Brown Brothers



Brown Brothers, of Great Eastern Street, London, hardware merchants.
Allied Companies: Thomson and Brown Brothers Limited, Brown Brothers (Aircraft) Ltd and Brown Brothers (Ireland) Limited.
Predecessor company was Messrs. Snell and Brown, Skinner Lane, Birmingham, and 11-19 Great Eastern Street, London[1].
See also -
1888 Company established by John Smith Brown, Albert Brown, and Ernest Brown.
1892 Mentioned. "John Smith Brown, Albert Brown, and Ernest Brown, trading as Brown Brothers, at 28 and 30, Great Eastern street, in the County of London, cycle fitting manufacturers" petitioned to wind up the Southern Cycle Co. of Southampton[2]
1897 The company was registered on 28 May, to take over the business of the firm of the same name, general hardware, cycle accessories, general warehousemen etc. Also H. A. Knox and Co. Directors are Herbert Chamberlain, Chairman; Thomas Edward Hill; and the three Brown brothers.[3][4]
1901 August. Details of the 6-bhp motor.[5]
1902 They produced the Brown motorcycles from 1902 to 1915
1913 Brown Brothers advert for Brolt's reliable car lighting dynamo system[6]
1914 Directors: Walter Chamberlain (Chairman), John S. Brown, Albert Brown and Ernest Brown (Managing Directors). Staff: About 350.
1914 Wholesale Cycle and Motor Material Manufacturers and Merchants. Specialities: motor cycle parts and accessories, cycle fittings and accessories, tools for motors etc. Employees 350. [7]
1917 Acquired James Thomson and Son (Motor Factors) Ltd[8]
1919-23 Albert Brown is Chairman.
1921 The name of James Thomson and Son was changed to Thomson and Brown Brothers[9]
1922 Directors: Albert Brown (Chairman), Ernest Brown and J. Albert Thomson (Managing), John Brown, Frederick Brown and A. Cleveland.
1922 Products: "Duco" motor accessories and tools, "Bronko" cycle accessories and fittings, "Trippa" folding baby car; "Talmo" cars.
1927 Stand 223 at the 1927 Motor Cycle and Cycle Show at Olympia
1929-30 Ernest Brown is Chairman.
1936 Advertised aircraft components
1937 Established Brown Brothers (Aircraft) Ltd
1937 Aircraft fittings. [10]
1939 Brown Brothers (Aircraft) Ltd manufactured small components for aircraft in three separate specialised works. In addition, manufactured hydraulic and screw jacks for both civil and military aircraft, the larger types being capable of lifting machines weighing many tons. See Aircraft Industry Suppliers
1940s Brown Brothers Catalogue - Open Brown Brothers Catalogue PDF File[11]
1963 Motor Show exhibitor. Accessories and components; Garage equipment. Of Eastern Street, London. [12]
1970 Merger of Brown Brothers with Albany Tyre Service to form a tyre distributor having one third of the market held by independents, as well as wholesaling accessories[13]
1973 Dana Corporation acquire 10 percent of the equity; BB&A acquired 25 percent of Henlys[14]
1974 As a result of liquidity problems, sold the tyres business to Firestone Tire and Rubber Co; also intended to sell the tyre retread business which it had only recently entered[15]
1975 Name changed Brown Brothers Corporation[16]
1977 Sold the stake in Henlys to Heron Motor Group[17]
1997 Partco acquired car components maker, Brown Brothers[18]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Bartleet's Bicycle Book
- ↑ Hampshire Advertiser - Saturday 24 September 1892
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ St James's Gazette - Saturday 29 May 1897
- ↑ The Autocar 1901/08/17
- ↑ The Times, 29 April 1913
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ The Times Oct. 20, 1919
- ↑ The Times May 18, 1921
- ↑ 1937 The Aeroplane Directory of the Aviation and Allied Industries
- ↑ Available in SCML *donated by Bill Bass
- ↑ 1963 Motor Show
- ↑ The Times Jan. 8, 1970
- ↑ The Times Nov. 7, 1973
- ↑ The Times Mar. 30, 1974
- ↑ The Times Sept. 5, 1975
- ↑ The Times Jan. 19, 1977
- ↑ The Times February 28, 1997
- [1] Cyber Motor Cycles - Brown Motorcycles
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X
- The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle by Peter Henshaw. Published 2007. ISBN 978 1 8401 3967 9
- Motor Cycling and Motoring 1902/12/03