was a firm that developed in Torrington, Connecticut, emerging as a rename from the Excelsior Needle Company. It used a "cold swaging" technique to create sewing machine needles and other needles from cold metal, and was the largest employer in Torrington. in addition to its main facilities in Torrington, it acquired a division, located in South Bend, Indiana.
Kingfisher Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in Redditch, England. It contains 150 stores, with a range of large and smaller units, including anchor tenants Next and Primark. The home, leisure and garden retailer The Range opened in July 2017, taking the former BHS unit. Several restaurants and cafes also include Nandos and Prezzo, a Vue Cinema, Puregym and the family entertainment centre 360 Play Town.
A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladiator Bicycle business. In 1902, it took effect in 1903, he sold his new business to a privately held English company named A Darracq and Company Limited, taking a substantial shareholding and a directorship himself.
Shelley Potteries, situated in Staffordshire, was earlier known as Wileman & Co. which had also traded as The Foley Potteries. The first Shelley to join the company was Joseph Ball Shelley in 1862 and in 1896 his son Percy Shelley became the sole proprietor, after which it remained a Shelley family business until 1966 when it was taken over by Allied English Potteries. Its china and earthenware products were many and varied although the major output was table ware. In the late Victorian period the Art Nouveau style pottery and Intarsio ranges designed by art director Frederick Alfred Rhead were extremely popular but Shelley is probably best known for its fine bone china “Art Deco” ware of the inter-war years and post-war fashionable tea ware.
W. Avery & Son was a needle manufacturer during the Victorian Era from Headless Cross, a small village on the southwest side of Redditch, England. Redditch is located 15 miles south of Birmingham, the English city recognized as the centre of the Industrial Revolution. In the 19th century the Redditch area produced the majority of the world's needles. W. Avery & Son is best known for their figural brass needle cases which were created by the company between 1868 and 1889. Since they produced the majority of these items, collectors refer to all brass needle cases manufactured during this time period as "Averys". Today they are highly collectable and are usually sold on auction websites such as eBay or by antique dealers online, in shops or at antique shows. Most needle cases produced by the firm have W. Avery & Son Redditch engraved on the case as well as a design/patent registration stamp.
Belliss and Morcom is a manufacturer and supplier of oil-free reciprocating compressors, technologies and services. Founded in 1852 in Birmingham, West Midlands, it is now a division of Ingersoll Rand based in Redditch, Worcestershire, England.
Ransome & Marles Bearing Company Limited was the owner of a business making ball and roller bearings founded during the First World War to make bearings for aircraft and other engines. Before the war most bearings had been imported and most of those were from Germany.
Onesimus Ustonson was an English manufacturer of fishing tackle. He invented the multiplying reel, and supplied fishing tackle to the naturalist Joseph Banks for the second voyage of James Cook, 1772–1775. The firm of Ustonson went on to become Royal Warrant holders to three successive British monarchs.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
