Joseph Watson and Co
of Leeds - presumably the same as Joseph Watson and Sons
c.1820 A hide tanning business was established by Watson at Woodside, Horsforth, 5 miles NW of central Leeds. The business was an adjacent diversification from the small family farm, which covered the area between today's Outwood Lane and Broadway, with further rented ground to the south east.
c1848 The company established by Joseph Watson dealing in hides and skins.
By 1865 seems to have become Joseph Watson and Sons
1870s George Watson and Charles Watson took the business into soap
1880s Employed sixty workers and eleven clerks
1907 As a result of the "soap trust" of 1906, an exchange of shares with Lever Brothers was agreed[1] by Joseph Watson and Sons
1922 Rt Hon Joseph Watson, first Baron Manton, of Joseph Watson and Co, Whitehall Soap Works, died[2].
See Also
Sources of Information
- The History of Unilever by Charles Wilson. Published 1954 by Cassell and Co