Records of A Kirkpatrick & Sons Ltd, meat processors and sausage makers, Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland

Scope and Content

  • Ledgers 1907-1942
  • Journals 1907-1959
  • Cashbook 1888-1951
  • Profit and loss accounts and balance sheets 1907-1919
  • Financial records 1909-1958
  • Photographs of factory operations, exteriors and exhibitions stands, early-mid 20th century
  • Company brochures 1914
  • Newspapers cuttings 1914,1953
  • Government circulars 1944
  • Memoranda 1967-1970
  • Certificate of incorporation 1913
  • Programmes for staff social evenings 1930-1946

Administrative / Biographical History

In the mid-1870s  , Alexander Kirkpatrick began raising pigs in order to sell them to local curers. Gradually he extended his operation until he was curing bacon on his own account. During the off-season for curing, Kirkpatrick began to consign live pigs to England and this side of the business proved to be very successful. Alexander Kirkpatrick was joined in his business by his two sons, David and Archibald, and the firm became known as A Kirkpatrick & Sons. Alexander Kirkpatrick died in 1906  , and his two sons succeeded him in the business. In 1914  , the company was incorporated as a limited liability company, A Kirkpatrick & Sons Ltd , with a capital of £40,000 issued in £1 shares. In 1914  , the Thornhill factory, a sausage and bacon works, was built with further building work in 1924 to increase the factory's output. Archibald Kirkpatrick died in 1924  and shortly there after David Kirkpatrick was joined in the business by his son, Joseph, and his nephew, Edgar, and J W Glendinning. By the 1930s, the Thornhill factory was the largest of its kind in Scotland, producing bacons, hams, sausages and a variety of cooked meats. It would appear that the company ceased production in the 1970s  .

Arrangement

This material is arranged into series, which consist of numbers of items related by format and/or function. Within series, the items are generally arranged chronologically.

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Kirkpatrick family member : January 1988

Other Finding Aids

Digital file level list available in searchroom

Manual file level list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)3177) and London (NRA32999)

Alternative Form Available

No known copies

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to the University Archivist

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use & condition of documents

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

Custodial History

Unknown

Accruals

None expected

Related Material

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Bibliography

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Additional Information

This material is original

Revised by David Powell, Hub project Archivist, 25 July 2002