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Fonds

Fisons, fertiliser manufacturers, Ipswich

Catalogue reference: HC434

What’s it about?

This record is about the Fisons, fertiliser manufacturers, Ipswich dating from 1857 - 1977.

Is it available online?

Maybe, but not on The National Archives website. This record is held at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch.

Can I see it in person?

Not at The National Archives, but you may be able to view it in person at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch.

Full description and record details

Reference

HC434

Title

Fisons, fertiliser manufacturers, Ipswich

Date

1857 - 1977

Description

The collection comprises the 19th and 20th century business records of fertiliser manufacturing companies, formerly owned by Fisons PLC.

ITEMS EX HYDRO FERTILIZERS LIMITED ARCHIVES

Principal Companies

Agricultural & Lime Co. Ltd.

Anglo Continental Guano Ltd.

Chemical Union Ltd.

Alfred Coe Ltd.

John G. Cunningham Ltd.

De Pass Fertilizers Ltd.

Fisons Ltd.

Fison Packard & Prentice

James Fison & Sons Ltd.

Joseph Fison & Co. Ltd.

Genzyme Ltd.

Ichthalmic Guano Co. Ltd.

Ipswich Printing Works

Johnson & Darlings Ltd.

George Johnson & Son (Silvertown) Ltd.

Langdales Chemical Manure Co. Ltd.

Langdales & Northern Fertilizers Ltd.

Lime Suppliers Ltd.

J & W Maxwells Ltd.

Markjohn Mechanical Spreaders Ltd.

Northern Fertilizers Ltd.

The North of England Chemical Works Ltd.

Edward Packard & Co. Ltd.

Packard & James Fison (Thetford) Ltd.

Prentice Brothers Ltd.

Thomas Ovens & Sons Ltd.

Thomas & Company Ltd.

Arrangement

The records were kept at Harvest House and at Levington in broad categories according to the type of document (eg all the minute books were kept together), rather than the records of each subsidiary company being kept together as a group, hence the arrangement of this list.

Held by
Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch
Language

English

Creator(s)
  • <corpname>Doughty-Richardson Fertilisers Ltd, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, fertiliser manufacturers</corpname>
  • <corpname>West Norfolk Fertilisers Manure and Chemical Co-operative Co Ltd, Norfolk</corpname>
Physical description

21 series

Immediate source of acquisition

Received by Suffolk Record Office on 26 September 1989 (Files HC434/1-406 are contained in accession 8728)

Acc. no. 8728

Custodial history

Prior to 1982 the majority of the records were kept at Harvest House, Felixstowe; they were subsequently moved to the Levington Research Station, where they were sorted into four groups prior to the move of the companies' operational base to Immingham in 1989. A small group of records was placed on temporary deposit at the Suffolk Record Office in 1984 (T4318), and was merged with the main collection in 1989.

These four groups are

1. The records of the Fisons fertiliser companies formerly being mainly subsidiaries of the former Doughty-Richardson Fertilisers Ltd. in Humberside, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, but chiefly centered on Goole, which were transfered to the South Humberside Area Record Office in 1989.

2. The records of the former subsidiary companies of the former National Fertilisers Ltd., centered on Avonmouth, but including parts of the West of England, which were transfered to the Bristol City Record Office in 1989.

3. The records of the former West Norfolk Fertilisers Manure and Chemical Co-operative Co. Ltd./Norfolk Fertilisers Ltd. and other companies based in King's Lynn, which were transfered to the Norfolk Record Office in 1989.

4. The records of all the subsidiary companies, which are still 'live' trading concerns, irrespective of their manufacturing bases or trading areas, those of the principal companies, and those for which no more suitable place of deposit could be identified, were deposited with the Suffolk Record Office

Unpublished finding aids
<p>Lists of the records transfered to the other record offices listed above are available on request.</p>
Administrative / biographical background

The history of the various companies, their mergers and groupings, is extremely complex, since Fisons expanded by acquisition rather than by organic growth, and by the 1950's it had come to occupy a dominant place in the industry.

The fertiliser interests of Fisons were sold to Norsk Hydro Fertilisers in 1982.

Publication note(s)
<p>Much valuable information on the nature and structure of the industry will be found in the Monopolies Commission Report on the Supply of Chemical Fertilisers (H.M.S.O., 1959), especially pages 17-38 on the history of the industry and pages 55-72 on Fisons Ltd.</p>
Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/585e1dbe-155b-429d-90f2-479d66138d91/

Catalogue hierarchy

236,950 records

This record is held at Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Branch

You are currently looking at the fonds: HC434

Fisons, fertiliser manufacturers, Ipswich