Miscellaneous Associated, Affiliated and Subsidiary Companies of Jute Industries Limited

Scope and Content

Miscellaneous records relating to Abertay Paper Sacks Ltd, Dundee; Camperdown Pressing Co Ltd (the Calcutta agency for Cox Bros Ltd); J & A D Grimond (Canada) Ltd; Jute Industries Ltd (1920-1971), Dundee; Sandeman Stanley Cotton Belting Co Ltd, London; South Mills (Rayon) Limited; Stanley Belting Company (Canada) Ltd; Stanley Belting Corporation; Tayport Spinning Company Limited; Thomas Taylor & Co Ltd Dundee; Unicorn Microcomputer Systems Limited.

Administrative / Biographical History

Abertay Paper Sacks Ltd, Dundee was set up in 1949, with an agreement between Paper Sacks Ltd and C Davidson & Sons Ltd, Aberdeen, re manufacture. Both Low & Bonar and Jute Industries Ltd had commercial (sales) connections with the firm but it was short-lived.

The Camperdown Pressing Co Ltd, Calcutta (1923-1942) was the local agency of Cox Bros. Ltd (Dundee) and corresponded with Jute Industries Ltd, Dundee Office. A history of the Cox Agency is an item in the collection. Jute Industries Ltd had its own facilities in Calcutta, Agency No 4., (1909-1946) and these records form a major part of the collection. There were also more easterly connections, through Jute Industries (Proprietary) Ltd, Australia (1922-1951).

F Stewart Sandeman & Sons became a Limited Company in 1900 and amalgamated with Jute Industries Limited in 1921. Although F Stewart Sandeman & Sons went into voluntary liquidation in 1932, the three Stanley Belting companies, the corporations of Chicago (1914-1944) and New York (1921-1934), (Canada) Ltd, Toronto (1927-1934) and the Sandeman Stanley Cotton Belting Co Ltd, London, (1924-1945), which had sales connections with South America, continued to trade variously.

In the 1890s, a weaving process for cotton driving belting was bought and improved, as a concern, by (Colonel) Frank Stewart Sandeman. 'Stanley Solid Woven Cotton Belting' was a sales success. The Sandeman Stanley Cotton Belting Co Ltd, Dundee (1935-1941) had its origins in the Sandeman Stanley Cotton Belting Co, Stanley (1913-1929) and the firms of Frank Stewart (F S) Sandeman & Sons Ltd of Dundee, Stanley and Manhattan (1919-1929).

Colonel Frank Stewart Sandeman (-1898?) was a great great nephew of William Sandeman of Luncarty, one of the original partners of the Stanley Company. As a partner in Luncarty Bleachfield Co, Perthshire, Frank Stewart Sandeman opened Manhattan Works, Dundee, c.1874. As owner of these Works, Colonel Sandeman bought Stanley Cotton Mill in 1876-1880 with the support of the Duke of Atholl, renewing the historical Nairne link with the estates of Stanley and Atholl. Jute Industries (Canada) Ltd, Toronto (1920-1934) and Jute Industries Ltd, New York (1921-1973) records, link with two of the Sandeman North American companies location.

South Mills (Rayon ) Ltd (1963-1988) (formerly James Paterson and Co Ltd, 1939-1963) had been re-structured 1958-1959 with a move of production to Lawside Works, Paterson Street, disposal and repair of old machinery and streamlining of raw material, with specialisation as a fibro-factory. By 1978, Sidlaw Industries Ltd, the parent company, owned 100% of the issued share capital and business transferred to Thomas Gill & Sons Ltd becoming Gills South Mills in 1979. The Head office remained in South Mills at 20 Brown Street until 1980 and South Mills (Rayon ) Ltd was declared a dormant Company in 1982.

Tayport Spinning Co Ltd, flax, tow and jute spinners were listed in the Dundee Directory as trading in 1889-1890 at Tayport Works, Tayport. Share Certificate records (1915-1965), show Jute Industries Ltd as the final purchaser of shares in 1965.

Thomas Taylor & Co Ltd, Dundee, were a firm of linen and jute manufacturers and export merchants trading from Jute Industries Ltd headquarters in 1925 with an advance of 30,000 from them. By 1946 the emphasis had swung to jute while the JIL investment had decreased to about 100.

Unicorn Microcomputer Systems Ltd (1982-1988) (formerly Hawkslaw Investment Co Ltd, 1937-1982) had several directors in common with South Mills (Rayon) Ltd in 1970 and Sidlaw Group plc were the ultimate holding company in 1982. Various monies were borrowed from The Boase Spinning Company Ltd to finance share purchases. The whole of the assets and undertaking of the company were transferred to Gate Microsystems Ltd in 1984 and Unicorn Microcomputer Systems Ltd was declared dormant in 1986.

Arrangement

Records are arranged within series.

Access Information

Open for consultation subject to preservation requirements. Access must also conform to the restrictions of the Data Protection Act and any other appropriate legislation.

Acquisition Information

The records were deposited by Sidlaw Group PLC in 1980, 1993 and 1994 (AccM/112, AccM/131, AccM/295, AccM/310).

Other Finding Aids

Descriptive list. Subject source lists and databases are also available.

Alternative Form Available

No known copies.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction is available subject to preservation requirements. Charges are made for this service, and copyright and other restrictions may apply.

Accruals

None expected.

Related Material

MS 6 Cox Brothers Ltd, Jute Spinners and Manufacturers, and Cox Family Papers

MS 24 Low & Bonar Ltd, Jute Spinners, Manufacturers and Merchants

Additional Information

The material is original.