The Board of Trade Labour Gazette: Lists of Contracts Awarded, 1914-1919

['Ticker' Riley]

As I noted on my posting about Bodill Parker & Co. Ltd the other day, I have recently been looking at the monthly issues of The Board of Trade Labour Gazette, for the period 1914-1919, and in particular the lists of companies who were awarded government contracts during each preceding month. These monthly lists are divided into main sections, under headings such as “War Office”, “India Office”, etc., and then give the companies who received contracts in alphabetical order under separate headings for the kind of materials concerned. Below is an example of the list from the June 1915 issue of the Labour Gazette for contracts granted to companies in the May specifically for “Badges, Metal”:

A number of well known badge makers here of course, such as Bent & Parker, Firmin & Sons, and Smith & Wright, but also some less familiar names - at least to me. I think I have seen it mentioned before on the Forum that it is believed many smaller manufacturing companies produced cap badges as part of the War effort, and have often wondered who these firms might have been. Given that the monthly lists do have these sections for “Badges, Metal”, I thought it might be worthwhile creating a composite list of the various companies who appear in them, perhaps as a starting point for further research into the different possible makers of cap badges at this time. Though, as will be seen from the above example, these lists sadly do not give any details of the contracts themselves. I should also stress that the fact that these companies are listed under “Badges, Metal” does not necessarily mean they received contracts specifically for cap badges, indeed I am sure some would have been for other kinds of military badges. Nevertheless, whilst I do realise some members will not see much value in this, as there is nothing here about actual cap badges as such, I’d still like to think at least a few would find a composite list of interest. Anyway, I’m currently just finishing off going through things, and so will post up the composite list to this thread once completed along with a little more on the published lists.

Regards

Martin

Martin,

Excellent stuff, mate. I for one would certainly value such a list. A resource of this kind could prove to be invaluable. A worthy project in my opinion.

How many companies would you estimate are included in the list?

Peter.

[John Mulcahy]

Martin

I see enormous value in such lists, regardless of the fact that we are not (yet) able to discriminate between the type of metal badges allocated to each supplier.

Thank you for sharing.

John

[wardog]

Thats very intersting Martin, and very worthwhile. Regards, Paul.

['Ticker' Riley]

Many thanks for the positive comments Gents, makes it worthwhile knowing the fruits of one’s labours will be appreciated. However, before I post up the full composite list of company names from the Labour Gazette, with years of contracts awarded 1914-1919, I thought I’d best clarify a few things about the monthly lists themselves and the information I’ve extracted from them.

In answer to Peter’s question, the composite list will contain the names and addresses of 90 companies, though in a couple of cases the same firm appears under a slightly different name: as in “H. Baller & Co.” which later became “Baller & Mantle”, and “S. Vaughan” which looks to have changed to “Vaughan & Williams”; whilst out of another two company names, one may actually be a mistake for the other: “Wright & Son” and “M. Wright & Sons”. I have been through all the issues of The Board of Trade Labour Gazette, from the beginning of 1914 until the end of 1919, and have extracted all those company names from the “Badges, Metal” sections only, under those parts that list ‘Government Contracts. Lists of New Contracts’, which, as I have said, are given for each preceding month. From the beginning of 1915 up until the February 1919 issue, ‘Government Contracts’ are actually given as a separate Supplement to the Labour Gazette, no doubt due to the increase in the issuing of contracts during the War, whereas before and after these dates they are just included within the pages of the Gazette itself.

Going into a little more detail on the coverage of these lists: during 1914, contracts for “Badges, Metal” only appear for the months of February and March, whilst no War Office contracts at all are listed for August, September, October or November 1914. In addition, I could not personally find any published list for December 1914; this is just at the time when the lists go from being shown within the Gazette to being a Supplement, so perhaps one was published, but it certainly wasn’t in the bound volume I used. Neither do the first three months of 1915 give any “Badges, Metal” contracts, and April 1915 only gives two. The list for contracts issued during May 1915 shows 26 companies who received them to supply “Badges, Metal” to the War Office; however no further contracts were issued during July or August that year. From September 1915 onwards the lists show a steady flow of contracts for “Badges, Metal”, except none appear in the list for April 1916 and only one in the lists for June 1916, December 1916 and February 1917. April 1917 again has no “Badges, Metal” contracts, with July the same year showing only one. The last really extensive list of contracts for “Badges, Metal” is August 1917, with 22 company names, after which often only one or two firms are given as receiving contracts, and with none at all being issued in October and December 1917, May and December 1918, or April and October 1919. Only two months’ lists, those for July 1918 and February 1919, have more than a handful of contracts, listing as they do 14 and 16 companies respectively.

