Catalogues

S/PRI/1

1870-1953

Robert Pringle (1800-1875) was apprenticed to a jeweller in Perth, Scotland, at the age of 13. Following his apprenticeship, he moved to London in 1820 and continued to work at his trade. In 1835, he established a workshop as a manufacturing jeweller at a private house in Amwell Street, Clerkenwell, employing between six and twelve men. By 1868, Pringle had moved to open a shop at 21 Wilderness Row. He died in 1875 and his son, also Robert Pringle, took over the business. Previously known as Robert Pringle & Co, the company became Robert Pringle & Son in 1882 and Robert Pringle & Sons in 1899. By 1881, 21 Wilderness Row had become 42 Clerkenwell Road. The premises were rebuilt and named as the 'Wilderness Works'. Over the following decades, the business expanded to substantial premises incorporating 36-42 Clerkenwell Road and 17-20 Great Sutton Street. The company produced an increasingly wide range of products, including watches, clocks, fancy silver goods, glassware, electro plated goods and optical items for domestic customers and export. The business became a limited liability company, Robert Pringle & Sons (London) Limited, on 1 Jan 1931. It was last listed in trade directories in 1967.

Trade Catalogues and Price Lists produced by Robert Pringle and Sons (1870-c.1938, incomplete; 1953) many of which contain detailed product illustrations. Items vary in size and scope from small booklets and single page, fold out catalogues to hardback a4 catalogues of over one hundred pages. Majority of catalogues from 1884 to 1916.

4 boxes + 3 oversized items

The collection was deposited with Finsbury Libraries in September 1967 by Robert Pringle of Robert Pringle & Sons Ltd. The collection has previously been split up, with items added to various areas of the local history collection. The material was regrouped as a single collection during recataloguing in 2011.

JEWELLERY TRADES, WATCHMAKING, KITCHEN UTENSIL TRADE

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