Porter Brothers: Flag manufacturers

Scope and Content

The collection comprises of two large volumes containing details of the clients' requirements, costs and often a diagram of the flag or banner. Although shipping companies are well represented in the order books, Porter's made flags for international and national clients. Governments and organisations such as the Fiji Police and the Admiralty and companies such as Gillette and Bank of Ireland all feature in the order books.

The volumes cover the date span 1939-1998, but his includes repeat orders with previous clients, so they probably do not represent all the company's orders during these years.

The order books are alphabetically arranged by client name, but not indexed. Each client has an individual page, containing a description of the flag, often with a drawing, costs and details of repeat orders.

Administrative / Biographical History

The company was founded in 1905 by Herbert Gordon Porter to meet the large demand for flags from Liverpool's shipping industry. It was based for many years at King's Dock Mill, 34-39 Wapping, Liverpool. The company was acquired by Specialised Canvas Services in 2009 and moved to Royal Standard House, Birkenhead.

Sources: http://www.flagsbyporters.co.uk/porters-history.php, accessed 30th January 2014 and Gore's Street Directories.

Access Information

Open. The collection is accessible to any reader within the Maritime Archives & Library.

Acquisition Information

The volumes were donated to the Maritime Archives & Library, National Museums Liverpool by a private individual in 2014

Note

Accession number MMM.2014.15

Other Finding Aids

An item level list is available.

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

The items are large Thong brand loose leaf binders.

Corporate Names