As I mentioned in my last posting, unfortunately there is nothing in these lists to indicate what the contracts were actually for, and nothing to say that they were definitely for cap badges as opposed to other kinds of metal badges; though I am assuming that many of the contracts would have been for such badges. The only way to be certain, of course, would be to consult the Board of Trade and War Office records at Kew. The composite list I’m working on will therefore not be a comprehensive list of badge makers during the Great War, but could well be of value in identifying the potential manufactures of cap badges.

Regards

Martin

[fougasse1940]

Thanks Martin, very interesting.

Rgds,
fougasse1940.

Martin,

Out of interest, may I ask if you are consulting the actual publications themselves for your research, or are these records available to you in some other form perhaps, such as on microfilm, or via an online resource etc?

With thanks,

Peter.

[btns]

Such government contract lists may include contractors, who scramble their orders from small workshops or from abroad.

['Ticker' Riley]

Gentlemen

Many thanks again for all the comments; and in reply to Peter’s question about things: I have been consulting bound reference library copies of The Board of Trade Labour Gazette, as opposed to microfilm or on-line versions. In fact, although I believe some issues of this do appear on Goggle books, I think I am right in saying these are only in “snippet view” and do not give access to the full text. The issues I have been using have been bound into volumes with their covers removed, which is unfortunate has I understand these do carry advertisements some of which would have probably been for badge making firms. If anyone else can find copies of the Gazette, I’d be most interested to know if there is a December 1914 list for ‘Government Contracts’, and if it does contain anything for “Badges, Metal”?

Anyway, as to btns’ remarks on these lists possibly being ‘contaminated’ with contractors “who scramble their orders from small workshops or from abroad”, I’m really not in a position to say if this is the case or not. However, as part of the process of double-checking company names and address I have also extracted details on the various firms concerned from a couple of trade directories, and in many cases the contractors do seem to be actual manufacturers; though there is, of course, nothing to say that they did not subcontract out some of the work. I will see about maybe posting up the information from the trade directories as well, to supplement the composite list of names from the Labour Gazette once I’ve had a chance to finish this. In the meantime all I can offer on the matter is the following from The Board of Trade Labour Gazette for September 1914, p. 322, which, in part, deals with the subject of subcontracting as a result of the War:

As will be seen from the above, whilst companies awarded contracts were allowed to subcontract to other firms, which was contrary to what had previously been the usual terms for such work, the names and address of these subcontractors should have been submitted to the authorities before hand. Consequently I would imagine that if, and where, actual records survive at Kew relating to these War Office contracts any information on subcontractors should be recorded therein? Anyhow, like I say, once I have posted up the composite list of company names and addresses extracted from the Gazette, I can then perhaps also put up the relevant details on these same firms from the trade directories. As I have already intimated, I am not making any claims about what these various companies made, but am merely offering this information up for what it is – a list of firms awarded contracts to supply the War Office with “Badges, Metal”, some of which may, or may not, have been cap badges.

Regards

Martin

Thanks, Martin - looking forward to the end result.

All the best,

PJ

['Ticker' Riley]

In attempting to present the single composite list of the 47 monthly lists of company names and addresses I have extracted from The Board of Trade Labour Gazette, 1914-1919, it has been necessary to make some small alterations in an effort to be consistent throughout. In all instances I have tried to give the most complete address as is possible for each company; however this has been difficult at times, with some of the entries varying somewhat in the details they give between the different lists. For example sometimes a particular listing gives the name of the actual works, whilst at other times they have put the street numbers. Often these street numbers themselves can also vary from list to list, particularly if the firm in question occupied a large premises covered by several property numbers. Nevertheless, as I say, I have endeavoured to give the fullest address for each company, and to this end have occasionally included both the works’ name, from one entry, together with the street numbers, from another, to make a single address. I have also double-checked company names and addresses against Kelly’s Directory of Birmingham (Including the Suburbs and the Borough of Smethwick for 1915 and 1920, White’s Directory of Sheffield and Rotherham for 1919-1920, and The Post Office London Directory for 1919. In the May, June and July 1917 Labour Gazette lists only street names are given without any numbering, and from August that year these are also dropped leaving essentially just the town names. Consequently after this date, where no address information as such appears in the lists, this has been added in square brackets based on entries in the appropriate trade directories.

