Factories
Witham Chelmsford Barnstaple Stanley Dagenham.
Witham 1917
Witham 1948
Chelmsford factory 1921
Pinkham foresight and vision
In the days of The National Glove Company and W Pinkham & Son Ltd factories were opened were the glove making skills existed or where there was suitable workforce that could be trained. William understood that where there was a large male workforce there would be a female workforce more suited to the nimble work of sewing gloves. So grew Dagenham next to the Ford Motors' works and in County Durham near the mines.
Throughout its history the company had factories in many UK locations. Here we look at the factories that were in Witham, County Durham and Dagenham.
Factories 1899 - 1966
| 1899 | Rebecca buys a second hand Weir 55s chain stitch sewing machine | |
| 1899 | Rebecca starts making gloves in the kitchen of their house in Great Torrington | |
| 1901 | William & Rebecca move to Salisbury and continue making gloves in their home | |
| 1901 | William & Rebecca move to Witham and continue making gloves in their home | |
| 1904 | William & Rebecca form The National Glove Company and employ ten machinists in a small workshop | |
| 1912 | New factory built on a seven acre site in Witham | |
| 1912 | The company now employs 80 employees | |
| 1912 | 5,000 gloves a week produced | |
| 1914 | Entire production turned over to producing pure silk gloves for the Royal Flying Corps | |
| 1916 | Factories opened in Great Torrington & Barnstaple to support the war effort | |
| 1916 | New factory opened in Chelmsford managed by Lilian | |
| 1918 | The company now employs 150 employees | |
| 1919 | New factory built in Belgium to produce kid skin gloves | |
| 1921 | New factory built in Chelmsford | |
| 1922 | New factory in Matlock Bath opens to produce fabric | |
| 1923 | The world's first Rayon Milanese fabric gloves made with fabric from Matlock Bath | |
| 1924 | The company now employs 350 people | |
| 1924 | 48,000 gloves a week produced - 400 different styles - Witham factory produced 12 gloves a minute | |
| 1931 | The recession force The National Glove Company to close | |
| 1932 | The company W Pinkham & Son Ltd is incorporated | |
| 1933 | The Witham factory re-opens and is soon producing gloves at full capacity again | |
| 1933 | December 24th a new factory opens in White barn Lane Dagenham | |
| 1947 | New factory opens in South Moor, County Durham with120 employees | |
| 1948 | Second factory built at Witham and glove production starts at South Moor Co. Durham | |
| 1948 | The company now has 600 employees producing 96,000 gloves a week | |
| 1949 | The company now has 600 employees producing 96,000 gloves a week | |
| 1959 | South Moor factory re-located to a new factory at Stanley Co. Durham | |
| 1966 | The company closes | |
Email your stories of Pinkham Gloves
nickpinkham@pinkhamgloves.co.uk
