Catalogue description GEORGE CASH & CO LTD & ROBERT WOOD & SON LTD

George Cash and Co Ltd

Robert Wood and Son Ltd

• Portsmouth, Hampshire

George Cash and Co Ltd and Robert Wood and Son Ltd were both primarily iron and non-ferrous foundries although they also performed machining operations as a secondary activity. George Cash and Co Ltd was founded in 1867 by George Cash who ran the foundry until the business was purchased by Mr Gammans, a councillor of the then town of Portsmouth. That ownership continued until the death of Mr Gammans in 1957 when the firm was sold to W H Sperring and Co Ltd who were by then the only other foundry left in Portsmouth. Cash's premises were at the Regent Foundry, Aylward Street, Portsea. They were used originally as a bacon curing factory. Robert Wood and Son Ltd was started in 1825 and located in Nobbs Lane, Old Portsmouth. These premises were destroyed by bombing in 1941 but the firm continued in business from premises in King Charles Street, Old Portsmouth. Their production was confined almost entirely to boat fittings, many for Admiralty contracts. After the war, the firm amalgamated with George Cash and Co on the Regent Foundry site in Aylward Street although there was an arrangement for Robert Wood to remain in operation for trading purposes only. Portsmouth City Council purchased the Regent Foundry site in 1970 as part of a development scheme and the firms moved to the premises of W H Sperring and Co Ltd in Clarendon Street, Landport. However the buildings have survived and are now used by the Art College. Both companies ceased trading in 1973 when the City Council compulsorily purchased the Clarendon Street site.

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