A few entries in the lists had more than one address: like those for Firmin & Sons Ltd, which as well as generally giving the works’ address in Villa St, Hockley, gave their London outlets, first that of “108/9 St Martin’s Lane, W.C.” (May 1915) and then “8 Cork St., W.” (October 1915); or that of Mappin & Webb Ltd, who were also shown with their London outlet’s address of “158/62, Oxford St, W.” (May 1915); so in such instances I have not included these and have shown only that of the works’. Once or twice a ‘ward’ name was also included in an address, such as “St George’s” (November 1915) for E. A. Allen & Co., or “St Paul’s” (March 1916) under Bent & Parker Ltd, but I have again left these out, as their usage was not consistent in the lists. Other omissions I have made are “R. G. H. Lambourne & Co.”, which appears once (May 1915), as an alternative to the more usual “Lambourne & Co.”, and the use of “Mrs” before F. E. Woodward (October & December 1915). As an aside here, “Mrs F. E. Woodward” was actually correct, and the lady in question looks to have been Florence Emily Woodward, wife of William Frederick Woodward, though at present this is more or less all I have on her. On a few occasions where more than one form of a company’s name has been given, I have also gone with the slightly shorter form: “T. D. Pannett” instead of “Thos D. Pannett” (May 1915); “A. Wall” and not “Alfred Wall” (May 1915); and “G. Hopkins” rather than the version using “Geo” (May 1915); as this seemed to fit better with the overall way in which company names appear in the lists.

Sometimes the lists also contained small spelling mistakes or typos, such as: “Armfields” (December 1915) rather than just “Armfield”; “T. G. Beddoes” (May 1916) instead of “J. G. Beddows”; “Baines” (May 1916) when it should be “Barnes”; “Wingley” as well as the correct “Dingley” (both in September 1915); “Fenwicks” (May 1917) rather than “Fenwick”; “A. Gill” (August 1916) instead of “H. Gill”; “Alton St” (August 1916) when it was actually “Alston St”; “Gresham” (December 1915) when it should be “Gorham”; “Hoppin” (May 1915) rather than “Hopkins”; “Thornley” (November 1915) instead of “Thornby”; and “Tipstaft” (July 1918) when it is, of course, “Tiptaft” - in all these cases the correct versions as given elsewhere in the lists have been used. However I have let a couple of minor mistakes stand as the lists only give these forms: “Musgrove Rd” (May 1916) when it should have been “Musgrave”; “Harcourt Ltd” (January 1916) where, in fact, it looks to have been “Harcourt’s Ltd”; and “Swan & Adams” (February 1916), when the company actually seem to have spelt it as “Swann & Adams”. Finally, a note on the way the composite list will be formatted: all company names will be shown in bold, with address details in normal type, beneath which, in italics, will be the months and years of The Board of Trade Labour Gazette contracts lists in which they appear. Because of its length, the composite list will also be split into two halves: company names A-H, and then J-W - I will now post these up to the thread.

Regards

Martin

['Ticker' Riley]

This is the first part of the composite list I have created of company names and address for firms awarded War Office contracts for “Badges, Metal” during the years 1914-1919, as listed in The Board of Trade Labour Gazette. As noted previously the company names have been emboldened, this is just for ease of identification here and does not occur in the original lists, and also the months and years of the various lists in which each firm appears are given beneath in italics:

W. Adams Ltd, [207/11 Barr St] Birmingham
July 1918

Adie Bros Ltd, 45 Frederick St, Birmingham
January 1916

P. G. Allday & Co., 117/19 Northwood St, Birmingham
October 1915
January, February, March, May, August, September & October 1916
January, March, May & September 1917
July 1918

E. A. Allen & Co., 65/8 Mott St, Birmingham
November & December 1915
May, July & August 1916

W. J. Anthony & Sons Ltd, 7 Unett St, Birmingham
December 1915
February 1916

E. Armfield & Co. Ltd, 9 St Paul’s Square, Birmingham
October &, December 1915
August 1917

Art Metal Stamping Co, 58/9 Graham St, Birmingham
July, September & October 1916

C. Bach, Western Works, 170 Pitsford St, Birmingham
May & August 1916

H. Baller & Co., 13 Augusta St, Hockley, Birmingham;
September& December 1915
January, February, March, May, August & September 1916
and March 1917

