Guide to the Records of the Bryant and May Archives (as filmed by the AJCP), 1879-1977

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Summary

Collection number:

M2476-M2491

Creator:

Bryant and May

Extent:

356 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Bryant and May Ltd records, including directors minute-books 1884-1937 and income tax files.

Papers 1885-1910 of Gilbert Bartholomew, managing director of Bryant and May 1885-1901, concerning sale figures, shipment of goods, Arthur Bryant's visit to Australia and general business matters. Recipients of the letters include H. Nathan, J. Hoffnung, H. Hayman and James Service.

Correspondence 1890-1897 of Arthur B. Bryant.

Correspondence 1960-1973 concerning Bryant and May Pty Ltd, Richmond, Victoria, including correspondence concerning integration of Australian companies. The chief correspondent is Brian Bath.

Correspondence 1927-1967 with Federal Match Co Pty Ltd concerning financial and general business matters.

Correspondence 1931-1950 with Western Australia Match Co Ltd.

Newspaper cuttings 1923-1954 concerning Bryant and May in Australia and matches in general.

Records 1909-1959 of Bryant and May Ltd, Bell and Co, and Australasia Ltd.

Biographical / Historical:

Bryant and May, the match manufacturers, became associated in business in 1839.

William Bryant was born in 1804 in Plymouth and set up in partnership with Edward James as soap manufacturers, sugar refiners and blacking manufacturers.

Francis May (born 1803) was established as a dealer and grocer at 20 Bishops-gate Without in London by 1825. He became the London agent for Bryant and James' blacking, candles, sugar and lubricating grease. In 1839 Bryant and May became associated in business as general merchants operating at Touley St, Southwark and Philpot Lane, Fenchurch Street. Involvement with matches came under an arrangement with Carl and Johan Lundström, match manufacturers of Jönköping, Sweden, to distribute their matches.

Lundström seems to have become unable to meet the growing demand for safety matches in Britain and a patent was taken out, based on J.E. Lundström's specification by Francis May in 1855. The Fairfield works at Bow was leased to William Bryant in 1861, where they started to produce safety matches using Swedish splints.

William Bryant gave up personal management of his Plymouth affairs in 1862 and in 1863 his son Wilberforce joined the partnership as manager of the Bow factory. Francis May withdrew in 1868. William Bryant died in 1874 and the general merchandising side of the business was given up.

In 1884 Bryant and May became a public company and took over two other match manufacturing companies - Pace and Sons and J.H. Hunt and Co. In 1885 they took over Bell and Black with their four British factories. Increased production encouraged a drive for export markets in Australia, India and the Far East.

The British Match Corporation was formed in 1927 to acquire Bryant and May Ltd (by this time established in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada and South Africa) and the UK interests of Swedish Match, an amalgamation of various Swedish manufacturers formed in 1917. Agreements were made to regulate relations in Britain and abroad. The Corporation merged with Wilkinson Sword in 1974.

Bryant and May (Holdings) Ltd was formed in 1966 and the overseas subsidiaries reported to it. It also merged with Wilkinson Sword in 1974 to form Wilkinson Match. Wilkinson Match was acquired by the US firm Allegheng International in 1980, but in 1987 it was sold to Swedish Match.

See also A History of the Company. The Match Makers, by Patrick Beaver, 1985.

The Miscellaneous Collections of Hackney Record Office have been listed separately.

Match making in Australia

Matches were first made in Australia by the Wortman family in 1843 who emigrated from Hungary; their business was sold in 1857. In 1896 R. Bell and Co commenced manufacture of wax vestas in Victoria. In 1885 Bryant and May had started exporting safety matches to Australia - but this trade suffered from cheap foreign imports and the collapse of the land boom.

Bryant and May decided to establish a manufacturing interest and in 1909 an agreement was made with R. Bell and Co Pty Ltd by Sir Clarence Bartholomew to take over the Bell factory known as the Old Dublin Brewery, near Church St, Melb. A new factory was opened in December 1909 producing both safety wood matches and wax vestas.

In 1911 Edward Lionel Bell formed the company E.L. Bell and Co Pty Ltd to manufacture safety matches and wax vestas. Bryant and May bought this company in 1927.

In Sydney, C.G. Sundstrom opened a match factory at the beginning of the 20th Century which became the Federal Match Co Pty Ltd in 1921. In 1922 Bryant and May obtained a shareholding in Federal.

In 1930 Federal established the Western Australia Match Co Pty Ltd in Perth.

In 1960 Federal established F.M. Forests Ltd to plant poplar to provide timber for match making.

Material concerning all these companies and their relations with Bryant and May in Bow is contained in the Bryant and May Archives, held by Hackney Record Office.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.