Catalogue description RECORDS OF J. H. CLARKE & CO. LTD. OF LEICESTER, SHOE MANUFACTURERS

This record is held by Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Record Office for

Details of DE3264
Reference: DE3264
Title: RECORDS OF J. H. CLARKE & CO. LTD. OF LEICESTER, SHOE MANUFACTURERS
Description:

This collection comprises the records of a manufacturer engaged in Leicester's eminent footwear industry, J. H. Clarke of the Grovena Works, Grosvenor Street, Leicester.

 

Regretably the collection contains no company minutes but financial records are well represented, the departmental wages books especially giving a useful picture of the different processes in shoe manufacture.

 

Also of special interest are the bundles of working notes and correspondence, etc. relating to J. H. Clarke's participation in the Footwear Manufacturers' Group's representation in the Footwear Reference Case in the Restrictive Practices Court, London, 1964-1968 (DE3264/198-230) in defence of Resale Price Maintenance (R.P.M.), a controversial system which has since been abolished. Item (DE3264/207) is particularly useful in explaining the background to the case.

 

These papers help fill out the collection which otherwise consists of bound volumes containing accounting records, throwing light on the company's customer relations, reaction to political and economic change, advertising, 1960s fashions and production methods. The nature of the material also allows for detailed comparison with local and national competitors.

 

Close study of the entire collection would pay dividends to various categories of researchers, including industrial, economic, labour, art and family historians, the last two because of the fashion brochures among (DE3264/198-230) and the lists of employees' names in the wages books (DE3264/81-150).

 

Share Records 1932-1950 1-3

 

Accounting Records 1916-1968

 

Miscellaneous accounts 1920-1968 4-14

 

Accounts petty cash books 1922-1964 15-19

 

Account books 1916-1919 20-21

 

Ledgers 1916-1956 22-24

 

Midland Bank accounts 1958-1967 25-27

 

Odd day books 1936-1957 28-31

 

Day books sales? 1935-1966 32-50

 

Day books purchases? 1919-1962 51-80

 

Records Relating to Employees 1916-1966

 

Wages books, etc. 1916-1966

 

Unidentified department 1929-1931 81

 

Finishing Rooms 1925-1961 82-89

 

Machine Room 1925-1965 90-102

 

Stock Room 1925-1966 103-112

 

Lasting Room 1924-1966 113-121

 

Press Room 1925-1966 122-131

 

Clicking Rooms 1924-1966 132-146

 

Repairing Room 1954-1961 147-148

 

Preparing Room 1925-1928, 1961-1966 149-150

 

General 1916-1965 151-163

 

Staff Welfare 1952-1966 164-165

 

Production & Sales Records 1916-1964

 

Agents & Export 1921-1957 166-170

 

Accounts: wear & tear, etc. 1917-1954 171-173

 

Factory Reports 1927-1960 174-180

 

Sales Ledgers 1920-1928 181-182

 

Purchase Ledgers 1918-1928 183-185

 

Cash books 1916-1964 186-191

 

Order books 1919-1927 192-195

 

Plant 1916-1966

 

Machinery 1916-1966 196-197

 

Legal Records 1935-1968

 

Footwear Reference 1935-1968

 

Preparation and Administration of case 1964-1968 198-213

 

Furnishing of Evidence to Counsel 1935-1968 214-221

 

Proofs of Evidence 1965-1968 222-230

 

Subsidiaries 1947-1967

 

James A. Low Ltd. of Fleetwood, Lancs. 1947-1967 231-234
Date: 1916-1968
Arrangement:

It should be noted that the day books in the collection (DE3264/28-80) are not necessarily arranged according to sales or purchases and may include day books strayed from James A. Low Ltd. of Fleetwood, Lancs., another manufacturer of ladies' shoes and a subsidiary. Care should also be taken with other series of records in case of similar unlabelled strays.
Held by: Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Record Office for, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

J H Clarke and Co Ltd, Leicester, shoe manufacturer
Physical description: 234 Files
Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited on indefinite loan: 3 February 1988
Subjects:
  • James A Low Ltd, Fleetwood, Lancashire
  • Manufacturing industry
Administrative / biographical background:

The partnership was established c.1916, from which year the earliest records on the collection date (see contents page). J. H. Clarke & Co. are also mentioned in Kelly's Directory for Leicestershire and Rutland for 1916, their address being given at that time as 1 Wilton Street, Leicester. The same directory for 1922 gives the company's address as 28 Grosvenor Street, Leicester.

 

In about 1945 J. H. Clarke was founded as a Limited Company, operating as Duraflex and Cresta Styles. By 1980 J. H. Clarke & Co. Ltd. were gaining more business with the British Shoe Corporation (B.S.C.) and with made-to-order work as independent retailers closed down. However by about 1985-1987 a slump in trade, which came to affect many traditional Leicester manufacturers, resulted in a trading loss for the company, followed by a failed management buy-out which led to closure, receivership and the deposit of this collection.

 

By its later years J.H. Clarke had come to specialise in women's footwear and in particular the manufacture of the larger shoe sizes.
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