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How do I find info on a London Company?

Kat7272

master brummie
I am trying to find some information on a London company called Watts, Payne & Co. I can see that they are listed in a London post office directory up to 1915. I am trying to find an address and any other details on the history of the company. Payne, Watts and Co were listed as a Tailors in the London PO Directory.
 
In the 1905 Trade Directory they are at 28 Falcon Square EC. Seems to be William Payne. No more information I'm afraid.
 
In 1921 trade directory 27 & 28 Falcon Square are listed as Watts, Christie & Co tailors. Previous directory on Ancestry is 1902.
Watts, Christie are still there in 1934 and 1938.
 
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Thanks all. Very interesting finds indeed. The info on the change of name is interesting.

The men I am trying to research are William Payne and his son also William Henry Payne (both listed as Tailors in the census, plus wife Mary B Payne listed as a tailor and daughter Elizabeth listed as waistcoat finisher). I will supply some dates tomorrow. I am trying to see if these men are part of the company. They are both listed as tailors in the census.

The son died in appx 1902. The last listing is 1915. This could explain how the company name changed to Christie later on. Also the fact that the bombing took place tells me why the street is not there anymore.

Thanks again all, knew I could rely on the BHF to shine some light on this one. Never fails, you are the best.
 
According to a notice in the London Gazette 1916 it was Watts, Payne and Christie. So presumably they dropped Payne.
Have to say I wasn't quite sure what the notice meant - seemed legally phrased.
 
Janice,

They usually are - changes of partners, winding-up orders, creditors meetings and the like. Unfortunately Companies House no longer keep details of partnerships and limited companies that have ceased trading more than 20 years ago. Also the search engine on the Gazette site is not very good, and with commoner names, can yield thousands of entries.

Maurice :cool:
 
Great info, thank you very much all. Amazing what can be placed together in a short space of time.

Here are the details of the 2 x W Payne.

William Payne (1832 - 1892), occupation: Tailor
Mary Bailey Taylor (born 1839), occupation: Tailor (Wife of above)
William Henry (King) Payne (1854 - 1902), occupation: Tailor (Son of above)

I am assuming that the part of the name (King) for the Son was a nickname to distinguish hi from his father, as his middle name was Henry, he was called King? The addition of the middle name King is listed on one of the census documents.

I look forward to seeing what you can come up with, and thank you for what you have found so far.
 
Just a thought - I believe Abram is generally a Jewish name, many Jewish people were involved in the tailoring trade at that time.
He may have more commonly used the name William?
 
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