Commercial Overprint Society of Great Britain
Vol. 4 No. 1; July 1, 2006
A. & R. Tod, Ltd. |
by Michael Behm |
Leith Mills c. 1922
Leith has been a port for more than a thousand years and Edinburgh's official port since 1329. Originally Leith was a little more than a mile from Edinburgh, but now the two areas are one urban center.
Over the past decade, the port area has become more upscale as the shipping industry moves to docks on the north side. However, as the picture above shows it was a rougher place during the 1920s.
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FOR
A. & R. TOD, LTD. |
One of the industries in Leith was the Leith Flour Mills, owned
by A. & R. Tod, Ltd.
Most of the flour for the mill came from outside
the UK—particularly from Canada—as the local wheat
was too "soft".
The A. & R. Tod, Ltd. overprint appears to be surprisingly scarce, considering how many customers a large flour mill would have. The sole reported example is from 17 February 1941. |
Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers) Ltd. |
by Michael Behm |
N. & R. Handyside & Co., the firm that became Anchor Line Ltd., began in 1838 when two brothers, Nicol and Robert Handyside, established themselves in Glasgow, Scotland as shipbrokers. Nicol's position as the Russian Consul in Glasgow led to the firm shipping to the Baltic and Russia.
In 1852, Thomas Henderson, a master mariner, joined the business. Retired from the sea, he wanted to establish steamship routes from the river Clyde to Canada and the USA. The business bought its first ship in 1854; in June 1855, Thomas became a full partner and the firm was renamed Handysides & Henderson.
Anchor Line entered the Age of Steam in 1856 by starting a service between Glasgow and New York and another between Glasgow and Quebec.
In 1857, Thomas's brothers David and William Henderson founded the Finnieston Steamship Works Co. in Glasgow. Initially they intended only to construct steam engines for converting sailing ships to steam. In 1872, the Anchor Line and D. & W. Henderson jointly bought the shipyard of Tod & MacGregor, Glasgow, to build the hulls into which the engines from D. & W. Henderson’s Finnieston works could be fitted.
In 1875 the Anchor Line started a service to Bombay and in 1882 another to Calcutta.
During the 1890s, all of the Henderson brothers died. In 1899 the firm of Henderson Brothers was dissolved and a limited liability company formed as Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers). The company was bought by Cunard in 1911.
After the Depression, the Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers) went into liquidation in 1935 the assets being transferred to a new company: Anchor Line (1935) Ltd.
After 1953, Anchor Line became a fully-owned subsidiary of the United Molasses Company. It was sold to Walter Runciman & Co. in 1965 and restructured in 1976.
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The Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers) Limited overprint is also scarce for a company that was in operation for so many years during which commercial overprints were in use. |