Catalogue description Records of Knee Bros. (Bristol) Ltd

1 - 34 Day Books

35 - 73 Financial Records

74 - 75 Quotations

76 - 90 Work Sheets

91 - 111 Time Books

112 - 119 Identification Labels

120 - 140 Inventories

141 - 156 Goods inward/outwards

157 - 160 Correspondence

161 - 178 Property

179 - 181 Miscellaneous

182 - 184 Printed

185 Photograph

Knee Bros (Bristol) Ltd, 1839-1989, Bristol, general carriers and storers

Deposited by Mrs M. Pye, secretary to the company

The business was established by William Knee in 1839 and continued and expanded under the leadership of one of his sons, Albert. Albert's son, Edward (Ted), was active in the business until his death, unmarried, in 1983 when his niece, Mrs Pye, and her husband took over. It closed in 1989.

The premises first used by William Knee were in Temple Street but then Boyce's Avenue in Clifton, an unsuccessful arcade development by J.W. King in 1878, was taken over for additional storage. The Temple Street premises were subject to a compulsory purchase order in 1968 to provide a site for new fire brigade headquaters, and Knee Bros. had to move out.

William Knee was famous for his design of a purpose built removal vehicle, the pantechnicon. House contents could be packed into the vehicle and moved to their destination without further handling. The pantechnicon could be loaded, complete, on to a railway waggon which made removals over long distances much easier. Knee Bros. did not specialise in house removals but were also general carriers and storers offering extensive warehouse facilities to individuals, shops, farmers etc. as well as larger businesses such as C & J Clark and Messrs Pountneys.

(See The Broadsheet No 26 journal of the Broad Gauge Society 1991

Newsletter No 2/87 Temple Local History Group 1987)

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