The HOUSE OF FRASER Archive

Company: William Henderson & Sons Ltd

Registration number:

Company name: William Henderson & Sons Ltd
Dates in business: 1924-1977

Type of business: Drapers

Type of company: Private limited liability company 1924

Locations:
  • 9-15, 24 Church Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England

Company history

In 1924, William Henderson & Sons was registed as a private limited company under the name William Henderson & Sons Ltd. The directors of the company were William and Edward Henderson, grandsons of the original proprietor, William Henderson who established the business in 1829.

In 1920, Edward Henderson retired, leaving William as direcotr until his retirement, due to ill health, in 1948. The new directors, William Gibbons and E S Ouseley, sold the company to Harrods Ltd in August 1949. Richard Burbidge, chairman, and Alan Graham and H Acton, directors of Harrods Ltd, joined the board of directors. In 1959 Harrods was itself acquired by House of Fraser Ltd.

On 22 June 1960, the store was destroyed by fire, with eleven lives lost. The store was rebuilt in 1962 and it continued to trade under the William Henderson & Sons Ltd name until 1975, when became part of the Binns brand. In June 1976, this store, and the Binns' stores in Newcastle-upon-Tyne was put on the market as part of the House of Fraser's strategy to finance their enlarged capital expenditure programme.

Records held for William Henderson & Sons Ltd:

FRAS 1226
Title: Store interior photographs
Date: 1960-1979
FRAS 1227
Title: Store exterior photographs
Date: 1929-1969
FRAS 1228
Title: Photographs of staff events
Date: 1930-1952
FRAS 1229
Title: Photographs of store fire and re-building
Date: 1960-1969
FRAS 1272
Title: Sale invitations
Date: 1929-1939
FRAS 1273
Title: Newspaper article relating to Harrods purchase of Hendersons.
Date: 1949
FRAS 1275
Title: Annual Accounts
Date: 1961
FRAS 1276
Title: Papers relating to the change of the trading name of Hendersons Ltd to Binns Ltd
Date: 1975-1977

Related People and Companies:

Corporation name: William Henderson & Sons
Dates of connection: 1924
Connection type: In 1924 the business William Henderson & Sons was converted into a private limited company.
Corporation name: Harrods Ltd
Dates of connection: 1949
Connection type: In August 1949 William Henderson & Sons was sold to Harrods Ltd.
Corporation name: House of Fraser Ltd
Dates of connection: 1959
Connection type: In 1959 Harrods Ltd, which had bought William Henderson & Sons Ltd in 1949, was acquired by House of Fraser Ltd.
Corporation name: Binns Ltd
Dates of connection: 1975
Connection type: The name of the store was changed from William Henderson & Sons to Binns in 1975.

Access points: Retail trade - Drapers

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