Reference
X602
Title
Records of Francis Coales and Son, millers, Bedford and Willington
Date free text
1897-1977
Admin/biog history
The business of Francis Coales and Son commenced at Town Mills, Newport Pagnell on 25th March 1885, taking over the premises of Messrs Hives & Sons, being founded by Mr. Francis Coales who had farmed Grange Farm, Chicheley for many years and his son Mr. Walter Coales. Mr. Francis William Coales, elder brother of Walter, later joined the business though he was never a partner.
In the early days the trade was principally in grain, oilcakes, hay and straw, as well as a coal business. In 1897 the hay and straw business of Mr. F.N King at 16 Gwyn Street, Bedford, was acquired, and while Mr. King continued in the employ of Francis Coales & Son, Bedford (as the business was called) nevertheless Mr. T.J Page was appointed manager.
The next important event was the purchase of a gas engine for the Newport premises in 1904 at a cost of approximately £500. In 1910/12 a flour mill was installed but the gas engine did not prove large enough so a 96 h.p Crossley gas engine was bought in 1915 at a cost of £766.
Mr. Francis Coales died in 1909 and thereafter Mr. Walter John Coales continued as Sole Partner until his death in 1927. The business then passed to his son, Mr. John Leslie Coales. Mr. Francis William Coales continued calling on farmers and going to markets until he retired in 1942; he never owned a car, and only travelled either by train or on horseback.
In August 1928 the business and company Albert Gudgin & Son Ltd, with a lease of Cowper Mills, Olney, was acquired by Mr. T,J Page and Mr. J.L Coales, jointly. At the time the mill produced flour but this activity was closed soon afterwards and the flour sales transferred to the Newport Mill; the Gudgin company continued supplying feeding stuffs to farmers in its area.
Soon after this, in 1933, the Newport Mill was further enlarged (it had already been added to early in the century) by the addition of storage space and machinery for the manufacture of compound feed stuffs in meal form. In 1938 it was further extended to production of compound feedstuffs in cube and pellet form.
In 1938 the business of Herbert Grange & Company at Tring, Herftordshire was acquired and this greatly increased the area of trade. By this time with the branches at Bedford, Olney and Tring, farmers in most of Buckinghamshire, all Bedfordshire, a large part of Northamptonshire and west Hertfordshire could be supplied.
During the 1938-1945 war business was not easy. Many key staff and employees were called up for National Service, and a lot of the raw materials came from overseas. Rationing was introduced for animal foodstuffs and the flour mill came under Government control (as it had in the First War); these circumstances continued until 1953 when free enterprise was restored.
In July 1947 the Newport Pagnell, Bedford and Tring businesses were converted into limited liability companies. Francis Coales & Son (Newport Pagnell) Ltd was under the day to day control of Mr. J.L Coales who was the sole director. Francis Coales & Son (Bedford) Ltd had Mr. J.L Coales as Chairman and Mr. L.H Jessup as Managing Director; Mr. Jessup had joined the business in 1937 (Mr. Page retired in 1947) and about the same time the premises of 16 Gwyn Street were sold and the activities transferred to 23/25 Gwyn Street with a mill behind fronting on All Hallows Lane. Francis Coales & Son (Tring) Ltd had Mr. J.L Coales as Chairman and Mr. L.J Edmunds as Managing Director; Mr. Edmunds had been with the business when it belonged to the Grange family but had been one of the key persons who served in the war; after operating from several temporary premises, the business was eventually established at Hastoe Mill, about one mill out of Tring. The Olney business, which was already a limited company, continued under the close control of Mr. Page and Mr. Coales until the deather of the former in 1951. Mr. F.W Platt, who was already Secretary of Albert Gudgin & Son Ltd, was appointed Secretary of the three new companies.
In 1948 Mr. John Coales, son of Mr. J.L Coales, joined the business at Newport Pagnell. In 1951 the flour mill was heightened, new wheat bns installed, and the machinery extensively remodelled; at the same time the adjoining warehouse had an extra floor added and a seed cleaning plant installed.
In 1960 the premises in Bedford were sold and the business transferred to the buildings of Grange Farm, Willington, which were purchased together with land totalling some 10 acres. At about the same time it was decided to build a silo and install up to date compound milling plant at Newport Pagnell; this was completed in 1963 at a cost of £125,000 and increased the potential output from about 350 tonne per month to 2500 tonnes per month. Also in 1960 Mr. F.W Platt retired as Company Secretary; he had been with the business for 53 years, having originally come to work for a week!
Following advice from management consultants in 1964 the trading activities of the four companies were amalgamated under the title of Francis Coales & Son, and Mr. P.F Parker joined as group Managing Director. Mr. Edmunds became Sales Director and Mr. John Coales took over responsibility for administration. Mr. Jessup had died suddenly in 1957.
In November 1964 Hastoe Mill was burnt down and the Tring Depot was transferred to a new site which was purchased at Dixon's Gap, Wilstone. In 1965 Olney Mill was destroyed by fire, and being still the property of the Gudgin family it was not reinstated as it was under-insured.
In the years following, all activities were gradually centralised at Newport Pagnell and trade expanded considerably till by 1969 the compound mill was working full time. The flour mill being very small was not competitive and the plant and goodwill were sold to the Millers Mutual Association in 1965. On 12th December 1973 part of the production plant and all the finished products warehouse at Newport Pagnell were destroyed by fire and it was decided not to rebuild and to cease all trading activities with effect from 28th February 1974.
Written by John Coales, 15th November 1974.
Archival history
Two deposits made: deposit one (accession number 4942) made by Buckinghamshire Record Office, 18th June 1980. Deposit number 2 (accession number 6052) made on 10th April 1986. A further receipt of Coales and Sons records [mainly photographs] was made by Bedford Museum in March 1990. They had received them from Aylesbury Museum Service.
The volumes of account books and ledgers to Francis Coales and Son, miller, of Bedford and Newport Pagnell were deposited in the Buckinghamshire Record Office in 1974. Records of Francis Coales & Son (Newport Pagnell) remain at Buckinghamshire Record Office under accession numbers 102.174 and others.
It is understood the the records of the Bedford Branch of the firm were formerly at the firms Willington office prior to their transfer to Bucks in 1974. Ninety eight others were subsequently transferred to the Bedfordshire Record Office in June 1980. Permission was given for a selection to be made for permenant preservation.
Accordingly the records listed as X602/1-43 represent a sample of those originally deposited. However, care has been taken to preserve a record of the original coverage of the material. The full set of main ledgers has been retained, together with a sample of the dependent series of account books selected on the basis of first and last volumes and census years.
Level of description
fonds