Stockwell & Co (George Stockwell)

Stockwell & Company was founded by Henry Stockwell in 1878, and in 1900 the firm was incorporated as a limited liability company and the name changed to Stockwell & Co Ltd. Henry was joined in the company by his nephew George Stockwell, who eventually managed the company.

The company operated out of their head office at 16 & 18 Finsbury Street, London, however they did expand to many depots around the UK.

Stockwell & Company gained their reputation as carriers and were a part of the European shipping agents known as Messageries Nationales. They became a large company who was able to move goods around not only Great Britain, but across the continent.

At a time where British law changed in 1907 and the hallmarking system determined that imported items of gold and silver should be hallmarked in a British assay office, Stockwell & Company facilitated in helping those with no offices in Britain, and submitted the items on behalf of the customers - acting merely as a sponsor and thus we find the sponsor mark with the full British import hallmarks. Stockwell & Company were not manufacturers, they merely sponsored items which were brought into the country to enable them to abide by the British law.

In the 1930s the company merged with another international carrier - Hernu, Peron & Co. This combined company bore the name Hernu, Peron & Stockwell Ltd and continued business till the 1960s