Topic: What year did Stevens and Williams change their name to Royal Brierley

[flying free]

I apologise if this has been established elsewhere on the board but I have checked threads (and my memory) and I have not been able to find a definitive except that it was the 1930s.  I 'thought' I had found somewhere that it was 1931 however I've just seen another thread here
(see link below) which shows a 'Catalogue of the Exhibition of British Industrial Art in relation to the home' which was held at Dorland Hall on  June 20-July 12 1933 where within the catalogue it states
'...Stourbridge is represented ably by such well-known and long established firms as Messrs Stevens & Williams, Messrs Thomas Webb & Corbett, Messrs Thomas Webb & Co...'

Which seems to say that in July 1933 they were still known as Stevens and Williams...doesn't it?

http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,57285.msg324576.html#msg324576
m

[keith]

Hello m, 1930's is the best I can find, I'd ask Arlon Bayliss who knew one of the S&W's family but he's not been answering his emails, well not the last couple I sent him, ( he lives in Indiana so it's a bit far to visit  )   

[flying free]

Hi Keith
yes, 1930s seems to be where it has stuck date wise at least in threads here on the GMB.
But if that catalogue is a true representation of the names of the glass companies at the time, then we are now up to July 1933 with it still being Stevens & Williams.
m

[flying free]

see my post directly above and
oh,I've found something else to back up that 1933 date:

In the book 'British Glass between the wars' - edited by Roger Dodsworth, page 33 there appears a picture captioned:
'Advert for Keith Murray's Glass from the Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review,1933'
and on that advert is titled
'Modern English Glass Designed by Keith Murray And executed by Stevens and Williams Ltd at Brierley Hill Staffs'
underneath that it reads
'British Industries Fair Olympia Stand No C9'
then at the bottom underneath the photograph of 4 clear glass pieces it states
'London Showrooms
Bath House, 59,  Holborn Viaduct, E.C.1'
then in large typeface
'Brierley Crystal
           by
British Craftsmen'

So it seems to me that in 1933 they were still known as Stevens & Williams

[Frank]

Was not Royal Brierley Crystal Glassworks the name of the factory at first, not the company.

[flying free]

I have no idea Frank.
But the fact that they say in their advertisement ' .. and executed by Stevens & Williams Ltd' makes me believe that is what they were still called.

In a more considered vein, why would it be called Royal Brierley Crystal Glassworks though?  It wasn't based in a place called Royal Brierley, it was based at Brierley Hill wasn't it?
Therefore I can understand them promoting it in that advertisement as 'Brierley Crystal from British Craftsmen' (based on it being located in Brierley and producing crystal),  or calling it Brierley Crystal Glassworks (based on location of factory and the product being crystal),  but not Royal Brierley Crystal Glassworks before they'd changed their name to Royal Brierley.  After they'd changed their name, then yes.  That would make sense.

Also there has been mention that Stevens & Williams changed their name to Royal Brierley after a Royal visit.  The only one I've found so far is one from the Queen Mother in 1925 (page 26 The Crystal Years). 
There is a 'By Appointment' coat of arms on the bottom right of the Advert I mentioned in my previous post, so I would think that had they changed their name by 1933 then it would have been on that advertisement.

Edited to add:
According to the Gorgeous Glass (Broadfield House) website, they were awarded a Royal Warrant by King George V in 1919. And it says they were awarded Royal Warrants by every monarch after this the most recent being in 1985.  Which would explain the By Appointment on the advertisement.
quote
'...Royal Warrants were awarded to Royal Brierley by every monarch since George V, the most recent being in 1985 when H.R.H. Princess of Wales visited the company.'
m

[flying free]

mm this link here (you need to scroll down to find their advertisement)
http://www.glass-study.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102:pggtr-1949-december-part-1-adverts&catid=26&Itemid=25
is from the Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review December 1949

and the advert has a bold heading over some cut crystal headed 'Royal Brierley Crystal'
but the bottom line of the advertisement says
'Stevens & Williams Ltd, Brierley Hill Glassworks, Staffs'

So, I understand from that, that the holding company (company name) was still Stevens and Williams and the factory was still called Brierley Hill Glassworks, but the products were being called 'Royal Brierley Crystal'.
Have I misunderstood?
m

[flying free]

I have found this short reference in the archives links on Black Country History site
http://blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB145_DRBC_12_4_13/

I cannot access the archive documents for it but the title of the reference is:
'Sign: "Stevens & Williams Ltd, Brierley Hill, makers of Royal Brierley Crystal"

Ref No: DRBC/12/4/13
Date: nd
Description: Representative named as Mr G. L. Hill'

Does this not read as if Stevens & Williams are still the maker ?  and Royal Brierley Crystal merely the 'product name'?