Baller & Mantle, 13 Augusta St, Hockley, Birmingham
June & August 1917

J. G. Beddoes, 11 Great Hampton St, Birmingham
May & December 1915
February & May 1916

Bent & Parker Ltd, Harper’s Hill Works, Northwood St, Birmingham
February & March 1914
May, September & December 1915
January, February, March, May, July, August, September & October 1916
January, March, May, June, August & November 1917
July 1918

Bliss Bros, 50/2 Alston St, Ladywood, Birmingham
February 1914
May, September & December, 1915
February, March, August & October 1916
January, March, May, June & August 1917
July 1918
January 1919

Bodill, Parker & Co. Ltd, Albion Works, Great Hampton Row, Birmingham
December 1915
January, February, March, May, August & September 1916
January & August 1917

T. W. Broughton & Co. Ltd, 46 High Park St, Nechells, Birmingham
September 1915
January, February, May, September, October & November 1916
January & March 1917

W. J. Buckley, 209/11 Brearley St, Birmingham
February & March 1914
May, September, October & December 1915
January, February, March, May, August, September & October 1916
May & August 1917
July 1918

Buttons Ltd, Portland St, Birmingham
February & March 1914
May, September, November & December 1915
January, February, August, September & October 1916
January, March & August 1917
January 1919

Cooke Bros (Birmingham) Ltd, Constitution Hill, Birmingham
December 1915

T. Crossbee & Sons Ltd, Apollo Works, 39 Moseley St, Birmingham
January, February, May, August, September & October 1916

Dale, Forty & Co. Ltd, [29A Cox St West] Birmingham
March, June, August & December 1919

A. H. Darby, 51 Caroline St, Birmingham
May & September 1916
February 1919

W. Devonport, 121 Northwood St, Birmingham
December 1915

W. J. Dingley, 77 Warstone Lane, Birmingham
May, September & December 1915
January, February, March, May, August & September 1916
January, March, May & August 1917
July 1918

W. Dowler & Sons Ltd, Graham St Works, Birmingham
February & March 1914
May, September, October, November & December 1915
January, February, May, July, August, September & October 1916
January, March, May, June & August 1917
April & July 1918
January 1919

Economic Badge Co., Eaton Works, Wedmore St, Holloway, [London] N.
January 1916

Edwards & Barnes, 237 Broad St, Birmingham
January, May, August & September 1916

H. H. Ellaway, [24/8 Bishop St] Birmingham
February & July 1919

S. M. Emanuel & Co., Westwood Works, Witton, Birmingham
May 1915
February, May, August & September 1916
March 1917

T. Fattorini, 5 Hockley St, Birmingham
November 1915

Fenton Bros, [6 Earl St & 66 Porter St] Sheffield
February 1919

A. Fenwick Ltd, Athletic Works, 108 Vyse St, Birmingham
December 1915
January, February, May, July, August & September 1916
March & May 1917

Firmin & Sons Ltd, Globe Works, Villa St, Hockley, Birmingham
February & March 1914
May, September, October & December 1915
February, May, July, August, September & November 1916
January, March, May, June & August 1917
July 1918

Fox Bros, 120 Pope St, Birmingham
September 1916
January, May & June 1917
August 1917
July 1918

J. Fray Ltd, 36 Albion St, Birmingham
September 1916

J. R. Gaunt & Son Ltd, Warstone Parade Works, Birmingham
December 1915
September & October 1916
August 1917

H. Gill, 52 Hylton St, Birmingham
May, September, October, November & December 1915
January, February, May, July, August & September 1916
May & August 1917

F. R. Gomm, 32 Spencer St, Birmingham
May & September 1916

Gorham Manufacturing Co., Sterling Works, Barr St, Birmingham
May & December 1915

S. Groves, Musgrove Rd, Soho, Birmingham
May 1916

R. Hadley, 67 Spencer St, Birmingham
September 1916
May 1917

Hague & McKenzie, 36 Barr St, Birmingham
May &December 1915
January, May & September 1916
March 1917
February 1919

E. Hall & Sons, [?27 Northampton St] Birmingham
February 1919

Harcourt Ltd, 223 Moseley St, Birmingham
January 1916

Hassett & Harper Ltd, 60 Regent Place, Birmingham
January, February, May, August & September 1916
January 1917

R. N. Hollings, 18 Branston St, Birmingham
May & September 1916
July 1918

G. Hopkins & Co., 46/8 Camden St, Birmingham
May, September & October 1915
January, February, March & May 1916
August 1917

