A S Henry & Company Ltd
Founded in 1805 in Manchester, A & S Henry & Co Ltd was a partnership between Alexander Henry and his brother Samuel. Alexander had previously emigrated to America from Ireland where he joined his uncle (another Alexander Henry, born 1766) who had emigrated in 1783 and established himself as a merchant in Philadelphia. However, the younger Alexander returned to England in 1804 and rapidly established A & S Henry & Co Ltd to market and distribute the products of the cotton industry from Manchester.
Over the years the company expanded, opening branch offices in Bradford, Belfast, Leeds, Huddersfield and Glasgow which acted as collecting stations for textile products of all kinds. In 1858 an office was opened in Dundee at 51 St Andrews Street although all business continued to be carried out through Glasgow until around 1903.
The company's Dundee interests grew with the acquisition of premises and existing companies in the city and in 1953 A & S Henry & Co (Dundee) Ltd was incorporated as a separate company. In 1972 A & S Henry & Co was taken over by Great Universal Stores and in the same year A & S Henry & Co (Dundee) Ltd was taken over entirely by the Titaghur Jute Factory Co Ltd.
Other members of the group, whether subsidiaries of the parent company or of the Dundee company include:
Cargill & Co Ltd, Dundee bleachers, incorporated 1895
Dundee Brattice Cloth and Waterproofing Co Ltd, incorporated 1917
Hardie & Smith Ltd, jute spinners and manufacturers, Dundee, incorporated 1917
Jaffe Brothers & Co (Dundee) Ltd, jute spinners and manufacturers, incorporated 1920
Moore & Weinberg (Dundee) Ltd, jute merchants, incorporated 1923
William Watson (Dundee) Ltd, bleachers and dyers, incorporated 1925
Thomas Duff & Co Ltd was incorporated in 1883 as the Dundee based managing agents for a group of jute factories situated in West Bengal.
These became ‘The Titaghur Group’ in 1969 and included:
The Samnuggur Jute Factory Co Ltd, incorporated 1974
The Titaghur Jute Factory Co Ltd, incorporated 1883
The Victoria Jute Factory Co Ltd, incorporated 1883
The Angus Co Ltd, incorporated 1913 (which, from 1917, included The Angus Engineering Works)
In 1948, Thomas Duff was reconstructed and registered as an Indian company in Calcutta. It continued to be the managing agents for the Titaghur Group and still maintained the Dundee office.
In 1974, all Indian members of this group were re-incorporated as Indian companies with registered offices in Calcutta. Henry’s remained the UK registrars. In 1978 Titaghur sold 51% of its interest in A & S Henry & Co (Dundee) Ltd, to Asiatic Jute Co Boston, USA. In 1983 A & S Henry (Dundee) Ltd, and its subsidiaries were placed in the hands of Receivers.