Therefore any product ranges produced after they started calling those specific ranges Royal Brierley Crystal, should actually be referred to as 'A Stevens & Williams Royal Brierley Crystal (then name of product range )' i.e. it is not either Stevens & Williams or Royal Brierley Crystal.
Therefore any product ranges produced before they started calling them Royal Brierley Crystal should be rightfully called 'A Stevens & Williams (then name of product range)

m

[Anne]

According to L Angus Butterworth: British Table & Ornamental Glass, in the section on Stevens and Williams Ltd, the addition of Royal  to their name of Brierley Crystal (as a brand name) came about after the firm received the Royal Warrant to supply King George V with glassware.  LAB gives the date of the Royal Warrant as before 1925 when the Duke of York (later King George VI) visited the glassworks with his wife, and that was "shortly after this honour had been accorded."

However, a check of the London Gazette database gives the date of the issue of the Royal Warrant to Stevens and Williams Ltd. of Stourbridge for glass as being 5 years' previously, the Gazette notice being dated Friday 2nd January, 1920,  https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31715/page/34

The Coronation Exhibition website gives the following info, "The first Warrant was bestowed by King George V in 1919 and has been renewed by each successive Monarch since." https://www.coronationfestival.com/exhibitors?exhbid=18051-royal-brierley-crystal

Interestingly, the London Gazette notice states that the grant of a Royal Warrant does not give the grantee the right to use the name Royal!  https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/31715/page/25

According to Companies House, http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ - the following are the relevant dates...

Rbc Realisations Limited
Dissolved 19/02/2008
Date of Incorporation: 18/09/1931

11 Dec 2000   19/02/2008      Rbc Realisations Limited
28 May 1985   11 Dec 2000   Royal Brierley Crystal Limited
18 Sep 1931   28 May 1985   Stevens and Williams Limited

Originally the company was named Stevens and Williams (i.e. no Limited), having been formed in 1846 as a partnership. The glassworks was called Brierley Hill Glass Works (founded c. 1740), but the London Gazette notices clearly give the company name as Stevens and Williams Limited in 1920 and throughout the 1920s. 

An earlier London Gazette mention of them in respect of a court case involving members of the Midlands Association of Flint Glass  Manufacturers, dated 30 January, 1903, gives their name as Stevens and Williams, so that implies the change to limited status happened between 1903 and 1920. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27520/page/642

A further notice in the London Gazette, dated 18 September, 1931, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33754/page/6058 explains where the 1931 date fits into the company history,

"STEVENS AND WILLIAMS Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at The Brierley Hill Glass Works, Brierley Hill, in the county of Stafford, on the 11th day of September, 1931, the following Special Resolution was duly passed:
"That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Mr. Thomas Henry Gough, Chartered Accountant, of Dudley, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
(105) H. S. WILLIAMS-THOMAS, Chairman."

Hope this helps add a bit more to what we know about the company.

[flying free]

Thank you Anne!

So, I am having a little difficulty ensuring I understand this properly 
Where you have written (my underlining) :

'According to Companies House, http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/ - the following are the relevant dates...

Rbc Realisations Limited
Dissolved 19/02/2008
Date of Incorporation: 18/09/1931

11 Dec 2000   19/02/2008      Rbc Realisations Limited
28 May 1985   11 Dec 2000   Royal Brierley Crystal Limited
18 Sep 1931   28 May 1985   Stevens and Williams Limited'

does this imply that they were Stevens and Williams Limited from 18Sep 1931 to 28May 1985?
If so
how does this fit in? :

''A further notice in the London Gazette, dated 18 September, 1931, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33754/page/6058 explains where the 1931 date fits into the company history,

"STEVENS AND WILLIAMS Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at The Brierley Hill Glass Works, Brierley Hill, in the county of Stafford, on the 11th day of September, 1931, the following Special Resolution was duly passed:
"That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company, and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Mr. Thomas Henry Gough, Chartered Accountant, of Dudley, be and he is hereby appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up."
(105) H. S. WILLIAMS-THOMAS, Chairman."'

How could they wind up a limited company called Stevens & Williams Ltd and then still trade as Stevens & Williams Ltd from then until 1985?
Or was that winding up when they became Rbc Realisations Ltd as the overarching company?

And further question - does this mean they were only Royal Brierley Crystal Ltd from 1985 to 2000 under the overarching Rbc Realisations Ltd name? 
If so does that mean all references  prior to 1985 should refer to the glass as 'Stevens & Williams'?

I'm sure I've got that all wrong
m