C. Horner Ltd, [38 Frederick St] Birmingham
February 1919

E. Hughes & Co., 65 Caroline St, Birmingham
May & September 1916
January 1917

Regards

Martin

['Ticker' Riley]

Here is the second part of the composite list I have created of company names and address for firms awarded War Office contracts for “Badges, Metal” during the years 1914-1919, as listed in The Board of Trade Labour Gazette. As noted previously the company names have been emboldened, this is just for ease of identification here and does not occur in the original lists, and also the months and years of the various lists in which each firm appears are given beneath in italics:

H. Jenkins & Sons Ltd, Unity Works, Vittoria St, Birmingham
May, September & December 1915
January, May, July, August, September & October 1916
January, March, May, July & August 1917

Jennens & Co. Ltd, Deritend, Birmingham
October 1915
May & September 1916
January, March, May & June 1917
April 1918

Lambourne & Co., Empire Works, 158/61 Great Charles St, Birmingham
May, November & December 1915
January, February, May, July, August & September 1916
August 1917

Latham & Co., 85 Vittoria St, Birmingham
September 1915

S. J. Levi & Co., 32 Regent Place, Birmingham
October & December 1915
January & March 1916

W. O. Lewis, 37 Howard St, Birmingham
December 1915
May 1916

W. Maguire & Sons, 3 Bond St, Constitution Hill, Birmingham
May 1915

Mappin & Webb Ltd, The Royal Works, Norfolk St, Sheffield
April, May & December 1915
February, May & September 1916
January & March 1917

Marklew Bros, Lion Works, 41/2 Smith St, Hockley, Birmingham
December 1915
January, February, May & September 1916
January 1917

Marples & Beasley, [15 Albion St] Birmingham
February 1919

J. Moore, 13 Pitsford St, Birmingham
January 1917

H. Onions, 56½ Great Hampton St, Birmingham;
December 1915
May, July, August & September 1916
January 1917

A. J. Palmer, York Terrace, Hockley Hill, Birmingham
October & December 1915
March, July & August 1916

T. D. Pannett & Sons Ltd, 15 Carlisle St, Soho Square, [London] W.
April & May 1915

J. A. Restall, 82 Cambridge St, Birmingham
May 1915
September 1916

S. J. Rose, 121 Wardour St, Oxford St, [London] W.
December 1915
February, September, October & December 1916
February, June & November 1917
January, February, March, June, August, September, October & November 1918
February, May, June, August, September & November 1919

Smith & Wright Ltd, 180 Brearley St, Birmingham
February & March 1914
May, September, November & December 1915
January, February, May, July, August, September & October 1916
January, March, May, June & August 1917
July 1918
February 1919

Stanley & Hill Ltd, 55 Buckingham St, Birmingham
December 1915
February 1916
July & August 1917

J. Steer, 43/4 Weaman St, Birmingham
May & September 1916
February 1919

Stratton & Co. Ltd, 58 Bromsgrove St, Birmingham
May & December 1915

Strode & Co., [48 Osnaburgh street, Regent’s park] London, N.W.
February 1919

Swan & Adams, 15 Caroline St, Birmingham
February 1916

W. H. Thomas, 74 Ford St, Hockley, Birmingham;
September 1916

Thornby Stamping Co. Ltd, 58 Caroline St, Birmingham
October, November & December 1915
February, March, May, July, August & September 1916
January, March, May & August 1917
July 1918

J. W. Tiptaft & Son Ltd, 55/6 Northampton St, Birmingham
October 1915
February, May & August 1916
July 1918

Tonks Ltd, 201 Moseley St, Birmingham
May 1915

C. E. Turner, 23 Vyse St, Birmingham
July 1916

S. Vaughan, 180/86 Hockley St, Birmingham
May, September, October, November & December 1915
May & August 1916

Vaughan & Williams, 180/86 Hockley St, Birmingham
November 1916

Vaughtons Ltd, Gothic Works, Livery St, Birmingham
September, October, December 1915
January, February, March, May, July, August & September 1916
January, March, May, June & August 1917
July 1918
February & August, 1919

