J R Gaunts History Timeline
 

One for the "Boffs"

Is there (Could someone do) a timeline for J R Gaunts, start date..... changes of business premises etc..... many thanks :D

Good luck;)

Hello Griff.
Here's a short history;from Diana's Buttons website.

GAUNT
J R Gaunt & Son Birmingham (1870-1973)
J R Gaunt & Sons London (1884-1899, but also used well after this date)
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD London (1899-1991)
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD London ENG (1899-1991)
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD London ENGLD (1899-1991)
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD London England (1899-1991)
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD NY & London (after 1900)
J R Gaunt & Sons Montreal (dates ?)
J R Gaunt & Son LTD Montreal Made in England (c.1901-c.1939?)
J R Gaunt & Son LTD Montreal (c.1914-c.1939)
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD Late Jennens London (1940-1948)
Gaunt London (1950's/60's on)
Gaunt London Eng (1950's/60's on)
J R Gaunt & Sons purchased by Firmin and Sons, Ltd.(1991)

NB.The Montreal branch office was in business from 1908 to 1984.

many thanks..... excellent!!! Our Canadian brethren turn up trumps again :)

:o:o:o
Jo

History of J. R. Gaunt & Son
 

Hello Griff

The history of Gaunts is on my ‘to do’ list, though unfortunately as things stand that is something very much for the future I’m afraid. Both Julian (KLR) and Chris (hagwalther) will probably have some information on J. R. Gaunt & Son, and no doubt they will make postings about their findings in due course. In the meantime you may find it useful to look at Military Button Manufactures from the London Directories 1800-1899, compiled by Peter Nayler of the Archaeological Services section of Canada’s National Historic Sites (1993), which is available in PDF on the Society for Historical Archaeology’s website. The Gaunt entries are on p. 29, but see also those for Firmin - though how helpful this is in itself I am not sure. You may also want to look at another posting I made here, about J. R. Gaunt, The Birmingham Mint and Firmin and some most interesting documents that are on John Dunnigan’s buttons website.

Best regards

Martin

Thank you Martin.... I shall have a good read of all that material. Hopefully it will help date certain badges via different Makers Marks ect (those that have one that is).

As Martin noted, I have a 'list' of makers that I (and others) need information on. The only sure answer will involve a visit to Companies House in Cardiff !

J. R. Gaunt Marks
 

Hi Griff

There’s certainly something for starters in what has been posted up, but I think we have quite a way to go in determining exactly when particular Gaunt marks were used. Having said that, Alan (AlanO) has helped me in this past with regard to this specific issue, and he might well be able to offer at least a rough chronology as to which marks were used and when. I expect he too will post a reply to this thread in due course. Obviously the section on J. R. Gaunt in the Makers’ Marks pages contains a good variety of Gaunt marks, including the spurious one! Hopefully if you come to any conclusions about things yourself you’ll be sure to share it with the rest of us, for as Juilan has said quite a few of us are keen to know more about Gaunts, their history and the use of their marks.

Best regards

Martin

I hope I not putting my foot in it, as I know little about buttons, never mind buttons destined for Canada, but the Gaunt mark:
J R Gaunt & Sons LTD Late Jennens London (1940-1948)
appears extremely strange as Gaunt bought Jennens in 1924. Would they still be using 'late Jennens' 24 years after the fact.............?

My understanding is that addition of 'late Jenens' to the Guant mark ended in 1926 (well at least it did on badges I believe).

Mark

JR Gaunts London mark c1928 :)
http://www.paoyeomanry.co.uk/Yeomanr...424Bronze2.jpg

Mark, although I agree with you that the Gaunt late Jennens mark probably began in 1924 (though I don't know which month), I'm interested in the idea that they only used it for two years.
The new officers pattern King's Regt cap badge was authorised on 20th October 1926. There are examples of the new badge in both S&G and in (OSD) bronze stamped G late J. I'm not sure when production actually started and I find it hard to believe that this mark was only used for a couple of months !? Julian

warning - this thread is a complicated one. It has 3 parts:
1. - responses to posts in this thread
2. - a copy of a post in another thread
3. - some notes on what I would like to get proof on

part one:
Mr. Dunnigan is a proper researcher, the Canadian booklet is a very good study,
Mrs. H. presents data compiled from US and British button magazines and probably data from the Canadian gentleman listed on her site.
When analysing backmarks please think of the people in the shop. They used everything around them until it wore out or broke down. Does anyone think Mr. Smith said: I need the "J.R. Gaunt & Son Ld, Late Jennens, London" backmark die, but Mr. Wright is using it. I'll wait until he's finished ..
Does anyone think the shop manager threw out a good back die, because the fashion had changed? Nope, it went on to live in the old tool rack.

part two:
Aucioneer DNW sales info:

"The new company J.R. Gaunt & Son was established in Birmingham in 1884.
... In 1899 they were incorporated ... By 1905 they had opened an office in London"

Gaunt itself states that they took over London based Edward Thurkle in 1897.
I think this gave them their first London base (and 200 years of history)
From a sword sold at an auction: J.R. GAUNT & SON LIMITED (LATE EDWARD THURKLE)

To put records straight - and this is my original research:
Edward Thurkle went bankrupt in august 1899. A month later a trustee was appointed.

Does anyone know of contemporary QVC badges with "J.R. Gaunt & Son, London" marks?

part 3:
- Would anyone please respond to my question in the above section?
- Can anyone please give properly researched evidence on the 1884 year? I cannot find it.
- here is another one to ponder: "J.R. Gaunt & Son B'ham, London, Late with Firmin"
- this is a tricky one from my own efforts. Note: it is gossip not research.
I think (but am short of proof) that the Gaunts were not welcoming researchers on their own history.
They could well be right to present themselves as 200 years in the business.
However, all clues they give point vaguely to Edward Thurkle's history.
It is strange to buy the assets of a bankrupt company and then state their history is your history, isn't it?
Now, would someone please find out why Mr. Gaunt jr. never told anyone what happened to the family firm?

Hi Guys,

The Gaunt firm was a nightmare to try and sort out when I investigated all the companies related to A/A badge production. There was a lot of contradictory 'evidence' out there and no doubt there will be a lot of conflicting opinions on the history of this company.

Basically I have noted Thurkle and Jennens but I did not really get going until the 1950's when A/A badge manufacturing started. Past this date things get a lot easier especially when one uses official company stationary for its references as per the National Archives at Kew.

Company note paper tells a lot about which companies were related and which were owned by others and this gives a good historical view of the company over time.

By 1991 it was all over with the Firmin buy out but some jokers did register J.R. GAUNT & SON LIMITED on the 22nd November 2002 at Companies House, London with register number 04598888 - not sure what this was for though.

Regards

Chris

Hello Julian

My assumption of only two years is purely apocryphal from talkng to others and I have made no personal research myself. It is just my understanding - I think it was also touched upon in a previous thread on this site.

From owning Jennens badges I am sure Gaunt would have been keen to add the Jennens name to their stamp as they are such good quality. I would therefore be very interested to hear the results of your research in how long they retained this stamp.

My point was that I felt that using a stamp 'late Jennens' 24 years after their purchase would seem excessive and perhaps would bring no value in promoting Gaunt's own work. Though having said that the company I work for has been acquired 3 times in the past 10 years and thus has had 3 name changes. Yet some customers still call out equipment using the initial company name.

Cheers
Mark