Taddy & Co.
Taddy & Co was established by James Taddy in 1784, as a seller of tobacco, snuff and tea operating from Old Swan Lane in London. A year later in 1785 Taddy had moved premises to 109 Fenchurch Street, London, where with new partners, “Taddy, Tomlin and Hatfield” was formed. Following a number of marriages between members of numerous wealthy families including the Taddy family, the business was renamed “Taddy, Tomlin, Hatfeild and Friend”, and in 1813 the company moved to the Minories in London where a tobacco and snuff manufacturing factory was built. James Taddy died in 1828, and with him not having any children the company fell into the hands of Alexander Hatfeild. On Alexanders death in 1865, the company control fell to his son, Gilliat Hatfeild, under whose leadership the purchase of Morden Hall and two snuff mills on the River Wandle.
Gilliat Hatfeild who was renowned for paying his workers more than any other producer and provided better working conditions than any of his competitors. However, in 1920 the entire Tobacco industry went on strike, having been called on to do so by the Unions over issues with pay and conditions. Strangely, the Taddy workers at the Minories were already being paid a higher salary than the amount the unions were calling for, but still elected to join the strike. Gilliat warned his workers that he would close the company unless they returned to work – a warning which they refused to bow down to – at which point Gilliat made good his threat and closed the entire business down with immediate effect, laying off all of the workers in London.
Gilliat then retired to Morden Cottage on the aforementioned estate, where he lived until his death in 1941, after which the property was turned over to the National Trust, in whose safe custody it remains to this day.
Some of the more popular Taddy sets are listed below (click on the image to see which cards we have in stock from that particular set)
“Actresses – with Flowers”. Issued in c1900, this set consists of 25 cards, each featuring an image of the actress in black and white, surrounded by a colour image of flowers.
“Boer Leaders”. Issued c1901, this set contains just 20 cards – though it was issued with a white back and also with a cream back, so there are in theory 40 cards to collect.
