Product Details
LANG AND HUSSEY LTD.
A SHAREHOLDERS' MEETINGS MINUTES BOOK,
also for Joseph Lang & Son Ltd. and Stephen Grant & Joseph Lang Ltd., dated 10th October 1898 to 17th December 1952, canvas and leather bound with oil paper frontispiece and endispiece, some general rubbing to exterior and occasional foxing within but generally sound and un-faded.
Literature: The vendor has kindly supplied the following information:
"This fascinating ledger with detailed minutes of shareholders' meetings for over 50 years, enables one to follow the history of the company that evolved from Lang & Hussey Ltd. into Joseph Lang Ltd. into Stephen Grant & Joseph Lang Ltd. and then Atkin, Grant & Lang. During the early years, the two sons of Philip Webley, Henry (d. 1920) and Thomas William (d. 1904), were the major shareholders. As well as giving an insight into the trials and tribulations of conducting a gunmaking business, these minutes also throw light on the personal problems of the directors, including the enforced resignation of Henry Joseph Hussey due to fraud. Some years after the death of Henry Webley the company was sold to William Robson and became Stephen Grant & Joseph Lang Ltd. of Bury Street, St. James's. During his tenure as managing director, William Robson created his famous gunmaking empire by purchasing troubled companies like Henry Atkin, Frederick Beesley, Charles Hellis & Sons, Charles Lancaster & Co. and Watson Bros. After WW II, Robson's cousin, Betty Brown, became the first female director of a London gunmakers, and was feared by the young apprentices. The 'inside' history of these famous companies is detailed in this ledger."
Other Notes: Dated 17th December 1952, the final entry by William Robson reads as follows:
"The position enclosed in the accounts, may, I think, be regarded as a very satisfactory one for a small company in such difficult times, and I am glad to be able to tell you that the upward tendency in sales has continued during the present year. You must be all heartily glad to see a Conservative Government again in office, but Socialist planning has created such havoc that it must still be some time before we can again see a situation in this country in which our trade could flourish."
Estimate £250-350