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

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

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.

Deposited on indefinite loan: 3 February 1988

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.