W. H. & G. Walker & Co., 160 Angelina St, Birmingham
January, February & September 1916

A. Wall, Hampton Works, 91 Mott St, Birmingham
May, October & December 1915
January 1916

Wilcox & Lines, 3 York Terrace, Hockley Hill, Birmingham
May & August 1916

G. Wilden, 63 Great Hampton St, Birmingham
May 1916

T. B. Wilkins Ltd, 52 Clement St, Birmingham
May & December 1915
February, March, May, July, August & September 1916
May 1917
February 1919

C. Wilks, [14½, 15 & 16 Mott St] Birmingham
February & August 1919

Williams (Birmingham) Ltd, Goodman St, Birmingham
May & August 1916

C. Wilson, 38/9 Ludgate Hill, Birmingham
September, October, November & December 1915
January, February, March, May, August & September 1916
March, May & August 1917
February 1919

F. E. Woodward, 35 Albion St, Birmingham
October & December 1915
February, May, June, July, August & September 1916
March 1917

Woolley & Co. (Birmingham) Ltd, Military Works, Milk St, Birmingham
May & September 1915
January, February, March, May, July, August, September & October 1916
May & August, 1917

Wright & Son, Edgware, Middlesex
September & October 1916

M. Wright & Sons, Edgware
February, May, August, September & November 1919

Regards

Martin

Sterling work, Ticker.

Many thanks for all the hard work involved.

All the best,

PJ

['Ticker' Riley]

As will be immediately obvious from the above composite list, the overwhelming bias in the awarding of contracts for “Badges, Metal” during the period in question seems to have been to firms in Birmingham. This is not surprising, given the fact that Birmingham had long been a major centre in the production of ‘toys’ (this is in the more original sense here of small metal objects - buttons, buckles and other such trinkets); however, out of the 88 separate companies listed, no less than 80 had their factories in England’s second city. Notable exceptions were the two well-known silversmiths from Sheffield: Fenton Brothers and Mappin & Webb; and the six companies based in London: namely the Economic Badge Co., T. D. Pannett & Sons, S. J. Rose, Strode & Co., Wright & Son, and M. Wright & Sons. Though, as I mentioned before, I think the last of these may be a mistake for the previous firm - according to The Post Office London Directory of both 1915 and 1919, whilst Wright & Son were, amongst other things, medallists and die-sinkers, M. Wright & Sons are listed as being “elastic web manufrs”; also whereas Wright & Son were in Edgware, M. Wright & Sons were at “8 Castle street, Falcon square”.

During the period in question, it should be no surprise that some of the better-known badge making companies appear frequently in the lists, and out of those recorded in 15 lists or more we find Bent & Parker, 20 times, Buttons Ltd, 15 listings, W. Dowler & Sons, 22 occurrences, Firmin & Sons, 18 times, and Smith & Wright, 20 times. But there are also other firms that appear 15 times or more, and who seem less well-known, like Bliss Brothers, 15 times, W. J. Buckley, 16 listings, S. J. Rose, 22 times, and Vaughtons Ltd, 18 occurrences. More less familiar names are not far behind, with P. G. Allday appearing in 13 lists, W. J. Dingley cropping up in 14, H. Gill in 13 lists, H. Jenkins & Sons in 14, Thornby Stamping again in 14, and C. Wilson also in 14. A couple of the better-known names actually occur less than might be expected, and so Jennens & Co. are only in 8 lists, Lambourne & Co. in 10, J. R. Gaunt & Son in just 4 lists, Tiptaft & Son in only 5, and F. E. Woodward appearing 9 times. Out of the remainder, quite a few of the companies listed only appear in a single list, I make it 22, whilst about a further 20 are only found in two or three lists. Perhaps surprisingly, E. Armfield, T. Fattorni and Marples & Beasley only appear in single lists, when I would, personally, have expected to see them occur more often.

As I have already said, the composite list above from the The Board of Trade Labour Gazette is just for those firms given as being awarded War Office contracts for “Badges, Metal” during the years 1914-1919, and is not meant to be a comprehensive list of cap badge makers at this time. Obviously, as the lists don’t give details of the actual contracts, and it may be that a particular company received more than one contract in any one month, there is no way of making definite judgements until further research is undertaken on original records at Kew. Although I have tried to draw out something from the frequency of how often different firms appear in the monthly lists, this can only be a generalisation. I’m sure we mustn’t read too much into things here, especially when some of the major badge making companies would no doubt have had long-term contracts to supply badges, and which would accordingly not be shown in the monthly Labour Gazette lists. Nevertheless I personally have still found the breadth of different companies involved in things interesting, and I would hope other Forum members would as well.

Regards

Martin