RANDALL AND PORTER, LTD., TANNERS, ULVERSTON

BDB 42/1-20. Partnership agreements between Messrs Randall and Porter 1888-1897;

Title to land at Low Mill 1888-1912;

Transfer from Randall and Porter to Randall and Porter Ltd., 1897-1900.

BDB 42/21-28. Minute books, accounts, ledgers etc. of Randall and Porter Ltd., 1897-1972.

BDB 42/29-60. Other records of the company, 1894-1922.

BDB 42/61-95. Title deeds to land at or near Low Mill, 1721-1888.

BDB 42/96-102. Miscellaneous.

Records deposited by Mr E Randall of Ulverston on 6 February 1985.

The first tanner in the Randall family was Charles Randall (1839-1914). He moved in 1872 from Grange Road Tannery, Bermondsey, London to Whitehaven as manager of the tannery owned by William Walker, In 1881 he was appointed manager of Walker's tannery at Penketh near Warrington and it was on one of his journeys by train between Penketh and Whitehaven that he met a Mr William Barton. Barton owned a defunct cotton mill, Low Mill, at Ulverston which Charles decided could be converted into a tannery. At this time, his daughter Mary Ann was courting her future husband, John Tyson Porter of Bransty, Whitehaven whose mother wanted to establish him in business and so lent money for Charles' project. In 1888 a partnership was formed between Charles Randall and John Tyson Porter as tanners at Low Mill, Ulverston. This lasted until 1897 when the partnership was dissolved and shareholders injected capital into a new Limited Company. Randall and Porter Ltd. functioned under the management of four generations of Randalls until 1972 when the business was sold to Barrow, Hepburn and Gale.